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REDUCING
HUMAN
IMPACT
On Biological
Diversity
Brown Tree Snakes, Guam
 Invasive
species- no natural predators.
 Likely arrived in inadequately inspected
cargo shipments in the 50s
Has cost millions…
 In
wildlife and commercial losses.
 Exotic birds- eaten eggs &
destroyed nesting sites
 Wriggle way into electrical
substations-4 million a year in repair
costs
2000 dead mice floating in
cardboard parachutes?!
Tylenol… Video Link
 Snake’s
“Achilles Heal”
 Dead snakes were loaded with the pain
killer.
 -Some
snakes eat the mice.
 Natural Selection- did we just give a “leg
up” to the snakes that don’t? Natural
Selection also acts on behaviours.
Earth Summit:
 Canada
signed a treaty called the United
Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
in 1992- PM Jean Chretien.
 3 goals: Conservation of biological
diversity, sustainable use of the
components of bio diversity, fair and
equitable sharing of the benefits arising
from the use of genetic resources.
Earth Summit
 Harper
government did not go to the next
summit/keep Canada’s “promises”.
 PM
elect, Justine Trudeau, has promised
to go to Earth 2015 and respect signed
convention.
 How
might an elected government’s
values/polies affect how Canada is
viewed on the “world stage”?
Strategies to Conserve
Biological Diversity:
Protected Areas
n-situ conservation refers to
the maintenance of
populations of wild organisms in
their functioning ecosystems
I
Protected Areas
First
national park, Banff (1885)
Allows ecological processes to
continue relatively undisturbed
No single protected area can
offer enough land or habitat
diversity to support all native
species or ecosystems.
Protected Areas
Rely
on co-operation of
national, provincial, and
municipal governments, along
with the support of other
organizations (NGOs) and
individuals.
Privatize protected areas?
 E.g.
Harper government privatized hot
springs in the Rocky Mountain Parks:
Privatized Miette Hot Springs in Jasper
National Park, Banff Upper Hot Springs in
Banff National Park, and Radium Hot
Springs in Kootenay National Park.
 This means they are owned by individuals
now and not the Canadian people.
 This is an example of a controversial issue.
Restoration of Ecosystems and
Species:
Canada has developed:
 Programs
to restore endangered species
and habitats.
 Most species can never recover unless
their they have habitat in which to live.
 Especially true of species that were
extirpated from an area- prairie grizzly
bears, for example.
Non-government
organizations:
 Charities,
not-for-profit organizations,
volunteers and private landowners
contribute to restoring species and
habitat.
 The Nature Conservancy of Canada
 Ducks Unlimited
 Landowners are encouraged to restore
nesting areas through seeding of native
grasses and shrubs.
Restoring a species that has
been extirpated…
 Requires
 Swift
a lot of money and time.
fox- agriculture changed its prairie
habitat; vulnerable to poisoning program
aimed at wolves & coyotes.
 Despite efforts of WWF & Alberta
Government, it is still endangered.
“Purge the Spurge”
 Fish
Creek Park, Calgary (Friends of Fish
Creek)
 Volunteers
gather to hand pull leafy
spurge, a non-native noxious weed that
threatens to take over the park an destroy
wildlife habitat.
Resource use policies…
 Federal
and provincial governments
have laws to protect:
 Endangered species (very few
individuals left in the wild)
 Threatened species (decreasing
rapidly in the wild)
Resource use policies…
 Protected
by law from being
hunted or captured, or in the case
of plants, from being picked or
transplanted.
 National Accord for the Protection
of Species at Risk: signed by all
provinces and territories in 1994
COSEWIC
 Committee
on the Status of Endangered
Wildlife in Canada
 ESCC
(Endangered Species Conservation
Committee)- In Alberta
 Goal
is to prevent species in Canada from
becoming extinct as a result of human
activity.
Controlling the spread of
exotic species:
Purple Loosestrife
 Introduced
from Europe, 1800s
 Germinates & grows faster than any other
wetland species.
 No natural enemies- no bird, mammal, or
fish feeds on it or uses it for shelter.
 Designated as a noxious weed by Alberta
Agriculture.
 Volunteers important.
Conservation of Genetic
Resources
Ex-situ
conservation: refers
to conservation of
components of biological
diversity outside of natural
habitat.
In some cases…
 Ex-situ
conservation offers the only
chance of survival for endangered
species, and plays an important
role in conserving economically
valuable genetic resources for
forest, aquatic, and agricultural
purposes.
Seed banks store varieties of wheat…
Most started as voluntary exchange by
farmers.
Seed banks expanded…
 As
experts learned more about the
importance of biological diversity.
 Keep seeds of wild ancestors of
crop species-useful characteristics
that our advancing technology
might be able to use in the future.
International Plant Genetics Resources
institute (IPGRI)-world seed bank
 Scientists
responsible determine which
country will maintain the seed bank of a
particular species.
 Canada
maintains the seed bank for
barley and oats.
Preserving genes of animals:
 Much
more difficult.
 Egg
and sperm cells can only be stored
for a relatively short time.
 Populations
maintained.
of living animals must also be
Sometimes…
 Animals
are exchanged between zoos
 Breeding takes place using artificial
reproduction technologies
 Some
species, such as the whooping
crane, will breed in captivity, while others
will not.
Check & Reflect
Page
78, #s 1-4