Download Biodiversity

BIODIVERSITY
 EXTINCTION: 40.000 pr. YEAR!?
IS BIODIVERSITY IMPORTANT?!
WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY
Effect of climate on biodiversity
 Disturbance and biodiversity
 The VALUE of BIODIVERSITY
Bio-organizational
hierarchy
Biosphere
Bioms, e.g. rainforest
 Landscapes “Ecosystems”
Communities
landscapes
Communities
SPECIES
Populations; breeding individuals
Individual
Populations
Individual
Fig. 4.2, p. 72
What is biodviresity
• SPECIES RICHNESS = NUMBER OF SPECIES IN A
GIVEN AREA (measurable & comparable)
• TURNOVER OF SPECIES IN LANDSCAPES =
LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY
• NUMBER OF RARE OR ENDEMIC SPECIES
• NUMBER OF SPECIES WITH FEW REALTIVES =
ISOLATED LINAGES
• DIFFRENCES BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS WITHIN
POPULATIONS (GENE DIVERSITY)
BIODIVERSITY IS NOT
BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES
• 2 ISLANDS WITH DIFFERENT
DIVERSITY
30 SPECIES
NON
ARE EDIBLE
5 SPECIES
4 ARE
EDIBLE
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO
LIVE?
POTENTIAL RESOURCE
SPECIES NOT USEFUL
TODAY CAN BE USEFUL
FOR HUMANS IN THE
FUTURE
Biomes: Latitude and Altitude
Elevation
high
Alpine
Tundra
Elevation
Montane
Coniferous
Forest
Deciduous
Forest
low
Tropical
Forest
Tropical Forest
High
Temperate Deciduous
Forest
Northern Coniferous
Forest
Temperature &&
Moisture
Availability
Temperature
Moisture
availability
Arctic Tundra
Low
Fig. 6.18, p. 133
Latitude
Species diversity
Biodiversity: equator to the poles
200
1,000
100
100
0
10
90˚N 60
30
0
Latitude
30˚S 60
80˚N
60
40
Latitude
Fig. 8.3, p. 175
20
0
Biodiversity: elevation gradient
Species richness
agriculture
Low land ---- high land
Common: latitude & elevation
gradient
Altitud
e
Temperature
Production
Growing season
Latitude
Increasing Biodiversity
Many physically diverse habitats

Landscape diversity
Short unfavorable seasons, tropical
Middle stages of ecological succession
Moderate environmental disturbance
AREA
Ecological Succession:
Communities in Transition
Primary succession
Secondary succession
Pioneer species
Successional species
Primary Succession & species
richness
Species richness
biomass
Exposed
Lichens
rocks
and mosses
Small herbs
and shrubs
Heath mat
Jack pine,
black spruce,
and aspen
time
Balsam fir,
paper birch, and
white spruce
climax community
Fig. 8.15, p. 188
Secondary Succession & species
richness
Species richness
biomass
Mature oak-hickory forest
Young pine forest
Annual
weeds
Perennial
weeds and
grasses
Shrubs
time
Biodiversity: succession
Number of species= species richness
Successional time
Biodiversity and biomass
species richness
Increasing biomass
Biodiversity and disturbance
disturbance = reduced biomass
species richness
Increasing disturbance
Biodiversity, succession and
disturbance
species richness
increasing biomass
increasing disturbance
Tropical forest are rich in species
because of large area + many strata
More strata=
more surface=
more species
 Indirect: i.e., small
plants growing in
shade of larger plants
Community Structure: Appearance
and Species Diversity
Stratification
100
30
20
Species richness
50
10
ft
m
Tropical
rain forest
Coniferous
forest
Deciduous
forest
Thorn
forest
Thorn
scrub
Tall-grass
prairie
Short-grass
prairie
Desert
scrub
Specie area curve
Log (species number)
Log(area)
EXTINCTION estimate: how did the 40.000
species pr year appear? Myers 1979
>100 species pr. year including
known and unknown species
guess 1 million species extinct in 25
years = 40,ooo pr year
50 % reduction in rainforest leads
20 % reduction in species (Lovjoy
1980)
vegetation
Origins of Life
Chemical evolution
Biological evolution
Chemical Evolution
(1 billion years)
Formation
of the
earth’s
early
crust and
atmosphere
Small
organic
molecules
form in
the seas
Large
organic
molecules
(biopolymers)
form in
the seas
Biological Evolution
(3.7 billion years)
First
protocells
form in
the seas
Single-cell
prokaryotes
form in
the seas
Single-cell
eukaryotes
form in
the seas
Variety of
multicellular
organisms
form, first
in the seas
and later
on land
Key Concepts
Origins of life
Evolutionary processes
Species formation
Species extinction
Species Extinction
Local extinction
Regional extinction
Biological or total extinction
Ex-situ conservation
e.g. wild relatives of crop plants
Extinction
Background extinction
Mass extinction
Extinction Rates
Background (natural) rate of extinction
Geological Periods
Number of families
of marine animals
Mass
extinction
Carboniferous
Cretaceous
Devonian
Jurassic
Silurian
Triassic
Tertiary
Ordovician
Permian
Quaternary
Cambrian
800
Mass extinctions
600
?
400
200
0
570
505
438
360
408
286
208 144
245
Millions of years ago
65
0
2
Realistic figures
•
•
•
•
•
95 % of earlier species are extinct
1.6 million known species
10 to 80 million unknown species
Natural extinction 2 pr. 10 year
Known extinction 25 pr. 10 year
since 1600 AD
Extinction rate ca. 0.7 % , but since total
number of species is unknown the
percentage is not a good expression
Why Should We Care About
Biodiversity?
Speciation
Speciation Geographic isolation
Reproductive isolation
Northern
population
Early fox
population
Spreads
northward
and
southward
and
separates
Arctic Fox
Different environmental
conditions lead to different
selective pressures and evolution
into two different species.
Southern
population
Gray Fox
Adapted to cold
through heavier
fur, short ears,
short legs, short
nose. White fur
matches snow
for camouflage.
Adapted to heat
through lightweight
fur and long ears,
legs, and nose, which
give off more heat.
Fig. 5.8, p. 113
A thin layer of life in a big void:
app. 20 km
Biosphere
Atmosphere
Biosphere
Vegetation and animals
Soil
Crust
Rock
Diversity in
the biospere
is good and
core
Lithosphere
’a must’ for
evolution to
continue
Mantle
Crust
Crust
(soil and rock)
Biosphere
(Living and dead
organisms)
Hydrosphere
(water)
Lithosphere
(crust, top of upper mantle)
Atmosphere
(air)
Why Should We Care About
Biodiversity?
Value of Nature
Instrumental value
Intrinsic value
Instrumental
Intrinsic
(human centered)
(species or
ecosystem
centered)
Utilitarian
Nonutilitarian
Goods
Existence
Ecological services
Aesthetic
Information
Bequest
Option
Recreation
Nice mammals & ugly creeps:
Have all species equal value?
Many small species
and few big species
• Why is it dangerous to be big?
• Why is it safe to be small?
number
size
Reproductive Patterns and Survival
 Asexual reproduction  r-selected species
 Sexual reproduction  K-selected species
K-Selected Species
elephant
r-Selected Species
saguaro
Fewer, larger offspring
High parental care and protection of offspring
Later reproductive age
Most offspring survive to reproductive age
Larger adults
Adapted to stable climate and environmental
conditions
Lower population growth rate (r)
Population size fairly stable and usually close
to carrying capacity (K)
Specialist niche
High ability to compete
Late successional species
cockroach
dandelion
Many small offspring
Little or no parental care and protection of
offspring
Early reproductive age
Most offspring die before reaching
reproductive age
Small adults
Adapted to unstable climate and environmental
conditions
High population growth rate (r)
Population size fluctuates wildly above and below
carrying capacity (K)
Generalist niche
Low ability to compete
Early successional species
Broad and Narrow Niches
Generalist species
Specialist species
Endangered and Threatened Species
Endangered species
Threatened (vulnerable) species
Rare species
FLAGSHIP SPECIES,
BIG MAMMALS & BIRDS
Florida
manatee
Northern spotted Gray wolf
owl (threatened)
Florida panther Bannerman's
turaco (Africa)
Fig. 22.7a, p. 556
PLANTE
GEOGRAFI
PLANTE GEOGRAFI
• LOKALT SJELDEN
• I UTKANTEN AV UTBREDELSE
OMRÅDET
• GLOBALT SJELDEN
• SJELDEN NATURTYPE I NORGE=
SAND DYNER STRENDER
Sjelden i Norge: Silkenellik
I UTKANTEN AV
UTBREDELSES
OMRÅDET
Sodaurt
PLANTE GEOGRAFI
• SJELDEN NATURTYPE I NORGE
• F. EKS SAND DYNER med fugle og
plante liv
Causes of Premature Extinction of
Wild Species
Habitat
degradation
Introduction
of non-native
species
Habitat
loss
Habitat
degradation
Overfishing
Climate
change
•
•
•
•
Basic Causes
Population growth
Rising resource
use
No environmental
accounting
Poverty
Introducing
nonnative
species
Commercial
hunting
and
poaching
Pollution
Predator
and
pest control
Sale of
exotic pets
and
decorative
plants
Fig. 22.13, p. 564
Why Mountains are important
Mimic latitude
“Islands” = isolation=
speciation = endemics
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse gases
(a) Rays of sunlight penetrate
the lower atmosphere and
warm the earth's surface.
(b) The earth's surface absorbs much of (c) As concentrations of greenhouse
the incoming solar radiation and
gases rise, their molecules absorb
degrades it to longer-wavelength
and emit more infrared radiation,
infrared radiation (heat), which rises
which adds more heat to the
into the lower atmosphere. Some of
lower atmosphere.
this heat escapes into space and some
is absorbed by molecules of
greenhouse gases and emitted as
infrared radiation, which warms the
Fig. 6.13, p. 128
lower atmosphere.
Elevation gradient and climate
change: 1750 AD
No. of individuals
Temperature niche
Alpine plant
 1000 m elevation
= decrease 5 0C
20
10
0
0C
Elevation gradient and climate
change: 2100 AD + 10 degrees
No. of individuals
Temperature niche disappear
Alpine species goes locally
extinct
30
20
10
critical thinking
• Realised versus fundamnetal niche
Fundamental
niche =
only climate
Realised niche
Biotic control
1750 20
10
0
2100 30
20
10
Land Use in the World
Cropland 11%
Urban 2%
Tundra and
wetlands 9%
Desert 20%
Rangeland
and pasture
26%
Forest
32%
Fig. 23.2, p. 586
Emergent
Forest Structure
Birds,
invertebrates,
bats
Canopy
Birds,
reptiles,
amphibians,
lichens, mosses
Understory
Shade-tolerant
plants, birds,
squirrels,
lizards,
chipmunks
Snag
Floor
Rotting debris,
worms,
insects,
bacteria
Subsoil
Bole
Nematodes,
microrganisms
Symbiotic Species Interactions:
Commensalism
 Indirect: i.e., small
plants growing in
shade of larger plants
 Direct: i.e., epiphytes,
remoras
Endangered and Threatened Species
Endangered species
Threatened (vulnerable) species
Rare species
Florida
manatee
Northern spotted Gray wolf
owl (threatened)
Florida panther Bannerman's
turaco (Africa)
Nuclear threat!!!!
Mass extinction
VALUE
of
species
Extinction
Background extinction
Mass extinction