Biodiversity

 Genetic, species, and habitat diversity

 Ecosystem services:
 Provisioning, Regulating, Cultural, and
Supporting.
 Consequences to anthropogenic
disruption are ecological and economical!
 More diversity increases the chance of an
ecosystem recovering after a disturbance.
 What are the justifications for
preventing extinction?
 Ecological: Ecosystem role is important
 Utilitarian: We need them for food,
medicine, fuel, etc.
 Aesthetics, recreational or cultural:
Majestic beauty, joy or symbol.
 Moral and Ethical: Nature has a right to
exist.
Forests and Fisheries
Parks and Wilderness
(Chapter 6: Ethics and economics)

 Who should pay?

 Who should regulate?
 How should laws be written?
 Why aren’t things getting
better?
 UN Declared 2010-2020 the
decade on biodiversity
 2021 – 2030 Ecosystem
Restoration
What causes extinction (extirpation)?
 Population risk: variations of birth and
death rates cause decline.
 Environmental risk: predators, weather,
and food sources.
 Natural catastrophe: Fire, floods, and
volcanoes, meteorite impacts.
 Genetic risk: low genetic diversity
 Global vs local extinctions
 All individuals in a local area may die off,
but others far away are still in existence.
 Least Tern – endangered in San Diego

San Diego Audubon Society

 Beach crustaceans going locally extinct
Posted on July 5, 2013 by literarysurfer

SANTA BARBARA – Two species of

small, sand-dwelling crustaceans – key
prey for shorebirds – are disappearing
from beach ecosystems in southern
California, according to a new study,
funded in part by California Sea Grant.
“These beach invertebrates have gone
locally extinct at about 60 percent of the
beach sites where they were reported a
century ago,” said UC Santa Barbara
beach ecologist Jenifer Dugan, a co-
author on the paper, which draws on
historical and modern field data to
reconstruct trends in the animals’
abundances since 1905 at sites from
Santa Barbara to San Diego.
“Wetlands and rocky intertidal habitats are recognized as threatened
ecosystems in California,” he said. “This study shows that the upper
intertidal beach ecosystem in Southern California is also imperiled and, in
my opinion, in need of more protection and restoration.”
Ecological Restoration – Ch 11 & 12
What is Ecological Restoration?
 Ecological Restoration
 Provides assistance to
the recovery of an
ecosystem that has
been degraded,
damaged, or destroyed.
(Adversely affected)
What happened in Florida?
(Marjory Stoneman Douglas:
“River of Grass”!)
http://www.
everglade
splan.org/
about/lear
n_evergla
des.aspx
 Florida Everglades
Attempts to manage the ecosystem have left
less than 50% of the original system intact.

 The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration

Plan is a large scale plan
to rectify some of these
problems and is currently
significantly underway.
Kissimmee Before Kissimmee After
Channelization Channelization
Portion of the Kissimmee Restoration Plan
What is happening in San
Diego? http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/pds/mscp/
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2017/may/31/scientists-track-
endangered-sea-turtles-san-diego-/
San Diego’s Invasive Species
 Non-native = alien species = non-
indigenous = exotic
 Organisms can be introduced to an
ecosystem in many ways including humans
(intentional or by accident), other
organisms, water, or wind.
 Not all non-native species become
invasive.
 Many new species perish in their new
environment.
Factors for turning invasive
 No competitors, parasites or predators to
regulate population growth are in the new
ecosystem. (r-strategists)
 Non-natives include ornamental plants in
landscaping, crops, pets and other
organisms typically considered non-
threatening.
 There are several definitions for invasive
species.
Feral Cats https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cats-kill-more-one-billion-birds-each-year

http://www.feralcat.com/
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cats-kill-more-one-billion-birds-
each-year
 Feral Pigs
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/29/pigs-sandiegocounty-eradiction-
carcasses/
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-pigs-feral-eradicate-backcountry-
2016apr20-story.html
http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/11/02/more-
than-100-cats-found-in-lakeside-home/
Zebra mussel larvae (called veligers) are microscopic in size and are
undetectable by the human eye. They can be unknowingly transported in
boat live wells and bait buckets or anything that carries small amounts of
water. USGS
Issues
 Burden infrastructure (pipes, power plants, etc.)
 Serious issue in western US.
 Compete for resources with native species
 Filter the water causing less turbidity
 Clarity (changes photic levels, camouflage)
 Few predators in United States
 Crayfish, birds (ducks) and fish.
 Not considered delicious to humans
 Too small to be a viable food source
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.as
hx?DocumentID=42636&inline

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Cons
ervation/Invasives/Quagga-
Mussels
http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recreation/w
atercraft/quaggamussels.shtml
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/africa/ape-trafficking-bonobos-
orangutans.html?hpw&rref=world&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-
region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Pangolin – MOST TRAFFICED
SPECIES IN THE WORLD
Endangered Species Act
When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in
1973, it recognized that our rich natural heritage is of “esthetic,
ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation
and its people.” It further expressed concern that many of our nation’s
native plants and animals were in danger of becoming extinct.
The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled
species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. It is administered
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Commerce Department’s
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The FWS has primary
responsibility for terrestrial and freshwater organisms, while the
responsibilities of NMFS are mainly marine wildlife such as whales and
anadromons fish such as salmon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/grants/grant-programs.html
 Endangered Species: Current
Status
 The term endangered species as defined by the
The term endangered species as defined by the
Endangered Species Act
 “Any species which is in danger of extinction throughout
all or a significant portion of its range…”
 With the exception of insect pests
 The term threatened species
 “Means any species which is likely to become an
endangered species w/in the foreseeable future
throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”
The law requires federal agencies, in
consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and/or the NOAA Fisheries Service, to
ensure that actions they authorize, fund, or
carry out are not likely to jeopardize the
continued existence of any listed species or
result in the destruction or adverse modification
of designated critical habitat of such species.
The law also prohibits any action that causes a
"taking" of any listed species of endangered fish
or wildlife. Likewise, import, export, interstate,
and foreign commerce of listed species are all
generally prohibited.
The Good News…
 Thanks to people, many previously
endangered species have recovered
 Aleutian goose
 Elephant seal

 Sea otter

 Blue whale

 Bald eagle

 Osprey
Hoover’s Woolly Star
 Number of species listed as threatened or
endangered is increasing
 International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) maintains a list known as the
Red List
 https://www.iucn.org/

 http://www.iucnredlist.org/search
 CITES:
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is
an international agreement between
governments. Its aim is to ensure that
international trade in specimens of wild animals
and plants does not threaten their survival.
Lacey Act:
prohibits interstate transport of
wild animals dead or alive
without federal permit.
It is unlawful to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase
fish, wildlife or plants that are taken, possessed, transported,
or sold: 1) in violation of U.S. or Indian law, or 2) in interstate
or foreign commerce involving any fish, wildlife, or plants
taken possessed or sold in violation of State or foreign law.
U.S. Fish and Wildllife
 Can a Species Be Too
Abundant?
 Protected animals can become locally

overabundant
 Sea lions in San Francisco Harbors
 Sun themselves on boat
 Pollute water with feces

 Mountain lions in CA
 People living in lion hunting grounds
 More frequent human attacks
Fragmentation is caused by:
 Roads and freeways
 Transportation
 Urbanization
 Oil, gas, and power lines
 Dams
 Agriculture
 Mining
 Deforestation
Ecological Islands and Endangered
Species
 Ecological Island
 Areas that are biologically isolated

 Examples: islands,
small city parks (ex:
Central Park in NYC)
and large nature
preserves are both
isolated
Ecological Islands and Endangered Species
 How large must an ecological island be to
ensure survival of a species?
 Depends on species requirements
 Which species is
dominant in the
first box?
 Do they have the
same species
richness?
 Do they have the
same diversity and
evenness?
E = 2.3 / ln (10)
Lincoln Index
 Estimated population = (N1 x N2)
R
 N1 = # of individuals tagged

 N2 = # of individuals recaptured

 R = # of recaptured individuals with tags.

 Lincoln Index Estimate
A biologist nets 45 largemouth bass from a farm pond, tags their fins,
and releases them unharmed. A week later, she nets 58 bass from the
pond, including 26 with tags. Based on the Lincoln index, estimate the
number of bass in the pond.

P = (45 x 58)/ 26 = 100

Limits
 Tagging may injure or kill an animal.
 Tags may fall off. (Some animals molt.)
 Tags may increase or decrease
predation.
 Animals may become more or less
fearful of people and/or traps.
Getting the best numbers
 Samples must be taken often enough for
births and immigration/emigration not to
effect numbers.
 Samples must be random.
 Sample size must be relative to the
population.
Getting the numbers
 You need to know the animals well
enough to know how to safely
capture/release them.
 You need to know the climate and terrain.
 You need enough time to collect enough
specimens.
 What is Ecological Restoration?
 Principles for Restoration
1. Ecosystems are dynamic, not static
2. No simple set of rules will be applicable to a
specific restoration project
3. Adaptive management, using the best science,
is necessary for restoration to succeed
4. Careful consideration of ecosystems (life),
geology (rocks, soils), and hydrology (water)
plays an important role in all restoration
projects
 What is Natural?
 Ecosystems pass through many
stages- they are all natural
 Predominant belief that left
undisturbed an ecosystem would
achieve a single condition that
would persist indefinitely
Wetland, Rivers, and Streams
 Estimated that US has lost about 50% of
its wetlands
 California has lost 90% of its wetlands
Prairie Restoration
 Prairie once
occupied more land
in US than any
other kind of
ecosystem
 Only a few
remnants remain
 Land converted to
agriculture
Reclamation
 Restoring land degraded by mining
Applying Ecological Knowledge
 Reclaiming mined land
 Remove toxic pollutants
 Restore biological production
 Restore attractiveness of landscape

 Ecological approach has been successful

 Planting early successional species
Criteria Used to Judge Success of
Restoration
 Depends on:
 Details of projects
 Target (reference) ecosystem to which the
restored ecosystem is compared
 Varies between projects, but there are a
few general criteria
Criteria Used to Judge Success
 New ecosystem has
 General structure and process of the target
ecosystem
 Physical environment (hydrology, soils, rocks)
capable of sustainability
 Appropriate integration with the larger landscape
 Minimal levels of risks to its stability
 Adaptations to withstands disturbances such as
windstorm and fire
 The ability to be nearly as self-sustaining as the target
ecosystem
Bog succession
Single-Species Wildlife Management (wrong)
 Each species viewed as a single
population in isolation
 Assumptions:
 Population only represented by a single
number-total size
 Population would grow to its carrying
capacity
 Environment, except for human-induced
changes, is constant
 This perception illustrated by the S-shaped
logistic growth equation
 Two management goals resulted:
 For a species we intend to harvest: maximum
sustainable yield (MSY)
 For a species we intend to conserve: keep
population at its carrying capacity
 Maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
 Exactly one-half of the carrying capacity
 Over estimating MSY will lead to overharvesting