Extinction

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 What is Extinction?
 Extinction occurs when the last existing member of a
given species dies
 In other words…there aren’t any more left!
 Itis a scientific certainty when there are not any
surviving individuals left to reproduce
 Functional Extinction
 Only a handful of individuals are left
 Odds of reproduction are slim
 Causes of Extinction
Genetics and Demographics
Small populations = increased risk
Mutations
Causes a flux in natural selection
Beneficial genetic traits are overruled
Loss of Genetic Diversity
Shallow gene pools promote massive inbreeding
Causes Con’t.
Habitat Degradation
One of the most influential
Has many causes
Some due to humans
Some due to other factors
Habitat Degradation
Toxicity
Kills off species directly through food/water
Indirectly via sterilization
Can occur in short spans (a single generation)
Can occur over several generations
Increasing toxicity
Increasing competition for habitat resources
Habitat Degradation

 Destruction of Habitat
 “Save the Rainforests!”
 Elimination of living space
 Change in habitat
 Rainforest to pasture lands
 Leads to diminishing resources
 Increases competition
 Can be caused by natural processes
 Volcanoes, floods, drought, etc…
Causes Con’t.

Predation
Competition
Disease
Coextinction
Mass Extinction
Planned Extinction
 Predation
Introduction of predators
Invasive alien species
Transported by humans
Cattle, rats, zebra muscles, etc…
Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not
Can eat other species
Eat food sources
Introduce diseases
 Coextinction
 The loss of one species leads to the loss of another
 Chain of extinction
 Can be caused by small impacts in the beginning
A predator looses its food source
 Affected by interconnectedness in nature
 Mass Extinction
 Aka: an extinction event
A sharp decrease in the number of species on Earth
in a short period of time
 Coincides with a sharp drop in speciation
 The process by which new biological species arise
 There have been at least 5
 Last one was 65M years ago
Mass Extinction Diagram
 Mass Extinction
 Nearly2/3rds (or more) of all animal species that
ever existed on the planet are now gone.
With contemporary extinction being attributed to HUMAN
activity.

 Numerous factors go into the extinction of a

specific species.
Though all point the finger to climate change.
 Mass Extinction
 Began about three-million years ago (Continental
Glaciations).

 Hypotheses for initial extinction:

 Sea level depletion vs. Temperature decrease

 Though these hypotheses aren’t mutually exclusive, they

may have conspired together.
Mass Extinctions

1. Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction (65).

2. End Triassic Extinction (200).
3. Permian Triassic Extinction (250).
4. Late Devonian Extinction (364).
5. Ordovician-Silurian Extinction (440).

(#= millions of years ago)

Planned Extinction

 Human controlled
 Thought of to help humans
 Deadly viruses
 Smallpox
 Extinct in the wild
 Polio
 Near extinct (only in small parts of the world)
Natural Causes
of Extinction
Climatic Heating and Cooling
 Changes in Sea Level or Currents

 www.johnstonsarchive.net/spaceart/cylmaps.html
 Asteroids

 Causes complete devastation

 Flattening and crater at
or around impact site-hundreds of miles wide
 Reverberations felt around the world
 Cosmic Radiation

 www.iit.edu/~ipro313s/home.html
Acid Rain

 Kills acid intolerant

species
Disease/Epidemics
 Can wipe out entire
species
 Frog with fungus
disease
 Killing
frogs and other
amphibians
Spread of Invasive Species
Natural factors usually occur at a slower rate
and therefore cause a low extinction rate.
Human activities occur at a faster rate and
cause higher extinction rates. Human
activities are mostly responsible for the
present extinction rates.

http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/sustain/extinct.pdf
Human Causes of
Extinction
 Top Human Causes of
Extinction:
Increased human population
Destruction/Fragmentation of habitat
Pollution
Climate change/Global warming
Extinctions caused by humans are generally considered to
be a recent phenomena. HOWEVER:
•In Australia—earliest humans: 64,000 years ago
extinction—30,000-60,000
years ago

•In the Americas—80% of large animals became

extinct around the same time as first human presence there
Based on these, and other
studies done by The
international Union for
Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources (IUCN),
human induced extinctions are
not necessarily a new
phenomena. However,
extinction by humans today is
becoming much more rapid.
The rapid loss of species today is estimated by some experts to
be between 100 and 1,000 times higher than the natural
extinction rate, while others estimate rates as high as 1,000-
11,000 times higher.
 Habitat Degradation
Habitat loss and degradation affect 86% of all
threatened birds, 86% of mammals and 88% of
threatened amphibians
 Climate change/Global Warming
John W. Williams from UW-Madison suggests that changes in
regions such as the Peruvian Andes, portions of the Himalayas
and southern Australia could have a profound impact on
indigenous plants and animals
Williams and his research partners used computer models to
estimate how various parts of the world would be affected by
regional changes consistent with the IPCC's climate models.
Their findings indicated that “By the end of the 21st century, large
portions of the Earth’s surface may experience climates not found
at present and some 2th century climates may disappear.”
 Their studies also suggest isolated climates such as the Peruvian
Andes could change drastically enough to lead to species
extinctions.

The climate change might also create new climates, providing new
opportunities for other species to thrive, Williams said.

Regions where novel

climates are expected
to form in tropical and
subtropical regions
include the western
Sahara, southeastern
U.S. and eastern India.
Extinction Hotspots
Where and what are hotspots?

 “The concept of biodiversity hotspots was

penned by British ecologist Norman Myers in
1988 as a means to address the dilemma of
identifying the areas most important for
preserving species.” (national geographic)

 Hotspots are included in 6 continents

excluding Antarctica.

 Hotspots are heavily distributed along shore

lines and near the equator.
 Hotspots are effected by many factors including
 Logging
 Agriculture
 Hunting
 Climate change
 Government

 Hotspots can be added and removed from the classification of “hotspot” by

what recovery or lack of prevention is taking place in each area.
What is required to be considered
a hotspot
 “The region must support at least 1,500 plant species found
nowhere else in the world, and it must have lost at least 70
percent of its original habitat.”
Interactive maps

 http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/home/inter
active_map.xml

 http://www.zeroextinction.org/pointmapper/azefiles/index.h
tml
What is Biodiversity?
 Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms
for a given biome or ecosystem
 Boosts Ecosystem productivity
 Measure of the health of a biological system
Benefits of Biodiversity

 Food and drink

 Medicines
 Industrial materials
 Ecological services
 Leisurely, cultural, and
 aesthetic values
Causes of Biodiversity Loss
 Pollution
 Loss of tropical forest
 Spread of urban areas
 Warfare
 Large dam construction
 Road building
 Tourism
 Loss of traditional lifestyles
 Consequences of Biodiversity Loss
 Loss of food
 Decrease in biomass
 Collapse of food web
 Loss of keystone species
 Reduction of ecosystem
efficiency and community
productivity
 Loss of medicinal supplies
 Increased vulnerability of
species to disease and
predation
 Crops
MONOCULTURE OF CROPS LETS THE YIELD BECOME
SUSCEPTIBLE TO PESTS OR VIRUSES
75% OF CROP VARIETIES ARE EXTINCT
DUE TO THE SPREAD OF MODERN AGRICULTURE
Tropical Forest Cutting
 Cover 13% of Earth
 Home to 50% of all known plant and animal
species
 FAO reports 15.4 million hectares are destroyed
annually
The Convention on Biological
Diversity
Mission Statement
“The objectives of this convention are the
conservation of biological diversity,
sustainable use of its components and the fair
and equitable sharing of the benefits arising
out of the utilization of genetic resources.”

 Since it was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in

1992, 189 countries have signed and implemented it. The
United States signed it in 1993 but has yet to put it into action
still today
The Convention on Biological
Diversity
2010 Biodiversity Target

Members adopted a plan to significantly reduce the

present rate of biodiversity loss at the global,
regional and national level by the year 2010.
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