Threats to Biodiversity

Victoria Bone
Stefanie Hoffer
Kim Stauffer
Biodiversity
 The variety of life, in genes and species, that inhabit the ecosystems of the
earth
 Important because:
 Greater variety of crops

 Natural sustainability

 Recovery from disasters

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 Ecosystem services

 Biological resources

 Social benefits
Biodiversity
 Threats:
 Human Disreguard/Carelessness: Pollution,
Overhunting, Invasive Species
 Population Growth

 Biggest threats to biodiversity within an

ecosystem deal with the elimination of a
keystone species
Invasive Species
 non-native to the ecosystem
whose introduction causes
economic or environmental harm
or harm to human health
 Second only to climate change in QuickTime™ and a
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 Implicated in the extinction of

many species
 Introduced by human involvement
primarily
 (ex., soil with a population of http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2007/03/hop-to-it.html
native insects to another country)
 Also introduced by nature
 (ex., flood carries microbial to
another ecosystem)
 Invasive Species
 Impact in many ways:
 Direct mechanisms

 (ex., competing for same

food resource in the QuickTime™ and a
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 Indirect mechanisms

 (ex., a new plant creates

cover and enables prey to
hide from predator,
skewing the food d=3461697

pyramid) http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=mcgee_ryan&i

 Usually reach much higher

densities in their new areas
than they do in their native
habitat
Impacts of Bufo marinus

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Impact of Bufo marinus
 Since toxins do not leach
in lethal quantities from B.
marinus eggs into
solution, and native
tadpoles that die after
consuming B. marinus
eggs or larvae are not QuickTime™ and a
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feed on their carcasses,
the mortality of L. ornatus
tadpoles observed in
experiments 1 and 2 can
be attributed to the
consumption of Bufo
eggs and hatchlings.
Contributor to Success

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 Spread of Cane
Toads in
Australia

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Invasive Species

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Pollution’s effect on
Biodiversity
 Coral Reefs
 Coral Reefs cover 1% of the world’s
oceans
 25% of all marine species live in
coral reefs
 And even more species use
coral reefs as well, mostly as a
nursery for larvae or juvenile
stages.
 Most commercially fished species
have a connection to coral reefs
Coral Reefs
 Coral Reefs can only survive
in oceans with clear water and
few nutrients at the ideal
temperature and depth.

 Backbone of coral reef is the

coral polyp

 The Coral is a small organism

that lives symbiotically with
Zooxanthelle
 A photosynthetic
dinoflagellate
Coral Reefs and Pollution
 Pollution mostly from fertilizers or
sewage causes increase of nutrients

 More nutrients cause increase of

algae growth

 This decreases the oxygen and

turbidity

 The photosynthetic Zooxanthelle

cannot get enough light and coral
dies
Loss of Biodiversity
 Loss of biodiversity come
from death of coral.
 Which reduces the number
of fish nurseries and amount
of food.
 Many larval organisms die
and adults are few.

Commercial Importance
 Reduced numbers of
commercially fished fish
 Loss of possibilities for
research
 The biggest threat to biodiversity:

Loss of Keystone Species

A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionate effect on
its environment relative to its abundance. Such species affect many
other organisms in an ecosystem and help to determine the types
and numbers of various others species in a community.
The prairie
dog has long
been hated
by farmers
and
ranchers, but
it is vital to
many prairie
species.

This gopher-tortoise is a an endangered

keystone species, under protection in
Mobile Country, AL.
 KRILL

Keystone species
in the Antarctic

zoology.muohio.edu/oris/ZOO121/notes/Envs2003_07.htm
Otters are a keystone species on the
Western Coasts of the US because they
maintain the kelp beds; their predators are
whales, sharks, and humans. http://cbc.amnh.org/crisis/foodweb.html
 Mountain Tapirs

Mountain tapirs, living in

the cloud forests of the
Andes, are near
extinction due to
destruction trends in their
homes.
Hunting, Habitat Destruction, and Encroachment
by humans are the most serious threats.
http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Perissodactyla/Tapirus_pinchaque.html
Importance of Conservation of
Tapirs
 Long distance seed dispersal by tapirs increases seed survival and
aggregates tropical trees; as tapirs disappear, so do certain plants
like the majestic Quindean wax palm, Columbia’s national tree

 Causes:
 Coffee Plantations, Opium Fields

 Forests converted to open grassland with slash and burn for

high-altitude cattle farming
 Overhunting: vulnerable to hunts by loggers, poor families

 Population Growth
 Keystone Predator:
Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf
 Removed from
Endangered Currently there are
Species List 1500 wolves and
February 2008, 100 breeding pairs
after only having
been reintroduced
into Idaho and
Wyoming in 1984
 Conservation
Success Story?
 "The wolf population in the Northern
Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal
and continues to expand its size and range.
States, tribes, conservation groups, federal
agencies and citizens of both regions can
be proud of their roles in this remarkable
conservation success story” -Deputy
Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett
 Republican governor of Idaho, C.
L. "Butch" Otter: He hopes to be
the first to legally shoot a wolf in
Idaho, as soon as the animals
lose ESA protection, and wants no
more than the federal minimum
recovery target of 100. There
are 650 now. ( It is now legal, and
the 2009 limit was 220 wolves.)
A represents three populations of grey wolves. B
represents the original populations.
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ph&AN=46987264
Conclusion
 The most major threats to biodiversity:
 Human Disregard and Carelessness
 Population Growth: Estimated based on
expected human population growth forecast
a 7% increase in number of threatened
species by 2020, and a 14% increase by
2050!
Hard thing to fix!
 We must abate growth to conserve
biodiversity on a global scale!
 We must consider very carefully any
species we eliminate or insert into an
ecosystem!
 Cites
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Questions?