Section Outline1) What is conservation biology?

- Definitions- CB as a synthetic, multidisciplinary science

2) Historical outline of the rise of conservation biology3) Goals, principles and values of conservation biology

Before we can understand conservation biology, we need to look at what we are trying to conserve: generally biodiversity

What is biodiversity? Discuss for 2 mins

What is Biodiversity?

The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit defined "biological diversity" as "the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

What do we depend on the environment (and its biodiversity) for?

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Biodiversity contributes goods and services to

global human welfare – FOR FREE

Population Growth: Where is the tipping point?

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

We are at a critical point in History

If we do not conserve the natural resources on our planet and the population continues to grow…?

BioScience (1985)

What is Conservation Biology?

Ideally, conservation biology should reflect a fluid interaction

between the basic sciences and applied fields of resource management

Challenges...... Ideology, values, outcomes

Brazilian Government‟s National Marine Turtle Conservation

Program (TAMAR)A good example of how basic and applied sciences

worktogether to solve a conservation-related problem

• 5 species• up until the 1980‟s heavily exploited for meat, eggs, shell, fat• declining towards local extinction

From the 1980‟s started collecting data.........

........sightings, nesting locations,reproduction seasons..... AND any issues relating to the species' survival, habitats, and needs.

By 2001 implemented a fully integrated plan

Result: Brazil‟s sea turtle numbers have stabilized and are even increasing.

Scientific knowledge integrated with conservation goals promoted community education and development

TAMAR Monitoring Program...ongoing

Conservation biology is NOT the same as naturalresource management- e.g. fisheries, forestry, wildlife management- focus on the utilitarian, economic value of a small

number of species.

CB takes a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach concerned with long-term (including evolutionary time scales) viability and persistence of whole ecosystems

WHAT CONSERVATION BIOLOGY IS NOT?

Where does the field of conservation biology come from?

Easter Island was colonised in 1200AD. Sub-tropical island covered in palm trees. In 1700AD, Dutch explorers found an island devoid of trees>10m tall. Today, Easter Island is almost a barren land.........• Devoid of native trees – some exotics, rarely forming natural groves• Soil erosion is rife in places• Devoid of native land birds, just a few species of breeding seabirds

Degradation of natural resources is nothing new.......

„Colonial deforestation‟

Mauritius

“The ecological price of Capitalism‟

•an economic system• capital assets are privately owned• brought to market for profit

•the parties to a transaction determine the prices at which assets, goods, and services are exchanged•Thing that are common are usually cheaper. Rarer, more desired things are more expensive

An emerging philosophy & the guiding principles of Conservation Biology

An emerging philosophy......1. Intrinsic, moral, ethical reasons to conserve…….

Romantic-Transcendental Conservation Ethic: Emerson, Thoreau, andlater Muir: took a quasi-religious view of nature – seeing nature as home

•natural areas and species have intrinsic, spiritual value•a view to preserve “wildness”•strongly opposed to harvesting these resources and destroying nature.

2. Biodiversity has a "demand value"

Resource Conservation Ethic or Utilitarianism: Benefits to human - Species and habitats provide goods & services that are valuable to humans.

3. A functioning system…….

Evolutionary - Ecological “Land Ethic‟ •ecosystems are equilibrial systems of species interactingwith the environment•effective functioning of systems (stable systems) required that 'all cogs in the wheel' be present

„The organism cannot survive and function without all its organs; would you survive without a liver?‟ F.E. Clements

GAIA Hypothesis – James Lovelock (1975)„Earth as a single living super-

organism‟•life regulates the Earth's systems to providethe optimum conditions for itself

•Where did the nitrogen in the atmosphere come from? Why was the proportion of atmospheric oxygen just within the safety zone? Why wasn't the sea far more salty? Why hasn't all that water boiled off into space?

•having found an ecological niche, all creatures – elephants, ants, orchids and economists – tend to maintain their environments to their own advantage

fuel…

ECOSYSTEM SERVICESProvisioning

• Food• Water• Wood &

Regulating

• Climate• Flood

water• Disease…

Cultural• Aesthetic• Spiritual• Educationa

l…

Supporting• Nutrien

t cycling

• Soilformation

• Primaryproduction…

LIFE ON EARTH - BIODIVERSITY

HUMAN WELL-BEING

Security• Personal safety• Resource

access• Avoid

disastersBasic materials• Livelihoo

ds• Sufficien

t food• Shelter

Freedom of choice &

action

Opportunity to be able to achieve what an individual values doing & being

Health• Strength &

wellness• Clean air &

waterSocial relations• Social cohesion• Mutual respect• Helping

others…

„Mass Extinction of Honey Bees Will Cause

One-Third of Food Supply To Disappear‟• 1/3 of our food production relies on honeybees for pollination• 130 crop species in the US alone pollinated by honeybees• in 2012, US and UK reported that 1/3 loss of honeybees. Italy

reported50% loss

COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER• viruses, bacterial infections, insecticides, stress.......

• 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen• pesticides are a key problem

“We believe that some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticideexposure and other stressors are converging to kill colonies”

Jeffery Pettis, ARS Bee Research Laboratory

In Alabama, a single bee pollinates approximately $75 worth of berriesby visiting nearly 50,000 blueberry flowers in a year.

• Benefit of managed & native pollinators to consumers ~$1.6 billion

• When native pollinators unavailable to service crops, estimated valueof managed honeybees rises to ~$8.3 billion

• The benefit of all other pollinators to US agriculture is between $4.1 and

$6.7 billion annually

(Source: Ecological Society of America)http://www.esa.org/ecoservices/comm/body.comm.fact.poll.html

GOALS & PRINCIPLESOF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

1) to conserve the biological environment

2) to establish workable methods for preserving species and their biological communities

3) to provide principles & tools for preserving biological diversity.

Task: To be finished as homeworkPart A: Conservation Biology

Put together a detailed mind-map with the following information: This can be drawn by hand or done on computer using software like https://www.mindmup.com/#m:new

1. How are humans dependent on the natural environment?2. What is Conservation Biology?3. What academic disciplines are involved in conservation

biology? 4. What kind of professionals does the field of conservation

make use of? 5. What are the goals of conservation biology?

Part B: Short essay ( 1 page)

Reflect on one of the two questions below: Is the field of Conservation Biology useful? Slightly Easier: Is Biodiversity worth conserving?