Conservation biology

• Global change


  Widespread effects on the global ecosystem
• Biodiversity


  A community's biological diversity, including species richness and relative abundance
• The rapid loss of biodiversity affects our lives and is a direct result of human dominance over the environment
• Why should we care about the extinction of species and loss of biodiversity?

  • Our sense of connection to nature and other forms of life (biophilia)
  • Our dependence on vital ecosystem services
  • Practical reasons to preserve biodiversity
• Biodiversity includes


  • Ecosystem diversity
  • Species diversity
  • Genetic diversity
• Ecosystem diversity


  • Clear-cut areas in British Columbia's Great Bear rainforest
  • Grassland ecosystems in North America lost to agriculture and development
  • Vancouver Island's diverse ecosystems
• The world's natural ecosystems are rapidly disappearing, with nearly half of the earth's forests already gone
• Vancouver Island has the most diverse range of ecosystems in Canada, but these habitats are at risk due to human activities
• About half of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed by human activities or are threatened, and scientists predict all corals will be threatened by 2050
• Freshwater ecosystems are deteriorating, with tens of thousands of species living in lakes and rivers that supply food and water for many terrestrial species, including humans
• Ecosystem services


  Services provided free of charge by healthy ecosystems, such as water purification and filtration
• Groundwater


  Occurs in permeable, saturated, underground layers of rock called aquifers, and is the most important water reservoir in North America
• In North America, more than 96% of all fresh water is groundwater, and about 25% of the water used for all purposes and 50% of the population's drinking water is groundwater, especially in rural areas
• Increased concentrations of chlorine may be required to effectively kill microorganisms in water, but chlorine is also harmful to aquatic ecosystems
• Extirpation


  The loss of a species from a local ecosystem while it remains in others
• Extinction


  The irreversible disappearance of all populations of a particular species
• Over 20 species were declared extinct in 2019, including three bird species, two frogs, a shark, a snail, and one of the world's largest freshwater fish
• In 2020, 32 orchid species were extirpated in Bangladesh, the smooth handfish off the coast of Tasmania was declared extinct, 17 freshwater fish from Lake Lanao in the Philippines were declared extinct, and 22 frog species in Central and South America were declared "critically endangered (possibly extinct)"
• Several species were declared extinct in 2023, but all of them had not been seen in nature for several years
• The number of species in danger of extinction during your lifetime is far greater than the number that became extinct with the dinosaurs
• It is estimated that current extinction rates are around 100 times greater than the natural rate of extinction
• 99% of the New Brunswick bat population is now gone due to white nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in North America
• White nose syndrome


  A fungal disease that affects bats by disrupting their hibernation cycle and damaging their wing membranes, causing massive damage and leading to their death
• The fungus that causes white nose syndrome was brought over inadvertently by travellers from Europe to a bat cave near Albany, New York in 2007, and has since spread rapidly across North America
• The loss of bats has led to an increase in insect populations, including those that eat trees and food crops, increased use of pesticides, and increased food prices
• Several species of bats in North America, including the little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, and tri-colored bat, are at risk of extinction due to white nose syndrome
• Elephant, rhinoceros, gorilla, chimpanzee, and lion are all endangered or critically endangered species
• Endangered species


  A species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range
• Threatened species


  A species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future
• GLOBAL CHANGE has widespread effects on the global ecosystem/biosphere
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global environmental network that keeps track of the status of species worldwide, and their 2018 assessment found a large proportion of reptiles and amphibians are considered threatened, indicating the declining health of freshwater ecosystems
• 5 major threats to biodiversity caused by humans

  • Pollution
  • Global Climate Change
• The cheetah has been classified as vulnerable for the last 9 IUCN assessments, due to factors like human-wildlife conflict, hunting, war and civil unrest, and inbreeding leading to low genetic diversity
• Air pollution


  A major problem in the world's cities
• In Canada, the Species at Risk Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) protect species and their associated ecosystems, and internationally, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) provides protection
• Brown-air cities


  • New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Hamilton, Saint John
• There are practical consequences for human well-being associated with the loss of biodiversity and endangered species
• Pollutants in brown-air cities

  Sulfur oxides emitted by industry
• Gray-air cities


  • Los Angeles
• Pollutants in gray-air cities

  Undergo chemical reactions in the sunlight