Population and Biodiversity

1
Population and Biodiversity

• What is biodiversity?
• Population biodiversity hotspots (from
  Natures Place, Cincotta Engelman, Pop Action
  Intl)
• Main causes of loss in biodiversity
• People, parks and biodiversity
• Protecting biodiversity through protected spaces
  and informed management

2
Population and Biodiversity

• Biological diversity the variability among
  living organisms from all sources including,
  inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic
  ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which
  they are part this includes diversity within
  species, between species, and of ecosystems.
  (Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio, 1992)
• Biodiversity benefits for humankind
• Consumption goods seafood, timber,
  pharmaceuticals
• Life-support processes water purification and
  storage, removal of carbon dioxide/air
  filtration, pollination, pest, flood landslide
  control
• Life-fulfilling conditions (existence values) -
  beauty, appreciation, recreation
• Conservation of options (option values) - genetic
  diversity for food and health of future
  generations
• Estimated total economic value of the biospheres
  natural ecosystems 33 trillion dollars annually
  1.8 times the entire worlds GNP. An
  interesting benchmark.
• Constanza, R. Nature, May 1997.

3
Population and Biodiversity

• Todays problem unprecedented loss of species
  due to human activity that degrades habitat and
  creates pollution.
• Estimated total number of species today 10
  million.
• Background rate of extinction 1 to 10
  extinctions each decade estimated rate of
  extinction over the last century 100 to 10,000
  species per year
• 1/4 of all mammals, 1/10 of all birds, 1/3 of all
  fish at risk of extinction
• If only 10 of each type of natural habitat
  eventually remains (considered optimistic),
  around 50 of all species are projected to
  survive.

4
Population and Biodiversity

• 25 Global Biodiversity Hotspots
• 25 regions of the world where terrestrial
  biological diversity is most concentrated and the
  threat of loss most severe.
• 12 of Earthss land surface, of which only 2
  are intact, naturally vegetated ecosystems,
  containing 44 of total plant diversity
• 75 of all terrestrial animal species listed as
  threatened by the IUCN are found within the 25
  hotspots.

5
Population and Biodiversity

• Habitat disturbance, loss and fragmentation the
  leading direct cause of extinction.
• Human population growth brings
• Agricultural expansion,
• Water diversion,
• Rural settlement expansion,
• Urban sprawl.
• Consequence habitat and breeding of terrestrial
  and aquatic species highly disturbed.

6
Population and Biodiversity

• Local people and biodiversity historically
  compatible, e.g. traditional ag, gardening,
  fishing hunting systems protect or enhance
  habitats
• Symbiotic relationship between biological
  diversity and sustainable agricultural, pastoral
  and forestry production (Eco-agriculture)
• Protecting biodiversity largely through
  restrictive reserves doesnt work.
• Ecologists/conservation biologists understand how
  to manage habitats and protect species within
  human-managed ecosystems
• IUCN Six Categories of Protected Areas
  Establishing well-managed protected areas may
  provide new approaches to resource management
  based on sustainable use, thereby restoring at
  least part of the balance that has enabled human
  populations to survive. McNeeley/Ness

7
Population and Biodiversity

• 1994 IUCN System for Categorizing Protected Areas
• Strict nature reserve/wilderness area (736 sites)
• National park protected areas managed mainly for
  ecosystem conservation and recreation (1,508
  sites)
• Natural monument protected areas managed mainly
  for conservation of specific features (322 sites)
• Habitat/species management area protected areas
  managed mainly for conservation through
  management intervention (3,955 sites)
• Protected lands/seascape protected areas managed
  mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and
  recreation (2,120 sites)
• Managed resource protected area protected areas
  managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural
  ecosystems

8
Population and Biodiversity

• _______ can claim more threatened species than
  any other U.S. state except Hawaii.
• Seen any grizzly bears lately? The state mammal
  disappeared from Californias forests in _______.

9
Population and Biodiversity

• Not for students.
• People Biodiversity Chart
• Low fertility rate China, Colombia, Mexico,
  Indonesia vs. high fertility in Congo,
  Madagascar, Papa New Guinea and even Philippines.

10
Population and Biodiversity

• Mediating factors for understanding impact of
  population on biodiversity conservation
• Pressure from rural-to-rural migration -
  directed spontaneous colonization
• Agricultural intensification saves land for
  nature but also pollutes
• Urbanization and sprawl patterns of settlement,
  see Nature article on increasing number of
  households even where population growth is
  slowing (e.g. Italy, Brazil)
• Creation of protected areas conservation vs.
  recreation, pressure from bordering populations,
  enforcement capacity
• Global inequality the forces of poverty and
  affluence. Simply put, species loss can create
  economic risks that are chiefly long-term, while
  many of the worlds poor face uncertainty about
  tomorrows meals. Poverty forces people to take
  sustenance from the most unprotected of
  resources.
• Institutions laws, markets, property rights.
  Do they or do they not promote biological
  conservation?