8 Conservation and Biodiversity
Introduction
Humans, like all species, depend on certain natural resources for survival. We depend on land and soils to grow crops, which transform solar energy into food. We use the Earth’s freshwater lakes, rivers, and groundwater for drinking. We rely on the atmosphere to provide us with oxygen and to shield us from radiation. We rely on Earth’s biodiversity for food, clothing, and medicines. We utilize all of the “basic four” (biodiversity, land, water, air) for recycling of nutrients and disposal of waste. Natural ecosystems, as Odum suggests, provide services for all species: they maintain soil, renew the atmosphere, replenish freshwater supplies, dispose of wastes, and recycle nutrients. In our dependence on these services, we are like all other species.
Yet in many ways, we do not behave like other species. We supplement food and animal energy with fossil fuel energy. We harvest natural resources to exhaustion, and produce waste beyond levels that the Earth can process. We alter biodiversity, land, water, air and fossil fuels beyond nature’s ability to repair. As you learned in your study of population biology, our population has grown beyond Earth’s carrying capacity, compounding problems of resource use and waste disposal. Only recently have we learned to appreciate the full value of these resources – and the potential for harm from our own activities. Our economics have not caught up to our relatively new understanding: we do not yet pay the costs of maintaining all of “nature’s services.”
This lesson will explore biodiversity – the “millions of organisms and hundreds of processes – operating to maintain a livable environment.” The topic is timely, critical, and colorful: you will encounter warnings of a Biodiversity Crisis and the Sixth Extinction (created by the Anthropocene), and species identified as “an Elvis taxon” or “a Lazarus taxon.” More importantly, by the end of your study, you will have some tools you can use in your daily life to help protect the great diversity of Earth’s life.
What is Biodiversity?
“The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the pieces.” –attributed to Aldo Leopold, but probably a shortened version of: “To save every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” – Aldo Leopold, Round River: from the Journals of Aldo Leopold, 1953
What are the “cogs” and “wheels” of life?
Although the concept of biodiversity did not become a vital component of biology and political science until nearly 40 years after Aldo Leopold’s death in 1948, Leopold – often considered the father of modern ecology – would have likely found the term an appropriate description of his “cogs and wheels.” Literally, biodiversity is the many different kinds (diversity) of life (bio-). Biologists, however, always alert to levels of organization, have identified three measures of life’s variation. Species diversity best fits the literal translation: the number of different species (see the chapter on Evolution of Populations ) in a particular ecosystem or on Earth (Figure below). A second measure recognizes variation within a species: differences among individuals or populations make up genetic diversity. Finally, as Leopold clearly understood, the “cogs and wheels” include not only life but also the land (and sea and air) which supports life. Ecosystem diversity describes the many types of functional units formed by living communities interacting with their environments.
Although all three levels of diversity are important, the term biodiversity usually refers to species diversity. How many species do you think exist on Earth? What groups of species do you think are most abundant? Consider your own experience, and your study of biology up to this point. Think carefully, and write down your answer or exchange ideas with a classmate before you read further.
The most accessible definition of biodiversity is species diversity. How many species exist on Earth?
What is the Species Diversity of Earth?
There are three good answers to this question. As a member of one of Earth’s most intriguing species, you should know them all!
1) Scientists have identified about 1.8 million species. (Figure below)
Among 1.8 million identified species (A), 1,315,378 are Animals (B), 287,655 are Plants (C), and only 259 are Archaebacteria. The Animal Kingdom is dominated by the Class Insecta, and the Plant Kingdom is dominated by flowering plants.
The relative numbers of species in each of the six kingdoms of life is shown in Figure A above. The Animal Kingdom (dominated by the Insects, as shown in Figure B above) includes the great majority of known species, and Archaebacteria, by far the fewest. Most scientists agree that Eubacteria and Archaebacteria are seriously underrepresented, due to their small size and chemistry-based diversity. This leads to a second, and perhaps better answer to our question:
2) No One Knows How Many Species Currently Live on Earth!
Does this lack of knowledge surprise you? Scientists are still discovering new species – not only microorganisms but also plants, animals, and fungi. At least 5 new species of marsupials, 25 primates, 3 rabbits, 22 rodents, 30 bats, 4 whales or dolphins, a leopard, and a sloth were identified between 2000 and 2007 – and these include only mammals! The vast majority of Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protist, and even Insect species may be yet unknown because their small size, remote habitats, and the chemical distinctions between species make them so difficult to detect. These challenges, however, have not prevented scientists from estimating Earth’s biodiversity – bringing us to the third answer to our question:
3) Scientists Estimate that Between 5 and 30 Million Species Inhabit the Earth.
Estimates vary widely – from 2 million to 117.7 million, underlining our lack of knowledge. Most estimates fall between 5 and 30 million. Much remains to be learned about the diversity of microorganisms. For example, scientists have recently discovered that Archaebacteria – originally considered limited to extreme environments – may constitute as much as 40% of the ocean’s microbial biomass. Few species have been identified. Estimates of global diversity of the better-studied Eubacteria vary from millions to billions, with orders of magnitude of error. As for multicellular organisms, the most “species-dense” terrestrial ecosystems, such as coral reefs and tropical rain forests, harbor most of the undiscovered species (Figure below). Ironically, these ecosystems are also disappearing quickly. In summary, our estimates of biodiversity remain crude. However, the following conclusion is clear: given the current rapid loss of species, we will never know many of the species we are losing.
4) The importance of some species still is not known.
If they are important to the stability of an ecosystem and go extinct, this could have long-reaching affects on humans.
As a review from The Principles of Ecology Chapter, remember that according to Barry Commoner, there are Four Laws of Ecology (as follows). Explain how his laws govern the way nature does – and humans should – use energy and material resources in order to protect biodiversity.
- Everything is connected to everything else.
- Everything must go somewhere.
- Nature knows best.
- There is no such thing as a free lunch.
When we affect the ecosystem and biodiversity health in one region or biome, it is ultimately connected to others through geochemical and matter cycles.
Coral reefs (above) and tropical rain forests (below) have the greatest biodiversity of the many ecosystems on earth. They are also among the most threatened habitats. Because our knowledge of their species is incomplete, we are clearly losing species we do not (and never will) know.
Biodiversity Patterns in Space
Are Earth’s 1.8 million known species evenly distributed across its surface? You may already be aware that the answer is a resounding “No!” We will compare two regions with relatively high diversity to begin our analysis.
Minnesota has relatively high ecosystem diversity, because three of the Earth’s six major terrestrial biomes converge in this state (Prairie, Deciduous Forest, and Coniferous Forest). By contrast, Costa Rica comprises almost entirely of Tropical Rain Forest, and has only one quarter of the land area of Minnesota (Figure below).
The state of Minnesota (
You might expect, then, that Minnesota would have a higher species diversity. Several groups of organisms are compared in the Figure below. Note that a column is included for you to research your own state or region!
A comparison of species diversity within categories supports the increase in diversity from the poles to the equators. Costa Rica
Clearly, biodiversity is much higher in Costa Rica than in Minnesota. Collecting leaves for your biology class in Costa Rica, you would need to study 2,500 different trees in order to identify the species! And you’d need to look carefully to distinguish tree leaves from those of the many epiphytes (plants which grow on top of others), vines, and strangler figs which climb the trunks and branches, “cheating” their way to the sunlight at the top of the canopy. In Minnesota, keys to native trees include just 42 species of conifers and deciduous broadleaved species. There, vines are relatively rare, and epiphytes are limited to colorful lichens.
The differences in biodiversity between Minnesota and Costa Rica are part of a general worldwide pattern: biodiversity is richest at the equators, but decreases toward the poles. Temperature is undoubtedly a major factor, with warmer, equatorial regions allowing year-round growth in contrast to seasonal limitations nearer the poles.
Generally, the more species, the more niches – so diversity begets diversity.
Does your country, state or region fit the general pattern of decreasing biodiversity from equator to poles?
Biodiversity Patterns in Time
How has Earth’s biodiversity changed across time? The fossil record is our window into this pattern, although the window has limitations. Microorganisms are poorly preserved and distinguished only with difficulty; gene sequence studies of living bacteria have begun to fill in some missing data. For all organisms, recent rock layers are more accessible and better preserved than ancient ones.
Despite these drawbacks, fossils and gene studies show a distinct pattern of increasing biodiversity through time. As discussed in the chapter on the History of Life, the origin of life is not clearly understood; evidence suggests that life did not appear on Earth until perhaps 4 billion years ago. For several billion years, unicellular organisms were the only form of life. During that time, biodiversity clearly increased, as Eubacteria and Archaebacteria emerged from a common ancestor some 3 billion years ago, and Eukaryotes emerged by endosymbiosis about 2 billion years ago. However, we have not accurately measured the diversity of even today’s microorganisms, so we have little understanding of changes in the diversity of microorganisms beyond these major events.
The emergence of multicellular life about 1 billion years ago certainly increased biodiversity, although we have little way of knowing whether it might have negatively affected the diversity of microorganisms. Fossils remain relatively rare until the famed Cambrian explosion 542 million years ago. Since then, a much more detailed fossil record (Figure below) shows a pattern of increasing biodiversity marked by major extinctions.
The fossil record for marine species over the past 542 million years shows a gradual increase in biodiversity interrupted by five major extinctions. Some scientists view the recent rapid rise in diversity as a result of better preservation of more recent rock layers and fossils.
The dramatic increase indicated for the last 200 million years is somewhat disputed. Some scientists believe it is a real increase in diversity due to expanding numbers of niches – diversity begets diversity, again. Others believe it is a product of sampling bias, due to better preservation of more recent fossils and rock layers. Most scientists accept the general pattern of increasing diversity through time, interpreting the magnificent biodiversity of life on Earth today as the result of billions of years of evolution.
Most scientists also accept at least the five major mass extinctions shown in Figure above, and some hold that regular cycles govern extinction. Causes for these extinctions (more completely discussed in the History of Life chapter) remain incompletely understood; hypotheses include global climate change, major volcanic and continental drift events, dramatic oceanic change, and/or extraterrestrial impact or supernova events.
Increasingly accepted is a current Sixth or Holocene Extinction event. According to a 1998 survey by the American Museum of Natural History, more than 70% of biologists consider the present era to be a sixth mass extinction event – perhaps one of the fastest ever. We will explore the Sixth, or Holocene, Extinction in the next section of this lesson.
The Current Loss of Biodiversity
“For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun.” -Aldo Leopold A Sand County Almanac, 1949
Over 99% of all species that have ever lived on Earth are extinct. During the 5 major extinctions recorded in the Phanerozoic fossil record (Figure above), more than 50% of animals disappeared. Evidently, extinction is natural. However, current extinctions may differ significantly in rate and cause. The IUCN (International Union of Concerned Scientists) has documented 758 extinctions since 1500 CE; for example, 6 species of giant, flightless Moa (Figure A below) disappeared from New Zealand shortly after the arrival of Polynesians. Estimates of extinctions for the last century range from 20,000 to 2,000,000 species; as for diversity, we simply do not know the true figure.
A gallery of species which have succumbed to the Sixth Extinction: A: one of six species of
Many scientists begin the Sixth Extinction with the Ice Age loss of large mammals and birds – part of a continuum of extinctions between 13,000 years ago and now. During that time, 33 of 45 genera of large mammals became extinct in North America, 46 of 58 in South America, and 15 of 16 in Australia. Climate change and/or human “overkill” are hypothetical causes. Supporting the significance of the “sudden” arrival of humans are the low numbers in Europe and South Africa, where humans had coevolved with large animals. The woolly mammoth (Figure B above) is one of the many examples of large mammal extinctions from this period.
The first species to become extinct during recorded human history was the Dodo (Figure C above), a flightless bird which had evolved without predators on an island in the Indian Ocean. Described in 1581, the fearless Dodo experienced hunting, forest habitat destruction, and introduced predators, and became extinct before 1700 – a story repeated for many more species over the following three centuries. Unfortunately, the story extends back in time, as well; over the past 1100 years, human activity has led to the extinction of as many as 20% of all bird species… a tragic loss of biodiversity.
Harvard Biologist E.O. Wilson estimated in 1993 that the planet was losing 30,000 species per year – around three species per hour. In 2002, he predicted that if current rates continue, 50% of today’s plant and animal species will be extinct within the current century – compared to hundreds of thousands or even millions of years for pre-human mass extinctions. A dramatic global decline in amphibian populations in less than 30 years headlines the recent rise in extinction. Herpetologists report that as many as 170 species have become extinct within that time, and at least one-third of remaining species are threatened. Costa Rica’s Golden Toad (Figure D above), first described in 1966, was last seen in 1989 and has become a poster species for amphibian declines.
Why is Biodiversity Important? What are We Losing?
Why should humans care if biodiversity declines? Does it matter that we have 170 fewer amphibians, or that we are losing thousands of species each year, when the Earth holds millions of other species, and life has been through extinction before? The answer is a definitive yes! It matters to us even if we consider only the economic and spiritual benefits to humans. It matters to us because we do not even understand the myraid of indirect benefits – now recognized as ecosystem services– that we reap from other species. And, of course, it matters to other species as well.
Direct Economic Benefits of Biodiversity
- Food Supply: Monocultures (large-scale cultivation of single varieties of single species) are extremely vulnerable to disease. A water mold caused the infamous Irish potato famine where potatoes had been bred from a single Incan variety. As recently as 1970, blight swept the corn belt where 80% of maize grown in the U.S. was a single type. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, humans currently cultivate only 150 plant species, and just four provide over half of the food we eat. Just 15 animal species make up over 90% of our livestock.
Potential for hybridization requires a diverse “bank” of wild, native species. Contemporary breeders increase genetic diversity by hybridizing crop species with wild species adapted to local climate and disease (Figure below).
Wild varieties of domesticated crops, such as this unusually shaped Latin American maize, hold the potential to enhance productivity, nutritional value, adaptation to local climates, and resistance to local diseases through hybridization. Loss of biodiversity limits our ability to increase the genetic diversity of crops.
- Clothing, Shelter, and Other Products: As many as 40,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi provide us with many varied types of clothing, shelter and other products. These include timber, skins and furs, fibers, fragrances, papers, silks, dyes, poisons, adhesives, rubber, resins, rubber, and more.
- Energy: In addition to these raw materials for industry, we use animals for energy and transportation, and biomass for heat and other fuels. Moreover, hydroelectric power depends on ecosystem structure: Chinese scientists calculated that the economic benefits of maintaining forest vegetation in the Yangtze River watershed “produced” more than twice the economic value of timber (had it been harvested) in annual power output.
- Medicine and Medical Models: Since the first microorganisms competed for food, evolution has been producing chemicals for “warfare” and “defense” in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals; Figure below shows several used by humans. According the American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity Conservation (AMNH-CBC), 57% of the most important prescription drugs come from nature, yet only a fraction of species with medicinal potential have been studied.
A pharmacopoeia of the living world: The Rosy Periwinkle (A) is the source of two chemotherapy drugs effective against leukemias. The mold
Unique features of certain species have opened windows into how life works. For example, the Atlantic squid’s giant axon revealed the basics of neurophysiology, and the horseshoe crab’s (Figure D below) optic nerve and photoreceptors taught us how vision works. Other animals serve as disease models; as far as we know, other than humans, only armadillos suffer from leprosy, and only sea squirts form kidney stones.
- Efficient Designs: Inspiration for Technology: Biomimicry, also known as biomimetics or bionics, uses organisms for engineering inspiration and human innovation. Rattlesnake heat-sensing pits, for example, suggested infrared sensors. Zimbabwe’s Eastgate Centre Figure below incorporates air-conditioning principles from termite mounds. The 2006 Mercedes-Benz Bionic employs the body shape of the yellow box fish to combine high internal volume and efficient aerodynamics. Biomimetics professor Julian Vincent estimates that only 10% of current technology employs the highly efficient biological designs crafted by evolution and natural selection. Loss of biodiversity can be viewed as the loss of millions of years of evolutionary wisdom.
Bionics, or biomimicry, engineers structures based on biological designs made efficient by millions of years of evolution and natural selection. Above: The air-conditioning efficiency of a termite mound (left) inspired the design of the Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe (right), which requires just 10% of the energy needed for conventional building of the same size. Below: The rigid exoskeleton and low-drag body shape of the tropical yellow box-fish (left) inspired the 2006 Mercedes-Benz
- Warnings of Toxins and Other Ecosystem Disruptions: If you know how miners use canaries to detect poisonous gases underground, you will understand how widespread extirpation of peregrine falcons (Figure E below) warned us about the dangers of the pesticide DDT and food chain concentration of toxins.
Indirect Benefits of Biodiversity: Ecosystem Services
- Increasing Ecosystem Productivity: Ecologist David Tilman compared grassland plots to show that increasing species diversity increased overall productivity (yield). Different plants utilize different resources, so a variety of plants may more completely use resources within an area. As noted above, diversity also reduces system vulnerability to pests and disease.
- Increasing Ecosystem Stability: Tilman observed his grassland plots through several cycles of drought and documented a similar relationship between biodiversity and stability. Plots which were more diverse were more resistant to drought and later recovered more completely. Reducing ecosystem vulnerability to pests and disease may also be a factor in the relationship between diversity and stability. As you have learned before, diversity among individuals within a species increases the chance that at least some will survive environmental change; similarly, diversity among species within an ecosystem increases the chance that at least some species will survive environmental change.
- Maintaining the Atmosphere: As you learned in the chapters on photosynthesis and respiration, plants and algae produce the O2 which makes up 20% of the atmosphere essential to aerobic organisms, and remove CO2 produced by respiration and burning fossil fuels. As Joseph Priestley expressed this service, plants “restore the air” which has been “injured by the burning of candles” or “infested with animal respiration.” O2 is also critical to life because it helps to maintain the ozone shield, protecting life from dangerous Ultra-Violet radiation.
- Maintaining Soils: Soil microorganisms maintain nutrients in complex but critical chemical pathways. Vegetation and litter prevent erosion of soils which require thousands of years to form. Estimates suggest that erosion destroys as many as 3 million hectares of cropland annually, and that as much as one-fifth of the world’s cropland is “desertified” through salination, acidification, or compacting.
- Maintaining Water Quality: Water treatment plants rely in large part on microorganisms for water purification, and natural systems do the same. In nature, wetland, waterway, and watershed root systems combine with soil adsorption and filtration to accomplish water purification. When New York City decided to restore the Catskill watershed, their $1-1.5 billion investment in “natural capital” contrasted favorably with the $6-8 billion initial cost and $300 million annual operating cost of a new treatment plant.
- “Fixing” Nitrogen: One of the most amazing aspects of biological systems on earth is their absolute need for nitrogen – to build the proteins and nucleic acids upon which life depends – and their nearly universal dependence on microorganisms to “fix” atmospheric N2 gas and recycle the nitrogen of waste and death. Only after the bacterial “service” of processing nitrogen is it available in usable chemical form to plants, and through them, to animals (Figure A below).
Ecosystem services which depend on biodiversity include nitrogen fixation (A), pest control (B), pollination (C), medical models such as the horseshoe crab optic nerve and photoreceptors (D), and early warning about toxins, e.g. the peregrine falcon
- Nutrient Recycling and Waste Disposal: Bacteria and nitrogen are not the only contributors to the waste management services of ecosystems. Fungi, protists, and scavengers help to decompose waste and dead organisms so that new life can reuse the available nutrients.
- Pollination: The list of biotic pollinators, essential for sexual reproduction in many plants, is long including not only insects such as wasps, bees, ants, beetles, moths, butterflies, and flies, but also fruit bats and birds such as hummingbirds, sunbirds, spiderhunters, and honeyeaters. Although U.S. crops have relied on commercial honeybees (which are “migrated” to keep pace with maturing crops!), native pollinators in nearby forests or wild grasslands have been shown to improve the productivity of apples or almonds by 20%. The American Institute of Biological Sciences estimates that native insect pollination is worth $3.1 billion annually. Current alarm over honeybee colony collapse highlights the importance of biodiversity to the ecosystem service of pollination.
- Pest and Disease Control: According to the AMNH-CBC, farmers spend $25 billion annually on pesticides, while predators in natural ecosystems (Figure B above) contribute 5 to 10 times that value in pest control. Costs associated with the use of chemical pesticides (such as water pollution) add to the value of natural pest control. Natural enemies are adapted to local environments and local pests, and do not threaten each other’s survival (or ours!) as do broad-spectrum chemical pesticides. Preservation of natural enemies is associated with preservation of plant diversity, as well. Disrupted ecosystems can lead to increasing problems with disease. In Africa, deforestation has led to erosion and flooding, with consequent increases in mosquitoes and malaria.
Aesthetic Benefits of Biodiversity
- Cultural, Intellectual, and Spiritual Inspiration: Music, art, poetry, dance, mythology, and cuisine all reflect and depend on the living species with whom we share the Earth. Our cultures reflect local and regional variations, and as such, biodiversity underlies our very identities. The beauty and tranquility of living ecosystems have inspired environmentalists (Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold), spiritualists (Thomas Berry), and writers such as (Barry Lopez) throughout history. Recently, the increasing distance of human society from the natural world has raised concerns about our psychological and emotional health; E.O. Wilson has proposed that biophilia (love of the living world) is an increasingly ignored part of our human psyche, and Richard Louv believes that too many of our children suffer from “nature deficit disorder” caused by our increasing alienation from nature.
- Recreational Experiences: Many people choose to use vacation and recreation time to explore natural ecosystems. Outdoor recreational activities – many of which are increasing in popularity – include hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, bird-, butterfly- and whale- watching, gardening, diving, and photography. Indoor hobbies such as aquariums also celebrate biodiversity. For Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar, and Antarctica, ecotourism makes up a significant percentage of the gross national product. Ideally, ecotourism involves minimal environmental impact, conservation of bio- and cultural diversity, and employment of indigenous peoples.
Political and Social Benefits of Biodiversity
Some analysts relate biodiversity to political and social stability. Unequal access to food, clothing, water, and shelter provided by diverse ecosystems threatens social equity and stability. Land ownership and land use practices which threaten biodiversity often marginalize poorer people, forcing them into more ecologically sensitive areas and occupations. Poverty, famine, displacement, and migrations are problems related to loss of biodiversity which have already led to billions of dollars in relief costs and significant local armed conflict.
Intrinsic Value of Biodiversity
Many people value biodiversity for its inherent worth, believing that the existence of such a variety of genes, species, and ecosystems is reason enough for our respect. Intrinsic value goes beyond economic, aesthetic, environmental, and political benefits. For many people, intrinsic value alone imposes great responsibility on us to monitor our actions in order to avoid destroying the diversity of life.
Why is biodiversity important? It supplies us with essential resources, raw materials, and designs which have direct economic value. It enhances the stability and productivity of ecosystems which in turn provide essential, under-appreciated services. These services, too, have great economic value, although we are only beginning to recognize their importance as we experience their loss. Biodiversity is critical for cultural identity, spiritual and intellectual inspiration, and our own re-creation. Biodiversity goes hand-in-hand with social and political stability. And for many people, biodiversity has inherent worth apart from its many benefits for us and our environment.
Biodiversity is critically important for us and for the Earth, and it is declining at an unprecedented rate. What is causing current extinctions? What can we – what can YOU – do to help?
Causes of the Sixth Extinction: Human Actions and the Environment
What are the causes of the Sixth Extinction? Many point to the Anthropocene, the new geological era brought about by Humans (see the Anthropocene chapter). There is nearly universal agreement that most result from human activities (Table below and Figure below). Although our activities have changed, we remain the single species most able to alter the Earth’s genetic, species, and ecosystem biodiversity.
| Continent/Island | Human Settlement (Years Before Present) |
Extinctions Which Followed |
| Africa, Eurasia | Humans evolve here | relatively few extinctions |
| Indonesia | 50,000 | 50% of large mammal species |
| Australia | 40,000 |
55 species large mammals, reptiles, and birds |
| North and South America | 10,000 – 12,500 |
70-80% of large mammals (at least 135 species) within 1000 years |
| Mediterranean Islands | 10,000 | large mammals and reptiles |
| West Indies | 7,000 |
Mammals, birds, reptiles all 5 endemic mammals of Puerto Rico |
| Madagascar | 2,000 | virtually all large endemic land mammals, reptiles, and birds within 1500 years |
| Hawaiian Islands |
1,500 (Polynesians) 250 (Europeans) |
2/3 of native vertebrate species, 90% of bird species after European arrival, 20 more bird species |
| New Zealand | 1,300 | No mammals originally Frogs, lizards, and over 1/3 (40 species) of birds |
Large animal extinctions followed the arrival of humans in many regions of the world, suggesting that human activities caused the extinctions.
Convincing evidence for human responsibility for Ice Age extinctions is outlined in Figure above. Comparing Ice Age to pre-human extinctions provides more evidence:
- Ice Age extinctions affected large animals disproportionately; pre-human extinctions affected all body sizes.
- Ice Age extinctions occurred at different times in different regions; pre-human extinctions were global and simultaneous.
- Recent extinctions follow human migration with regularity.
- The “syncopated” pattern does not fit climate change, and earlier interglacial periods did not see similar extinctions.
Although the data above has led to considerable agreement about human responsibility for the early Holocene extinctions, scientists still debate exactly how human activities caused extinctions. Hypotheses include:
- Overkill: Animals outside Africa and Eurasia evolved in the absence of humans. Many did not fear humans and would have been easily killed, explaining the disproportionate numbers of large species affected.
- Cascade effects: Extinctions of very large animals could have had major effects on ecosystems, including secondary extinctions. Loss of predators could have led to overpopulation and starvation of prey species. Loss of large herbivores would have affected their predators. Removal of even a single keystone species could have destabilized complex ecosystem interactions, leading to multiple extinctions.
- Disease: Humans often brought along rats, birds, and other animals as they migrated to new regions. Animals in those new regions, however, would not have evolved resistance to the diseases they carried. Avian malaria, for example, is still spreading through Hawaii, having already caused the extinctions of many bird species.
- Predation by exotic animals: The rats, birds, and other animals accompanying humans brought not only disease but also new appetites to regions where animals had evolved without predators. Like humans, these animals found the “naïve” prey easy to capture.
- Habitat destruction: Deforestation and agriculture accompanied humans, and the loss of habitat inevitably resulted in loss of species.
These effects of early human habitation foreshadow today’s even greater threats to biodiversity. Overpopulation, industrialization, technology, cultural differences, and socioeconomic disparities compound the six major causes of today’s Biodiversity Crisis. Most experts agree on the primary cause of extinction today:
Causes of Extinction #1: Habitat Loss
Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation is universally accepted as the primary threat to biodiversity. Agriculture, forestry, mining, and urbanization have disturbed over half of Earth’s vegetated land. Inevitably, species disappear and biodiversity declines.
Conversion for agriculture is a major reason for habitat loss. Within the past 100 years, the area of land cultivated worldwide has increased 74%; grazing land increased 113%. Agriculture has cost the United States 50% of its wetlands and 99% of its tallgrass prairies. Native prairie ecosystems (Figure below) – which comprise of thick, fertile soils, deep-rooted grasses, a colorful diversity of flowers, burrowing prairie dogs, owls and badgers, herds of bison and pronghorns, and booming prairie chickens, – are virtually extinct.
Habitat loss is the #1 cause of extinction today. In the U.S., over 99% of tallgrass prairies have been eliminated in favor of agriculture. Big bluestem grasses as tall as a human (center) and (clockwise from top) prairie chickens, prairie dogs, burrowing owls, yellow and purple coneflowers, blue grama grass, and bison make up part of the prairie community.
The largest cause of deforestation today is slash-and-burn agriculture (Figure below), used by over 200 million people in tropical forests throughout the world. Depletion of the surprisingly thin and nutrient-poor soil often results in abandonment within a few years, and subsequent erosion can lead to desertification. Half of Earth’s mature tropical forests are gone; one-fifth of tropical rain forests disappeared between 1960 and 1990. At current rates of deforestation, all tropical forests will be gone by 2090.
Slash-and-burn agriculture is practiced by over 200 million people throughout the world; this photo was taken in Panama. Because of thin, nutrient-poor soils, plots are abandoned within just a few years. Experts predict that if current rates continue, all tropical forests will be gone by 2090.
Poverty, inequitable land distribution, and overpopulation combine in third world countries to add pressure to already stressed habitats. Use of firewood, charcoal, crop waste, and manure for cooking and other energy needs further degrade environments, threatening biodiversity through habitat loss.
Causes of Extinction #2: Exotic (Alien or Invasive) Species
Technology has made the human species the most mobile species of any which has ever lived. Both intentionally and inadvertently, humans have extended their mobility to a great number of other species, as well. Ships from Polynesian times (as long ago as 3500 BP) to the present have transported crop species and domesticated animals as well as stowaway rats and snakes. Recently, cargo ships have transported Zebra Mussels, Spiny Waterfleas, and Ruffe deep into the Great Lakes via ballast water. Europeans brought Purple Loosestrife and European Buckthorn to North America to beautify their gardens. Shakespeare enthusiast Eugene Schieffelin imported the now-ubiquitous European Starling to Central Park in the 1890s because he thought Americans should experience every bird mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. Australians imported the Cane Toad in an attempt to control the Cane Beetle, a native pest of sugar cane fields. The Brown Tree Snake (Figure below) may have hitchhiked in the wheel-wells of military aircraft to Guam – and subsequently extirpated most of the island’s “naïve” vertebrate species.
Many scientists consider exotic species to be the #2 cause of loss of biodiversity. One of the most infamous, the Brown Tree Snake (left), hitch-hiked on aircraft to Pacific Islands and caused the extinctions of many bird and mammal species which had evolved in the absence of predators. The Nile Perch (right) was intentionally introduced to Lake Victoria to compensate for overfishing of native species. The Perch itself overfished smaller species, resulting in the extinction of perhaps 200 species of cichlids.
Many of these exotic (non-native) species, away from the predation or competition of their native habitats, have unexpected and negative effects in new ecosystems. Freed from natural controls, introduced species can disrupt food chains, carry disease, out-compete natives for limited resources, or prey on native species directly – and lead to extinctions. Some hybridize with native species carefully tuned to local climate, predation, competition, and disease, resulting in genetic pollution which weakens natural adaptations. Others change the very nature of the habitats they invade; Zebra Mussels, for example, colonize most manmade and natural surfaces (including native mussels), filter-feeding so intensely that they increase water clarity and enrich bottom habitats with their waste.
Globalization and tourism are increasing the number of exotics which threaten biodiversity throughout the world, breaking down geographic barriers and threatening the wisdom of millions of years of evolution and natural selection. If current trends continue, our increasingly interconnected world will eventually be dominated by just a few fast-growing, highly adaptable, keenly competitive “super-species” rather than the rich diversity we have today. Some biologists, noting that invasive exotics closely resemble what we consider to be “weed” species, have concluded that the world’s #1 weed species is – did you guess it? – none other than Homo sapiens.
Causes of Extinction #3: Overexploitation
The modern equivalent to overkill, overexploitation threatens fisheries, tropical rain forests, whales, rhinos, large carnivores and many other species. Practices such as clear-cutting old growth forests, strip mining, and driftnet fishing go beyond harvesting of single species or resources to degrade entire ecosystems. Technology-aided over-harvesting has reduced one of the richest fisheries in the world – the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland – to an estimated 1% of what they were in 1977 (Figure below). In 2003 in the journal Nature, Canadian biologists published an analysis of data showing that “industrialized” fishing has reduced large predatory fish worldwide by 90%. Some species’ stocks are so depleted that less desirable species are illegally sold under the names of more expensive ones; in 2004, University of North Carolina graduate students tested DNA from fish sold as “red snapper” from eight states and found that different species made up 77% of the fish tested! Overexploitation happens on the level of genes and ecosystems as well as individual species. Forest plantations, fish hatcheries and farms, and intensive agriculture reduce both species diversity and genetic diversity within species.
Overexploitation of Atlantic cod threatens one of the world
Causes of Extinction #4: Global Climate Change
Our increasing reliance on fossil fuels is altering the Earth’s atmosphere and climate. The effects include acid rain, breaks in the ozone layer shielding us from ultraviolet radiation, and greenhouse gases which raise the Earth’s air and ocean temperatures and sea levels. Burning tropical rain forests compounds the effect, releasing carbon as CO2 and eliminating the forest’s ability to sequester carbon – remove carbon as CO2 from the atmosphere – via photosynthesis. Inevitably, changing air and water temperatures, rainfall patterns, and salinity threaten species adapted to pre-warming conditions, and biodiversity declines globally. This concern is the topic of the Climate Change Lesson .
Causes of Extinction #5: Overpopulation
In 1960, Earth’s human population stood at 3 billion. By 1999, we had grown to 6 billion. This unprecedented growth, together with developments in technology, has added immense pressure to resource and land use. Overpopulation compounds all of the aforementioned threats to biodiversity, and unequal distribution of resources extends the consequences to social and political instability. Human population growth continues (see the chapter on Biology of Populations). Growth rates vary – ominously, from a biodiversity perspective: the highest rates are in third world tropical countries where diversity is also highest. We have already seen how slash-and-burn agriculture and Lake Victoria fisheries connect socioeconomic changes to loss of biodiversity.
Causes of Extinction #6: Pollution
Pollution adds chemicals, noise, heat or even light beyond the capacity of the environment to absorb them without harmful effects on life. To a certain extent, pollution has not kept pace with population growth, at least in Europe and the US. Startling events such as the oil-and-debris-covered and lifeless Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969 finally provoked the U.S. to stop viewing air and waterways as convenient dumping grounds for waste. Environmental legislation, including the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has improved both water and air quality. Heeding the warning provided by the extirpation of the Peregrine Falcon from the Eastern U.S., scientists discovered that many synthetic chemicals concentrate as they move through the food chain (biological magnification), so that toxic effects are multiplied. DDT – the cause of the Peregrine’s decline – was banned in the U.S., and regulation of pesticides was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the EPA.
And yet, pollution continues to contribute to habitat degradation worldwide, especially in developing countries.
- Air Pollution: Knows no boundaries and growing concern about its effects on climate earn this topic two lessons later in this chapter. Acid rain, ozone depletion, and global warming each affect diversity.
- Water Pollution: Especially from threatens vital freshwater and marine resources in the US and throughout the world. Industrial and agricultural chemicals, waste, acid rain, and global warming threaten waters which are essential for all ecosystems. Threats to water resources are discussed in Lesson 2.
- Soil Contamination: Toxic industrial and municipal wastes, salts from irrigation, and pesticides from agriculture all degrade soils – the foundations of terrestrial ecosystems and their biodiversity. These and other threats to soils are discussed in Lesson 2, Natural Resources.
Outside the developed world, pollution controls lag behind those of the U.S. and Europe, and developing nations such as China are rapidly increasing levels of pollution. Many pollution problems remain in industrialized countries, as well: industry and technology add nuclear waste disposal, oil spills, thermal pollution from wastewater, light pollution of the night skies, acid rain, and more to the challenges facing Earth’s biodiversity. Many will be discussed in the following lesson on Natural Resources, and you can certainly research more about those which interest or concern you. Our next task will be to switch from the doomsday report of problems and causes to a discussion of what WE – ordinary citizens – can do to help protect Earth’s biodiversity.
End of Chapter Review
Chapter Summary
Like all species, humans depend on land, water, air, and living resources for food, energy, clothing, and ecosystem services such as nutrient recycling, waste disposal, and renewal of soil, freshwater, and clean air. Unlike other species, human technology supplements “natural” energy resources with fossil fuels and exploits both biotic and abiotic resources and produces wastes beyond the biosphere’s capacity for renewal. Biodiversity encompasses all variation in living systems, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Scientists do not know how many species currently inhabit the Earth; the vast majority of Bacteria and Archaea, Protists and Insects, are probably unknown. We discover new species of animals, plants, and fungi each year. About 1.8 million species have been identified, and most estimates of Earth’s overall species biodiversity fall between 5 and 30 million. In general, biodiversity is highest near the equator, and decreases toward the poles. Biodiversity “hotspots” such as the California Floristic Province and unique habitats such as bogs occasionally disrupt the overall pattern. The fossil record and DNA analysis reveal a gradual increase in Earth’s biodiversity after the first prokaryotes appeared roughly 4 billion years ago. Within the past 600 million years, a more detailed fossil record shows increasing biodiversity interrupted by five major extinctions in which at least 50% of species disappeared. According to a 1998 survey by the American Museum of Natural History, more than 70% of biologists consider the present era to be a sixth mass extinction event. Many scientists regard the Ice Age extinctions of large birds and mammals as the beginning of a continuum of extinctions caused by human activity which extends to the present. Dramatic losses of large mammal species follow a pattern of human dispersal across the globe from tens of thousands of years ago in Indonesia to just over 1,000 years ago in New Zealand, and over 20% of all bird species have become extinct within the past 1,100 years. Rates of extinction have accelerated in the past 50 years; current estimates include 3 species per hour and as many as 140,000 per year. In 2002, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson predicted that if current rates of extinction continue, 50% of plant and animal species will be lost within the next 100 years – compared to hundreds of thousands or even millions of years for previous mass extinctions. Direct economic benefits include the potential to diversify our food supply, resources for clothing, shelter, energy, and medicines, a wealth of efficient designs which could inspire new technologies, models for medical research, and an early warning system for toxicity. Ecosystem services provided by biodiversity include ecosystem stability and productivity; maintaining and renewing soils, water supplies, and the atmosphere; nitrogen fixation and nutrient recycling; pollination, pest and disease control, and waste disposal. Less tangible but equally important are the cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual values and the importance of biodiversity to many modes of recreation. Finally, many people believe that biodiversity has intrinsic value, inherent in its existence. Human hunting, secondary effects on other species, disease carried and predation by exotic animals, and habitat destruction contributed to Ice Age extinctions. Habitat loss, including degradation and fragmentation, is the primary cause of extinction today; agriculture and deforestation continue to claim vegetated land and pollute both fresh and salt water seas.
Exotic species disrupt food chains and entire ecosystems to contribute to extinction. The modern equivalent to overkill, overexploitation of economically important species and ecosystems, threatens fisheries, tropical rain forests, whales, rhinos, large carnivores and many other species. Global climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels disrupts weather patterns and, as it has throughout Earth’s history, holds the potential to force the extinction of carefully adapted species. Pollution of land, air, and water poisons life and destroys ecosystems. Between 1960 and 1999, the Earth’s human population increased from 3 billion to 6 billion people. Overpopulation combined with unequal distribution of resources dramatically intensifies pressures on biodiversity. Our daily activities and decisions can significantly help to protect biodiversity. After reducing consumption and reusing and recycling, careful consumption can help to conserve ecosystems. Local, seasonal products save energy costs for transportation. Durable and efficient products reduce long-term resource consumption.
Attributes
This chapter is composed of text taken from Introduction to Environmental Science CK-12 licensed under CK-12. Chapter 10: The Biodiversity Crisis. Created by: Michelle R. © CK-12 Foundation 2023. https://www.ck12.org/user:bwvzdgfibguzn2vkdubnbwfpbc5jb20./book/introduction-to-environmental-science/section/10.0/