Threats to Biodiversity: An Overview

Guided Viewing

Name: Brandon Tran

1: Natural Capital: Forests

Ecological Services	Economic Services	
		
Support energy flow and chemical cycling	Fuelwood	
Reduce soil erosion	Lumber	
Absorb and release water	Pulp to make paper	
Purify water and air	Mining	
Influence local and regional climate	Livestock grazing	
Store atmospheric carbon	Recreation	
Provide numerous wildlife habitats	Jobs 	

2:	What are the 3 main types of forests? 
Old-growth forests, second-growth forests, and tree plantations are the 3 types.

3:	What are some of the problems associated with deforestation? 
Decreased soil fertility from erosion, runoff of eroded soil into aquatic systems, premature extinction of species with specialized niches, loss of habitat for native species and migratory species such as birds and butterflies,
regional climate change from extensive clearing, release of CO2 into atmosphere, and acceleration of flooding are all problems associated with deforestation.

4:	What are the methods for harvesting trees? 
Selective cutting, clear cutting, and strip cutting are methods for harvesting trees.

5:	Clear-Cutting Forests 

Advantages	Disadvantages	
		
Higher timber yields	Reduces biodiversity	
Maximum profits in shortest time	Disrupts ecosystem processes	
Can reforest with fast-growing trees	Destroys and fragments wildlife habitats	
Short time to establish new stand of trees	Leaves large openings	
Needs less skill and planning	Increases water pollution, flooding and erosion on simple slopes	
Good for tree species needing full or moderate sunlight	Eliminates most recreational value	

6:	What are some solutions for sustainable forestry? 
Solutions include Identifying and protecting forest areas high in biodiversity, growing more timber on long rotations, relying more on selective cutting and strip cutting, stopping clear cutting on steep slopes, ceasing logging of old-growth forests, prohibiting fragmentation of remaining large clocks offorest, sharply reducing road building into uncut forest areas, leaving most standing dead trees and fallen timber for wildlife habitat and nutrient recycling, certifying timber grown by sustainable methods, including ecological services of forests in estimating their economic value, planting tree plantations on deforested and degraded land, and shifting government subsidies from harvesting trees to planting trees.

7:	What is the Healthy Forest Restoration Act? What are the PROS and CONS? 
The healthy reforestation act was an act that allowed timber companies to cut medium and large trees in 71% of national forests. In return (PRO), companies must clear smaller, fire-prone trees and underbush. However, scientists believe that removing fire resistant trees and leaving highly flammable slash could make forests more susceptible to forest fires (CON).

8: Logging in National Forests

Advantages	Disadvantages	
		
Helps meet country’s timber needs	Provides only 4% of timber needs	
Cut areas grow back	Ample private forest land to meet timber needs	
Keeps lumber and paper prices down	Has little effect on timber and paper prices	
Provides jobs in nearby communities	Damages nearby rivers and fisheries	
Promotes economic growth in nearby communities	Decreases recreational activities, and recreation in national forests provides more local jobs and income for local communities than logging	

9:	What are some causes of tropical deforestation? 
Causes of tropical deforestation include the need for subsidies, population growth, poverty, crop and timber exports, fires, logging, roads, and tree plantations.

10:	Why should we care about the loss of tropical forests? 
Because about 2,100 of the 3,00 plants are identified by the National Cancer Institute as sources of cancer-fighting chemicals that come from tropical forests.

11:	Sustaining Tropical Forests 

Prevention	Restoration	
		
Protect most diverse and endangered areas	Reforestation 	
Educate settlers about sustainable agriculture and forestry	Rehabilitation of degraded areas	
Phase out subsidies that encourage unsustainable forest use	Concentrate farming and ranching on already-cleared areas	
Add subsidies that encourage sustainable forest use		
Protect forests with debt-for-nature swaps and conservation easements		
Certify sustainably grown timber		
Reduce illegal cutting		
Reduce poverty		
Slow population growth		

12:	Why are rangelands/grasslands so important? 
They are important because almost half of the world’s livestock graze on natural grasslands (rangelands) and managed grasslands (pastures).

13:	How can we sustain rangeland productivity? What are some solutions to overgrazing? 
We can sustain rangeland productivity by controlling the number and distribution of livestock and by restoring degraded rangeland.

14:	What is the 4 point strategy to restoring biodiversity worldwide? 
The 4 point strategy is 1: Map global ecosystems,  2: Locate and protect endangered ecosystems and species, 3: Restore as many degraded ecosystems as possible, and 4: Make development biodiversity-friendly.

15:	What is a biodiversity hotspot? How many are there worldwide?
 A biodiversity hotspot is an area that has high biodiversity of species. There are 34 hotspots worldwide.
16:	What are the top 6 hotspots in the United States? 
The top six are Hawaii, the San Fran Bay Area, Southern Appalachians, Death Valley, Southern California, and the Florida Panhandle.

17:	What are the five basic science-based principles for ecological restoration? 
The five basic principles are: Identify cause, stop abuse by eliminating or sharply reducing factors, reintroduce species if necessary, protect area from further degradation, and use adaptive management to monitor.

18:	Define: 

Preservation
Setting aside or protecting undisturbed natural areas from harmful human activities.

Remediation
Repairing an ecosystem that has been destroyed.

Sustainability
Ability of a system to survive for some specified time.

18:	What are the eight priorities for protecting biodiversity? 
The 8 priorities for protecting biodiversity are: Take immediate action to preserve the world’s biological hotspots, keep intact remaining old growth, complete mapping of world’s biodiversity for inventory and decision making, and determine the world’s marine hotspots.

19:	Define: Reconciliation/Applied Ecology 
Establishing and maintaining new habitats to conserve species in places where people live, work, and play.

20:	Define: 

Background Extinction:
Continuous, low level of extinction of species	

Extinction Rate:
Expressed as a percentage or number of species that go extinct within a certain time period

Mass Extinction:
Extinction of many species in a relatively short amount of time (we have had 5)

21:	What are characteristics of vulnerable species? 
Characteristics of vulnerable species include low reproductive rates, specialized feeding habits, feeding at high trophic levels, large size, specialized nesting or breeding areas, and being found only in one place or region.

22:	What is HIPPCO? 
HIPPZO is the most important causes of premature extinction, starting from habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation; invasive species; and population growth.

23:	What can you do about invasive species? 
• Do not allow wild animals to escape.
• Do not spread wild plants to other areas.
• Do not dump the contents of an aquarium into waterways,
wetlands, or storm drains.
• When camping use wood near your campsite instead of bringing
firewood from somewhere else.
• Do not dump unused bait into the water.
• After dogs visit woods or the water brush them before taking
them home.
• After each use clean your vehicle, mountain bike, surfboard,
kayaks, canoes, boats, tent, hiking boots, and other gear before
heading for home.
• Empty all water from canoes, kayaks, dive gear, and other
outdoor equipment before heading home.
• Plant a variety of trees, shrubs, and other plants in your yard to
reduce losses from invasive species.
• Do not buy plants from overseas or swap them with others using
the Internet.

24:	What are some characteristics of successful invader species? 
Some characteristics include high reproductive rate and short generation time, being pioneer species, having long lifespans, having high dispersal rate, able to release growth-inhibiting chemicals into the soil, being generalists, and having high genetic variability.

25:	How is pollution affecting species? 
Pollution kills 1/5th of US honeybee colonies, 67 million birds, 6-14 million fish, and it threatens 1/5th of the US’s endangered and threatened species.

26:	What is overexploitation? 
Overexploitation is the act of excess hunting for reasons such as valuable parts, and legal or illegal trade.

27:	What is the U.S. Endangered Species Act? 
An act passed that forbids federal agencies (besides the defense department) to carry out/fund projects that would jeopardize an endangered species. The act also made it illegal for Americans to engage in commerce associated with hunting/killing and collecting endangered or threatened species.

28:	What is the CITIES Treaty? 
The CITIES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) banned all international trade in elephant populations that were being decimated by poachers. It was signed by 152 countries and it lists more than 800 species that cannot be commercially traded as live specimens or wildlife products because they are in danger of extinction and 29,000 other species whose international trade is monitored because they are at risk of becoming threatened.

29:	What can you do to help terrestrial biodiversity? What can you do to help protect species worldwide? 
You can adopt a forest, plant trees and nourish them, recycle paper and buy recycled products, buy sustainable wood/wood products, choose wood substitutes, restore a nearby degraded forest or grassland, landscape your yard with a diversity of plants natural to the area, and live in a town because suburban sprawl reduces biodiversity.

To protect species:
• Do not buy furs, ivory products, and other materials made from endangered or threatened animal species.
• Do not buy wood and paper products produced by cutting remaining oldgrowth
forests in the tropics.
• Do not buy birds, snakes, turtles, tropical fish, and other animals that are taken from the wild.
• Do not buy orchids, cacti, and other plants that are taken from the wild.
• Spread the word. Talk to your friends and relatives about this problem and what they can do about it.