Lecture 09, 20 Sept Conservation Biology ECOL 406R/506R University of Arizona Fall Kevin Bonine Kathy Gerst

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1 Lecture 09, 20 Sept 2005 Conservation Biology ECOL 406R/506R University of Arizona Fall 2005 Kevin Bonine Kathy Gerst 1 Conservation Biology 406R/506R 1. Biodiversity 2. Donlan article 3. Role Playing Feedback 4. Lab Friday, meet at van S-side BSE -Going to Ramsey Canyon, Mexico, etc. -Return mid afternoon on Sunday -Food and Gear? 5. Thank-you cards 6. Review sheet questions (12, 38, 39, 41, 42) 2 1

2 What factors correlated with high diversity? Energy Precipitation Temperature Area Habitat heterogeneity (e.g., foliage height and birds) Stable environment Moderate (intermediate) disturbance level (shifting mosaic, no climax) 3 Distribution and Abundance Miller, 2003 Range of tolerance of abiotic factor(s) 4 2

3 Terrestrial Biomes (Forest, Desert, Grassland, Tundra, etc.) Biotic (~Vegetative) Communities Climate 1. Temperature 2. Precipitation (3. Soil type) -Latitude - Altitude 5 Miller Van Dyke 2003 Species-Area Relationship 6 3

4 Van Dyke 2003 Woodlots vs. contiguous forest 7 Species Focus ---> Biodiversity and Process Focus (ESA) What being lost vs. why 8 4

5 Species =? Biological Species Concept (Mayr) a group of interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups 2-morphological/typological species concept (plants) 3-evolutionary species concept 4-genetic species concept 5-paleontological species concept 6-cladistic species concept 9 Biological Species Concept 1. Testable and operational 2. Definition compatible with established legal concepts 3. Focus on level of biodiversity that agrees with tradition of conservation Conserve Species as TYPES or as EVOLUTONARY UNITS 10 5

6 Galapagos Finches Brassica oleracea Solomon et al Aspidoscelis (Cnemidophorus) Species vs. Parthenospecies 12 6

7 Dessaur et al Hybridization in Whiptail Lizards 13 A. Cullum 1997, Am.Nat. 14 7

8 Measuring Biodiversity - alpha - beta - gamma Alpha species within a community community - all populations occupying a given area at a given time - often broken into taxonomic groups or functional roles 1) Species Richness (# of species) 2) Species Evenness (how many of each type?) Shannon Diversity Index (richness and evenness) H = - i p i ln (p i ), (i = 1, 2, 3 S) p i = proportion of total community abundance represented by ith species 15 Van Dyke 2003 Shannon Index in Tallgrass Prairie (indiv spp abundance relative to total abundance) What if removed three species from B? 16 8

9 a prop ln propxln b prop ln propxln drop top 3 drop bottom 3 b prop ln propxln b prop ln propxln Process and Pattern 1 Functional Types 2 Functional Analogs Increase either to increase biodiversity Which to preserve? Niche: Ecological role of a species in a community Van Dyke

10 1. Competition Anolis Ecomorphs on Caribbean Islands 19 Pisaster (predatory sea star) Paine 15 vs. 8 spp. (mussels) 20 10

11 2. Predation Parasitism 22 11

12 4. Mutualism See 4-2 in Miller 2003 Nemo? Commensalism Florida Bromeliads Ecuador 24 12

13 Stalk-Eyed Flies Sexual Selection 25 Mistletoe in Mesquite (Bisbee, AZ) 26 13

14 1. Indicator Species -migratory birds -amphibians 2. Keystone Species -top predators -key pollinators Rana pipiens Northern Leopard Frog 3. Umbrella Species Native Species vs. Nonnative, exotic, alien 27 Convergence 28 14

15 Measuring Biodiversity - alpha - beta - gamma Beta area or regional diversity (beta richness) diversity of species among communities across landscape gradient - slope, moisture, temperature, precipitation, disturbance, etc. Whittaker s Measure = (S/alpha) - 1 where S = # spp in all sites, alpha = avg. # spp/site a) if no community structure across gradient = 0 -broad ecological tolerances, niche breadth b) 100/10-1 = 9 high beta diversity 29 Beta Diversity 1) quantitative measure of diversity of communities that experience changing environmental gradients 2) are species sensitive, or not, to changing environments? are there associations of species that are interdependent (plants, pollinators, parasites, parasitoids)? 3) how are species gained or lost across a TIME gradient? Succession, community composition, effects of disturbance 30 15

16 gamma alpha beta Van Dyke Measuring Biodiversity - alpha - beta - gamma Gamma rate of change of species composition with distance (geography, rate of gain and loss of species) alpha rarity with increased number of species (fewer of each type) beta rarity with habitat specialists gamma rarity if restricted to particular geographic areas 32 16

17 Measuring Biodiversity - alpha - beta - gamma Missing? Species role in ecosystem? Rarity Phylogenetic Representation Edges vs. Interior (e.g., fragmentation) (spp richness increases, but are broad generalists, not interior habitat specialists) All species are not equivalent (normative valuation?) 33 Pricing Biodiversity R I = (D i + U i )(deltap i /C i ) D = distinctiveness U = utility delta P = enhanced probability of survival C = cost of strategy Direct limited funds Ecological Contribution? 34 17

18 Lissamphibia Anura Urodela frogs salamanders Gymnophiona caecilians To Fishes and Ancestor Tetrapoda Synapsida Mammalia Testudines turtles Amniota Lizards Lizards Amphisbaenia Extant Herp Groups Reptilia Lepidosauria Squamata Serpentes Lizards Lizards Rhynchocephalia snakes tuatara Diapsida Crocodylia crocs etc. See Fig 2-1 (Pough et al., 2001) Archosauria Aves birds 35 Rhynchocephalia - evolved before dinosaurs - world-wide distribution in Mesozoic - most extinct at end Cretaceous (65mya) Sphenodontidae - 1 extant genus (Sphenodon) - 2 extant species - restricted to small islands of New Zealand - long lived Henry 36 18

19 Pricing Biodiversity R I = (D i + U i )(deltap i /C i ) D = distinctiveness U = utility delta P = enhanced probability of survival C = cost of strategy Direct limited funds Ecological Contribution? 37 Species-Area Relationship 3 step loss of biodiversity (Rosenzweig) S = ca Z S = species richness c = taxon-specific constant A = area Z = extinction coefficient for taxon 1. Endemics 2. Sink populations 3. Stochasticity Therefore end up with lower steady state species richness and loss of biodiversity Endemism and Islands (Tuatura, Silversword) Island Biogeography 38 19

20 3 step loss of biodiversity (Rosenzweig) 39 Van Dyke 2003 Endemics Habitat Size Habitat Loss Van Dyke

21 41 Pimm and Jenkins

22 Where is biodiversity? One tree in Peru with same ant diversity as Britain Pimm and Jenkins

23 45 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Focus: Consequences of Ecosystem Change for Human Well-being

24 (Pleistocene) Re-wilding of North America Donlan et al. 2005, Nature, 436: What happened about 13k yrs ago in N. America? 2. Are there really no apparent costs to restoring Bolson s tortoise? 3. How do you predict African cheetahs and US mountain lions would interact? 4. Is this paper about playing God? Are we a natural force in the evolution of life on this planet?

25 Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan Role Playing Exercise (in class 8 September 2005) Interest Groups for role-playing exercise: Developers (Andrew Galassi, Christine Schirmer, Chad Radford, Jennifer Oas) Ranchers (Tony Dee, Ariel Tinney, Emily Butler, Lisa Felix) Center for Biological Diversity (Brendan Cook, Stacy Skopp, Matt Cole, Kimberly Mars) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Aaron Poe, Gabrielle Lehmicke, Linette Ancha, Kathryn Marlor) Miners (Erin Deely, Sarah White, Brooke LaFlamme, Justin Schneider) Panel to Report Recommendations to Pima Co. / Pima County Board of Supervisors (Nicolas Ramos-Lara,, Natasha Pierce, Jenny Bauman, Samantha Redmon) 49 Written Assignment 1. Which interest group, if any, won the debate? Why? Which interest group fared poorly in your eyes? Why? 2. What information was missing that you think the Advisory Panel would need to make a reasonable recommendation to the citizens and government of Pima County? 3. What information would your specific group like to have had in order to make your case and represent your point of view? 4. How is the ESA relevant (both positively and negatively) to the SDCP? 5. Please comment on the efficacy of this role-playing exercise