ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Siltation, Sloss Debate, Leopard Frog
Module 3: June 4-June 15
Date: Monday, June 11
SESSION 31: CONSERVATION OF SPECIES AND HABITATS (I)
Readings: Chapter 9
Biodiversity provides goods and services
● Provides food, shelter, fuel
● Purifies air and water, detoxifies wastes
● Generates and renews soil fertility
● Pollinates plants, controls pests and disease
● Maintains genetic resources
● Provides cultural and aesthetic benefits
● Allows us to adapt to change
Organisms Provide Drugs and Medicines
● In response to herbivory, plants produce: cyanide, caffeine, cocaine, mescaline, nicotine,
atropine, strychnine, morphine, quinine, codeine, digitalis, and many many more
Eco-tourism
● “Tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to
support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.”
● Incentive to preserve natural areas and reduce impacts on the landscape and on native
species
● Can be beneficial in developing countries
Deep Ecology
● Do other organisms have intrinsic value?
○ Preserve not necessarily because it is good to us, but because it is good
● Do other organisms have rights, including an inherent right to exist?
● Do we have ethical obligations toward other species?
Biodiversity helps maintain ecosystem functions
● Biodiversity increases the stability and resilience of communities and ecosystems
● Decreased biodiversity reduces natural system’s ability to function and provide services
Biodiversity helps maintain ecosystem functions
● “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering” - Aldo
Leopold
How do we measure species diversity?
●Abundance = number of individuals
●Richness = number of different species
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Document Summary
Session 31: conservation of species and habitats (i) In response to herbivory, plants produce: cyanide, caffeine, cocaine, mescaline, nicotine, atropine, strychnine, morphine, quinine, codeine, digitalis, and many many more. Tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife. Incentive to preserve natural areas and reduce impacts on the landscape and on native species. Preserve not necessarily because it is good to us, but because it is good. Biodiversity increases the stability and resilience of communities and ecosystems. Decreased biodiversity reduces natural system"s ability to function and provide services. To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering - aldo. Evenness = distribution of abundance over species. Typically, a few are common, but most are rare. Number of species among orders of mammals: 70% of all mammals are rodents, bats, and insectivores and <4% are primates. Three measures we can use to describe spatial patterns of species richness:
