BIOL 150A Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Conservation Biology, Ecosystem Diversity, Ecosystem Services
24 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Cause a very fast rate of species loss: human activities alter the trophic structure, energy ow & chemical cycle. Natural rate of extinction: 0. 1-1 extinction/1000 species/1000 years. Endangered species: species that face a high risk of extinction. Threatened species: classi ed as critically endangered or vulnerable: ecosystem services: the bene ts that people obtain from ecosystems. Biophilia - the bond between humans & our surroundings. Ecological economics - attempts to determine the monetary value of ecosystem services & assesses the trade-offs when natural ecosystems are damaged to make way for human activity (ex. New york catskill mountains - rainwater source that became polluted. Options were to build sewage treatment plant or to by the land, prevent agriculture use & allow nature to clean the water: major threats to biodiversity, habitat preservation. Increasingly large fractions of earth"s resources are used to support humans. Habitat fragmentation - natural ecosystems are not completely destroyed but is broken into smaller pieces.
