Governments and Individuals Working Together to Protect

Ecosystems

Chapter 3

Conserving Biodiversity

• The modern science of conservation biology seeks to understand and protect biodiversity. Part of this task includes assessing which species are most in danger of extinction as well as developing strategies to protect them.

Species at Risk

• As a population declines overtime the species may become at risk. – Any native species that is in danger of

becoming extinct or disappearing from a region.

– currently over 200 species at risk in Ontario

– There are different levels of risk.

Species at Risk; con’t

Level of Risk Definition

Extirpated A species that no longer exists in Ontario but still occurs elsewhere

Endangered A species that faces extinction or extirpated

Threatened A species that is at risk of becoming endangered if limiting factors are not reversed

Special Concern

A species with characteristic that make it sensitive to human activities or natural events.

Some at-risk species in Ontario

• (a) The Karner blue butterfly is extirpated. • (b) The eastern prairie fringed orchid is endangered. • (c) The eastern Massasauga rattlesnake is threatened. • (d) The red-headed woodpecker is of special concern.

Conservation Strategies• Governments of different countries coordinate

conservation efforts by using international treaties – Treaty – an agreement, between nations, in which they

agree to do certain things to achieve a common goal. • The Convention on Biological Diversity is the international

treaty whose goals are to conserve Earth’s biodiversity and has been signed by161 countries, including Canada.

• There are two conservation strategies that governments and groups are using to protect biodiversity.

1. Protecting Species in Human-Made Habitats

• Ex-situ conservation- conserves species by removing them from their natural habitats.– Used for threatened or extremely small populations– Ex-situ conservation is considered a strategy of last resort– The at-risk individuals are taken to zoos, botanical gardens,

or reserves. Zoos play an active role in preserving biological diversity

• Species Survival Plans (SSPs) are breeding programs specifically for species threatened with extinction.

• Seeds of endangered plants and rare crop plants can be stored in seed banks. – Stores of seeds that can be used to restore the population.

2. Protecting Species in Their Native Habitats

• In-situ conservation focuses on conserving species in their natural surroundings. – Strategies:

• Protecting species’ habitats (most important)

• Protect a species from its predators.

• Cleaning up or restoring habitat or isolating a habitat from human activity by creating reserves.

Ways Governments have helped to sustain Biodiversity

1. Protecting Endangered Species

• In 2007, the Ontario government passed the Endangered Species Act. This law prohibits killing, capturing, possessing, selling, or trading species that are endangered in Ontario. The law not only protects at-risk species, it protects their habitats as well.

Ways Governments have helped to sustain Biodiversity; con’t

2. Establishing Protected Areas• Slows down the loss of biodiversity • Worldwide, conservation biologists identify “biodiversity

hot spots,” areas that have many unique ecosystems and whose biodiversity is threatened; ex Brazil’s Atlantic Forest– These areas contain species found nowhere else on Earth. Many of

these species are endangered.

• Three types of protected areas: federal and provincial parks, wildlife reserves and marine sanctuaries.

Ways Governments have helped to sustain Biodiversity; con’t

3. Creating Action Plans to Restore Ecosystems

• Identify the specific causes of the problems.

• Government agencies, industry representatives, and community groups met to develop specific plans to fix the problems.

• Monitor conditions to check that the actions taken are working.

Ways Governments have helped to sustain Biodiversity; con’t

4. Preventing the Introduction of Invasive Species

• Agriculture Canada, a branch of the federal government, has strict laws against citizens or visitors bringing foreign food, animals, or plants into the country. This helps prevent people from unwittingly introducing foreign organisms into Canada’s ecosystems.

Ecological Footprint

• An estimate of how much land and water is needed to support a person’s lifestyle – Includes the land and water needed to produce the

resources as well as wastes produced.

• The average Canadian requires 8.9ha (17 football fields) to maintain their lifestyle. – If everyone on earth lived like this, we would need

5.7 earths.

Ecological Footprint; con’t

• Calculating ecological footprints enables us to see how much we need to change or evaluate progress.

• As populations and consumption increases the World’s ecological footprint will eventually equal all the available land and water on Earth. – It is believed that we reached this point in 1990.

Environmental Stewardship

• Taking personal responsibility to take care of the environment to ensure that they are used in sustainable ways for current and future generations.

• Stewardship includes activities such as:– Reducing the amount of resources we use– Reusing items instead of throwing them away– Renew /recycling used items. – Conserving existing ecosystems and restoring damaged ones.

Sustainable Agriculture• In the 1980’s the Environmental Farm Plan was

created. (The EFP is a tool that farmers can use to identify environmental problems on their farms and develop action plans to address these problems)

• Integrated pest management - method of pest control that uses knowledge about a pest’s biology and habitats.

• Soil conservation - using farming methods that protect the soil from erosion and loss of nutrients.

• Organic farming - organic farms do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Sustainable Forestry• Forest Stewardship Council of Canada (FSC) is a non-

governmental organization.• This organization sets standards for sustainable forest

management and certifies forests and forestry practices that meet their standards.

• For a forestry practice to be certified:– Waterways and wildlife habitat have to be protected.

– Parts of the forest have to be preserved.

– The cut areas have to be replanted.

– The cut areas cannot be replanted with just a single species. The forest must be able to achieve a wild state.

Sustainable Construction• The thousands of large buildings and millions of homes

in Canada have a significant effect on the environment.• Building them, living in them, and heating and cooling

them uses energy, uses many different resources, and produces many different types of pollution.

• The Canada Green Building Council uses the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Libraries, schools, office buildings, and homes can be scored on – Water consumption– Energy consumption – Use of renewable resources

Individuals and Sustainability

Homework

• Pg 103 # 1-8

• Pg 116 # 1-11