Biodiversity Conservation Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Biodiversity Conservation: Focus on understanding where biodiversity exists for effective conservation.
• Types of Biodiversity: Species, genetic, and ecological diversity.
• Ideal Conservation Planning:
  • Identify areas/regions/biotic communities for protection.
  • Focus on individual species and genetic diversity.

Setting Priorities in Conservation

• Criteria for setting priorities:
  • High species richness.
  • Measures of species diversity (evenness, turnover).
  • Endemism.
  • Number of threatened/endangered species.
• Species Distribution: Species are not evenly distributed; high concentrations in certain areas.

Factors Influencing Species Distribution

• Abiotic Factors: Temperature, precipitation, soil moisture.
• Biotic Factors: Predators, competitors, disease, symbiosis.
• Range of Tolerance: Important to determine species potential distribution.

Patterns of Species Distribution

• Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient:
  • Higher species richness near the equator.
  • Tropics have more species due to greater geographic area, more sunlight, longer stable periods, difficulty evolving in cold, and predictable climates.
• Species-Area Relationship:
  • Larger geographic areas support more species.
  • Shown in plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds across multiple regions.
• Environmental Heterogeneity:
  • More environmental variability (e.g. elevation) increases species richness.

Conservation Priorities

• Biodiversity Hotspots:
  • High endemic species richness and threat levels.
  • Criticisms: Based on plant models, might overlook current threat levels, unique biotic communities, and marine environments.
• Hope Spots:
  • Proposed by Sylvia Earle to protect critical marine areas.
  • Emphasizes importance of marine conservation.
• Cold Spots:
  • Concept by Kariva and Marvie highlighting areas not classified as hotspots but are ecologically significant.

Conclusion

• Importance of broadening conservation focus beyond biodiversity hotspots.
• Need to protect areas with unique ecological diversity and critical ecosystem services.