Conservation Biology: Understanding the Role of Science in Protecting Biological Diversity, Lecture notes of Biology

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Conservation

Biology

Photo from Greg Dimijian

Groom et al****. (2006): “ An integrative approach to the protection Primack (2006): “ carries out research on biological diversity,

What is Conservation Biology?

identifies threats to biological diversity, and plays an active role in the preservation of biological diversity ” and management of biodiversity …”

Conservation Biology draws from many disciplines

Conservation Biology is grounded in Science In the panels below, what happened?

E.g. , How do we weigh the needs of people against those of nonhuman species? Is a human life more valuable than a tiger’s? E.g. , Do fleas have intrinsic value (or rights)? E.g. , How do we weigh the interests of future generations relative to the present? Should we be concerned that many species of orchid likely will become irrevocably extinct by the time our grandchildren are born? Should we do something about it? E.g. , Should we restore longleaf pine savannas, bottomland hardwood forests, Cajun prairies, and coastal marshes in Louisiana?

Conservation Biology draws from many disciplines

Conservation Biology also recognizes that not all relevant questions can be answered strictly using scientific tools and methods of inquiry

Guiding Principles of Conservation Biology

(1) Evolution is the basis for understanding biology (2) Biological entities are complex and dynamic (3) Humans are a part of the natural world; our activities range from highly destructive, through benign, to ameliorating Evolution; Complexity & Dynamism; Humans

Evolution

Allele frequency change through time in a population Population – a group of conspecific individuals contemporaneously occupying the same place Some Mechanisms of Evolution Mutation Genetic drift Gene flow (via emigration and immigration) Artificial selection Natural selection (thank you, Darwin & Wallace!) – adaptive evolution Sexual selection (thank you, Darwin!) See “The Evolution of Bacteria on a ‘Mega-Plate’ Petri Dish” on YouTube Evolution

Photo of Dobzhansky from Wikimedia Commons An architect of the Modern Synthesis of Evolutionary Biology

“ Nothing in biology makes sense except

in the light of evolution ”

Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900 – 1975)

Evolution

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

vs.

“ Nothing in biology makes sense except

in the light of evolution ”

E.g. , why do all species of the family Felidae look more like house cats than dogs? Evolution

National Geographic Magazine – November 2004

“ Nothing in biology makes sense except

in the light of evolution ”

" Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don't " Richard Dawkins Evolution

Photo of Hutchinson from Yale Peabody Archives E.g. , explanations for: “why are there so many kinds of animals?” Complexity & Dynamism

Nature is Complex & Dynamic

G. Evelyn Hutchinson (1903 – 1991)

The “evolutionary play” takes place in an “ecological theater”

Humans

Human Population

The Population Bomb (1968)* The Population Explosion (1990) The “essential point” of “ The Population Bomb is as valid today as it was in 1968: ‘Basically, there are only two kinds of solutions to the population problem. One is a ‘birth rate solution,’ in which we find ways to lower the birth rate. The other is a ‘death rate solution,’ in which ways to raise the death rate – war, famine, pestilence – find us .’ ” Paul R. Ehrlich (2023, pg. 298) Life

Photo of Tiger Stadium from Wikimedia Commons

Human Population

How many individual humans were alive on Earth 100 years ago? How many individual humans are alive on Earth today? How many individual humans are projected to be alive on Earth in 2050?

Human Population

~ 10,000 new babies will be added to the population during the course of this class period U. S. Census Bureau (an agency of the U. S. Department of Commerce) current estimate: U. S. and World Population Clock Photo of K. E. Harms and his two kids

By which demographic processes could a population change in size? Nt+1 = Nt + B + I – D – E For an open population , observed at discrete time steps : Birth , Immigration , Death , Emigration (B. I. D. E.)

Human Population Growth