Saving species Bogota, 2010 Stuart L. Pimm Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University And Extraordinary Professor Conservation Ecology Research Unit University of Pretoria
Saving species
Bogota, 2010
Stuart L. PimmDoris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
And
Extraordinary Professor
Conservation Ecology Research Unit
University of Pretoria
Part I Species extinction • high — 100x to 1000x background, • irreversible, • geographically concentratedPart II Tropical deforestation main driver of terrestrial extinctions Part III Global climate disruption• Could be as bad as habitat lossPart IV: What does it take to stop extinctions?
Part I
Species extinction
• How fast? high — 100x to 1000x•Which species? Those with small ranges• Where? geographically concentrated• Why Colombia is so important
Pimm, S. L., P. Raven, A. Peterson, C. H. Sekercioglu, and P. R. Ehrlich. 2006. Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) 103: 10941-10946
How fast are species going extinct?To answer that, we need to know how long we’ve known the species
Linné 1760 — but most exploration started after 1815
Date of Description
Date of <1600 1600s 1700s 1800s >1900 sum
extinction <1600 0 0 6 6
1600s 2 4 4 10
1700s 4 10 13 27
1800s 10 37 1 48
>1900 12 39 12 63
sum 28 90 36 154
CD* 5 16 4 25
Critical** 13 91 53 157
All 1689 7079 1207 9975
*CD Conservation dependent**Critically endangered
We know birds best
Extinct when described
Date of Description
Date of <1600 1600s 1700s 1800s >1900 sum
extinction <1600 0 0 6 6
1600s 2 4 4 10
1700s 4 10 13 27
1800s 10 37 1 48
>1900 12 39 12 63
sum 28 90 36 154
CD* 5 16 4 25
Critical** 13 91 53 157
All 1689 7079 1207 9975
*CD Conservation dependent**Critically endangered
39 species described from 1800 to 1899 went extinct in 1900 or later
In 1900, of the known 8701 living species, 51 became extinct in the next 106 years.
— That’s 58 extinctions per million species-year [MSY]. Another 21 species are “conservation dependent.” 157 are “critically endangered”
Pimm, S. L., P. Raven, A. Peterson, C. H. Sekercioglu, and P. R. Ehrlich. 2006. Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) 103: 10941-10946
Lisa Manne, Thomas M. Brooks and Stuart L. Pimm
Nature 399, 258-261
For a given range size, lowland continental species are more likely to be threatened than are species on islands
Which species will go extinct?
Where are the extinctions going to be?
•The patterns of species richness
•Small ranged species are in special places.
•Geological history matters
Maps: Clinton Jenkins, data NatureServe
Source Clinton Jenkins; from data from NatureServeMaps: Clinton Jenkins, data NatureServe
Mammals
Maps: Clinton Jenkins, data NatureServe
oscines
suboscines
oscines
suboscines
Part II Tropical deforestation
Very large — >100,00km2 per year
Disproportionately in places where there is most biodiversity
Tropical forestsWe are shrinking them rapidly
S.L. Pimm and C. N. Jenkins Scientific American September 2005
Original forest: from WWF Ecoregions
Remaining forest: GLC 2000; from SPOT
… and extinctions are going to happen here, and happen very quickly.
Part III: Climate disruption
Massive, complex, involves many different processes
•
High latitudes are warming more than the tropics…
But species in the tropics may be more sensitive
Pararge aegeria
Black 1915 to 1939Red 1940 to 1969Blue 1970 to 1997
Parmesan et al. (1999) Nature 399: 579-583
Current and predicted range of Tijuca atra
Tijuca condita lives at even higher elevations
Part IV: What can we do?
1.Understand what species are at risk2.The importance of forest carbon3.Stop deforestation4.Restore fragmented habitats5.— especially those that connect lowlands to uplands
Understand the problem:How many species are at risk of extinction in Colombia?
German Forero-Medina, Lucas Joppa & Stuart L. Pimm (In press. Conservation Biology)
Understanding how species might shift their ranges
Question: How many species of plants and animals in Colombia are within 2oC of the nearest mountain top?In other words, how species will likely go extinct if there is a 2oC rise in temperature*?
*And the world leaders did reach an agreement to keep it that low in Copenhagen
Carbon emissions from deforestation are >15% of the total
More than all vehicles.More than the European Union
Brazil and Indonesia follow China and the USA as the top greenhouse gas emitting
Forest emissions are a huge, global problem
Norway saves the world
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2009/11/529-brazil-forest-conservation-victory.html
How did Brazil do it?1.Good science — satellite monitoring2.Enforcement — and $1B promised from Norway
But REDD has to be done right!The "Procuenca Initiative" in the Andes region of western Colombia may be the first in the world to sell certified forest carbon credits with a biodiversity protection component. But alarms are sounding about the potential negative social and environmentalconsequences.
Under way since 2001, the programme will begin to operate in the international market next year, having received official registration Apr. 16 under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
There is huge potential for restoration
Globally, restoring cattle pastures would sequester 5 x 106 x 102 x 7.5 = 3.75 Gigatons C per year for 20 years +
1 ha has ~150 t Carbon
1 ha can sequester 7.5 t Carbon per year for 20 years +
Globally 7 million km2 cleared2 million km2 for crops, 5 million km2 for cattle pasture.
Three Biomes present less than 5% level of protection while containing high relative number of threatened species. These are the Zonobioma húmedo tropical del Pacífico y Atrato (19 species), Zonobioma alternohígrico y/o subxerofítico tropical del Alto Magdalena (16 species), and the Zonobioma seco tropical del Caribe (13 species) All of these biomes are located in flat lowland areas, in the western and northern plains, and the valley between the Andes.
German Forero-Medina, Lucas Joppa & Stuart L. Pimm (Under review)
The Pacific biome Zonobioma humedo tropical del Pacifico y el Atrato. German Forero-Medina,
Lucas Joppa & Stuart L. Pimm (Under review)
Species richness of ~200 endemic passerine birds
Case 1: Coastal Brazil
S.L. Pimm and C. N. Jenkins Scientific American September 2005
IUCN The Netherlands
Will the USA keep its promise?