Reserves

• Maintain high diversity and abundance

• Attract human populations• Why?

Bushmeat

• In Africa, forest referred to as “the bush”• Meat derived from wildlife = bushmeat• Subsistence, trading: multi-billion $/yr in

Africa– ↑ human population, poverty, food insecurity– Private extractive industries facilitate access– Low government capacity for enforcement

• Studies show majority is unsustainable, threatens conservation goals

Project for Ecosystem Management of the Peripheral Zone of the Nouabalé-

Ndoki National Park (PROGEPP)• Government of Congo – WCS Congo –

Private timber company – Communities• No snare hunting• No hunting of legally protected species• No bushmeat export

Wildlife Trade• Trade and exchange of wildlife and wildlife

products made from them• Not all sustainable: leads to quick decline

of many species• Since 1970, 90% of world’s rhinos gone

– Horns for medicinal purposes or dagger handles

• 12,000 African elephants killed annually for domestic markets

Annual World Trade in Selected Wildlife & Plants

Product At leastPrimates (live) 40,000Birds (live) 3,000,000Ornamental fish 350,000,000Furs 40,000,000Reptile skins 20,000,000Reptiles (live) 100,000,000Coral (raw) 1,000 tonsCacti 10,000,000Orchids 2,000,000

(Henley 1995)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES)• Aim: to ensure international

trade of species does not threaten their survival

• 1975 – IUCN• Voluntary• Listed species decided upon by

member countries– Spp threatened with extinction

• Spp may be threatened through trade– Spp not globally threatened but

member country asked for help in protection

Why are Some Species Rare?

• Body Size • Trophic position• Geographic distribution

– islands– endemics

• Degree of ecological specialization– niche width

• Reproductive rate• Recentcy speciation

Why are Rare Species Prone to Extinction?

• Demographic Stochasticity– By chance alone population fluctuates in

growth rate and hence change in size from one year to the next

– When population is small, extinction can occur with relatively high probability even if chances of survival and successful reproduction are high

Why are Rare Species Prone to Extinction?

• Environmental Stochasticity– random series of environmental changes– a couple of bad years in a row can be

especially devastating to rare populations

• El Niño and Alala– Poor reproduction, even in captivity– Compounding effect of predators (Io)

» specializing on crows more?

Why are Rare Species Prone to Extinction?

• Genetic Problems– Difficulty Finding Mates– Genetic Drift – chance alterations in

small populations: bottlenecks and founder effects

• Inbreeding Depression– Close relatives breed, heterozygosity goes down

because they share many alleles, semilethal recessives are expressed more frequently

– Random Changes in Phenotype– Decreased Genetic Variance

What is the historical pattern of extinction?

• Five major mass extinctions through geologic time– Late Permian--formation of Pangea, loss of shallows,

many marine organism extinctions (Schopf 1974)

Loss ofDinosMostly

Marine

Shallows

(Myers 1997)

Causes of Historic Extinctions are Varied

• Meteors• Continental Drift• Humans

– Pattern of extinctions during last 30,000 years (late Pleistocene) closely matches pattern of human colonization

Human Occupation of Earth

(Diamond 1998--Guns, Germs, and Steel)

So, Extinction is Natural, but Current Episode is Unusual

• Estimated to be 10 - 50 million species on earth– This present extinction rate is 10,000x

greater than background rate through geologic time (Nott et al. 1995)

How Many Extinctions Have Been Documented in last 400 years?

Total of 611 species completely extinct (30 more extinct in the wild but survive in

captivity)• Mammals 86 (3)• Birds 104 (4)• Reptiles 20 (1)• Amphibians 5 (0)• Fishes 81 (11)• Molluscs 230 (9)• Crustaceans 9 (1)• Insects 72 (1)• Other inverts 4 (0)

(Pimm et al. 1995; Chapin et al 2000)

Current extinction risk

Distribution of Imperiled Species by Ecoregion

Number ofSpecies

Number ofEndemic Imperiled Species

1-20

21-50

51-150

> 150

1-10

11-50

51-150

> 100

6-5Source: Precious Heritage (2000) © TNC, NatureServe

Vulnerable Orders

• Loss of all representatives of an Order would be extreme pruning of tree of life

• Mammal orders at risk– e.g. elephant, monotremes

• Bird orders at risk – e.g. cranes

• Reptiles– e.g. tuatara

Endangered Species Preservation Act (1966)

• 1st attempt to address species endangerment comprehensively

• Determined the wildlife facing extinction in the U.S. and sponsored research on those species

• “Taking” of endangered species prohibited only on NWR• Take = harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound,

kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct

• Relatively weak legislation but good foundation

Endangered Species ConservationFederal Level

Endangered Species Conservation Act (1969)

•Expanded 1966 Act: includes all vertebrates and some invertebrates in danger of “worldwide extinction”

•Prohibits importation or sale of endangered species or their products

•Addition of foreign species to the U.S. list•Leads to the formation of the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES, 1973)

Endangered Species ConservationFederal Level

Endangered Species Act (ESA, 1973)• Extends protection to plants• Stresses maintaining integrity of the ecosystems • Goal = “recover” listed species• Prohibits federal agencies from authorizing,

funding, or carrying out any action that would jeopardize a listed species or destroy or modify its "critical habitat"

• Distinctions made between threatened and endangered

• Day to day implementation falls to USFWS and NOAA

Endangered Species ConservationFederal Level

Endangered Species Act

• Endangered species: an animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range

• Threatened species: an animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Steps in Classification and Conservation•Petition Process•Classification•Recovery Team•Recovery Plan•Critical habitat•Implement Recovery Plan•Monitor populations•Re-classify or de-list

Endangered Species Act

So, What Do We Do?

Use Scientific Method to Identify Threat

Determine Spatial Extent of Protection

REMOVE THREAT

Release Probeto Test if Threat

is Removed

Captive Breeding

MonitorRecovery

Restock

Managein situ

Set up Reserves

?

Removing threat of conservation reliant species

Modify habitat• Control of invasives• Use of prescribed fire to maintain suitable

habitat• Restrict grazing or public accessModify interactions• Predator control• Limited translocations to maintain genetic

diversity

Endangered SpeciesManagement

PoliticalConsiderations

LandUse

LegalConstraints

CompetitionWith Other Wildlifeand PeopleBiological

Knowledge

LimitedHabitat

LimitedBreeding Population

Constraints on Endangered Species

Management