Why should we care about maintaining biodiversity?

Reasons that benefit humans:

1. Food2. Medicines and drugs3. Ecological balance4. Aesthetic and cultural value

Other reasons:1. Life is special and should be preserved2. Because all living things have an equal right to survive on this planet

How many species of living organisms are on Earth?

1.5 million identified of estimated 3 - 50 million potentiallyexisting

What regions of earth have the most species?

Tropical Rainforests have the greatest diversity

Temperate Rainforests (such as those in B.C.) have the 2nd greatest diversity

How are human activities affecting biodiversity?

Although mass extinctions are natural result of evolution and catastrophic disturbances like K/T event (a massive asteroid that hit earth and killed thousands of species), human activities have accelerated extinction rates.

1 species /decade is normal for an undisturbed ecosystem. Human activities result in hundreds even thousands of species disappearing every year.

(only 1% of total number of species that have existed still exist)

How do humans threaten biodiversity?

1. Habitat Destruction

2. Invasive Species

3. Pollution

4. Population Growth

5. Overharvesting

Endangered Species: imminent danger of extinction

Threatened Species: likely to become endangered (at least locally) within near future

Mammals: Peary Caribou (Banks Island and High Arctic population), Eastern Cougar, Vancouver Island Marmot, Sea Otter, Bowhead Whale, Right Whale, Beluga Whale (St. Lawrence River, Ungava Bay and Southeast Baffin Island-Cumberland Sound populations), Wolverine (Eastern population).Birds: Whooping Crane, Eskimo Curlew, Northern Bobwhite, Harlequin Duck (Eastern population), Anatum Peregrine Falcon, Acadian Flycatcher, Spotted Owl, Mountain Plover, Piping Plover, King Rail, Loggerhead Shrike (Eastern population), Henslow's Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, Kirtland's Warbler.Amphibians: Blanchard's Cricket Frog.Reptiles: Blue Racer Snake, Lake Erie Water Snake, Leatherback Turtle.Fish: Salish Sucker, Aurora Trout, Acadian Whitefish.Plants: Gattinger's Agalinis, Skinner's Agalinis, Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus, Slender Bush Clover, Pink Coreopsis, Southern Maidenhair Fern, White Prairie Gentian, Small White Lady's slipper, Furbish's Lousewort, Pink Milwort, Eastern Mountain Avens, Hoary Mountain-mint, Slender Mouse-ear-cress, Western Fringed Prairie Orchid, Heart-leaved Plantain, Large Whorled Pogonia, Small Whorled Pogonia, Wood Poppy, Engelmann's Quillwort, Threat-leaved Sundew, Cucumber Tree, Water-pennywort, Spotted Wintergreen.

Canada’s Endangered Species

Threatened - 62 speciesMammals, 8; Birds, 9; Reptiles, 3; Fish, 12; Plants, 30;Mammals: Wood Bison, Peary Caribou (Low Arctic pop.), Woodland Caribou (Quebec pop.), Newfoundland Pine Marten, Harbour Porpoise (Western Atlantic pop.), Pacific Water Shrew, Humpback Whale (North Pacific pop.), Beluga Whale (Eastern Hudson Bay pop.)Birds: Yellow-breasted Chat (Okanagan pop.), Ferruginous Hawk, Marbled Murrelet, Burrowing Owl, Loggerhead Shrike (Prairie pop.), Baird's Sparrow, Roseate Tern, Hooded Warbler, White-headed WoodpeckerReptiles: Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Blanding's Turtle (Nova Scotia pop.), Spiny Softshell TurtleFish: Blackfin Cisco, Shortjaw Cisco, Shortnose Cisco, Channel Darter, Eastern Sand Darter, Margined Madtom, Black Redhorse, Copper Redhorse, Great Lakes Deepwater Sculpin, Shorthead Sculpin, Enos Lake Stickleback, Lake Simcoe WhitefishPlants: Blue Ash, Anticosti Aster, Bluehearts, American Chestnut, Colicroot, Deerberry, Mosquito Fern, Western Blue Flag, Plymouth Gentian, Ginseng, Golden Crest, Golden Seal, Round-leaved Greenbrier, Giant Helleborine, van Brunt's jacob's Ladder, Small-flowered Lipocarpha, Red Mulberry, Sweet Pepperbush, Nodding Pogonia, Redroot, Western Spiderwort, Pitcher's Thistle, Athabasca Thrift, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Purple Twayblade, Sand Verbena, Bird's-foot Violet, American Water-willow, Tyrrell's Willow, Blunt-lobed Woodsia

Canada’s Threatened Species

A political battle is currently underway over ESA

In September 2008, the Canadian Government implementedthe new Endangered Species Act

This act changes the way that humans are able to useareas that contain endangered species and that have high levels of biodiversity. An example is the Boreal Forest surrounding Red Lake.