Minimod 4 - Global Challenges To Biodiversity Flashcards

Question

What is the economic cost of invasive species?

Answer 1

Invasive species cost humans $423 billion each year and threatens world diversity - at least 3500 harmful invasive species recorded in every region of earth spread by human activity

Answer 2

- sometimes subtle and difficult to detect - a lot of anecdotal evidence, not much empirical data - problematic conclusions can be incorrect - the case of otter declines linked to American mink, whereas it actually was organochlorine pesticides causing the issue - because of the nature of invasions, there is little experimental data (because baseline is uncommon) - time lags (from introduction to spread to impact)

Answer 3

- grazing, browsing and roots (eg reindeer overgrazing, boar uprooting, beavers altering streams) - aquatic plants can overgrow and shade ecosystems (water hyacinth covers rivers, diatoms can smother river beds)

Answer 4

- direct negative effects of invaders on other native species - predation or herbivory can cause wider trophic cascades (eg through competition or apparent competition)

Answer 5

- either introduced intentionally or accidentally alongside another organism - can wipe out other species as they can’t adapt quickly enough to the parasite

Answer 6

Hard to observe and can be subtle but with dire effects - increased susceptibility to disease - reduced ability to respond to environmental change

Answer 7

3,000 non-native species in Great Britain - Rhododendron - Giant hogweed - Signal crayfish - Grey squirrel - Muntjac deer

Answer 8

One of the worlds most invasive species - invasive root system and strong growth can damage concrete foundations, buildings, flood defences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites - coloniser of temperate riparian ecosystems, roadsides and waste places - form dense colonies that completely crowd out any other herbaceous species - tolerant of a wide range of soil types, pH and salinity - can survive temperatures of -35*c - can extend 7m horizontally and 3m deep - plant resilient to cutting, vigorously re-spouting from the roots

Answer 9

- oak processionary moth - imported alongside flowers and trees from the Netherlands Causes skin irritation and respiratory issues - hypersensitisation - can lead to death - currently limited to the M25 corridor, although it is spreading and more processions are being detected - natural enemies are the main control mechanism

Answer 10

- intruded to Woburn park in 1878 - native range = Caspian-Black sea river basins - restricted to muddy ponds or canals where they are the new top predator Piscivorous and have caused large declines in prey fish populations - gudgeon populations may never recover - cyprinids in general have lower biomass when co-occurring with Zander (indicating high levels of predation)

Answer 11

- spreading rapidly across much of Europe - subtropical Asian species which is popular cage bird (import banned in 2005 for the UK) - found in Wiltshire and Somerset Potential negative impacts - - may compete with other frugivorous birds (observed in Hawaii) - Disperse the seeds of non-native plants - spread diseases (eg avian malaria)

Answer 12

- fast growth - rapid reproduction - good dispersers - phenotypic plasticity (able to respond to conditions) - generalists (environmental and dietary) - linked to humans (nice looking, produce useful materials)

Answer 13

- using expert knowledge to estimate which species will arrive next - based on risk of introduction and threat to native species - limited by available knowledge and studies in native ranges - mainly for targeting resource allocation and not for ecological impact assessments

Answer 14

- using information on interactions from native ranges we can estimate effects - reliant on data coverage and existing understanding (does not account for unobserved interactions and indirect effects)

Answer 15

Eradication - - only suitable for small or restricted populations - has been effectively deployed in only a small number of cases Promote natural enemies (or introduce them) - parasitoid flies of oak processionary moth - red foxes (vulpes vulpes) to predate rabbits in Australia - South America weevils to eat floating pennywort Bio security - prevent further spread and limit wider establishment

Answer 16

- it is much cheaper to prevent invasive species from establishing than trying to remove them once they are established - strict import inspections New technologies/approaches - molecular methods - environmental DNA to detect establishment - citizen science (ie public records and photographs) It is nearly impossible due to rogue importers and large volume of trade.

Answer 17

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Polyethylene high density (PEHD) Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Polyethylene low density (PELD) Polypropylene (PP) Polystyrene (PS) Bisphenol A (O)

Answer 18

- macroplastic (>10 mm) - mesoplastic (-5mm) - Microplastic (<5 mm) - nanoplastic (>1 mm)

Answer 19

Personal - eg bottles, wrappers, wet wipes - intentional or unintentional - diminishing problem? Business - fly tipping - erosion of concrete and other materials - direct into the movement or indirect through incorrect disposal A persistent and continual problem that may never end (think bottles, midden mounds etc)

Answer 20

- pre-processed nurdles - products - recycling exports/imports - depending on mode of spill it can either be acute or chronic - not known how much plastic results from spills but there are some clear examples

Answer 21

- one of the most frequently cited sources of plastics - wet wipes - microplastics from face wash and other personal care products - rubbish and poorly disposed waste - large amounts of wastewater are treated every day

Answer 22

- plastic mulch - spreading of sewage sludge (from WwTWs) - litter and atmospheric deposition

Answer 23

- one of the most widely reported issues External damage - - limb loss - reduced mobility Drowning - severe effects, but only a few individuals get badly effected - typically plastics need to be quite large compared to the organisms

Answer 24

- lots of animals can ingest plastics of different sizes - approximately 1/20th of body length Lots of different effects - - leaching contaminants - blocking digestive tracts - replacing space for more nutritious food - translocating into other tissues (eg cell death, oxidative stress) - plasticosis

Answer 25

A disease in seabirds caused by plastic ingestion, specifically, fibrosis of the digestive tract due to the presence of plastic particles - this fibrosis leads to scarring, deformation and reduced functionality, making birds more suseptible to infections and parasites

Answer 26

Plastics are not just plastic (13,000 chemicals have been found associated with plastics) - plasticisers (eg phenols) - additives (eg flame retardants) - UV stabilisers - biocides - metals Created with co-contaminants or sometimes pick them up in the environment Some particles/organisms are easily or not easily removed Potential to move chemicals from organisms?

Answer 27

Lots of organisms colonise plastic - bacteria - algae - goose barnacles Promotes anti-bacterial strains of bacteria Breaks down the plastic itself by physical and chemical processes

Answer 28

- lots of severe effects on individuals (eg death or disability from plastic entanglement) - little to no evidence to suggest population or community level effects of plastic pollution - zero evidence for high level effects in field situations

Answer 29

- preventing the entrance of plastics into the waste stream - recycling (individual and corporate) - reuse (ie repairing and maintaining equipment to extend use) - promoting a circular economy through individual action - Civil disobedience (peaceful from of political protest)

Answer 30

- extracting material from environments - most commonly from rivers, beaches and oceans - high and low tech (clean ups, floating removal, filters/grates) - should we be focusing on prevention? `

Answer 31

Online platforms (second hand clothes, equipment and other items) Repair schemes - ‘right to repair’ laws in UK (July 2021) - makes spare parts available to third parties and consumers - parts must be available for 7-10 years after the last product is sold

Answer 32

The positive and negative effects of the natural world on humans Disservices are less well appreciated and understood - flood risk (ie clogging by vegetation) - loss of crop yield through herbivory - water contamination - human-centric perspective on the natural world - useful for trying to value/apprieciate what we tale/receive from nature

Answer 33

Anything that can be extracted - fish - fruit and veg - fuel wood - energy - sand and gravel - medicines - direct material benefit to humans - the easiest types of service to quantify (eg weight, mass or nutrient content) - usually have a direct value (ie value of fish, meat or timber)

Answer 34

Ecosystem processes that control natural phenomena - - pollination - pest control - decomposition - water purification - flood control - carbon storage - climate regulation Often invisible or difficult to directly monitor - under valued?

Answer 35

- non-material benefit that contributes to the development and advancement of culture - local indentity - recreation - creativity (influence of nature on art, music and architecture

Answer 36

- even more basic than regulating the things we need to live - Photosynthesis - Nutrient cycling - soil creation The habitat and living spaces needed for plant and animals to survive Without supporting services there would not be any other ecosystem services Think of these as the foundations for all the other ecosystem services

Answer 37

- significant issue that has increased over time - 30% of fish stocks are overfished - driven by 5x increase in consumption of aquatic resources (not just due to population increase) - welsh seas are as exploited as anywhere else in the world

Answer 38

Fish populations in the Celtic sea are reportedly one of the most negatively impacted worldwide, due to overfishing and sea warming. Improving abilities in monitoring marine biodiversity is an evidence priority in Welsh marine evidence strategy (Welsh government, 2019b).

Answer 39

Loss of large bodied fish (through preferential extraction) leads to top down release - less predation - population increases in prey - depletion of basal resources - changes in the water chemistry

Answer 40

Changes in water chemistry or basal resources proliferate up through the food web - - increase in intermediate consumers - more prey for predators - predator populations increase

Answer 41

- open and closed mining - operates across lots of different scales - large scale (Rio Tinto) - Artisanal (eg local communities Many impactions - - contaminates aquifers and rivers - releases sediments and heavy metals - restructures terrestrial ecosystems - waste material is left in situ Long term legacy (disrupts ecosystem structure and function in ecosystems for decades)

Answer 42

- open pit coal mining - river Taff used to run black with coal waste and runoff from spoils (100,000 tonnes of coal waste was dumped into the Taff in a single year and the water was given the name ‘black water’ - posed environmental and human health risks (cholera, typhoid etc) - spoil heaps still affect water quality in the river Taff (heavy metals and other compounds) - we still don’t see trout downstream of coal mines

Answer 43

- both pastoral and arable agriculture have increased in intensity - crop monocultures - high density farming (birds, mammals, fish etc) High densities of genetically very similar organisms presents a high risk for lots of different reasons - - more susceptible to diseases and parasites - less resilient to change - have a lesser functional role (ie fulfil fewer ecosystem functions)

Answer 44

- intensive agriculture depletes natural systems Soil degradation - loss of biodiversity - loss of nutrients - decline in functioning (ie dentrification, fertility) Biotic homogenisation - only generalists can survive - metropolitan species dominate (eg rats, starlings, sparrows) - loss of genetic diversity

Answer 45

Parasites (huge economic cost) - fish lice - liver flukes - roundworms Diseases - bird flu - foot and mouth (77% of livestock are potential vectors/receivers)

Answer 46

Removal of water from the surface and subsurface - agriculture (40% of crops irrigated from groundwater) - domestic use - industrial use (eg cooling of reactors) Cross border issue as rivers and aquifers don’t have political boundaries Reduces habitat for aquatic species and water availability for all other ecosystems

Answer 47

- full recovery is not achieved by just halting or banning exploitation - conservation and restoration work but need to be connected and planned on an international scale - remediation, restoration and other active interventions and required to return to previous conditions

Answer 48

- finding new ways of extracting resources either with less impact or more efficiently - offsetting negative impacts through other schemes (eg tree planting)

Minimod 4 - Global Challenges To Biodiversity Flashcards

(72 cards)