ES 5 - Wildlife Management

Topic 5 – Wildlife Management

Biodiversity loss and extinction

-          Biodiversity is a broad term describing the diversity (kepelbagaian) of genes, species, and ecosystems in a region

-          Extinction (kepupusan) is the death of a species, the elimination of all the individuals of a particular kind

-          Extinction is a natural and common event in the long history of biological evolution but the issue here is when extinction is the result of human domination of the Earth

-          Scientists recognize that species continually disappear at a background extinction rate estimated at about one species per million per year, -the current rate of extinction is 100 times the background rate. And more likely much higher

-          In the Americas, 73 percent of the large plant-eaters, along with the saber-toothed cat, were gone within 1,200 years after humans migrated to the continents about 13,600 years ago. Wiped out were animals like mammoths, camels, mastodons, large ground sloths and the glyptodont.

What do we lose when species become extinct?

-          We can put values to biodiversity based on ecological roles played by the organisms, financial value or based on ethical considerations

-          But biodiversity provides biological and ecosystem services (which seems for “free”):

o   Species depend on the diversity of organisms on Earth as all organisms are related to others for their needs. Food chains feed various organisms

o   Humans depend on plants and animals for their food, drugs and other products

o   Plants remove CO₂ and provide O₂.

Extinct Species - the Dodo

·         Discovered by Portuguese sailors (1598)

·         Indigenous to island of Mauritius

·         Isolated from human contact

·         Killed by humans and introduced species

·         Last one died in 1681

·         The animals (and pets)- dogs, cats, rats introduced by European settlers in Mauritius were the predators that devoured the eggs of the Dodo and possibly the adults as well. Previously there were no predators of the Dodo.

Hot Spots

-          most endangered habitats

-          Based on how much of the original habitat is left and the number of unique species present in the region. Most endangered are island ecosystems with unique species that are endemic.

-          Malaysia has 225 species that are considered threatened Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable and 1 species already extinct (source: IUCN)

Extinction factors

-          Habitat loss

-          Human population growth

-          Hunting or overhunting and Poaching (illegal hunting of animals)

-          Overexploitation of resources

-          Introduced Species or “alien species” for e.g. introduction of rats (by accident) and rabbits (introduced by man) into Australia competed for grass for forage with Australia’s natural wildlife (kangaroo, birds and others).

-          Pollution due to human activities

Hetch Hetchy Valley

-          Some environmental battles involving the protection of national parks were lost. John Muir’s Sierra Club fought with the city of San Francisco over its efforts to dam a river and form a reservoir in the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Valley, which lay within Yosemite National Park. In 1913 Congress approved the dam. The State of California is considering restoring Hetch Hetchy, at an estimated cost as high as $10 billion.

Threats to Biodiversity
- 4 major human activities that threaten to reduce biodiversity

-          Habitat loss

o   Human activities convert natural ecosystems to human dominated systems. The result in change eliminate or reduce numbers of species from original value

-          Overexploitation

o   Humans harvest organisms faster than the organisms are able to reproduce

-          Introduction of exotic species

o   Exotic species introduced often compete with native species and drive them to extinction

-          Persecution of pest organisms

o   Many large carnivores (tigers etc) were hunted to extinction because of their threat to humans and their livestock

Habitat Loss

-          World Conservation Union (IUCN- International Union for Conservation of Nature) estimates that 80-90% of threatened species are under threat because of habitat loss or fragmentation

-          Activities that cause habitat loss

§  Farming (40% of world’s land surface has been converted to agriculture land), deforestation, grazing by livestock, modification of aquatic habitats, and conversion to urban and industrial landscapes

Special concerns about tropical deforestation

·         Tropical forests have greater species diversity than other terrestrial ecosystems; tropical soils have low fertility. Thus we cannot manage or cut down tropical forests like westerners do for their temperate forests

·         Tropical forests form the bulk of CO₂ trapping for the world so cutting down forests reduce this CO₂ sequestration and increase the rate of global warming

·         Human population growth in the tropical region if faster thus the forests are being cut down faster to convert them to farmland to feed the increasing population.

Today in the news: Reuters News Alert

›  INTERVIEW-Indonesia wants incentives to halt deforestation

BEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia is mobilizing a group of eight nations ahead of upcoming climate talks to get rich countries to pay the world's tropical nations not to chop down rainforests, its forestry minister said on Wednesday.

Participants from 189 countries are expected to gather in Bali at a U.N.-led summit in December. They will hear a report on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation (RED) -- a new scheme that aims to make emission cuts from forest areas eligible for global carbon trading.

Indonesia wants to gain bargaining power for direct assistance by teaming up with Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, which together account for the lion's share of the world's tropical rainforests.

"What the 'F8' (Forest Eight) hopes and wishes for is an incentive from developed countries, an appreciation of each one's efforts to avoid deforestation," Malam Sembat Kaban told Reuters during a visit to Beijing on Wednesday.

"For instance, Indonesia has the potential to sell 14 million cubic meters of logs based on sustainable principles. Indonesia's policy is to exploit only 9 million cubic meters of logs" from natural forests, through selective cutting, Kaban said, speaking through an interpreter.

"Who pays? We are saving the forest but taking an economic loss ... The demand is there, so there is no reason not to cut."

Indonesia is home to 60 percent of the world's threatened tropical peatlands -- dense tropical swamps that release big amounts of CO2 when burnt or drained to plant crops such as palm oil. It is one of the world's top three carbon emitters when peat emissions are added in, said a report sponsored by the World Bank and Britain's development arm

Wildlife Management:

   “The application of ecological knowledge to populations of vertebrate animals and their plant and animal associates in a manner that strikes a balance between the needs of those populations and the needs of people”

-          􀂄Rooted in human ethics, culture, perceptions, and legal concepts

-          -conflicts between multiple parties, who supports, who pays

-          Trends in World Fish production- amount of fish captured increase yearly until 1989, then the amount has remained constant. This indicates that the world’s fisheries are being exploited to their capacity.  Aquaculture may be the solution but has environmental impacts such as algal blooms (eutrophication) as a result of nutrient release from fish farms.

-          Wildlife conservation

-          Wildlife conservation is defined as the regulation of wild animals and plants in order to ensure the continued sustenance of wildlife resources

-          The term wildlife conservation has been used to include an ever-widening group of animals and plants including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods (lobsters and spiders), mollusks

-          Wildlife Manager – maintains or manipulates wildlife populations, habitats, or human users to produce benefits for wildlife and the general public.  Benefits sought may be ecological, economic, social, recreational, or scientific.  A wildlife manager uses wildlife science to formulate and apply scientifically sound solutions to wildlife and habitat management problems.

-          Wildlife Biologist – gathers, analyzes, and interprets data on wildlife and habitats, including behavior, disease, ecology, genetics, nutrition, population dynamics, physiology, land-use changes, and pollution to conserve wildlife species and improve habitat conditions.  A wildlife biologist uses scientific principles to research wildlife and habitats to increase our knowledge base.

-          Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer – enforces wildlife laws and regulations to maintain wildlife populations at desired levels.  Wildlife law enforcement officers often perform surveys of wildlife populations, are involved in trapping and banding programs, implement wildlife population controls, respond to complaints of nuisance wildlife, and educate the public about wildlife issues.

-          Wildlife Inspector and Forensics Specialist – intercepts smuggled, illegal shipments of live wild animals for the pet trade and wild animal parts for trophy or medicinal purposes.  Wildlife inspectors are stationed at international airports, ocean ports, and border crossings.  Forensics specialists perform scientific and investigative work to document the origin and nature of evidence collected on these illegal imports (pegawai Perhilitan)

3 Management Approaches

        Preservation

                        - nature takes its own course, no human intervention

        Conservation

                        -maintain and use natural resources wisely

        Management

                        Direct Manipulation

                        -animal populations are trapped, shot poisoned, and stocked

                        Indirect Manipulation

                        - Vegetation, water, and other key components or wildlife habitat are altered

Conservation – Preservation

·         Conservation is sensible and careful

management of natural resources

·         Preservation involves setting aside undisturbed areas, maintaining them in a pristine state, and protecting them from human activities that might alter their “natural” state

Conservation and preservation

Planting fields in curves that conform to the natural contours of the land conserves soil by reducing erosion

The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve preserves caribou and other wildlife populations and their habitats

Yellowstone National Park, USA (First national park in the world)

·         In order to safeguard its precious natural heritage, Malaysia has set aside many areas as parks and wildlife reserves. Together with natural forest management, conservation of wildlife, birds and marine life, nature reserves have been established through a network of protected areas. Almost one and a half million hectares of conservation areas are protected by legislation.

·         All of Malaysia’s national parks are under the jurisdiction of Department of Wildlife and National Parks Malaysia

Role of Malaysia’s National Parks

·         As a virgin forest reserve and arboretum (tempat pembelajaran dan penyelidikan konservasi)

·         To conserve specific forest types : Hutan Paya Laut, Hutan Pantai, Hutan Rawa (Heath forest), Hutan Paya Gambut, Hutan Pamah Dipterokarpa, Hutan Bukit Dipterokarpa, Hutan Bukit Tinggi Dipterokarpa dan Hutan Pergunungan (from Kelantan Forestry Dept)

·         conservation of biodiversity : wildlife, birds and marine life, geological features (Langkawi GeoPark)

·         To protect endangered species such as the tiger, rhinoceros, butterflies, plants

·         To ensure sustainability (kelestarian) of the environment

·         To protect water resource and ensure constant supply of water

·         To provide recreation and ecotourism

Taman Negara

·         Spans 4,343 sq. km and sprawls across the mountainous interiors of Kelantan, Pahang, and Terengganu is Taman Negara, Malaysia's premier national park

·         Taman Negara is thought to be one of earth's oldest rain forest

·         Within this area, around the central masif of Gunung Tahan (the Peninsula's highest peak at 2,187 meters), there are countless limestone hills covered in thick forest, fast running streams, and abundant wildlife

·         Flora Fauna : Over 10,000 species of plants, 350 species of birds. Local mammals include mouse deer, barking deer, tapirs, wild boars, elephants, leopards, tigers, and monkeys 

·         Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre

·         Bako National Park:

o   Sandstone Cliffs Telok Sapi

o   Proboscis monkey

o   Nepenthes pitcher plant

·         Mulu National Park

o   Limestone hill

o   Dipterocarp tree

o   Stalagmites cleawater cave sys

BRIEF HISTORY OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

Brief History

·         Neglect and Exploitation of North American Wildlife

o   Main Reason

§  Infinite Resource (Ex: Bison, wood ducks, passenger pigeon)

·         Cultures advance only when their participants learn from history

Aldo Leopold- Father of wildlife conservation

·         Likely most influential figure conservation in the 20th centuryury

 He said:  “can’t manage species if you don’t have anything to work with”

He also said: trained biologists to use scientific information as the basis for decision making (research)

Problems of Excess

·         Not all wildlife management deals with scarcity of animals

·         Problems can come from overabundance of particular species