Section 3: People are using many approaches to slow the rate of extinctions and to preserve biodiversity. K What I Know W What I Want to Find Out L What I Learned
Essential Questions What are the two classes of natural resources? What are the methods used to conserve biodiversity? What are two techniques used to restore biodiversity?
Vocabulary Review natural resources New renewable resource nonrenewable resource sustainable use endemic bioremediation biological augmentation
Natural Resources The consumption rate of natural resources is not evenly distributed.
Natural Resources Renewable resources Resources that are replaced by natural processes faster than they are consumed are called renewable resources. Include resources such as solar energy, agricultural plants, animals, clean water, and clean air. Resources that are found on Earth in limited amounts or those that are replaced by natural processes over extremely long periods of time are called nonrenewable resources.
Natural Resources Nonrenewable resources Resources that are found on Earth in limited amounts or those that are replaced by natural processes over extremely long periods of time are called nonrenewable resources. Include resources such as fossil fuel and mineral deposits
Natural Resources Renewable versus nonrenewable resources The classification of a resource as renewable or nonrenewable depends on the context. Sustainable use Sustainable use means using resources at a rate at which they can be replaced or recycled while preserving the long term environmental heath of the biosphere.
Protecting Biodiversity Biodiversity hot spots Biodiversity hot spots must have at least 1500 endemic vascular plants and have lost 70% of its original habitat. Endemic species are only found in one specific geographic location. Biodiversity hot spots contain approximately half of all plant and animal species.
Visualizing Biodiversity Hot Spots Animation FPO Add link to interactive table from page 132 here.
Protecting Biodiversity Corridors between habitat fragments Connect smaller parcels of land, allowing organisms to move safely between them Create a larger piece of land that can sustain a wider variety of species and a wider variety of genetic variation Can also pass disease and infection between fragments and increase edge effects
Restoring Ecosystems Biological communities can recover from natural and humanmade disasters, given the appropriate amount of time. The larger the affected area, the longer it takes for the biological community to recover. Ecologists use two methods to speed recovery time: bioremediation and biological augmentation.
Restoring Ecosystems Bioremediation The use of living organisms, such as prokaryotes, fungi, or plants, to detoxify a polluted area is called bioremediation. Biological Augmentation Adding natural predators to a degraded ecosystem is called biological augmentation.
Legally Protecting Biodiversity The United State s Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973. The ESA was designed to legally protect species that were becoming or in danger of becoming extinct. An international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1975. CITES outlawed the trade of endangered species and animal parts.
Review Essential Questions What are the two classes of natural resources? What are the methods used to conserve biodiversity? What are two techniques used to restore biodiversity? Vocabulary renewable resource nonrenewable resource sustainable use endemic bioremediation biological augmentation