scholarly journals Biodiversity Generation and Loss

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.H. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Drivers ◽  
Species Biodiversity

Human activities in the Anthropocene are influencing the twin processes of biodiversity generation and loss in complex ways that threaten the maintenance of biodiversity levels that underpin human well-being. Yet many scientists and practitioners still present a simplistic view of biodiversity as a static stock rather than one determined by a dynamic interplay of feedback processes that are affected by anthropogenic drivers. Biodiversity describes the variety of life on Earth, from the genes within an organism to the ecosystem level. However, this article focuses on variation among living organisms, both within and between species. Within species, biodiversity is reflected in genetic, and consequent phenotypic, variations among individuals. Genetic diversity is generated by germ line mutations, genetic recombination during sexual reproduction, and immigration of new genotypes into populations. Across species, biodiversity is reflected in the number of different species present and also, by some metrics, in the evenness of their relative abundance. At this level, biodiversity is generated by processes of speciation and immigration of new species into an area. Anthropogenic drivers affect all these biodiversity generation processes, while the levels of genetic diversity can feed back and affect the level of species diversity, and vice versa. Therefore, biodiversity maintenance is a complex balance of processes and the biodiversity levels at any point in time may not be at equilibrium. A major concern for humans is that our activities are driving rapid losses of biodiversity, which outweigh by orders of magnitude the processes of biodiversity generation. A wide range of species and genetic diversity could be necessary for the provision of ecosystem functions and services (e.g., in maintaining the nutrient cycling, plant productivity, pollination, and pest control that underpin crop production). The importance of biodiversity becomes particularly marked over longer time periods, and especially under varying environmental conditions. In terms of biodiversity losses, there are natural processes that cause roughly continuous, low-level losses, but there is also strong evidence from fossil records for transient events in which exceptionally large loss of biodiversity has occurred. These major extinction episodes are thought to have been caused by various large-scale environmental perturbations, such as volcanic eruptions, sea-level falls, climatic changes, and asteroid impacts. From all these events, biodiversity has shown recovery over subsequent calmer periods, although the composition of higher-level evolutionary taxa can be significantly altered. In the modern era, biodiversity appears to be undergoing another mass extinction event, driven by large-scale human impacts. The primary mechanisms of biodiversity loss caused by humans vary over time and by geographic region, but they include overexploitation, habitat loss, climate change, pollution (e.g., nitrogen deposition), and the introduction of non-native species. It is worth noting that human activities may also lead to increases in biodiversity in some areas through species introductions and climatic changes, although these overall increases in species richness may come at the cost of loss of native species, and with uncertain effects on ecosystem service delivery. Genetic diversity is also affected by human activities, with many examples of erosion of diversity through crop and livestock breeding or through the decline in abundance of wild species populations. Significant future challenges are to develop better ways to monitor the drivers of biodiversity loss and biodiversity levels themselves, making use of new technologies, and improving coverage across geographic regions and taxonomic scope. Rather than treating biodiversity as a simple stock at equilibrium, developing a deeper understanding of the complex interactions—both between environmental drivers and between genetic and species diversity—is essential to manage and maintain the benefits that biodiversity delivers to humans, as well as to safeguard the intrinsic value of the Earth’s biodiversity for future generations.

scholarly journals Animals in Our Midst: An Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Jozef Keulartz ◽  
Bernice Bovenkerk
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Landscape Degradation ◽  
The World ◽  
Habitat Loss And Fragmentation

AbstractIn this introduction we describe how the world has changed for animals in the Anthropocene—the current age, in which human activities have influenced the planet on a scale never seen before. In this era, we find many different types of animals in our midst: some—in particular livestock—are both victims of and unwittingly complicit in causing the Anthropocene. Others are forced to respond to new environmental conditions. Think of animals that due to climate change can no longer survive in their native habitats or wild animals that in response to habitat loss and fragmentation are forced to live in urban areas. Some animals are being domesticated or in contrast de-domesticated, and yet others are going extinct or in contrast are being resurrected. These changing conditions have led to new tensions between humans and other animals. How can we shape our relationships with all these different animals in a rapidly changing world in such a way that both animal welfare and species diversity are not further affected? We describe how animal ethics is changing in these trying times and illustrate the impacts of Anthropocene conditions on animals by zooming in on one country where many problems, such as biodiversity loss and landscape degradation, converge, the Netherlands. We conclude by giving an overview of the different chapters in this volume, which are organised into five parts: animal agents, domesticated animals, urban animals, wild animals and animal artefacts.

Conservation genetics of red pandas in the wild

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yibo Hu ◽  
Dunwu Qi ◽  
Fuwen Wei
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Conservation Genetics ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Phylogeographic Structure ◽  
Red Panda

The red panda is listed on the 2016 IUCN red list as Endangered. It is now distributed only in China, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal. Human activities such as poaching and large-scale deforestation have caused serious declines in this forest-dwelling species. Although its ecological research has made much progress in the past decades, only recently witnessed the population genetic research advances of this species. This chapter reviews the advances in wild red panda conservation genetics from non-invasive genetics, genetic diversity, phylogeographic structure, population genetic structure, demographic history, subspecies differentiation, to its conservation and management. It presents detailed estimates of genetic diversity, assesses the role of paleo-climate changes, human activities and landscape features in shaping the genetic structure and demographic history of red pandas, and discusses the implications of conservation genetics findings for effective genetic monitoring and conservation management.

scholarly journals Tree diversity regulates forest pest invasion

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (15) ◽  
pp. 7382-7386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinfeng Guo ◽  
Songlin Fei ◽  
Kevin M. Potter ◽  
Andrew M. Liebhold ◽  
Jun Wen
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Invasion Success ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Forest Pest ◽  
Natural Ecosystems

Nonnative pests often cause cascading ecological impacts, leading to detrimental socioeconomic consequences; however, how plant diversity may influence insect and disease invasions remains unclear. High species diversity in host communities may promote pest invasions by providing more niches (i.e., facilitation), but it can also diminish invasion success because low host dominance may make it more difficult for pests to establish (i.e., dilution). Most studies to date have focused on small-scale, experimental, or individual pest/disease species, while large-scale empirical studies, especially in natural ecosystems, are extremely rare. Using subcontinental-level data, we examined the role of tree diversity on pest invasion across the conterminous United States and found that the tree-pest diversity relationships are hump-shaped. Pest diversity increases with tree diversity at low tree diversity (because of facilitation or amplification) and is reduced at higher tree diversity (as a result of dilution). Thus, tree diversity likely regulates forest pest invasion through both facilitation and dilution that operate simultaneously, but their relative strengths vary with overall diversity. Our findings suggest the role of native species diversity in regulating nonnative pest invasions.

scholarly journals Recent demographic histories and genetic diversity across pinnipeds are shaped by anthropogenic interactions and mediated by ecology and life-history

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Stoffel ◽  
E. Humble ◽  
K. Acevedo-Whitehouse ◽  
B.L. Chilvers ◽  
B. Dickerson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Life History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Effective Population

AbstractA central paradigm in conservation biology is that population bottlenecks reduce genetic diversity and negatively impact population viability and adaptive potential. In an era of unprecedented biodiversity loss and climate change, understanding both the determinants and consequences of bottlenecks in wild populations is therefore an increasingly important challenge. However, as most studies have focused on single species, the multitude of potential drivers and the consequences of bottlenecks remain elusive. Here, we used a comparative approach by integrating genetic data from over 11,000 individuals of 30 pinniped species with demographic, ecological and life history data to elucidate the consequences of large-scale commercial exploitation by 18th and 19th century sealers. We show that around one third of these species exhibit strong genetic signatures of recent population declines, with estimated bottleneck effective population sizes reflecting just a few tens of surviving individuals in the most extreme cases. Bottleneck strength was strongly associated with both breeding habitat and mating system variation, and together with global abundance explained a large proportion of the variation in genetic diversity across species. Overall, there was no relationship between bottleneck intensity and IUCN status, although three of the four most heavily bottlenecked species are currently endangered. Our study reveals an unforeseen interplay between anthropogenic exploitation, ecology, life history and demographic declines, sheds new light on the determinants of genetic diversity, and is consistent with the notion that both genetic and demographic factors influence population viability.

scholarly journals Idiosyncrasies in cities: evaluating patterns and drivers of ant biodiversity along urbanization gradients

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abe Perez ◽  
Sarah E Diamond
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Urban Biodiversity ◽  
Partial Support ◽  
Urbanization Gradient ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Urbanization Gradients ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Urbanization is expected to reduce biodiversity. However, an increasing number of studies report urban biodiversity comparable to that of surrounding nonurban areas, leaving open the question: what maintains biodiversity in cities? We characterized patterns of ant biodiversity across urbanization gradients of three major cities in the Midwestern United States and evaluated the support for two mechanisms underlying the maintenance of biodiversity in cities, specifically via introduced non-native species and differential phenology of communities along each urbanization gradient. We observed idiosyncrasies in ant species diversity such that each city displayed either increased, decreased or no change in biodiversity across the urbanization gradient. We found partial support (one of the three cities) for the hypothesis that non-native species can contribute positively to overall species diversity in cities, though even with introduced species removed from consideration, native ant biodiversity was maintained along the urbanization gradient. We found no support for systematic differential phenology across urbanization gradients, although species diversity did vary over time across all sites. Our results further challenge the assumption of biodiversity loss in cities, as two of our three cities exhibited maintained species diversity along the urbanization gradient. Most importantly, our study demonstrates that urban biodiversity can be maintained entirely by native communities.

scholarly journals Fine-scale Population Structure of North American Arabidopsis thaliana Reveals Multiple Sources of Introduction from Across Eurasia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gautam Shirsekar ◽  
Jane Devos ◽  
Sergio M. Latorre ◽  
Andreas Blaha ◽  
Maique Queiroz Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Population Structure ◽  
North American ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Haplotype Diversity ◽  
Native Range ◽  
Haplotypic Diversity ◽  
Introduced Range

AbstractLarge-scale movement of organisms across their habitable range, or migration, is an important evolutionary process that can contribute to observed patterns of genetic diversity and our understanding of the adaptive spread of alleles. While human migrations have been studied in great detail with modern and ancient genomes, recent anthropogenic influence on reducing the biogeographical constraints on the migration of non-native species has presented opportunities in several study systems to ask the questions about how repeated introductions shape genetic diversity in the introduced range. We present here the most comprehensive view of population structure of North American Arabidopsis thaliana by studying a set of 500 (whole-genome sequenced) and over 2800 (RAD-seq genotyped) individuals in the context of global diversity represented by Afro-Eurasian genomes. We use haplotype-sharing, phylogenetic modeling and rare-allele sharing based methods to identify putative sources of introductions of extant N. American A. thaliana from the native range of Afro-Eurasia. We find evidence of admixture among the introduced lineages that has resulted in the increased haplotype diversity and reduced mutational load. Further, we also present signals of selection in the immune-system related genes that impart qualitative disease resistance to pathogens of bacterial and oomycete origins. Thus, multiple introductions to a non-native range can quickly increase adaptive potential of a colonizing species by increasing haplotypic diversity through admixture. The results presented here lay the foundation for further investigations into the functional significance of admixture.

Unangan (Aleut) Migrations

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Michael H. Crawford ◽  
Sarah Alden ◽  
Randy E. David ◽  
Kristine Beaty
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Population Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Genetic Barriers ◽  
Loss Of Genetic Diversity ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

There were diverse causes and demographic and evolutionary consequences of migration of the Unangan (a.k.a. Aleut) people in their expansion from Siberia through the Aleutian archipelago. The causes included subsistence patterns, volcanic eruptions that destroyed island econiches, climatic changes that calmed the seas and made interisland migrations possible, and cultural contacts as well as forcible relocations. The consequences of the migrations included an intimate relationship between genetics, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA, and geography; loss of genetic diversity due to population fission along kin groups; creation of genetic barriers due to periodic climatic limitations to migrations; population genetic differentiation due to kin migration and founder effect; and admixture with Russian administrators and military in the western and central islands and with fishermen of English and Scandinavian ancestry in the eastern islands.

scholarly journals Macrogenetics reveals multifaceted influences of environmental variation on vertebrate population genetic diversity across the Americas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R Lawrence ◽  
Dylan J Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Dependent Relationship ◽  
The Face ◽  
Primary Driver

Relative to species diversity gradients, the broad scale distribution of population-specific genetic diversity (PGD) across taxa remains understudied. We used nuclear DNA data collected from 6285 vertebrate populations across the Americas to assess the role environmental variables play in structuring the spatial/latitudinal distribution of PGD, a key component of adaptive potential in the face of environmental change. Our results provide key evidence for taxa-specific responses and that temperature variability in addition to mean temperature may be a primary driver of PGD. Additionally, we found some positive influence of precipitation, productivity, and elevation on PGD; identified trends were dependent on the metric of PGD. In contrast to the classic negative relationship between species diversity and latitude, we report either a positive or taxa-dependent relationship between PGD and latitude, depending on the metric of PGD. The inconsistent latitudinal gradient in different metrics of PGD may be due to opposing processes diminishing patterns across latitudes that operate on different timescales, as well as the flattening of large-scale genetic gradients when assessing across species versus within species. Our study highlights the nuance required to assess broad patterns in genetic diversity, and the need for developing balanced conservation strategies that ensure population, species, and community persistence.

scholarly journals Anthropogenically Induced Ecosystem Dysfunction and Human Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-58
Author(s):  
Asonye C.C. ◽  
Leslie T.A. ◽  
Sodimu J. ◽  
Fadipe O. ◽  
Kenai N.D.
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Local Livelihoods ◽  
The Government

Health is the most basic human right and one of the most important indicators of sustainable development. Individuals, communities and societies depend on healthy ecosystems support to remain healthy. Well-functioning ecosystems provide goods and services essential for human health. These goods and services include nutrition and food security, clean air and fresh water, medicines, cultural and spiritual values, and contributions to local livelihoods and economic development. They can also help to limit disease and stabilize the climate. However, over the years human activities have been constantly placing pressure on earth’s natural resources to meet the demands of the economies and the needs of a rapidly growing global population, which has resulted in the transformation of basic natural processes such as weather/climate, biogeochemical cycling, and more so the biological diversity in which the evolutionary changes depend. It is projected that less than 25% of Earth’s surface remains free from substantial impacts of human activities and the proportion is set to fall to a mere 10% or less by 2050. Constant human activities are resulting in soil, water and air pollution, increased emissions of greenhouse gases, deforestation and land use change, expanded urban areas, introduction of non-native species, and inadequately planned development of water and land resources to meet food and energy needs. These changes are having both direct and indirect impacts on our climate, ecosystems and biological diversity and human health. Thus, the integrated course of action that involves both individual and the government efforts must be instituted to tackle both human-induced drivers of biodiversity loss, disease emergence and the loss of ecosystem services that support health and general human well-being.

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