Remember the Readings!

Week 5 - Mesoamerican Biological Corridor -value of biodiversity and conservation

Week 6 - lynx and wolves

Week 7 - island, borneo, tasmanian devil, amphibians

Week 8 - oceans and fish crisis, acid oceans, kirabati reserves in Phoenix Islands?

Week 9 - lionfish, camels, friendly invaders, salamanders

THE LAST LECTURE... islands oceans and rainforests...

Island Biogeography

-distance effect -immigration and extinction -small island = higher extinction rate

-equilibrium points cuz less genetic variability

less resources

more affected by a disastrous catastrophic event!

INFLUENCING FACTORS!

-degree of isolation

-length of isolation

-size of island

-habitat suitability (initial plant and animal composition)

-location relative to ocean currents

-chance

-human activity

KRAKATAU, INDONESIA

colonized first by spider, then grass, flowering plants, spiders bats and birds, 13 species of birds, monitor lizard geckos and reticulated python, finally pigs and otters!

RESCUE EFFECT -less isolated, greater chance a population has at being rescued!

SLOSS

single large or several small? round is best!

SPECIES VERY VULNERABLE TO FRAGMENTATION

-wide ranging

-poor dispersal abilities

-specialized requirements

-low fecundity

-vulnerable to human exploitation or persecution

AMAZON RAINFOREST -charismatic landmass!

-lake bound island?

-Howlers, capuchins, deer, armadillos, small number of reptiles and amphs -plenty of insects

-number of species is holding but population numbers fairly rapidly declining

MADAGASCAR

-doesn't share animal groups with Africa

-very high endemism -60 percent of its 300 species are endemic

-biodiversity hotspot!

-relic species = ground roller, cuckoo roller, mesites (all birds)

-ELEPHANT BIRD hehe (gigantism)

-Opluridae family -chameleon, gecko (dwarfism)

-LEMURS

-5 families, 15 genera, 100 species

-used to be a GIANT lemur (over 400 lbs!)

EMERGENT LAYER, CANOPY LAYER, UNDERSTORY LAYER, FOREST FLOOR!

buttress, liana, strangle figs, fan palm

so diverse cuz of layers, niches, climate conditions

OCEANS!

Lionfish, stonefish

Leafy Sea Dragon

Humpback whale

Sheepshead Wrasse (really old species) (indicator species)

REMEMBER THE SEA OTTER!

REMEMBER THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST!

-success story?

-temperate rainforest in british columbia (west coast of Canada!)

Wildlife Learning Center

10 animals!

North American Porcupine

-30,000 quills -predator = fisher -least concern status -threats = lumber industry & farmland

American Alligator

-bicolor camouflage -6 inches to 15 ft when older -threat = burmese python

-first animal to be put on and taken off endangered species list

-three eyelids? -osteoderm = bone in scales

Common Squirrel Monkey

-urine washing!

-live in canopy

-seed dispersers

-least concern status

Two Toed Sloth

-seed dispersal

-death grip!

-very slow digestive system/metabolism

-algae can grow on fur = mutualistic relationship (algae provides camouflage and sloth provides a home for the algae)

Kinkajou

-180 degree ankle turning

-racoon family
African Bullfrog

-indicator species

-hibernates during dry season by digging a hole

Red Tegu

-only the males are red and have puffy cheeks

-females are brown

Grey Fox

-doesn't do as well as red fox with human areas

-climbs trees

-stable status

-primitive canine (1,000s of years without evolutionary change)

African Cirvel

-eats rodents and birds -gets eaten by lions and hyenas

-stripes AND spots oooohhh

-false eyespots on its behind (tricks predators)

-a subspecies is endangered

Albino Burmese Python

-doesn't grow like that in the wild

-can be up to 20ft long and as thick as a telephone pole

-threatened in native land by pet trade

-taking over florida

Neotropical Realm (excluding the Amazon)

Central and South America (& Caribbean Islands)

tropical rainforest yeah yeah but also...

-coast -desert -grassland -mangrove -forest (broadleaf, tropical dry, coniferous)

-South America was island for long time after Pangea split up so when North and South America collided, we had the GREAT AMERICAN BIOTIC INTERCHANGE

-more animals went north to south successfully

-only opossum and porcupine went north from south

HOTSPOTS! Caribbean Islands, Atlantic Forest, Tropical Andes, Cerrado

CERRADO! -similar to CA in climatic array (fire and drought adapted)

Brazilian Tapir

Giant Anteater

Giant Armadillo
Maned Wolf -critically endangered -realm's largest canine -not a wolf or a fox so gets own genus
ATLANTIC FOREST! -east Brazil -less than 10 percent remaining -24 critically endangered invertabrates!

Red billed Curassow, Brazilian merganser --> both critically endangered

Amazon parrots brought to U.S. for pet trade (only 9/10 make the transport)

70 endemic mammals! -Brazilian arboreal mouse -thin spined porcupine -muriqui

-woolly spider monkey

Tamarins
Maned Sloth
MESOAMERICA! -Spider Monkey -Van Gelder's Bat -Pocket gopher

-Bang's mountain squirrel -golden toad

Howler Monkeys
Capuchins
Squirrel Monkey
Jaguar
Baird's Tapir

TROPICAL ANDES! -venezuela to argentina and chile

Andean Condor Giant hummingbird -Spatuletail hummingbird

-yellow tailed woolly monkey

Spectacled Bear (only realm's bear)
Camelids!

Vicunya
Llama
Guanaco
Alpaca

Most important amphibian region! Problems: habitat loss, climate change, disease (pathogenic fungus)

Poison Dart Frogs (natural stuff more powerful than morphine)
Harlequin Frogs

Nearctic Realm

California = Biodiversity Hotspot

-Mediterranean Climate

-endemic large trees!

-Central Valley & Agriculture

CA Endemics = Tiger Salamander, Yosemite Toad, Nelson's Antelope Squirrel, Guadalupe Junco, Island Grey Fox, Giant Kangaroo Rat (keystone!), least bell's viro (loves coastal sage scrub), Island Night Lizard

CA local extinctions: Wolf, Grizzly Bear (last one in 1922), Jaguar, Bison

River Otter

American Beaver
Musk Oxen
Reindeer (sheds antlers)
Arctic Fox (eats showshoe hares)
Walrus -no external ear! can gather in the 1,000s! thick skin and blubber! the norse love them!

Can dive up to 300 ft deep!

Seal
Polar Bear -dependent on Ice Sheet -webbed paws and strong arms = bitchin swimmers!

-black skin & white fur -fur on bottom of paws -eats hellaseals
Bison -keystone speces ("rewilding" process)
Pallid Sturgeon
Elk (need for big predators!)
Mountain Lion
Black Tailed Prairie Dog -keystone species -American Serengeti
Black-footed Ferret -endemic?
Coyote
Pronghorn -need huge migration path from Montana to Alaska
Sage Grouse -males have awesome mating display
Black Bear -endemic! -no prominent shoulder hump like the grizzly
Grizzly Bear -Alaskan version is much bigger
Jaguarundi (Texas, Florida...)
Bobcat -ENDEMIC!
Lynx -big snowshoe-like paws -generally have twins -blue eyes at birth --> golden eyes as adults -Remember the reading!
Wolf -keystone species -controls elk population (too much elk = shitty aspen trees) -Yellowstone reintroduction -overall badass
CA Condor -lack of feathers on head = sterilizing effect -9 1/2 foot wingspan
Sea Otter -the ultimate keystone species -reintroduction to SoCal = failure... :(the story: had huge historic range, overhunted, sea urchin population boomed, kelp forests damaged, all fish affected

Consists of North America, Greenland, Central Mexico

- large range North to South, not so much West to East

Readings about top predators and bothered humans = wolf, lynx, mtn lion

REWILDING

1. large, strictly protected core reserves

2. connectivity

3. keystone species

--> goals: restore to... just before Columbus? 13K years before any humans? NOPE! Back to Lewis and Clark time!

Historical Animals: Dire Wolf, Short Faced Bear, Sabertooth, Ground Sloth, American Lion and Cheetah, Mammoth and Mastodon, Giant Beaver, Camel, Giant Hutia, Dwart Pronghorn

Bison survived these extinctions... we dunno why

Home Range Requirements (lynx, wolf, mtn lion)

biological corridors (Algonquin to Adirondack) REMEMBER PLUIE!

-rope bridges (for rodents)

-culverts (under roads and such)

-overpasses (over roads and such)

FLORIDA's EXOTICS! (smuggling, releasing pets)

-Swamp Eel -Burmese Python -Green Iguanas -Geckos

EVERGLADES! Alligators, Eastern Indigo Snake (long leaf pine habitat), wood storks, kingsnake

-key largo woodrat

-American Crocodile (under threat from invasive Nile Monitor Lizard