www.edgeofexistence.

org
2
GEC Elect 21.2 PEOPLE AND THE EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

PEOPLE, BIODIVERSITY, AND

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Species and Ecosystem Services
2.1 Human Role in Species Loss • Sustaining Wild Species and their Ecosystem Services
The last word in ignorance is the person who says of
an animal or plant: “What good is it?” . . .
If the land mechanism as a whole is good,
then every part of it is good,
whether we understand it or not.

― Aldo Leopold
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Extinctions are Natural

The earth has experienced five mass
extinctions, during which 50–90% of all
species appear to have become extinct.
After each mass extinction, the earth’s
overall biodiversity eventually returned
to equal or higher levels, but each
recovery required several million years.
The causes of past mass extinctions are
poorly understood but probably involved
global changes in environmental
conditions such as sustained and
significant global warming or cooling,
large changes in sea levels and ocean
water acidity, and catastrophes such as
multiple large-scale volcanic eruptions
and large asteroids hitting the planet.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Rate of Biological Extinction

Background extinction rate (the rate that existed before modern humans evolved some 200,000
years ago):
1 species per year for every 1 million wild species living on the earth

Current annual extinction rate:

100 to 1,000 times the background extinction rate

Projected annual extinction rate (for this century):

10,000 times the background extinction rate

Example: We have identified about 2 million species so far, but scientists estimate that there are
many millions more. Assuming that there are 10 million species on earth, then the:
background extinction rate = 10 species per year
today’s estimated extinction rate = between 1,000 and 10,000 species per year
projected extinction rate = 100,000 species per year
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Humans Hasten Biological Extinction

With the projected extinction rate, at least 25% and as many as 50% of the world’s roughly 2
million identified animal and plant species could vanish from the wild by the end of this century,
long with many of the millions of unidentified species.
This would amount to a sixth mass extinction caused primarily by human activities and taking
place within one century.
The extinction rate is likely to rise mostly because of habitat loss and degradation, climate
change, ocean acidification, and other environmentally harmful effects of human activities.
Such a large-scale loss of species would also impair some of the earth’s vital ecosystem services,
including air and water purification, natural pest control, and pollination.
Based on an estimate, 15 of 24 of the earth’s major ecosystem services are in decline. If such
estimates are only half correct, such a massive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services within
the span of a single human lifetime is one of the most important and long-lasting environmental
and economic problems we face.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Possibly Higher Extinction Rate

Reasons:
1. Both the rate of extinction and the resulting threats to ecosystem services are likely to
increase sharply during the next 50–100 years because of the harmful environmental
impacts of the rapidly growing human population and its growing per capita use of
resources.
2. Current and projected extinction rates in the world’s biodiversity hotspots—areas that are
highly endangered centers of biodiversity—are much higher than the global average.
3. We are eliminating, degrading, fragmenting, and simplifying many biologically diverse
environments that serve as potential sites for the emergence of new species. Thus limiting
the long-term recovery of biodiversity and creating a speciation crisis.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Many Species are at Risk of Extinction

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
www.iucn.org/ | www.iucnredlist.org
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Classifying Species based on Extinction Risk

❑ Extinct (EX) – no reasonable doubt that the last
individual has died
❑ Extinct in the Wild (EW) – known only to survive in
captivity, cultivation or well outside its natural range
❑ Critically Endangered (CR) – facing an extremely
high risk of extinction in the wild
❑ Endangered (EN) – facing a very high risk of
extinction in the wild
❑ Vulnerable (VU) – facing a high risk of extinction in
the wild
❑ Near Threatened (NT) – close to qualifying, or likely
to qualify for a threatened category in the near
future
❑ Least Concern (LC) – population is stable enough
that it is unlikely to face extinction in the near future
❑ Data Deficient (DD) – not enough information on
abundance or distribution to estimate its risk of
extinction
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

Threatened Species in the Philippines

❑ Critically Endangered (CR)
Philippine Cockatoo
Visayan Warty Pig
Philippine Flying Lemur
Mindoro Bleeding Heart
Visayan Wrinkled-billed Hornbill
Cebu Flowerpecker
Freshwater Crocodile
Ilin Island Cloudrunner
Tamaraw

❑ Endangered (EN)
Philippine Camia
Calamian Deer
Cyathea heterochlamydea
Philippine Eagle
Almaciga
Freshwater sardinella
Bungang Ipot
Palawan Bearded Pigs
Philippine Date Palm

❑ Vulnerable (VU)
Philippine Eagle Owl
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

How Do Humans Accelerate Extinction?

HIPPCO
H - Habitat destruction, degradation, and
fragmentation
I - Invasive (nonnative) species
P - Population growth and increasing use
of resources
P - Pollution
C - Climate change
O - Overexploitation
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

H - Habitat Destruction, Degradation, and Fragmentation

This is the greatest threat to wild species.
Specifically, deforestation in tropical areas, followed
by the destruction and degradation of coastal
wetlands and coral reefs, the plowing of grasslands
for planting of crops and the pollution of streams,
lakes, and oceans.
Habitat fragmentation occurs when a large, intact
area of habitat such as a forest or natural grassland
is divided, typically by roads, logging operations, crop
fields, and urban development, into smaller, isolated
patches or habitat islands.
This can reduce tree cover in forests, block animal
migration routes, divide populations of a species into
isolated small groups, and create barriers that limit the
abilities of some species to disperse and colonize areas,
locate adequate food supplies, and find mates.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

I – Invasive Species
The next biggest cause of animal and plant extinctions and loss of the ecosystem services they
provide is the deliberate or accidental introduction of harmful species into ecosystems.
Advantages: Nonnative species may increase the food supply of an area. Some deliberately
introduced species have also helped to control pests.
Disadvantages: The problem is that, in their new habitats,
some introduced species do not face natural predators,
competitors, parasites, viruses, bacteria, or fungi that had
Helped to control their numbers in their original habitats.
This can allow such nonnative species to crowd out
populations of many native species, disrupt ecosystem
services, cause human health problems, and lead to
economic losses.
Prevention is the best way to reduce threats from
invasive species.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

P – Population Growth
Past and projected human population growth and rising rates of resource use per person have
greatly expanded the human ecological footprint. People have eliminated, degraded, and
fragmented vast areas of wildlife habitat as they have spread out all over the planet, using
resources at increasing rates wherever they go, and this has caused the extinction of many
species.

P – Pollution
Pollution also threatens some species with extinction, due to the unintended effects of
pesticides and other pollutants.

C – Climate Change
Projected climate change could help to drive a quarter to half of all land animals and plants to
extinction by the end of this century. For example, scientific studies indicate that the polar bear
is threatened because of higher temperatures and melting sea ice in its polar habitat.
2.1.1 Human Role in Species Loss

O – Overexploitation
Some protected species are illegally
killed (poached) for their valuable parts
or are sold live to collectors.
Globally, this illegal trade in wildlife
brings in an average of at least $1.8
million an hour and at least two-thirds of
all live animals smuggled around the
world die in transit. Few of the
smugglers are caught or punished.
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

Why Sustain Wild Species?

1. Ecosystem services. Plant and animal species provide us with
services in ways we might not expect. For example, those that live
in streams help to purify the flowing water. Trees and other forest
plants produce oxygen, without which we could not survive. And
earthworms aerate topsoil that we use for growing our food.
These are vital ecosystem services, provided free of charge.
2. Economic services. Various plant and animal species provide
economic value: food, fuelwood, lumber, and paper from trees,
useful scientific knowledge, their medicinal drugs, and
ecotourism.
3. Speciation. Sharp reduction in biodiversity will hinder speciation;
it will take 5 to 10 million years for natural speciation to rebuild
the biodiversity that is likely to be lost during this century as a
result of human activities.
4. Intrinsic and Existence value. Many people believe that wild
species have a right to exist, regardless of their usefulness to us.
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

How Can We Do This?

1. International Treaties and National Laws
2. Wildlife Refuges and Other Protected Areas
3. Seed Banks, Botanical Gardens, and Wildlife Farms
4. Zoos and Aquariums
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

International Treaties and National Laws

1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
This treaty, signed by 184 countries including the
Philippines, bans the hunting, capturing, and selling of
threatened or endangered species.
CITES has helped to reduce the international trade of
many threatened animals, including elephants, crocodiles,
cheetahs, and chimpanzees.
But the effects of this treaty are limited because
enforcement varies from country to country, and
convicted violators often pay only small fines.
Also, member countries can exempt themselves from
protecting any listed species, and much of the highly www.cites.org
profitable illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products
goes on in countries that have not signed the treaty.
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

International Treaties and National Laws

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
This treaty, ratified or accepted by 196 countries
including the Philippines, legally commits participating
governments to reducing the global rate of biodiversity
loss and to equitably sharing the benefits from use of the
world’s genetic resources. This includes efforts to prevent
or control the spread of ecologically harmful invasive
species.
This convention is a landmark in international law because
it focuses on ecosystems rather than on individual species, www.cbd.int
and it links biodiversity protection to issues such as the
traditional rights of indigenous peoples.
However, because some key countries, including the
United States, have not ratified it, implementation has
been slow. Also, the law contains no severe penalties or
other enforcement mechanisms.
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

International Treaties and National Laws

To address the alarming and deteriorating population of wildlife in the Philippines, the
government has come up with the Republic Act No. 9147, otherwise known as the Wildlife
Resources and Conservation Act. This act was conceptualized and implemented in 2001 to be
the policy of the State to conserve the country’s wildlife resources and their habitats for
sustainability.
This law is enforceable to all kinds of wildlife species found in the Philippines which include the
protected areas which are under Republic Act No. 7586, otherwise known as the National
Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act, and critical habitats. This will also apply to
exotic species which are subject to trade, are cultured, maintained and/or bred in captivity or
propagated in the country.
2.1.2 Sustaining Wild Species and Their Ecosystem Services

Questions We Face
Efforts to prevent the extinction of wild species and the accompanying losses of ecosystem
services require the use of financial and human resources that are limited. This raises some
challenging questions:
❑ Should we focus on protecting species or should we focus more on protecting ecosystems
and the ecosystem services they provide?
❑ How do we allocate limited resources between these two priorities?
❑ How do we decide which species should get the most attention in our efforts to protect as
many species as possible? For example, should we focus on protecting the most threatened
species or on protecting keystone species?
❑ Protecting species that are appealing to humans, such as panda bears and orangutans, can
increase public awareness of the need for wildlife conservation. Is this more important than
focusing on the ecological importance of species when deciding which ones to protect?
❑ How do we determine which habitat areas are the most critical to protect?
❑ How do we allocate limited resources among such biodiversity hotspots?
 www.edgeofexistence.org
GEC Elect 21.2 PEOPLE AND THE EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

END OF THE LESSON.

GOD BLESS YOU!
Jhunell A. Regala
AFFILIATE FACULTY • Department of Biology, College of Science • [email protected]