Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T H E
O L D E S T
H U M A N
H E R I T A G E
By
Edward O. Wilson
NEW
YORK
STATE
MUSEUM
Biological Diversity:
T H E
O L D E S T
H U M A N
H E R I T A G E
REGENTS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
OF THE
OF
E DUCATION
The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed,
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or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities.
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Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.
Biological Diversity:
T H E
O L D E S T
H U M A N
H E R I T A G E
By
Edward O. Wilson
Pellegrino University Research Professor and
Honorary Curator in Entomology at Harvard University
N e w
Y o r k
S t a t e
E d u c a t i o n a l
M u s e u m
L e a f l e t
3 4
YORK
STATE
MUSEUM
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Biological Diversity: The Oldest Human Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Appendix I (Glossary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Appendix II (Suggested Reading) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Appendix III (Discussion Questions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Appendix IV (Geologic Time Table) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Preface
This book is based on a manuscript written by Edward Osborne Wilson
following the first New York Natural History Conference at the New York State
Museum in Albany on June 20-22, 1990. Wilson, who was the keynote speaker,
opened the conference with a talk titled Biodiversity and the Future of the Global
Environment. He described how the extinction of species caused by habitat
destruction has increased to a rate that may be 10,000 or more times greater than
the rate prior to human intervention. This mass extinction, according to Wilson, is
the most destructive global environmental change occurring at this time, and it is
critical that we reverse the process. Following his keynote address at the New York
State Museum, Wilson put together a manuscript based on the topics covered in
his talk to be used as the basis of this educational book. Although this manuscript
was written in 1990, the ideas presented are of great value and will continue to be
important for many years to come.
Edward Osborne Wilson is a world-renowned scientist and researcher. He
currently works at Harvard University as Pellegrino University Research Professor
and as Honorary Curator in Entomology. Wilson is also a distinguished writer;
he has written or edited 20 books, including two that have won Pulitzer Prizes in
general non-fiction, On Human Nature and The Ants (with co-author Bert
Hlldobler). Over a career of nearly 50 years, Wilson has focused on a wide range
of topics from population biology to sociobiology and, most recently, biodiversity
issues. His career has always centered on the study of his lifelong passionants
and he is recognized as the worlds leading authority on the kingdom of ants.
His major contributions to the field of myrmecology include the discovery of
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pheromones that direct specific ant activities and the discovery of many previously
unknown species of ants from around the world. He has also begun to unravel and
describe some of the complex social behaviors of these insects.
Although Wilsons career continues to involve research on ants, he has also
recently assumed a new role as a leader in the crusade to save the worlds biodiversity.
In his book Biodiversity, he states: every scrap of biological diversity is priceless,
to be learned and cherished, and never to be surrendered without a struggle. In
the pages that follow, Wilson describes why this is true. He explains how all aspects
of human well being are dependent on preserving the remaining biological resources
of our world, and why we can no longer ignore increased extinction rates that are
the result of anthropogenic activities. In the final pages of this book, Wilson offers
recommendations and a multi-disciplinary approach for the successful
conservation and use of biodiversity.
This book has been printed using funds from the New York State Biodiversity
Research Institute (BRI). The BRI was created during a time of increasing awareness
of the urgent need to preserve global and local biodiversity. State Education Law
(Section 235-a (2, 3)) of 1993 mandated the establishment of the BRI within the
New York State Museum to meet these demands. The BRI is funded through the
Environmental Protection Fund and includes a number of collaborators, including
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York
Natural Heritage Program, and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation. Activities of the BRI are guided by an executive committee,
which is appointed by the legislature and the governor of New York. The major
objectives of the BRI include the following:
promote and sponsor cooperative scientific and educational efforts to increase
our knowledge and awareness of biodiversity within New York state;
advise the governor and officials of governmental agencies on biodiversity issues
within New York state;
develop a comprehensive and readily accessible database on the status of
biodiversity within New York state; and
identify areas within the state that lack adequate biodiversity information and
promote research in such areas.
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Additional information on the activities of the BRI along with databases related
to New York states biodiversity can be found by accessing the BRIs Web site at
http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/bri.html. By making this information readily available,
natural resource managers will be better able to minimize potentially negative
impacts on local biodiversity. Ultimately, however, the successful conservation of
biodiversity will also depend greatly upon increasing public concern and awarenessespecially by future generationsof local and global biological diversity.
In recognition of this situation, the BRI published this book with the intent of
educating primarily high school students on the values of biodiversity. However,
considering the urgency and importance of the issues discussed, this book will,
we believe, be of value to a much broader audience.
We wish to acknowledge all the people who have assisted us in the publication
of this book. Above all, we owe the most thanks to the author, Edward O. Wilson,
who has graciously offered his writing to us. We are also grateful for all the effort
Patricia Kernan has put into creating the drawings that illustrate the pages of this
book and the cover. Finally, we extend our thanks to all those who have worked on
editing the text, including Erin Davison, Jeanne Finley, Karen Frolich, Patricia
Kernan, Norton Miller, Shannon Murphy, David Steadman, Gordon Tucker and
Lisa Wootan.
Ronald J. Gill
Biodiversity Research Specialist
New York State Biodiversity Research Institute
Clifford A. Siegfried
Director
New York State Museum
Albany, New York
February 1999
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HE ROSY PERIWINKLE
(CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS )
Biological Diversity:
T H E
O L D E S T
H U M A N
H E R I T A G E
By
Edward O. Wilson
In the northeastern United States, as in most of the remainder of the country,
about one plant species in five is threatened with significant reduction in numbers
or even with total extinction. Here are the names of several: New England boneset,
Furbishs lousewort, threadleaf sundew, fairy wand and hairy beardtongue. Many
people still ask the vexing question: Of what possible value, except to a few
botanists, is a plant with a name like hairy beardtongue? Why should money and
effort be spent to save this and other bits of floristic esoterica?
Let me tell the ways. Consider periwinkles of the genus Catharanthus, flowering
plants that live on Madagascar, a great island off the East Coast of Africa. Inconspicuous
in appearance, located all the way around the world, the six species of periwinkles
would seem to be even less worthy of attention than beardtongues and louseworts.
But one of them, the rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), is the source of alkaloid
chemicals vinblastine and vincristine, used to cure two of the most deadly forms of
cancer: Hodgkins disease, especially dangerous to young adults, and acute lymphocytic leukemia, which, before the periwinkle alkaloids, was a virtual death sentence
for young children. These anti-cancer substances are now the basis of an industry
earning more than 100 million dollars a year. Ironically, the other five periwinkle
species remain largely unexamined for their medical potential. One of them is near
extinction due to the destruction of its habitat on Madagascar. On a global scale,
one out of ten plant species has been found to contain anti-cancer substances of
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OTHER SPECIESFOR
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some degree of potency. A much higher percentage yield pharmaceuticals and other
natural products of potential use as well as basic scientific information. If we dismiss
beardtongues and louseworts, we may be doing ourselves a considerable disservice.
Simple prudence dictates that no species, however humble, should ever be allowed
to go extinct if it is within the power of humanity to save it. Take anothereven
repugnantexample, the leech. We would certainly be better off without these
miserable bloodsuckers, right? Wrong. The medicinal leech of Europe has proved to
be of great value to modern medicine. To prevent the blood of its victims from
clotting, it secretes a powerful anticoagulant called hirudin. This substance is used to
treat contusions, thrombosis, hemorrhoids and other conditions in which clotting
blood can be painful or dangerous. Thousands of lives are saved annually by hirudin.
The leech uses a second substance, the enzyme hyaluronidase, to disperse cells and
hasten the penetration of hirudin. Surgeons adapt this material in the same way to
spread injected drugs and anesthetics. Leeches also contain antibiotics and substances
that enlarge the diameter of blood vessels, which might someday lead to a cure
for migraine headaches. Medicinal leeches are now the basis of a $4 million annual
business. They are so much in demand that the European species is threatened by
overcollecting in its natural habitat.
With the aid of other specialists (my own special group is ants), I have estimated
the total number of kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms known to science
to be about 1.4 million. By known to science we mean characterized anatomically
and given a scientific name, such as Canis familiaris for the domestic dog, Hirudo
medicinalis for the European medicinal leech, and Homo sapiens for humans. But
the actual number of kinds is estimated to fall somewhere between 10 million and
80 million, depending on the statistical method used and the degree of conservativeness on the part of the scientist making the estimate. The truth is that we dont
know even to the nearest order of magnitude the amount of diversity. In other words,
we cannot say whether the figure is closer to 1 million, 10 million or 100 million.
When scientists fail to make a measurement to the nearest order of magnitude,
it is fair to surmise that the subject is still poorly known. The truth is that life on
planet earth has only begun to be explored. Every time I go to a rainforest site in
Central or South America, I find new species of ants within several hours of searching.
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Some groups of organisms, such as fungi and mites (small spider-like organisms
that abound in the leaf litter and soil) are so poorly studied that it is possible to find
new species within a few miles of almost any locality in the United States, including
the most densely populated urban areas. In the Choc region of Colombia, as many
as half the plant species, including trees and shrubs, still lack a scientific name.
Even new species of mammals still turn up occasionally. In the past several years, a
new deer, a kind of muntjac, was found in western China, and a new monkey, the
sun-tailed guenon, was discovered in Gabon.
We know less about life on earth than we know about the surface of the moon and
Marsin part because far less money has been spent studying it. Taxonomy, the
study of classification and hence of biological diversity, has been allowed to dwindle,
while other important fields such as space exploration and biomedical studies have
flourished. Like glass-blowing and harpsichord manufacture, taxonomy of many
kinds of organisms has been left in the hands of a small number of unappreciated
specialists who have had few opportunities to train their successors. To take one of
hundreds of examples, two of the four most abundant groups of small animals of
the soil are springtails and oribatid mites. Marvelously varied, having complex life
cycles, and teeming by the millions in every acre of land, these tiny animals play
vital ecological roles by consuming dead vegetable matter. Thus they help to drive
the energy and materials cycles on which all of life depends. Yet there are only four
specialists in the United States who can identify springtailsone is retiredand
only one is an expert on oribatid mites. The reason that so little is heard about
these important organisms in the scientific literature and popular press is that there
are so few people who know enough to write about them at any level.
The general neglect of expertise in the face of overwhelming need and
opportunity rebounds to the weakness of many other enterprises in science and
education. Museums are understaffed, with too few biologists to develop research
collections and prepare exhibitions. Systematics, the branch of biology that employs
taxonomy and the study of similarities among species to work out the evolution of
groups of organisms, is able to address only a minute fraction of life. Biogeography,
the analysis of the distribution of organisms, is similarly hobbled. So is ecology,
the extremely important discipline that explores the relationships of organisms
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EDWARD O. WILSON
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to their environment and to one another. A great deal of the future of biology
depends on the strengthening of taxonomy, for if you cant tell one kind of plant
or animal from another, you are in trouble. Some kinds of research may be held
up indefinitely. As the Chinese say, the beginning of wisdom is getting things by
their right names.
The study of classification and expertise on obscure groups of organisms
such as periwinkles, leeches, springtails and mites may receive the needed boost by
association with what has come to be known as biodiversity studies. Biodiversity
studies constitute a hybrid discipline that took solid form during the 1980s. They
can be defined (a bit formally, I admit, but bear with me) as follows: the systematic
examination of the full array of organisms and the origin of this diversity, together
with the technology by which diversity can be maintained and utilized for the
benefit of humanity. Thus biodiversity studies are both scientific in nature, a branch
of pure evolutionary biology, and applied studies, a branch of biotechnology.
Two events during the past quarter-century brought biodiversity to center
stage and encouraged the deliberately hybrid form of its analysis. The first was the
recognition that human activity threatens the extinction of not only a few star
species such as giant pandas and California condors, but also a large fraction of all
the species of plants and animals on earth. At least one-quarter of the species on
earth are likely to vanish due to the cutting and burning of tropical rainforests
alone if the current rate of destruction continues. The second reason for the new
prominence of biodiversity studies is the recognition that extinction can be slowed
and eventually halted without significant cost to humanity. Extinction is not a price
we are compelled to pay for economic progress. Quite the contrary: As the examples of
the rosy periwinkle and medicinal leech suggest, conservation can promote human
welfare. Ultimately conservation might even be necessary for continued progress in
many realms of endeavor.
The connection between the biodiversity crisis and economic development
has been an important element in the reawakening of environmentalism in 1990,
which reached a peak when Earth Day II was celebrated on April 2220 years
after the original event. The new environmentalism continues to endure. It arose
with auspicious timing at the end of the Cold War, as Eastern Europe abandoned
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EW
HUMAN ACTIVITY.
LEATHERFLOWER
ECHINATA ), AND
IN THE
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C a s e
S t u d y :
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Species
Number of Butterflies Observed
10
8
6
4
2
0
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
Survey Year
F i g u r e
1996
1997
1998
1 .
Data were collected by observing and counting adult butterflies at one site in the Albany
pine barrens. This visual survey method gives researchers a relative population index
number, which, although it is not the actual population size, is very useful for monitoring
some organisms such as butterflies. Each bar on the graph represents the total number of
butterflies counted on different days. There were no butterflies observed on surveys in
1997 and 1998. (Data courtesy of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission.)
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NEW
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1989.
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It is possible that the next hundred years will become known as the Century
of the Environment. If in the fullness of time that prophecy comes true, the
beginning of this era might be marked by historians by environmental disasters,
such as the 11 million-gallon Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, the 350
tons of depleted uranium weapons still lying on Persian Gulf War battlefields, and
the continued exploitation of precious ecosystems like the Brazilian Amazon, where
deforestation, mining and over-development continue to flourish.
I would like to summarize the whole picture by classifying global trends into
four categories:
1. Ozone depletion in the stratosphere, allowing increased penetration of
ultraviolet radiation to reach ground level.
2. Global warming due to the greenhouse effect, in which increased levels of
carbon dioxide, methane and a few other gases trap growing quantities of heat.
3. Toxic pollution, including acid rain.
4. Mass extinction of species by destruction of habitats, especially tropical rainforests.
The first three trends are dangerous to health and the economybut they can
be reversed. It is a matter of converting to cleaner forms of energy, changing our
patterns of production and consumption, and above all, reversing population
growth with an aim toward reaching supportable levels country by country. However,
extinction cannot be reversed. No species can be called back. Extinction of species, or
the reduction of biodiversity, is the one process
that is being perpetrated not only on our children
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pH.
D i v e r s i t y
CHARLES TULASNE.
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environment. For almost 3 billion years, life was limited to the oceans and consisted
of bacteria, blue-green algae, and other relatively simple one-celled forms. Then
complex cells evolved, incorporating organelles such as nuclear membranes, chloroplasts, and cilia. Soon afterward, these cells evolved into still more complex multicellular animals and plants. About 600 million years ago, the concentration of
oxygen in the atmosphere climbed rather quickly (by geological standards) to near
its current level, destroying most of the anaerobic life in the oceans and on land
surfaces. A shield of ozone accumulated in the stratosphere, protecting life from
harmful ultraviolet irradiation. For the first time, substantial numbers of larger
animals filled the seas, and the global variety of life climbed sharply. Plants invaded
the land, then animals, represented first by small arthropods and other invertebrates,
then jawless fishes. The diversity of life continued to rise. Biodiversity stalled on a
plateau during most of the Mesozoic Era, then climbed gradually to its current
high level. It is a supreme irony that mankind, the great destroyer of life, began as
one of the products of the living worlds maximum proliferation.
A second major principle of biodiversity is that smaller organisms are generally
more diverse than larger ones. The reason appears to be simply that they fit into
smaller spaces, consume less food individually, complete their life cycles more quickly,
and hence are able to divide the habitats in which they live into smaller and more
numerous niches. And the more numerous the niches, the more species that can be
packed into the same location. Take a typical epiphyte-laden tree in the rainforest
of Peru. It may be the home of several hundred species of beetles, 40 species of ants,
and as many as 50 species of orchids and other epiphytes. But it can only be the
partial home for a flock of parrots, which must range over portions of the forest that
contain many thousands of such trees in order to obtain enough food for survival.
Among smaller animals, insects dominate diversity. About 750,000 of the 1 million
animal species described to date are insects, and some estimates have placed the
actual number as high as 80 million. The reason for this amazing disproportion is
uncertain. It seems likely due to the metamorphosis experienced by the majority of
kinds of insects during the individual life cycle: egg to larva to pupa to adult, with
the egg and pupa as passive transitional stages and the larva and adult as the active
stage. Larvae and adults are radically different in appearance (recall the caterpillar
and butterfly), typically feed on different foods, and even live in different sites. As
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a result, still more niches are generated by the combinations of life cycles. Another
reason for the megadiversity of insects may be pre-emption. Insects were among the
first small animals to adapt well to the land environment in early Paleozoic times,
some 400 million years ago, and this advantage allowed them to expand their
populations and species to an extreme degree while holding their own against rival
groups among the land invaders. The pre-emption hypothesis gains some support
from the fact that oribatid mites invaded the land about the same time, and today
they too are exceptionally diverse and abundant.
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HE
If insects and other small invertebrate animals are so much more diverse than
vertebrates and larger invertebrates due to size alone, is it true by extension of the
same principle that still smaller creatures such as roundworms, fungi, and bacteria
are even more diverse? The conventional answer is that for some unknown reason,
they are not. But the conventional answer may prove to be wrong. The truth is
that we know very little about the smallest of organisms. Because of their microscopic
size and the difficulty of collecting and preserving them, they tend to be collected
less frequently. Furthermore, many of the species can be distinguished only by
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IN
THE NOW-EXTINCT
BLUE PIKE LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE THE STILLABUNDANT WALLEYE, AND AS RECENTLY AS
THE
The reason for the concentration of terrestrial diversity in rainforests and their
marine equivalent in the coral reefs is one of the great unknowns of ecology. The concentration is actually the result of a more or less continuous increase in diversity
encountered while traveling from the poles to the equator, the so-called latitudinal
gradient of biodiversity. When biologists say unknown in this particular case, they
really mean not known with certainty. Several hypotheses have been advanced,
any one of whichor all of whichcould be true to some extent. I am going to
take a deep breath and try to impart the most likely explanation from a synthesis
of these hypotheses, with due respect to current evidence:
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The tropical zones generally have a more congenial climate for life,
providing it with longer growing seasons, an even distribution of solar
energy, and freedom from freezing and other extreme, unpredictable, shortterm changes in temperature. The rainforest, moreover, offers a humidity
regime and tree structure (that is, prevalence of broad, nearly horizontal
branches) favorable to epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads. This
elevated swampland with its little pools of water and moist root masses
offers vast numbers of additional living sites for animals. The delicate
life cycles of the epiphytes and their co-evolved animal populations are
pre-eminently tropical. It is unlikely that the organisms could endure the
freezes of the Temperate Zone. The stability of the climate and the layering
of vegetation allows division of the ecosystem into large numbers of niches
and a corresponding number of plant and animal species, many bound
together by intricate and finely tuned symbioses. A small shift from one
part of a tree to another, or from one species of tree to another, or from
one elevation on a mountainside to another, opens an opportunity for the
evolution of yet another kind of animal or plant. The entirety of evolution
has built the equivalent of a house of cards: vast numbers of species propped
and leaning on one another and dependent on a steady environment to
avoid collapse. It used to be thought that diversity created stability; in
other words, the more species were locked together by co-evolution, the
less likely any one of them could be extirpated. This diversity-stability
hypothesis has gradually given way to its exact reverse, the stability-diversity
hypothesis, wherein external, climatic stability is thought to allow the
buildup of biodiversity. In the Temperate Zones, plant and animal species
must adapt to a more drastically and unpredictably shifting environment.
As a consequence, each Temperate Zone species is, on the average, likely to
occur in a greater range of habitats, elevation and so forth than individual
tropical species. In short, Temperate Zone species occupy a broader niche.
Fewer species can be fitted together, resulting in lower biodiversity in
temperate climates.
Destructive human activity, including habitat removal, pollution, and excessive
exploitation, have reduced large numbers of plant and animal species in the Temperate
Zones even though they are tougher in the sense of having wider ranges on the
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F
IN
NEW YORK.
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MICRANTHEMUM (MICRANTHEMUM
INCLUDING
EAST COAST,
deforestation is thus at least 4,000 to 6,000 species RIVER. IT HAS NOT BEEN SEEN IN SEVERAL
a year. That, in turn, is on the order of 10,000
times greater than the naturally occurring back-
EXTINCT.
SNAPDRAGON, CHAFFSEED
AMERICANA
IN THE
(SCHWALBEA
SEEN IN
FOUND IN THE
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SOME
BEFORE MAN.
100,000
AN AREA
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MALL POPULATIONS OF
DUE TO REINTRODUCTION.
18TH AND
19TH CENTURIES.
There have been five previous episodes of mass extinction during the past
500 million years, the time in which large, complex organisms flourished in the
seas and on the land. These occurred at intervals of 20 million to 140 million
years, during brief periods when the equilibrium between species formation and
species extinction was upset. The most recent occurred at the end of the Mesozoic
Era, the Age of Dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. Scientists generally agree that
some major physical event was responsible, most likely a giant meteorite strike or
abnormally heavy volcanic activity. Life required more than 5 million years to
restore its original diversity by additional evolution. We are now in the midst of a
comparable extinction spasm, almost entirely by our own actions. If a remedy is not
found, we could continue on to approach the greatest crisis of all, the Permian
crash of 240 million years ago, when 77% to 96% of all marine animal species
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perished. As the paleontologist David Raup put it, at that time global biology
(for higher organisms, at least) had an extremely close call. There is an additional,
sinister note in the current extinction spasm. For the first time ever, plant species
are dying in large numbers. The worlds flora survived the end of the Mesozoic Era
more or less intact, but now it is being eroded swiftlywith eventual consequences
impossible to predict.
Let me now shift gears abruptly, by saying that catastrophe can be replaced by
a bright future if the worlds fauna and flora are saved and put to use for the benefit
of humanity. This new enterprise, which should command our attention as fully as
biomedical science and space exploration, will require the revitalization of classical
biology and the unification of the best efforts of scientists, political leaders and
business entrepreneurs. Much of future biology, I predict, will focus on biodiversity
studies, carried down to the level of species and genetic strains. The study of biodiversity comprises several levels, each of which must be understood to protect and
make full use of species and genetic strains. These levels correspond roughly to the
conceptual levels of biological organization employed in basic research, which are
used to illuminate pattern and process all the way from DNA replication to energy
flow in ecosystems. The disciplines attending the levels are hierarchical. Starting
with systematics, each feeds vital information to those up the line. In turn, the most
comprehensive among them, community ecology and ecosystems studies, offer the
broad vistas that guide biodiversity studies as a whole.
HE
B i o l o g i c a l
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N e w
Y o r k
C a s e
S t u d y :
Surveys and inventories of organisms provide the basic data used in research
projects. Studying such changes as population size, species composition and
distribution of organisms requires baseline data to which new information can
be compared. Biological systems are dynamic; organisms living in a specific
geographic area, often called a community, respond to physical, chemical and
biological factors. As these factors change on a daily, seasonal, annual or long-term
basis, the organisms in the community also change. To understand the effects of
changes on these organisms, the biologist must first understand the various
components that affect the community. Too often, the baseline data needed for
this comparison are nonexistent because no early survey of the biological
resources was conducted. New York has taken a lead in inventorying its natural
resources with the establishment of the State Geological and Natural History
Survey in 1836. Modern field surveys, documented by careful notes and voucher
specimens, can be used to protect rare or unusual species, to define and map
their habitats and to meet government regulations for building or other permits.
Because both the environment and communities are dynamic, repeated surveys
or long-term monitoring of specific sites provides the greatest amount of information and allows the researcher to observe and predict the response of the
community to potential environmental changes.
For example, biologists examine change in fish communities by comparing
current information on fish abundance and distribution to information collected
during past surveys. The simple comparison, as shown in Figure 2 describing
fish communities in the Wallkill River, indicates that the composition and relative
abundance of the fish community has changed markedly in this stream in the
six decades between surveys. The chart shows that there were 22 species of fish
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mportant
collected in the stream in 1936 and only 16 species in 1992. Factors contributing
to the loss of species and change of community composition are unknown. Had
the stream been surveyed regularly, these mechanisms would be more obvious to
the modern researcher, and they would be better able to understand the changes
and to predict the effects of change.
Tessellated Darter
Spotfin Shiner
Spottail Shiner
Golden Shiner
Smallmouth Bass
Largemouth Bass
White Sucker
Redbreast Sunfish
Pumpkinseed
Common Shiner
Rock Bass
Brown Bullhead
Cutlips Minnow
Creek Chubsucker
Fallfish
Creek Chub
Redfin Pickerel
Chain Pickerel
Bluegill
Margined Madtom
Eastern Silvery Minnow
Black Crappie
Yellow Bullhead
Sand Shiner
Log Perch
1936
1992
0
20
40
60
Number of Fish Collected
F i g u r e
80
100
2 .
Community composition of fishes in the riverine section of the lower Wallkill River, New
York. The comparison is based on fishes collected at four sites during 1936 and 1992
between Dashville and Montgomery. The 1992 sites were selected to match, as closely
as possible, the habitats sampled in 1936. This chart shows the decline in the relative
abundance and diversity of fish that has occurred in the Wallkill River.
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NEW YORK,
EASTERN BLUEBIRD,
BLUEBIRDS TO BETTER COMPETE WITH INTRODUCED SPECIES LIKE THE HOUSE SPARROW AND
THE
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D i v e r s i t y
TION.
NEW YORK AND OTHER LARGE CITIES TO HELP CONTROL THE PIGEON
POPULATION.
NEW YORK.
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Community ecology addresses the manner in which species are linked in local
environments. One of the most important problems in modern biology, as well as in
conservation practice, is the tightness and reach of such linkages. We know how small
sets of species, such as pairs and triplets, closely interact as partners in symbiosis,
competition, predation and prey. What we do not know to any extent, especially
in the most species-rich, endangered communities, is the range of linkages for
individual species. How many species, for example, are keystone species whose
elimination would bring down, say, 100 or more other species? This kind of scientific research is as basic and subtle as any in molecular biology or physics.
In ecosystems studies, the highest level of organization is the ecosystem, the
combined biological and physical components of circumscribed domains such as
islands, patches of forest and lakes. The emphasis at this level is on the properties
of energy and material flow, and (for our purposes) the relation of these properties
to species composition. When environments are disturbed, energy and material
flows are shifted, and humidity and temperature are altered. As a consequence,
some species flourish while others decline and die out.
Economic analysis of local ecosystems becomes practical to the extent that
knowledge of the fauna and flora increases. One very promising approach is biochemical prospecting, the screening of natural products of wild species, a relatively
inexpensive procedure that can follow closely upon systematic inventories and
other early biological studies. The aim of this approach is to create new pharmaceuticals and commercial products from the wildlands and to encourage the
creation of extractive reserves as an alternative to habitat destruction.
In conclusion, here is the way these several fields of study can be fit together
in the service of conservation and use of biodiversity:
Promote monographic studies of the poorest known groups, especially those
likely to display novel population traits and conservation needs.
Encourage inventories of warm areas, i.e., species-rich areas under considerable environmental assault, to identify the true hot spots within them that
are both species-rich and most threatened, with an aim toward early remedial
action. The inventories should cover flowering plants and vertebrates, which
are taxonomically in the best shape, and should be extended as soon as
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2. Palmer Station
Antarctic Peninsula
Latitude:
64 46 30 South
Longitude:
64 04 West
3. Fu-Shan Station
Northeastern Taiwan
Latitude:
24 46 North
Longitude:
121 43 East
There are many other biological field stations and preserves in New York state,
including the Adirondack Ecological Center (Newcomb), Bard College Field Station
(Annandale), Beaver Lake Nature Center (Baldwinsville), Betty Matthiessen Preserve
(Fishers Island), Cranberry Lake Biological Station (Cranberry Lake), Mohonk
Preserve (New Paltz), and Tift Farm Nature Preserve (Buffalo).
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A p p e n d i x
Glossary
Acid rain Precipitation that is acidic due to the chemical reaction of nitrous
oxides (NOx ) or sulfate (SO4 ) with water (H2O), forming nitric or sulfuric
acid. These chemicals are picked up by clouds over industrial areas that burn
fossil fuels. The acids formed can be carried long distances and deposited
far away from their origin. Acid rain is thought to be killing some of the
trees and polluting water in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Anatomy A branch of biology that deals with the physical structure of an
organism.
Anesthetic A substance that causes insensitivity and/or loss of consciousness.
For example, novocaine or ether may be used during medical or dental
operations, causing the patient to feel no pain.
Antibiotic A substance, such as penicillin or erythromycin, that inhibits or
stops the growth of bacteria or other microorganisms.
Arthropod1 A member of the Phylum Arthropoda, such as an insect, spider,
or crustacean, bearing an articulated, external skeleton.
Bacteria1 Microscopic organisms (Kingdom Monera) that are prokaryotic, or
lacking nuclear membranes around the genes.
Biochemical Involving the chemical reactions of living organisms.
Biodiversity1 The variety of organisms considered at all levels, from genetic
variants belonging to the same species through arrays of species to arrays
of genera, families, and still higher taxonomic levels; includes the variety
of ecosystems which comprise both the communities of organisms within
particular habitats and the physical conditions under which they live.
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Dispersal In biology, the way a species can spread into the environment. For
example, dandelion seeds may disperse by wind or be carried on an animal
that brushes against the plant.
Diversity1 See Biodiversity.
DNA1 A double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid. The fundamental hereditary
material of all living organisms, the polymer composing the genes.
Ecology1 The scientific study of the interactions of organisms with their
environment, including the physical environment and the other organisms
living in it.
Energy flow The path of energy from the environment that is used and
returned by an organism.
Energy and materials cycle The origin, movement, and recycling of energy
and nutrients through an organism or several organisms through an
ecological system back to the environment.
Environment1 The surroundings of an organism or a species, the ecosystem
in which it lives, including both the physical environment and the other
organisms with which it comes in contact.
Environmentalism An awareness and concern for the natural environment.
This may lead to actions such as reusing, recycling and composting.
Enzyme A protein that causes chemical reactions in cells. Some enzymes are
secreted in the digestive system to aid in the absorption of nutrients. Others
may be extracted and used in making bread or cheese.
Epiphyte1 A plant specialized to grow on other kinds of plants in a neutral or
beneficial manner, not as a parasite. Examples: most species of orchids,
bromeliads, and many mosses and lichens.
Evolution1 In biology, any change in the genetic material of a population of
organisms. Evolution can vary in degree from small shifts in the frequency
of minor genes to the origin of complex genes of new species. Changes of
lesser magnitude are called microevolution, and changes at or near the upper
extreme are called macroevolution. Evolution is also a theory or model to
account for diversity of life on earth through these genetic changes.
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D i v e r s i t y
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40
D i v e r s i t y
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D i v e r s i t y
Ozone A form of oxygen (O3) that is created in the earths upper atmosphere
by a photochemical reaction with solar ultraviolet radiation (UV). This
ozone layer protects the earth from receiving too much UV. It is also a
byproduct of industrial reactions and is a major contributor to smog.
Paleontology1 The scientific study of fossils and all aspects of extinct life.
Paleozoic Era A geologic time period starting with the Cambrian Period 620
million years ago and ending with the Permian Period 245 million years ago.
Parasite An organism that lives by using another organism, returning no
benefits to the host.
Permian Period1 The last period of the Paleozoic Era, extending from 290
million to 245 million years ago and closing with the greatest extinction
event of all time. Somewhere between 77% and 96% of all marine animal
species perished during this period.
Pharmaceutical Having to do with the drugs and medications used in
medical science.
Physiology A branch of biology that deals with the physical and chemical
functions of an organism.
Population1 In biology, any group of organisms belonging to the same species
at the same time and place.
Population biology The study of the population dynamics, or the changes in
population distribution and density that occur over time, for a particular
species.
Pre-emption hypothesis Those species that established themselves in an area
first and which have a more likely chance of thriving and evolving into
diverse and abundant species.
Replication The process of making an exact duplicate. For example, DNA
uses replication to make more DNA.
Roundworm A member of the Phylum Nematoda, an organism (can be a
micro- or macroscopic species) with an unsegmented body that often lives
in the soil or in host animals.
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D i v e r s i t y
Termites A group of insects that is socially structured like bees, with sexual
forms, sterile workers and sometimes soldiers. There are several species living
from the tropics to northern regions. Many species live in or feed on wood.
Terra incognita Latin: incognita: unknown or unexplored; terra: place or territory.
Terrestrial An organism that lives on or in or grows from the ground, as
opposed to living in the water or air.
Thrombosis The formation of a blood clot in a blood vessel.
Trait An inherited characteristic.
Tropical rain forest1 Also known more technically as tropical closed moist forest:
a forest with 200 cm of annual rainfall spread evenly through the year and
which supports broad-leaved evergreen trees, typically arranged in several
irregular canopy layers dense enough to capture more than 90% of the
sunlight before it reaches the ground.
Ultraviolet radiation The rays of the sun that are of shorter wavelength than
the spectrum visible to human eyes.
Wildlife reserve An area of habitat(s) left undeveloped and supposedly safe
from other human activities, designed to help wildlife flourish.
1From the Glossary in E.O. Wilsons The Diversity of Life, 1992, Belknap Press of
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A p p e n d i x
I I
Suggested Readings
B o o k s
Cohen, Joel E. 1995. How Many People Can the Earth Support? W.W. Norton and
Company, Inc. New York, New York.
... the definitive work on the global population problem.
Edward O. Wilson
The Earthworks Group. 1995. 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth.
Andrews and McMeel. Kansas City, Missouri.
To commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day, an updated
guide to environmental awareness encompasses the latest research into such
issues as global warming, ozone depletion, and endangered species and
offers advice on how readers can help the environment.
from Amazon.com
NOTE: This book is out of print.
The Earthworks Group. 1991. The Next Step: 50 More Things You Can Do to Save
the Earth. Andrews and McMeel. Kansas City, Missouri.
It goes beyond simple, individual actions, and focuses on ways of expanding community participation and awareness, ways of empowering people to
create an impact beyond their own homes. from Amazon.com
Ehrlich, Paul R., and A. H. Ehrlich. 1998. Betrayal of Science and Reason: How
Anti-Environment Rhetoric Threatens Our Future. Island Press. Washington, D.C.
The most recent work by well known authorities on the problems of overpopulation and related environmental problems.
B i o l o g i c a l
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D i v e r s i t y
Grifo, Francesca, and J. Rosenthal (eds.). 1996. Biodiversity and Human Health.
Island Press. Washington, D.C.
Until recently, the direct effects of declining biodiversity on human health
have not been greatly discussed. This publication addresses some of these
concerns while offering strategies for the sustainable use of biodiversity.
Mackintosh, Gay (ed.). 1989. Preserving Communities and Corridors. Defenders of
Wildlife. Washington, D.C.
A thorough report that shows how the preservation of connections between
natural communities can help to maintain biodiversity.
Myers, Norman. 1983. A Wealth of Wild Species: Storehouse for Human Welfare.
Westview Press. Boulder, Colorado.
This book discusses the utilitarian benefits of preserving biodiversity. It is
a classic text on the economic aspects and the questions continuously asked
in ecological discussions.
Myers, Norman. 1992. The Primary Source: Tropical Forests and Our Future.
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, New York.
Dr. Myers describes not only the condition of these forests and what needs
to be done to preserve them, but also how these forests influence the lives of
all people on earth.
Office of Technology Assessment. 1987. Technologies to Maintain Biological
Diversity. Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C.
This report identifies some potential opportunities and also some constraints
to maintaining biodiversity.
Platt, Rutherford H., R.A. Rowntree, and P.C. Muick (eds.). 1994. The Ecological
City: Preserving and Restoring Urban Biodiversity. University of
Massachusetts Press. Amherst, Massachusetts.
The symposium on Sustainable Cities: Preserving and Restoring Urban
Biodiversity, which led to this volume, was devoted to a reconnaissance of
(1) the functions of biodiversity within urban areas, (2) the impacts of
urbanization upon biodiversity, and (3) the ways to design cities compatibly
with their ecological contexts. from the introduction and overview.
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D i v e r s i t y
Reid, Walter V., and K.R. Miller. 1989. Keeping Options Alive: The Scientific Basis
for Conserving Biodiversity. World Resources Institute. Washington, D.C.
In a way, Keeping Options Alive is a how-to publication. Its timely premise
is that the biological sciences can help policy makers identify the threats
to biodiversity, evaluate conservation tools, and come up with successful
management strategies to the crisis of biotic impoverishment before it is
full-blown. from the foreword.
Soul, Michael E. (ed.). 1987. Viable Populations for Conservation. Cambridge
University Press. Cambridge, England.
This book addresses the most recent research in the rapidly developing
integration of conservation biology with population biology. from the
back cover.
Thorne-Miller, Boyce, and S.A. Earle. 1998. The Living Ocean: Understanding and
Protecting Marine Biodiversity2nd edition. Island Press. Washington, D.C.
A valuable primer for understanding the threats to marine biodiversity and
the conservation needs of this important ecosystem.
Western, David, and M.C. Pearl (eds.). 1989. Conservation for the Twenty-First
Century. Oxford University Press. New York, New York.
This collection of writings from a diverse group of authors outlines
approaches to nature conservation and it also reviews some possible future
outcomes for habitats and wildlife.
Wilson, Edward O. (ed.), and Frances M. Peter (photographer). 1989. Biodiversity.
National Academy Press. Washington, D.C.
This book is a collection of papers from a major conference that highlights
the causes of biodiversity loss followed by a systematic analysis of the
approaches to preserving biodiversity.
Anyone concerned with biodiversity should own this book
from the journal Science.
Wilson, Edward O. 1992. The Diversity of Life. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
New York, New York.
In this book a master scientist tells the great story of how life on earth
evolved. Edward O. Wilson describes how the species of the world became
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diverse and why the threat to that diversity today is beyond the scope of
anything we have known before.
from the back cover.
Wyman, Richard L. (ed.). 1991. Global Climate Change and Life on Earth.
Chapman and Hall. New York, New York.
Global Climate Change and Life on Earth focuses on the greenhouse effect
and its relation to such crucial issues as deforestation, overpopulation and
hunger, pollution, sea-level changes, and the loss of biodiversity. These
environmental threats now facing us could have so much momentum that
unless steps are taken now to reverse them, they may soon overwhelm our
ability to respond. from the back cover.
P e r i o d i c a l s
Biological Conservation
Monthly publication on theoretical and applied science, research and
commentary on conservation issues; worldwide in scope.
The Conservationist
Monthly publication of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation. Lots of artwork; non-technical articles associated with
wildlife management and outdoor recreation.
National Geographic
Monthly magazine. Non-technical; lots of color photographs; good coverage
of wildlife refuges, national parks, rare species, unusual ecosystems.
Natural History
Monthly magazine. Non-technical; lots of photographs; emphasizes natural
diversity of the landscape and diversity of organisms.
Nature
Weekly British scientific journal. Short, highly technical articles reporting
original research on all scientific subjects.
Nature Conservancy
Bimonthly magazine of the Nature Conservancy, an organization dedicated
to saving unique natural areas primarily by buying and preserving them.
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New Scientist
Weekly British publication. Brief, non-technical, often chatty articles on a
wide range of recent scientific discoveries, controversies, and public policy
issues; excellent coverage of biological and conservation issues.
S e l e c t e d
P e r t a i n i n g
P u b l i c a t i o n s
t o
N e w
Y o r k
S t a t e
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A p p e n d i x
I I I
Discussion Questions
1.
What is biodiversity?
2.
3.
What recent worldwide events have made the importance of biodiversity and
the health of the environment more widely recognized?
4.
Is there more or less diversity now than 100 million years ago?
5.
6.
7.
How much do scientists know about all the plants and animals on earth?
8.
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9.
Is an ecologist the same as a taxonomist? How are they the same or different?
Do they work together?
11. Do scientists have a name for every plant and animal on earth?
12. How many plants and animals are there on earth? What are scientists best
guesses?
13. Can you name five plants that are used medicinally?
17. What is unique about the way plants grow in the tropics?
18. Why are the tropics particularly rich but fragile environments?
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20. Why do so many of the plants and animals live in the tropical rainforest?
Why do many of them live in the canopy of the forest?
21. What is extinction?
23. When did much of the current environmental destruction and change start
to occur?
24. Have there been other times in history of the earth when mass extinction
occurred? When? Why?
26. What is the major difference between environmental changes now and
environmental changes 300 years ago?
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32. Can you list five areas in which biological scientists specialize?
33. Are there plants and animals threatened with extinction in the northeastern
United States? Can you name some of them?
34. Name some animals that are not threatened with extinction in New York.
Why are they not considered threatened or endangered?
35. Can you name two environmental groups dedicated to saving biodiversity?
36. What are some things we each can do to help preserve biodiversity?
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A p p e n d i x
I V
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Credits
A r t w o r k
The drawings throughout the book, except for those pieces noted below, are original
graphite drawings by Patricia Kernan. Patricia has been a scientific illustrator
at the New York State Museum since 1988.
Cover artwork and design are also by Patricia Kernan.
O t h e r
A r t i s t s
Powdery mildew (p. 14), 1861 print from a copper plate engraving of a drawing by
Charles Tulasne, printed by permission of Farlow Reference Library, Harvard
University.
Franklinia alatamaha (p. 22), watercolor (circa 1788) by William Bartram, printed
by permission of the British Museum, Natural History.
Peregrine Falcons (p. 32), watercolor by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, originally printed in
1914 by the New York State Museum.
F i e l d
S t a t i o n
P h o t o s
Sirena Biological Field Station, taken in 1988 by Patricia Kernan, New York State
Museum.
Palmer Station, taken in 1998 by Dean S. Klein, Antarctic Support Associates.
Fu-Shan Station, taken in 1996 by John H. Haines, New York State Museum.
Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve & Biological Research Station, taken in 1998 by
Ronald J. Gill, New York State Museum.
G e o l o g i c
T i m e
t a b l e
The geologic time table is a publication of the Geological Survey at the New York
State Museum.
B o o k
D e s i g n
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ISBN: 1-55557-210-3
ISSN: 0735-4401