On biodiversity
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Monday, September 13, 2010 18:16
VIEWED: 2859
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Okay, this is a group of mostly intelligent, educated people, so I’m sure the majority of us understand biodiversity to a degree. But it came up recently and I wanted to offer a synopsis (yes, I know it’s long, but it’s the best I could edit it down to from Wikipedia) on the subject. How much do you know about how important biodiversity is to us humans? Leaving aside esthetics, leisure and cultural activity and getting down to the meat and bones of the importance of biodiversity. I’ll bet most of us don’t know as much as we thought...Quote:
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on an entire planet. Biodiversity is one measure of the health of biological systems. Life on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region". A complex relationship exists among the different diversity levels. Identifying one level of diversity in a group of organisms does not necessarily indicate its relationship with other types of diversities. All types of diversity are broadly linked and a numerical study investigating the link between tetrapod (terrestrial vertebrates) taxonomic and ecological diversity shows a very close correlation between the two.
The existence of a "global carrying capacity", limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such a limit would also cap the number of species. Changes in diversity are guided by a first-order positive feedback (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a negative feedback arising from resource limitation.
Most biologists agree that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event, caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years.
Biodiversity supports a number of natural ecosystem processes and services. Some ecosystem services that benefit society are air quality, climate (e.g., CO2 sequestration), water purification, pollination, and prevention of erosion.
Since the stone age, species loss has accelerated above the prior rate, driven by human activity. The exact rate is uncertain, but it has been estimated that species are now being lost at a rate approximately 100 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record, or perhaps as high as 10,000 times as fast. Land is being transformed from wilderness into agricultural, mining, lumbering and urban areas for humans.
The reservoir of genetic traits present in wild varieties and traditionally grown landraces is extremely important in improving crop performance. Important crops, such as the potato, banana and coffee, are often derived from only a few genetic strains. Improvements in crop species over the last 250 years have been largely due to harnessing genes from wild varieties and species. Interbreeding crops strains with different beneficial traits has resulted in more than doubling crop production in the last 50 years as a result of the Green Revolution.
Crop diversity is also necessary to help the system recover when the dominant cultivar is attacked by a disease or predator:
--The Irish potato blight of 1846 was a major factor in the deaths of one million people and the emigration of another million. It was the result of planting only two potato varieties, both of which proved to be vulnerable.
--When rice grassy stunt virus struck rice fields from Indonesia to India in the 1970s, 6,273 varieties were tested for resistance. Only one was resistant, an Indian variety, and known to science only since 1966. This variety formed a hybrid with other varieties and is now widely grown.
--Coffee rust attacked coffee plantations in Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Central America in 1970. A resistant variety was found in Ethiopia. Although the diseases are th
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Well I can at least offer some decent news on that front, Niki.
Remember that group which hired a bunch of my people to drive trucks for em cause they were pulling large samples of as-yet-uncontaminated wildlife ?
Well, according to them they're all doing well and depending on how well the cleanup goes they may be looking at re-introduction soon, which of course means they will need trucks goin the other way, but also that each of certain specie will have a decent core sample of individuals not exposed to the toxins, which sounds good, although it twists my brain a bit since this kinda thing is a little over the limits of my scientific understanding since imma psych specialist, not bio.
I did wanna ask you something about birds though, which I think got lost in the shuffle and certain assholes endless hostility - during the cleanup of the local spill up here, I was asked to use my wildlife-calming trick on birds, you see...
When they pick em up, they don't clean em right away, and they like, hold em overnight or something, during which they lose a lot of em, and from my understanding they freak themselves out to death or something ?
I don't really understand that, and was hopin you could explain it to me - cause my lil trick, it only takes a minute or so, but once done, it's almost a given THAT bird is gonna make it, but still it has to be done individually and it's kinda stressful in a mental sense, made all the worse since I kept having to run back over to the spill and chase off well-meaning idiots who didn't seem to have any clue how bloody toxic that crap is, so it was all really frustrating and I didn't manage to get any understanding of WHY, which might be helpful to know.
Hell, I don't even like mosta them damn birds, they're friggin obnoxious, but I did feel sorry for em, they looked so pathetic.
Anyhow, what makes em drop dead like that, heart rate, overstress, what ?
Cause if I know, I might be able to refine that trick or even teach it to others who have the knack, and that'd be a right useful thing.
-Frem
I do not serve the Blind God.
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Biodiversity is over-rated. We need white rice, white fish, white onions and white people.
The rest is bio-trash.
The Neo-Con Chrisisall
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Man can live in a cave and do just fine. Ask the Muslims how much biodiversity they have in that fucking sand they live in. A helluva lot less than those brown-skin fucks swinging on vines in the jungles of south America. Now ask yourself. Who has a better life? Who is more developed? Answer....The sand niggars despite having far less "biodiversity"....whoda thunk it?
Fucking hippies and this nature shit......
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Biodiversity is over-rated. We need white rice, white fish, white onions and white people.
You forgot mayonnaise!
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Quote:
Man can live in a cave and do just fine. Ask the Muslims how much biodiversity they have in that fucking sand they live in. A helluva lot less than those brown-skin fucks swinging on vines in the jungles of south America. Now ask yourself. Who has a better life? Who is more developed?
If you mean in the sense of being able to fend off European invasion, maybe. Mayan and Incan cultures were pretty advanced in ways we haven't fully explored yet. Or at least they were before they got the hell trounced out of them, moved into the jungle and started living as hunters and gatherers.
For people of the middle east desert, the land provides them some defensive advantages that a jungle doesn't. You can burn a jungle down. You can't burn down a desert. There's also a cultural hardiness (and aggressiveness) that can come from the harshness of the desert, and not from a jungle environment. Small pox was also a factor.
The people of the middle east are doing a good job of killing themselves off, aside from the pointless in-fighting, because overgrazing and bad agriculture practice has turned a lot of the region into an alkaline dustbowl. Those guys in the jungle can last out a long time against the modern world simply because they have readily available food, provided slash and burn doesn't drive them extinct too. And they're not killing themselves in land, resource, and religious wars (though they used to, when European colonists arrived).
I say South American tribes are less developed but probably have the better quality of life.
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Frem, you asked a question needing a long answer, but I'll try to give it. To begin with, it's not a matter of sudden death from heart attack or something, it's more complex than that:
Bear in mind that the birds in question are already exhausted and stressed...nobody knows for how long...before they are immobile enough to be captured. Thus all of what is described below has already happened to them, not to mention dehydration and quite possibly lack of food.
The procedure you talked about doesn't help because ANY handling by humans, or even their presence, increases stress. For a physiological explanation, here's some information as to why, whether "calmed" or not (which they're not, by any presence of humans):Quote:
So they don't "just up and die" (as a rabbit might), they've already had all this working on their systems for some time, and, weakened as they already are, may already be dying when they're picked up.
When a bird experiences stress, either physically or emotionally, its metabolic response is to activate the sympathetic nervous system. This is a component of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for action during the fight-or-flight response.
Some of the physiological changes that take place are increased sugar and fats into the bloodstream, the production of more adrenaline, cortisol, and glucagon into the blood, a decrease in digestive function, increased blood pressure, heartbeat, breathing rate, muscle tension and, thus, the creation of more energy. Corticosterone is the main hormone produced by birds in response to stress. It causes many changes in behavior and physiology, helping the bird to cope with stressful stimuli.
Stress may also manifest inward to one of the organ systems, such as the nervous system, circulatory, or digestive system. Stress increases the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. There is an increased excretion of amino acids, potassium, and phosphorus and a decreased storage of calcium.
All birds carry yeast, bacterial and viral cells but, under healthy conditions, they remain in small numbers and harmless. However, at stressful times, when the immune system is weakened, these opportunistic microorganisms may proliferate and birds then become more vulnerable to the development of an infection.
As to IBRRC's methods, they take all the above into account and, knowing that, you'll see why they do what they do:Quote:
All wild animals stress easily in captivity and oiled birds typically suffer stress from the effects of the oil, capture and transport. Before they can be washed they must be stabilized or the additional stress of the wash process could kill them. Stabilizing most oil-affected animals requires medical treatments under veterinary supervision and intensive supportive care for at least 48 hours.
When a bird arrives at the center, a thorough physical exam determines the condition of the bird and the degree of oiling. Frequently, oiled birds are debilitated either by the toxic effects of ingesting oil, or by exhaustion/starvation. The oil may cover only a small patch, or the bird may be totally soaked in oil.
Immediately following its initial examination, it is fed a rehydration solution through a tube inserted into its stomach. The solution treats dehydration commonly seen in oiled aquatic birds, which can be life threatening, absorbs digested oil from the birds digestive tract, and flushes out the birds system.
Preliminary treatment and stabilization helps the bird regain its strength before the cleaning process begins. The bird is discouraged from preening itself and ingesting oil by being kept in a warm, quiet environment until it becomes alert and responsive, and ultimately, ready to be washed. An oiled bird is not able to thermo regulate their internal body temperature, so it is stabilized in a warm environment and monitored closely for signs of hypo- and hyperthermia. The bird is constantly monitored for stress, dehydration and disease, and is given
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As to what Byte responded; right on target. Also, there is biodiversity all over the globe, and tho' there is MUCH more (like tons!) in tropical ecosystems, there is diversity nonetheless. Soem tribes live off tubers in the sane, from whence they get a lot of their liquid.
The concept that one becomes more developed by "living in a cave" is a joke. Survival depends on food, weather, and so many other factors that it's ridiculous to think anyone could live in a cave nowadays. Those doing so obtain food from outsides sources (which are affected by biodiversity), they don't survive on their own. They have clothes created elsewhere and a support system from the outside. It's an absurd comment.
I do agree with Byte, and even moreso in that people who live in rainforest ecocystems (either tropical, subtropical or, like ourse here in CA, temperate rainforest) live with much more biodiversity and thus, have a better chance of survival as long as that biodiversity remains somewhat stable.
I, too, suspect they have a better quality of life, except that the Western "civilizations" are impacting it negatively and may destroy it eventually.
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off 
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Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
I did wanna ask you something about birds though, which I think got lost in the shuffle and certain assholes endless hostility - during the cleanup of the local spill up here, I was asked to use my wildlife-calming trick on birds, you see...
When they pick em up, they don't clean em right away, and they like, hold em overnight or something, during which they lose a lot of em, and from my understanding they freak themselves out to death or something ?
I don't really understand that, and was hopin you could explain it to me - cause my lil trick, it only takes a minute or so, but once done, it's almost a given THAT bird is gonna make it, but still it has to be done individually and it's kinda stressful in a mental sense, made all the worse since I kept having to run back over to the spill and chase off well-meaning idiots who didn't seem to have any clue how bloody toxic that crap is, so it was all really frustrating and I didn't manage to get any understanding of WHY, which might be helpful to know.
Hell, I don't even like mosta them damn birds, they're friggin obnoxious, but I did feel sorry for em, they looked so pathetic.
Anyhow, what makes em drop dead like that, heart rate, overstress, what ?
Cause if I know, I might be able to refine that trick or even teach it to others who have the knack, and that'd be a right useful thing.
-Frem
I do not serve the Blind God.
Frem,
Perhaps I can offer some insight here, as your question falls within one of my research areas. The birds are probably dying of a combination of factors. The oil itself (especially the lightweight volatile portion) is quite toxic and can cause destruction of blood cells (a condition called hemolytic anemia). This alone can be fatal, but on top of that the process of capturing and housing wild animals is highly stressful, and all critters with backbones stress out in the same way - by secreting adrenal hormones - and with the same negative consequences. It's not adrenaline that does the harm, it's another hormone called corticosterone. Prolonged secretion of that hormone can cause heart problems and suppress the immune system, so the birds are getting a double whammy. In truth, a heavily oiled bird has very little chance of survival, even if washed quickly. They usually try to clean themselves and end up eating the oil, which greatly worsens the toxicity problem. The best bet is to wash 'em fast and get them out of captivity, but even moderate spills usually overwhelm local response capability and animals get housed under highly stressful conditions (pretty much any form of captivity is highly stressful for free-living wild animals). Actually, it's probably a triple whammy, 'cause they usually won't eat when they're stressed and run out of fat reserves very quickly. Oil and wildlife are a very bad combination! But, anything you can do to calm the animals down is likely to be helpful.
perfessergee
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Damn, yer good Perfesser...I had to look a lot of that up, and you condensed it nicely.
Response by IBRRC has been huge--they're well financed, trained and geared up for this sort of thing and do it worldwide regularly. As you have no doubt seen by my response, they know the best way to minimize the problems to the birds and stabilizing them before cleaning (which, as you said, in a severely-impacted bird is enough to cause death). I'm really proud of them; tho' there are no doubt many, many birds who die before they can get to them and many people who try to help but don't know what they're doing, IBRRC is having a high success rate.
They recognize the "not eating" thing, too...and do just as we did at Marine Mammal Center, since seals and sea lions won't eat when rescued either (tho' they respond quicker to starting to eat on their own again than birds do). They make a mash and tube feed those strong enough for the procedure to keep the body fat up...ours, we used to call "fish mash", and gawd, it was awful. I made a lot of it, and along with defrosting the fish that went into it, I ended up with almost as many scales as the fish! IBRRC's is obviously different for birds, but I watched the process and it's identical...easier to find the right "hole" for pellies, too, than seals!
You have to be careful when force feeding; just like intubating humans in reverse...you have to be careful to get the right valve, or you pour it into their lungs--just as they have to find the right valve or they'd force air into human stomachs when they intubate. I admit I was a bit envious when I watched, seeing how much easier it is to get the right valve on pellies!
Thanx, Perfesser; while I know Frem will read the whole long thing, for others your explanation is much more concise and better!
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off
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