Endangered Species
Monthly Feature: Lichens This site is dedicated to the beauty and science of nature and to the joys it brings those who explore it. The joy of seeing "familiar faces" everywhere; the invigoration a nature walk brings to both body and soul; the beauty and diversity of our Earthly co-habitants; and the pleasure of eating something found along the way. The material here is organized according to the biological principles of classification: The Universe encompases everything we know through science: it is measured in units of space and time and contains matter-energy. Energetic bodies called stars are sometimes surrounded by less energetic bodies called planets (if they're large enough). We live on a planet called Earth.
Accurate knowledge of the number and different types of species in a given community or ecosystem is the basis for understanding how a system functions, and thus how the removal or addition of species may alter that functioning. Knowing which species are present is requisite for understanding the ecological roles of the critical community members---what they eat, who eats them, and how they alter the community in which they live. Not knowing how many species are in a community sorely limits the ability to predict the fate of that community under different kinds of anthropogenic stresses. Not knowing the names of the species in a community severely limits the ability to compare different systems and to understand the biology and ecology of such organisms by comparing them to their better-known relatives. Species diversity is sorely undersampled, underdescribed and, in some cases, is undergoing dramatic revision in the marine realm, as indicated in the examples given below. The Undersampled Deep Sea The Underdescribed Coastal Zone Species Discoveries using New Technology Species Discoveries using Molecular Genetics Discoveries of Multispecies Complexes Suggestions for Future Research
Species Diversity and the links to the existing databases
(Chairman J. Franklin, presented by F. Bisby and M. Horzinek). Bioinformatics is moving rapidly from molecular biology across all disciplines. This is allowing new discoveries to be made and new directions to be followed. The biological diversity of the planet is recognised as being of vital importance and measuring and mapping this biodiversity is a prime need. Biotechnology and biodiversity are perhaps the two main areas of scientific biological effort at present. Much related research is following the matrix of the biological knowledge plan.
Thoughts on the processes that maintain local species diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Ectomycorrhizal fungi exhibit high diversity even in small monoculture forests. Roughly 20 to 35 species typically occupy such sites. Explanations for this diversity can be based on resource partitioning, disturbance, competition, or interaction with other organisms. Mycorrhizal fungi compete for two general classes of resources: host-derived carbon and soil or detritus derived mineral nutrients. Both types of resources are arrayed in space (e.g., soil depth, distance from tree) and time (e.g., season, host successional series).
The plant life in the Keys is truly unique because there are many varieties growing here that grow nowhere else in the world. Island plants range in form from the delicate Spider Lilly to the fierce looking Yucca plant. Island trees range from the tropical Royal Palm to the forested Slash-pine. Probably the most important living things on the Keys are the common Red Mangrove trees. These surround the outer edges of most of the Keys and line the coastal and salt water creeks of South Florida. They are basically a warm climate species that serve as natural sea walls.
Why Should We Protect Species? An Endangered Species Act provides protection to species in danger of extinction in the recognition that they are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to a Nation and its people. A dollar value can be placed on just some of these benefits. The value of the other benefits rests on each individual's sense of the importance of biological diversity in the present and the future. Many of us have a take-them-for-granted attitude - that Canada has vast areas of untapped wilderness and, thus, that the species will take care of themselves. Unless, through education, we change our thinking, that attitude coupled with an extremely fast rate of industrial development will doubtless lead to a reduction of species diversity and reduce the opportunities of future generations.
