This document discusses how human activities impact biodiversity through habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, climate change, and invasive species. It provides examples of each threat, including habitat loss in the Amazon rainforest over time, air pollution levels in Europe, and the spread of an invasive fire blight epidemic in Switzerland. It also summarizes research on the relationship between human population density or size and measures of biodiversity at global, national, and local scales.

1. Biodiversity Conservation
London Metropolitan Univ. - 2010
Marco Pautasso (marpauta(at)gmail.com)

2. Global biodiversity patterns: vascular plants
from Barthlott et al. (2007) Erdkunde

3. Global human population density patterns
from Small & Cohen (2004) Current Anthropology

4. Human impacts on biodiversity
Habitat fragmentation, degradation and loss
Water, air and soil pollution
Species introductions
Climate change
Trade, travel, transportation and tourism

5. Habitat fragmentation and loss in Amazonia
(2000) Source: NASA Earth Observatory

6. Habitat fragmentation and loss in Amazonia
(2005) Source: NASA Earth Observatory

7. Habitat fragmentation and loss in Amazonia
(2009) Source: NASA Earth Observatory

8. [1015 mol/cm2; Jan 2003- Jun 2004]
Air pollution due to urbanization: NO2
source: http://esamultimedia.esa.int/

9. Pollution effects on biodiversity: DDT
Newton (1986) The Sparrowhawk.

10. Species movements in a globalized world
passengers
From: Hufnagel et al. (2005) PNAS (air) & Kaluza et al. (2010) Interface (sea)

11. Fire blight epidemic development in Switzerland
1995 1999
2003 2007
From: Holdenrieder et al. (2008) ICPP, Turin, Italy

12. Climate change and plant distribution shifts
From: Denis Loustau (2006) Climate change impacts on extensively
managed forest: a modelling approach, Wilton Park Conference

13. Pautasso et al. (2010) Biological Reviews

14. Nature protection in the USA
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

15. Nature protection in the USA: the Northwest
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

16. Yellowstone (1987)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

17. Yellowstone (1988)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

18. Yellowstone (1990)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

19. Yellowstone (1995)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

20. Yellowstone (2000)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

21. Yellowstone (2008)
Source: NASA Earth Observatory

22. Nature protection in the USA: the Southwest
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

23. Nature protection in the USA: Alaska
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

24. Nature protection in the USA: the Midwest
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

25. Nature protection in the USA: the East
Source: Map Collection of the Library of the University of Texas at Austin, USA

26. National Park Sites in the USA
* Tend to be larger in the West
* Are important for tourism
and a source of jobs
* Biodiversity conservation
is only one of their aims
* What will happen to them
when climate changes?

27. Jobs at National Park Sites in the USA
By middle 1950s, the primary employee of the
Service was the Park Ranger and they did
everything that was needed in the parks, e.g.:
Trash cleaners, heavy equipment operators, fire
fighters, traffic managers,
trail and road clearing, visitor information,
museum managers, rescues, aircraft
maintenance, crime investigation

28. Jobs at National Park Sites in the USA
Today, there are many more career paths in the service:
* Park Manager (Superintendent/Deputy)
* United States Park Police
* First Responders (EMT’s, medics, rescue specialist)
* Dispatchers
* Maintenance Workers (including carpenters, plumbers, masons,
laborers, auto mechanics, motor vehicle operators, electricians)
* Park Planners, Architects, Engineers, and Landscape architects
* Resource Managers (biology, soil, water, etc.)
* Historians (curators, historians, historic architects, archivists)
* Fire Management (weather specialist, firefighters, engine chiefs)
* Public Affairs and Administrators (human resources, finance,
accountants, information technology, budgeting)

29. Nature protection in Europe

30. Nature protection in Europe

31. Nature protection in Europe
Source: RSPB

32. Natura 2000
* EU-wide ecological network of nature
protection areas (1992)
* around 25,000 sites,
covering ~ 17% of the EU territory
* two types: Special Areas of Conservation
(habitats) and Special Protection Areas (birds)
* not a system of strict nature reserves where
most human activities are excluded

33. UK National Parks
Source: UK National Parks

34. UK National Parks
•Most parks established in the 1950s,
four new ones since 2000
* They cover ~ 9% of the UK, but less than 1%
of the human population lives within them
* About 61 million visitors per year,
with ~ 3.6 billion £ spent/yr by visitors
Source: UK National Parks

35. 12
visitors per year (million)
y = -0.00x + 4.79
10 R2 = 0.00, n.s.
8
6
4
2
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
UK national park area (km2)
Data source: UK National Parks

36. 140000
human population size (n)
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
UK national park area (km2)
Data source: UK National Parks

37. 700
money spent by visitors
y = 26x + 147
600 2
(million pounds)
R = 0.20; p < 0.01
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 5 10 15
visitors per year (million)
Data source: UK National Parks

38. Jobs in biodiversity conservation

39. Jobs in biodiversity conservation

40. Jobs in biodiversity conservation: jobs.ac.uk

41. Jobs in biodiversity conservation: jobs.ac.uk

42. Jobs in biodiversity conservation: the Guardian

43. from
the Guardian

44. from
the Guardian

45. Source:
Greater London
Authority

46. A key biodiversity pattern :
the species-area relationship
ants in European
countries
from: Schlick-Steiner et al. (2008)
J Biogeography

47. Species-people correlation in Europe
plants birds
from Araujo (2003) spp
Global Ecology &
Biogeography people

48. Some recent studies of the spp-people correlation
Araujo
(2003)
McKinney GEB
(2003)
Moreno-
Biol Cons
Rueda & Ding et al.
Pizarro (2008)
(2006) J
Ecol Res
Vazquez Hunter Biogeog
& Gaston (2006) & Jonzon
Biodiv & Cons (1993) CB
Balmford
et al. (2001)
Science
Real et al. Chown et al. Luck (2007)
(2003) J Diniz-Filho et al. (2003) Ecol Appl J Biogeog
Biogeog (2006) Acta Oecol.
World wilderness map from: UNEP-WCMC World Atlas of Biodiversity, GIS analysis
by R. Lesslie (ANU), method developed for the Australian Heritage Commission

49. Both species and people correlate with productivity
Altitude Plant species richness
in Trentino, Italy
from: Marini et al. (2009) J Biogeography

50. Locally, the spp-people correlation tends to be negative
birds in Florence
from: Chiari et al. (2010) J Animal Ecology

51. [1015 mol/cm2; Jan 2003- Jun 2004]
Air pollution due to urbanization: NO2
source: http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/EarthObservation/pollution_europe_hires.jpg

52. Air pollution, lichen biodiversity and lung cancer
Cislaghi & Nimis (1987) Nature

53. Random sample of 100 papers per year
on ‘species richness’ in WOS (1991-2004)
from: Lonsdale et al. (2008) European Journal of Forest Research

54. References
Barbosa AM, Fontaneto D, Marini L & Pautasso M (2010) Positive regional species–people correlations: a sampling artefact or a key issue for
sustainable development? Animal Conservation 13: 446-447
Cantarello E, Steck CE, Fontana P, Fontaneto D, Marini L & Pautasso M (2010) A multi-scale study of Orthoptera species richness and human
population size controlling for sampling effort. Naturwissenschaften 97: 265-271
Golding J, Güsewell S, Kreft H, Kuzevanov VY, Lehvävirta S, Parmentier I & Pautasso M (2010) Species-richness patterns of the living collections
of the world's botanic gardens: a matter of socio-economics? Annals of Botany 105: 689-696
Pautasso M (2009) Geographical genetics and the conservation of forest trees. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Systematics & Evolution 11: 157-189
Pautasso M & Chiarucci A (2008) A test of the scale-dependence of the species abundance-people correlation for veteran trees in Italy. Annals of
Botany 101: 709-715
Pautasso M & Dinetti M (2009) Avian species richness, human population and protected areas across Italy’s regions. Environmental Conservation
36: 22-31
Pautasso M & Fontaneto D (2008) A test of the species-people correlation for stream macro-invertebrates in European countries. Ecological
Applications 18: 1842-1849
Pautasso M & Parmentier I (2007) Are the living collections of the world’s botanical gardens following species-richness patterns observed in natural
ecosystems? Botanica Helvetica 117: 15-28
Pautasso M & Powell G (2009) Aphid biodiversity is correlated with human population in European countries. Oecologia 160: 839-846
Pautasso M & Weisberg PJ (2008) Density-area relationships: the importance of the zeros. Global Ecology and Biogeography 17: 203-210
Pautasso M & Zotti M (2009) Macrofungal taxa and human population in Italy's regions. Biodiversity & Conservation 18: 473-485
Pautasso M et al (2010) Plant health and global change – some implications for landscape management. Biological Reviews 85: 729-755
Pautasso M et al (2011) Global macroecology of bird assemblages in urbanized and semi-natural ecosystems. Global Ecology & Biogeography 20:
426-436
Pecher C, Fritz S, Marini L, Fontaneto D & Pautasso M (2010) Scale-dependence of the correlation between human population and the species
richness of stream macroinvertebrates. Basic Applied Ecology 11: 272-280
Schlick-Steiner B, Steiner F & Pautasso M (2008) Ants and people: a test of two mechanisms behind the large-scale human-biodiversity correlation
for Formicidae in Europe. Journal of Biogeography 35: 2195-2206
Steck CE & Pautasso M (2008) Human population, grasshopper and plant species richness in European countries. Acta Oecologica 34: 303-310