WALLACE RESOURCE LIBRARY Lecture 06 Endemism and Biodiversity

WALLACE RESOURCE LIBRARY Lecture 06 – Endemism and Biodiversity Hotspots This is an ‘example’ of a lecture that is given to A level students as part of their academic lecture series whilst on their expedition. It has been produced for the exclusive use of the lecturer conducting the series and is solely intended for educational purposes. Most of the material comes from Operation Wallacea sources and any other material that has been used has been credited (as far as is possible) to the appropriate author wherever possible. This lecture is only to be used for EDUCATIONAL purposes.

WALLACE RESOURCE LIBRARY Lecture 06 – Endemism and Biodiversity Hotspots

Lecture overview • • Understanding of endemism Use of biodiversity measurements Conservation International’s Hotspots Wallacea Alfred Wallace The Wallace Line The Lambusango Forest Reserve

Endemism • Endemic species are only found in one specific geographical area • Endemism is described on varying geographic scales • Could be endemic to a forest patch of a few hundred metres, a forest, or a forest biome

Endemism • High endemism usually occurs in areas that have been isolated for a long time, such as islands or isolated forest fragments • In these regions there are usually high rates of speciation • Areas with high levels of endemism do not necessarily have high biodiversity levels

Measuring endemism Degree of endemism recorded by • Species counts - the number of endemic species in a given area or habitat • The percentage of endemic species present in relation to all species in the given area

Using measures of biodiversity • Areas with high endemism are valuable as those species occur nowhere else on earth • Species that are threatened, either due to decreasing populations, habitat loss or excessive predation are also considered valuable • These factors are often used as a basis to implement conservation measures

IUCN Red List International Union for Conservation of Nature Nine categories: • Extinct in the Wild • Critically Endangered • Vulnerable • Near Threatened • Least Concern • Data Deficient • Not evaluated Yellow-crested cockatoo (Critically Endangered) less than 7000 individuals remain

Which conservation organisations do you know? • • • WWF Conservation International Flora and Fauna International Wildlife Conservation Society Birdlife International The Nature Conservancy

Biodiversity Hotspots • Conservation International use two factors to determine which areas qualify as a global biodiversity hotspot: – Number of endemic vascular plant species (those found nowhere else) – Amount of original habitat lost

Biodiversity Hotspots

Biodiversity Hotspots • Each hotspots contains over 1, 500 endemic vascular plants species • This represents over 0. 5% of the world’s total vascular endemic plant species

Biodiversity Hotspots • Degree of threat was determined by the percentage of remaining habitat within a region, with each hotspot retaining less than 30 percent of its original natural habitat • Some of the hotspots have less than 10 percent of the original natural habitat

Biodiversity Hotspots • Overall, the 34 hotspots once covered 15. 7% of Earth’s land surface • 86% of the hotspots’ habitat has already been destroyed • Intact remnants of the hotspots now only cover 2. 3% of the Earth’s land surface • Hold at least 150, 000 endemic plant species • Contain 11, 980 endemic terrestrial vertebrate species

Biodiversity hotspots

Biodiversity Hotspot: Wallacea Hotspot original extent (km 2) Hotspot vegetation remaining (km 2) Endemic plant species Endemic threatened birds Endemic threatened mammals Endemic threatened amphibians Extinct species Human population density (people/ km 2) Area protected (km 2) Source: Conservation International 2006 338, 494 50, 774 1, 500 49 44 7 3 81 24, 387

Alfred Russel Wallace • English naturalist born in 1823 • Researched the ecology and diversity of species in South East Asia from Borneo to Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and on to Irian Jaya • A contemporary of Darwin who independently and simultaneously wrote about evolution and the process of natural selection

Alfred Russel Wallace

Wallace’s, Weber’s and Lydekker’s lines

Formation of Wallacea Migration routes between Australasia and Asia through the Wallacean islands during the pleistocene ice age (70, 000 to 40, 000 years ago). Dark green signifies where land masses became connected

Biodiversity in Wallacea • Roughly 10, 000 species vascular plants, 1, 500 endemic • Over 650 bird species, 265 endemic • More than 220 reptile species, 100 endemic • Nearly 50 amphibian species, 30 endemic

Biodiversity in Wallacea • 220 mammal species, 127 endemic – – 125 species of bat 25 species of rodent 12 endemic species of primate (7 macaque and 5 tarsier) Other charismatic endemics include anoa, babirusa, Sulawesi palm civet • Over 300 species of freshwater fish, 75 endemic

Buton Island • Located off the southeast coast of Sulawesi • 4, 200 km 2 • Thickly forested with axial chain of limestone hills rising to 1, 190 metres • Limestone karst forest

Lambusango Forest • 65, 000 ha of uninhabitated lowland evergreen rainforest in southern Buton • 2 protected areas: Lambusango Wildlife Reserve (28, 510 ha) and Kakenauwe Nature Reserve (810 ha) • Plus 35, 000 ha of limited production forest

Lambusango Forest • Last remaining extensive and intact forest in southern Buton • Area threatened by – Illegal logging – Forest encroachment – Asphalt mining

Lambusango Forest § Tree diversity maximal for Sulawesi and good remaining forest cover § 21 new species of vertebrate discovered § Numerous threatened species of herpetofauna, birds and bats § Flagship species such as the Buton macaque, and anoa

The research we do • Operation Wallacea conducts research in this area to discover what is here, and to demonstrate how biologically important the region is. • Very poorly studied region • More than 50% of all the herpetofauna, small mammal and bat species recorded throughout the whole of Sulawesi have been recorded just in the Lambusango • 21 new species of vertebrate have been discovered in the area. • This work helps to generate funding which is then used to protect the area.

Discussion • Recap: What is biodiversity? What is endemism? • How would you design a project in order to designate limited funding to achieve maximum conservation benefit?