ANT203Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Habitat Fragmentation, Bushmeat, Cites
Document Summary
Many primate species very close to extinction: e. g. mountain gorillas, lemurs. Nearly half of the world"s 634 primate species are threatened (iucn redlist) Scientific discipline that aims to provide knowledge and guidance necessary to maintain biodiversity. General knowledge base that underlies conservation action plans. How is diversity of life distributed around the planet: e. g. majority of these primates live in tropical regions. What threats does this diversity face: habitat disturbance. More than 90% of all primates are tropical species. Tropical forests are disappearing rapidly, at a rate that is faster than any other biome, 5% a year. Agriculture: shifting agriculture (slash and burn), typically happens because of small-scale farmers, fires. Forestry: logging for forest products, chopped down for fuel (charcoal cooking) Forest fragmentation: removal of habitat/forest in that the forest is splintered apart into smaller, isolated fragments. Implications: small size = high extinction risk, carrying capacity.
