CHAPTER 9 BIODIVERSITY

NATURE’S MEDICINECABINET

Will the bark of an ordinary tree in Samoa

become a cure for cancer?

Do Now

• Why is biodiversity important? Be specific.

• What do we “get” from nature? Be specific

What We Get From Nature

Nature’s Medical Cabinet

•Medicinal plants provide health care and income to local communities• Medicinal plants worth $100

billion in 2011

• 50% of all prescription drugs originally derived from plants (e.g.; aspirin)

• How many more are left to be discovered?

EthnobotanyThe study of how different cultures use

the plants in their local environment

“Mother Nature is the ultimate chemist.”

Mamala tree leaves relieve symptoms

of Hepatitis C

BiodiversityA measure of all of the plant, animal

& microbial species in an area or on Earth

How many species are there?

We don’t really know!

1.8 million species are known, but there could be ~100 million still to be discovered.

Earth’s Natural Citizens

WHAT IS NATURE WORTH?

What would it cost to buy all of theecosystem services we get for free

from nature?

Approximately $33,000,000,000,000

oxygen

water

erosion control

medicine

recreation (parks, etc.)

climate control

minerals

fossil fuels

biodiversity

80% of Samoa’s tropical oasis of biodiversity and medical cures has

been lost due to deforestation.

EndemismPlants and animal species that exist only

at one location on Earth

Biodiversity HotspotsRegions that contain large numbersof endemic and threatened species.

Biodiversity Hotspots

Extirpation

• When a species is extinct in one regionbut still present elsewhere

• Reintroduction to the extinct regionis possible.

Taxonomic Distributionof Endangered Species

Endangered Species Act

The 1973 law protecting biodiversity inthe United States

How to Conserve Biodiversity

Single Species Approach

Ecosystem Approach

• Focus is on well-known, charismatic species• Pandas, eagles, gray wolves• Has led to successful captive breeding programs

• But, what about all the other species that need saving?

• Focus is much broader target – entire ecosystems• Preserves all of the species and their interactions• Emphasis often on biodiversity hotspots

How to Conserve Biodiversity

Debt-For-Nature Swap

Developing nation’s foreign debt paidby preserving its natural areas

Remember the Mamala tree?

• Also produces prostratin

• Effective in treating HIV

• Has led to successful captive breeding programs

• US firms attempting to produce synthetic version

• Profit-sharing agreement:

• Local Samoans receive 50% of all royaltiesfrom sale of prostatin

“There is a strong link between the health of forests and the health of humans. If people

understand that a rainforest might contain thebest cures for diseases that plague us, they will

care a whole lot more about saving it.”-Paul Cox

DocetaxelPaclitaxel

What do these two chemicals have in common?

Pacific Yew Tree