Endangered Species: Vaquita

Scientific Name- Phocoena sinus

Vaquitas • Characteristics/Traits

– Dark rings around the eyes.

– Dark Gray on top, while white on bottom.

– Tend to lighten in color as they age.

– Females tend to be larger (5 ft) than males, (4.6 ft).

– Weigh up to 120 lbs/ 55 kg.

– Smaller than most cetacean.

– Triangular shaped Dorsal Fin that is taller than most

porpoises.

– Ability to echolocate

– Can travel alone or in small groups.

– A female will give birth to 1 calf every 2 years between

April and May

– Have a diverse diet

Vaquitas

Habitat

– Mainly found in the Northern area of the Gulf Of California

and around the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

– In shallow lagoons near the shoreline.

• Areas with turbid yet warm water, which is nutrient rich.

Niche

– Vaquitas are the prey of sharks, and extinction can cause

a decrease in the shark population. (Many sharks are

already declining)

– Extinction could lead to an overpopulation of their prey

(benthic fishes, squid, and crustaceans).

Vaquitas • Population

– Abundant in the early 1900’s,

– After commercial fisheries around 1940, the population dropped

to 600 and have since rapidly declined. In 2007, there may have

only been 150.

– May currently be as low as 60.

• Causes of endangerment

– Commercial fishing in the gulf can cause Vaquitas to get

caught in nets, preventing them from going to the surface to

breathe (Major cause of endangerment).

– Captured due to resemblance of the Totoaba fish, which is also

illegal to fish.

– Damming of the Colorado River.

– Uncontrolled coastal development, where estuaries are

targeted.

– Chemical fertilizers contaminating and polluting the water.

Vaquitas • Solutions

– Mexico has made conservation efforts, with the creation of the CIRVA,

which has attempted to ban fishing nets in certain areas.

• the Mexican gov’t created the Upper Gulf of California and

Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve in 1993 and a separate

Vaquita reserve in 2005.

– CITES has pushed for Mexico to help stop illegal shipments of

Totoaba, which will then lower Vaquita “capturing”. The 2 are often

mixed up for one another.

– Listed as endangered by the ESA in 1985, and is protected under the

Marine Mammal Protection Act

– Under the North American Conservation Act, Canada and the U.S. will

help Mexico in protecting the Vaquitas.

• Fisherman can get paid if they no longer fish in areas where the

Vaquita are located. There are penalties if the contract is broken.

• Fisherman can also get paid if they use new technology that will

not harm the Vaquita or if they permanently return their license and

equipment.

Great White Shark

Scientific name- Carcharodon carcharias

Threatened: Great White Shark

• Characteristics/Traits

– GWS range from 11-16ft, with males being smaller.

– Weigh up to 3000Kg. They are heavier than water and must constantly be moving or will sink.

– Range from light to dark grey/blue on top, and white under. The top color helps the shark blend in, making it easier to sneak up on the prey.

– Have a caudal fin, a dorsal fin, and 2 pectoral fins to help them swim. (Roughly 2 mph/3.4 kph or bursts of 15mph/24 kph).

– Generate body heat through metabolism.

– Rows of teeth to replace ones that break.

– Strong sense of smell.

– Usually found alone or in pairs.

Great White Shark • Habitat

– Very wide range, but adults are usually Pelagic (found in open ocean)

– Can sometimes be seen near the surface or up to 2000 meters below.

– Young are usually closer to the coast

– Can mostly be found in temperate waters but occasionally in boreal oceans and coastal tropics.

• Ex: West coast of the U.S. near CA, South Australia, Japan, parts of South Africa…

• Niche

– The diet consists of teleost and elasmobranch fishes, without the GWS, the population of the prey could increase, setting off a chain reaction and disturbing the rest of the ecosystem.

Great White Shark • Population

– Population size is hard to estimate due to migrations.

– 90% decline in the last 40-100 year.

– May be less than 2000 left.

• Causes of Threatened Status

– Mainly due to Human activities.

• hunted for sport (especially after the release of Jaws).

• teeth being used as trophies or products and are highly profitable.

• Captured for food or oil.

• Pollution of the Oceans.

• Loss of prey due to large amounts of fishing.

• Victim of bycatch (caught by accident).

• Nets and hooks being used to keep sharks away from beach coasts.

• Fear from the media had caused a lack of protection.

– Sharks have slow reproductive rates

Great White Shark • Solutions

– Protected in South Africa, Namibia, Australia, America and Malta.

– Increase protections in the U.S.

• More trade laws have been established since the GWS is now protected under CITES, but illegal trade still continues, and some are opposed to this due to high market values.

• The Lacey Act in the U.S. bans the trading of any animal/plant protected under CITES.

• The U.S. has laws put in place that prohibits vessels from being with 164 ft of the Sharks near islands. This helped manage tourism, filming and research from being a disturbance.

• While in the San Francisco Bay permits are needed for cage diving and tours (Under The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary).

– There has been an increase in research .

– Ecotourism has increased in some areas (Guadalupe, Southern Australia) and will now lead to education and more protection. (but long term effects remain unknown)

– The UN has created an international Plan of Action for the conservation and management of Sharks, conduction further research to organize a protection plan

– Not protected under the ESA.

Extinct: Javan Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris sondaica

Javan Tiger

• Characteristics/Traits

– Males grew between 7-8 ft and weighed up to 310 lbs, while females weighed up to 250 lbs.

– Smaller compared to other Asian tigers.

– Similar to the Sumatran tiger.

– Thin stripes with an orange to brown color and a white underside.

– Life span of 15 years.

– Diet consisted of boar and deer.

Javan Tiger

• Habitat

– Native to the Java Island of Indonesia

– By the 1940s, they later lived in more mountainous and forest areas on the island due to human activities

• Niche/ Affect on ecosystem

– Had no natural predators

– Like most tigers, the Javan Tiger is at the top of the food chain. Their prey consisted of wild boar, deer and reptiles. Their extinction did not have a drastic change on the environment, even though they were at the top. Their prey were still hunted, since there were some other tigers on the island who had similar diets.

Javan Tiger

Javan Tiger • Date of Extinction: Around 1995

• Causes

– There was a rapid a loss of habitat due to an increase in the human population (28-85million).

– Poisoning of tigers for space.

– Humans hunted them for food and skin as well.

– Competition of prey with other predators.

• The main prey of the Java tigers, Rusa Deer, died from disease.

– After WWII forests were made into plantations.

– 1965- Tigers in reserves were killed by armed men.

• Conservation efforts

– From 1920-1960 wildlife reserves were set up but failed due to civil unrest.

– The Indonesian Nature Conservation Authority attempted to stop human impacts and created a national park to save the few left.

Indicator Species: Lichens

• There are over 15,000 different species of lichen

• 2 examples:

– Canoparmelia texana (Texas shield lichen)

– Cladonia cristatella (British soldiers)

Lichens • Characteristics/Traits

– Multicellular organism.

– Usually made up of one fungus, a mycobiont and a photosynthetic organism/photobiont (algae or cyanobacteria).

– Has a symbiotic relationship, the algae/cyanobacteria releases carbohydrates and vitamins for the fungus, which will then provide water vapor and shade.

– Body of the Lichen is a thallus

– Has hair like growth called rhizines

– Some lichens form a thin covering.

– Species very in size.

• Ex: Foliose are large while squamulose are small

– Long life span, but grow slowly.

– Can grow on many types of surfaces (trees and rocks).

– Ability to absorb water through their cortex.

– Lack a waxy cuticle.

– If a Lichen is dark in color it is most likely photosynthesizing.

– Can reproduce sexually using spores or asexually by breaking pieces off.

Lichens • Habitat

– Lichens can be found in a multitude of areas (from extreme heat to

cold) as long as specific requirements are met.

– Found in foggy areas near coasts due to abundant amount of water.

– Found away from cities where the air quality is better.

– Nutrients, like Nitrogen are essential, but the cyanobacteria can fix

nitrogen in the air.

– Different amounts of light are needed depending on the specie of

lichen.

– Lichens can be on rocks, the soil, under shade, around a tree branch,

or on old houses because they need a substrate (what the lichen

attaches on to).

Lichens • Niche

– During the winter, Lichens are an important food source for caribou,

reindeer and other animals in colder areas. They are also depended

on during dry/hot periods, since they can prevail in a variety of

conditions.

• They make up about 2/3 of the diets. Without Lichens, animals

would starve and cause problems within the food chains.

– Lichens are needed in succession and are the “pioneers”. Custose

lichen can collect moisture and minerals and will eventually create

soil. Over time, the soil formed may allow new life to grow, creating

a new community.

– Lichens serve as a home to some parasites.

– In warmer areas they are often used as nesting materials.

– They have the ability to add nitrogen into the soil and break down

rock.

Lichens Lichens that are in the Cladonia Genus

Lichens • Function as an indicator species

– Lichens can only survive in non-polluted areas, allowing

them to be used as indicators of air quality. The amount of

lichens in an area were used to map out air quality. The

presence of Lichen would indicate a positive

environmental factor.

• The more lichen, the better the air quality.

• They can be used to measure the amount of sulfur

dioxide in the air.

– Different species have different tolerances. Lecanora

conizaeoides are a bit more tolerant, which could indicate

there is some pollution. An absence of any lichen would

demonstrate large amounts of pollution.

– Lichens have long life spans, allowing indications of the

relative forest age.

Lichens • Protections

– Within thousands of types of Lichen, some are endangered. In the U.S. only 2 are protected under the ESA the Cladonia perforata and Gymnoderma lineare.

– The need for protection is largely due to habitat destruction. Even though Lichens can survive in many areas, they still have specific requirements that will not be met if forests are constantly destroyed and polluted. They may be the pioneer species, but they are slow growing.

• Many have proposed additional studying of Lichens due to little information about the vast amount of species.

– In the UK, deforestation is very high, therefore there are many more Lichens that are protected, especially since a Biodiversity Action Plan was formed. This was a series of recommendations and steps the gov’t would take in order to conserve hundreds of species and habitats.

Keystone: Ochre Sea Stars

• Scientific name: Pisaster ochraceus

Ochre Sea Stars • Characteristics/Traits

– 5 stout rays (10-25 cm).

• Some may have 4-7 rays.

– Diameter is roughly 25-45 cm.

– Colors range from purple, orange, yellow, or brown.

– Small spines (Ossicles).

– Tube feet that have suckers to attach onto rocks.

• Unable to use feet outside of the water.

– Undergoes larval stages and metamorphosis.

• Filter feeders when young.

– Life span of 20 years.

– Regeneration.

Ochre Sea Stars

• Habitat

– Rocky shores.

– Most common in the cold water of the Pacific Ocean.

• Found in temperate locations as well.

– Live in shallow water.

– Usually lives in the intertidal or littoral range.

• Niche

– Food source of seagulls and sea otters.

– Keep mussel populations low. Experiments have been conducted where the starfish were removed and the mussel population rapidly increased since they have no other natural predator.

Ochre Sea Stars

Ochre Sea Stars • Adaptations

• To keep the mussel population down, sea stars eat them. It can “take

out” its stomach in order to eat the prey, which will then be liquefied by

digestive enzymes. Either the stomach or juices will be pushed through

the small opening with in the mussels. When the mussel opens up to

breathe, its tube feet will force the mussel’s valves apart, allowing the

sea star to digest it.

• Ability to cling to a substrate and regenerate.

• Additional species that rely on it

– Experiments have shown that the removal of Ochre Sea Stars

would cause a drastic increase in the mussel population (ex:

Mytilus californianus), causing other species to either be eaten,

or lose their space.

– An increase in mussels would cause an decrease in Plankton.

• There would be an increase in competition between predators of

plankton such as Acorn Barnacle and fish/larvae stages.

– Benthic Algae would be removed.

Ochre Sea Stars

• Protections

– The Ochre Sea star is not listed under the ESA, ICNU Red

List, CITES or the US Federal List.

– There has been a decline in population due to warm water

during El Niño.

– Sea Star Wasting Syndrome- Sea Stars in their normal

habitat are dying rapidly. Within a few days of this virus or

bacteria, the star fish dies.

• Research has just begun so there is no solution.

Invasive Species: European Gypsy Moth

• Scientific name: Lymantria dispar

Tree after foliation

European Gypsy Moth

• Characteristics/Traits

– Young Gypsy Moths tend to impose of the following trees:

apple, aspen, birch, larch, oak, willow, alder, hazel.

– Older ones will begin to go after trees like spruce and pine.

– “attacks” hundreds of species of trees and has defoliated

75 million acres in the U.S.

– Moths have 4 stages,: egg, larvae, pupae and adult.

– Female Adults are smaller than males (4cm long) and can’t

fly.

– Cannot survive in the cold for long periods of time.

European Gypsy Moth • The native and new habitats are both similar

– Native to southern Europe.

– Tend to live in temperate forests or wooded areas near the suburbs.

– Originally invaded Eastern United States in the 1860s (Massachusetts, Virginia) and now has also invaded majority of the U.S.

– In both habitats, they are responsible for eating leaves (defoiling) many trees.

• Preference of hardwood trees and Oak

• During high population periods, larvae will feed on almost any vegetation.

– Niches

• In Europe, one of its natural predators is the Calosoma beetle.

• The Gypsy Moth is a valuable food source since it is so abundant, and is the prey of wasps, squirrels, robins and many more.

• When populations are high, predators are attracted, bringing more diversity.

• Defoliation allows Parasitic insects to attack trees.

European Gypsy Moth

European Gypsy Moth

• Adaptations

– Their color helps them survive. When they blend in with

trees, it is harder for predators to spot them.

– Larvae can create silk threads, have hair and are light

weight, allowing them to spread across

– Birds are predators, but are sometimes discouraged by the

hairs.

European Gypsy Moth • Impacts

– When trees are defoliated, they cannot photosynthesize

and have to use their stored energy leaves in order to

obtain new ones.

– If a tree is 50% defoliated, it will most likely die.

• Loss of habitat and food source for other organisms.

• Loss of diversity.

– Pesticides were then used, which further harms the

environment.

• Actions to remove the species

– The Federal Environmental Impact Statement allows 4

chemicals to be used on them.

– Ooencyrtus kuvanae, a wasp introduced, can kill the eggs

by eating them. They kill roughly 10-40%.