1. The Future of
Biodiversity
William F. Laurance
Centre for Tropical
Environmental and
Sustainability Science
James Cook University
Cairns, Australia

2. What is
Biodiversity?

3. Richness of Species

4. Biomes
Ecosystems
Communities
Species
Subspecies
Populations
– Genetic variation
– Demographic variation
– Behavioral variation

5. Within-species
variation
Tiger salamanders
Anemonefish calls
Amphidromus snails
Crimson rosellas

6. Biomes
Ecosystems
Communities
Species
Subspecies
Populations
– Genetic variation
– Demographic variation
– Behavioral variation

7. Ecological
interactions &
co-evolution

8. How Much
Biodiversity?

9. ?

10. Terrestrial
vertebrates
relatively
well known
Scheffers, Joppa, Pimm &
Laurance (2012) Trends
in Ecology & Evolution

11. Fungi
Species (millions)
10
8
6
4
2
0
Known Lower Upper

12. 30
25
Species (millions)
Insects
20
15
10
5
0
Known Lower Upper

13. Species (millions)
Deep-sea Species
10
8
6
4
2
?
0
Known Lower Upper

14. Why So Much
Confusion?

15. ‘Missing’
species are
different!

16. Hard to find!
Scheffers, Joppa, Pimm &
Laurance (2012) Trends
in Ecology & Evolution

17. Many are restricted endemics
Number of known
restricted-endemic
frogs in Brazil

18. Many are ‘cryptic’


DNA Barcoding uses
1-2 fast-evolving
genes to discriminate
species

Very powerful with
advances in DNA
sequencing speed

Astraptes fulgerator complex
Morphology often
misleading
60% of species now
described from
cryptic complexes

19. Where is the
Biodiversity?

20. Global diversity of higher plants
Highest diversity:
-wet tropics
-Mediterranean regions

21. Global centers of species
endemism
Highest endemism:
-isolated & smaller
-distinctive

22. What is the
Future of
Biodiversity?

23. Critical factor: Fate of the
Biodiversity Hotspots
>1500 endemic plants, >70% habitat loss
Myers et al. (2000) Nature; Mittermeier et al. (2004) Hotspots Revisited.

24. Growing Pressures
on Hotspots
Forest loss is fastest in hotspot nations
with higher population growth and lower
human development (Dja & Bawa 2006)
Cincotta et al. (2000) Nature

25. Another critical
factor: Fate of
protected areas
Eastern
Bolivia

26. Laurance et al. (2012) Nature

27. Parks are
not islands
Rabi Reserve, Gabon
Bukit Palong National Park, Malaysia

28. How much biodiversity
will we lose

29. Public forum
Debating the
Tropical
Extinction Crisis
National Museum of
Natural History
Washington, D.C.
13 February 2009

30. Many ‘missing species’
will be imperiled
 Concentrated
in hotspots and tropical regions
 Many are restricted endemics

31. Functional
extinctions
Apex
predators
Big animals
Old-growth trees

32. Ecological distortions &
biotic homogenization
Opportunists
Disturbance-lovers
Invaders

33. Great loss
of genetic
variation

34. Biodiversity is
Invaluable

TEEB
Pavan Sukhdev
& colleagues
Myriad natural products
 Germ plasm for food crops
 Pharmaceuticals
 Ecosystem resilience
 Pollination services
 Carbon storage
 Tourism

35. It’s not just
about protecting
nature -- it’s
about ensuring
we have a
livable world

36. Thank you