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(NAS Colloquium) The Future of Evolution (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Declines of Biomes and Biotas and the Future of Evolution
Pages 83-88

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From page 83...
... Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution Section, Division of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La JolIa, CA 92093-0116 Although panel discussants disagreed whether the biodiversitY crisis constitutes a mass extinction event, all agreed that current extinction rates are 50-500 times background and are increasing and that the consequences for the future evolution of life are serious. In response to the on-going rapid decline of blames and homogenization of biotas, the panelists predicted changes in species geographic ranges, genetic risks of extinction, genetic assimilation, natural selection, mutation rates, the shortening of food chains, the increase in nutrient-enriched niches permitting the ascendancy of microbes, and the differential survival of ecological generalists.
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From page 84...
... contribution to the problems of estimating global extinction rates and the use of fuzzy arithmetic to consider multiple uncertainties appeared after this colloquium. My personal opinion is that we are currently living in what will eventually be recognized as a real mass extinction.
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From page 85...
... Genetic erosion, the decrease in population variation caused by random genetic drift and inbreeding, is both a symptom and a cause of endangerment of small isolated populations (51~. The phenomenon has been long understood in terms of population genetic theory (47~; however, the devastating early stages of the process in nature have gone undocumented, because the changes are rapid sunder standard models heterozygosity declines at 1/~2Ne)
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From page 86...
... In predictable, highly variable environments, genetic variance may be essential for adaptive evolution and population persistence. Because almost all predictions point to natural populations losing genetic variability, we may need to reexamine Fisher's Fundamental Theorem in the light of advances in understanding of the genetics of quantitative and quasineutral trait evolution.
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From page 87...
... The current IUCN goal of 10% national set-asides to represent each biome and the latest proposals to focus efforts on Biodiversity hot spots (a Global 200 and a Global 25, among others) all deserve encouragement, because they will save blames and biotas more effectively than single species conservation efforts (78-80~.
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From page 88...
... 50. Lande, R
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Key Terms

  • mass extinction
  • extinction event
  • extinction rates
  • rare species
  • genetic drift

  • genetic variance
  • marine invertebrate
  • genetic variability
  • isolated populations
  • extinction events

  • human population
  • genetic erosion
  • population genetic
  • species geographic
  • promote research

  • million species
  • losing genetic
  • single species
  • genetic risks
  • genetic methods

  • wildlife managers
  • world conservation
  • environmental services
  • coral reefs
  • individual species

  • habitat fragmentation
  • future evolution
  • serious concern
  • global extinction
  • human populations


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