Case Study: Remember Wolves In Yellowstone

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Case Study Remember Wolves In Yellowstone

• ?Endangered Species
• 1850-1900 two million wolves were destroyed
• ? Keystone Species
• Keeps herbivore population in check (elk, moose)
• Vegetation reestablishes
• Species diversity expands (beavers ducks
  return)

Figure 10-1
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HUMAN IMPACTS ON TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY

• Habitat Loss deforestation
• Habitat Fragmentation roads, highways,
  buildings
• Invasive Species
• Pollution

Figure 10-2
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Ecosystem Services of Forests
Figure 10-4
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Types of Protected Lands in U.S.

• Multiple-use lands
• National Forest (U.S.F.S.)
• sustainable yield
• multiple use
• used for logging, mining, grazing, farming, oil,
  recreation, hunting and conservation
• National Resource lands (BLM)
• mostly out west and Alaska
• multiple use
• used for mineral and oil extraction/ grazing

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Types of Protected Lands

• Moderately Restricted-Use Lands
• National Wildlife Refuges (USFWS)
• 522 refuges
• 24 designated as wilderness
• protect habitats
• oil, farming, hunting, mineral extraction are
  allowed as long as Dept. of Interior says OK

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Types of Protected Lands

• Restricted-Use lands
• National Park System (NPS)
• 55 National Parks and 324 recreation areas,
  battlefields, memorials, etc.
• Preserve and interpret the countrys historic and
  cultural heritage and protect wilderness areas
• Parks can be used for camping, hiking, fishing
  and boating
• Rec areas also mining and oil
• 49 of National Park system is wilderness

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Locations of Parks, Preserves, Forests and Refuges
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Types of Forests

• Old-growth forest uncut or regenerated forest
  that has not been seriously disturbed for several
  hundred years
• 22 of worlds forest
• Hosts many species with specialized niches

Due to human activities over 50 of the earths
original forests have been removed.
Figure 10-5
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Types of Forests

• Second-growth forest a stand of trees resulting
  from natural secondary succession
• Tree plantation planted stands of a particular
  tree species

Figure 10-6
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Impact of Deforestation
Figure 10-7
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Case Study Deforestation and the Fuelwood Crisis

• Almost half the people in the developing world
  face a shortage of fuelwood and charcoal
• In Haiti, 98 of country is deforested
• MIT scientist has found a way to make charcoal
  from spent sugarcane

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Harvesting Trees

• Increased erosion and runoff

• Habitat fragmentation

• Pathways for exotic species

• Accessibility to humans

Figure 10-8
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Harvesting Trees

• Trees can be harvested individually from diverse
  forests (selective cutting)
• an entire forest can be cut down (clear cutting)
• portions of the forest is harvested (strip
  cutting)

Figure 10-9
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Harvesting Trees
Effects of clear-cutting in the state of
Washington, U.S.
Figures 10-10 and 10-11
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Solutions

• We can use forests more sustainably by
  emphasizing
• Economic value of ecological services.
• Harvesting trees no faster than they are
  replenished.
• Protecting old-growth and vulnerable areas.

Figure 10-12
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CASE STUDY FOREST RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT IN
THE U.S.

• U.S. forests cover more area than in 1920.
• Since the 1960s, an increasing area of old
  growth and diverse second-growth forests have
  been clear-cut.
• Often replace with tree farms.
• Decreases biodiversity.
• Disrupts ecosystem processes.

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Types and Effects of Forest Fires

• Depending on their intensity, fires can benefit
  or harm forests
• Burn away flammable ground material
• Release valuable mineral nutrients

Figure 10-13
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Fire

• Surface fires

• Crown fires

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Solutions Controversy Over Fire Management

• To reduce fire damage
• Set controlled surface fires
• Allow fires to burn on public lands if they dont
  threaten life and property
• Clear small areas around property subject to fire

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Solutions Controversy Over Fire Management

• In 2003, U.S. Congress passed the Healthy Forest
  Restoration Act
• Allows timber companies to cut medium and large
  trees in 71 of the national forests.
• In return, must clear away smaller, more
  fire-prone trees and underbrush.
• Some forest scientists believe this could
  increase severe fires by removing fire resistant
  trees and leaving highly flammable slash.

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Controversy over Logging in U.S. National Forests

• There has been an ongoing debate over whether
  U.S. national forests should be primarily for
• Timber
• Ecological services
• Recreation
• Mix of these uses

Figure 10-14
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Solutions Reducing Demand for Harvest Trees

• Tree harvesting reduced by wasting less wood,
  making paper and charcoal fuel from fibers that
  dont come from trees
• Kenaf is promising plant for paper production

Figure 10-15
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American Forests in a Globalized Economy

• Timber from tree plantations in temperate and
  tropical countries is decreasing the need for
  timber production in the U.S.
• This could help preserve the biodiversity in the
  U.S. by decreasing pressure to clear-cut
  old-growth and second-growth forests
• This may lead to private land owners to sell less
  profitable land to developers
• Forest management policy will play a key role

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CASE STUDY TROPICAL DEFORESTATION

• Large areas of ecologically and economically
  important tropical forests are being cleared and
  degraded at a fast rate

Figure 10-16
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CASE STUDY TROPICAL DEFORESTATION

• At least half of the worlds terrestrial plant
  and animal species live in tropical rain forests
• Large areas of tropical forest are burned to make
  way for cattle ranches and crops

Figure 10-17
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Why Should We Care about the Loss of Tropical
Forests?

• About 2,100 of the 3,000 plants identified by the
  National Cancer Institute as sources of
  cancer-fighting chemicals come from tropical
  forests.

Figure 10-18
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Causes of Tropical Deforestation and Degradation

• Tropical deforestation results from a number of
  interconnected primary and secondary causes.

Figure 10-19
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Kenyas Green Belt MovementIndividuals Matter

• Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement
• The main goal is to organize poor women to plant
  (for fuelwood) and protect millions of trees
• In 2004, awarded Nobel peace prize

Figure 10-10A
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MANAGING AND SUSTAINING GRASSLANDS

• Almost half of the worlds livestock graze on
  natural grasslands (rangelands) and managed
  grasslands (pastures)
• We can sustain rangeland productivity by
  controlling the number and distribution of
  livestock and by restoring degraded rangeland

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MANAGING AND SUSTAINING GRASSLANDS

• Overgrazing (left) occurs when too many animals
  graze for too long and exceed carrying capacity
  of a grassland area.

Figure 10-21
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MANAGING AND SUSTAINING GRASSLANDS

• Example of restored area along the San Pedro
  River in Arizona after 10 years of banning
  grazing and off-road vehicles.

Figure 10-22
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Case Study Grazing and Urban Development in the
American West

• Ranchers, ecologists, and environmentalists
  joining together to preserve grasslands on cattle
  ranches
• Paying ranchers conservation easements (barring
  future owners from development)
• Pressuring government to zone land to prevent
  development of ecologically sensitive areas

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NATIONAL PARKS

• Countries established more than 1,100 national
  parks, but most threatened by human activities
• Local people invade park for wood, cropland,
  other natural resources
• Loggers, miners, wildlife poachers also deplete
  natural resources
• Many are too small to sustain large-animal
  species
• Many suffer from invasive species

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Case Study Stresses on U.S. National Parks

• Overused due to popularity
• Inholdings (private ownership) within parks
  threaten natural resources
• Air pollution

Figure 10-23
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• Suggestions for sustaining and expanding the
  national park system in the U.S.

Figure 10-24
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NATURE RESERVES

• Ecologists call for protecting more land to help
  sustain biodiversity, but powerful economic and
  political interests oppose doing this.
• Currently 12 of earths land is protected
• Only 5 strictly protected from harmful human
  activities
• Conservation biologists call for full protection
  of at least 20 of earths land area representing
  multiple examples of all biomes

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How Would You Vote?

• To conduct an instant in-class survey using a
  classroom response system, access JoinIn Clicker
  Content from the PowerLecture main menu for
  Living in the Environment.
• Should at least 20 of the Earth's land area be
  strictly protected from economic development?
• a. No. Such protections would encourage people to
  poach and illegally extract resources from the
  expanded reserves.
• b. Yes. The project is desperately needed to
  protect the Earth's biodiversity.

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NATURE RESERVES

• Large and medium-sized reserves with buffer zones
  help protect biodiversity and can be connected by
  corridors.

• Costa Rica has consolidated its parks and
  reserves into 8 megareserves designed to sustain
  80 if its biodiversity.

Figure 10-10B
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NATURE RESERVES

• A model biosphere reserve that contains a
  protected inner core surrounded by two buffer
  zones that people can use for multiple use.

Figure 10-25
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NATURE RESERVES

• Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping can
  be used to understand and manage ecosystems.
• Identify areas to establish and connect nature
  reserves in large ecoregions to prevent
  fragmentation.
• Developers can use GIS to design housing
  developments with the least environmental impact.

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NATURE RESERVES

• We can prevent or slow down losses of
  biodiversity by concentrating efforts on
  protecting global hot spots where significant
  biodiversity is under immediate threat.
• Conservation biologists are helping people in
  communities find ways to sustain local
  biodiversity while providing local economic
  income.

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• 34 hotspots identified by ecologists as important
  and endangered centers of biodiversity.

Figure 10-26
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NATURE RESERVES

• Wilderness is land legally set aside in a large
  enough area to prevent or minimize harm from
  human activities.
• Only a small percentage of the land area of the
  United States has been protected as wilderness.

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ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

• Restoration trying to return to a condition as
  similar as possible to original state.
• Rehabilitation attempting to turn a degraded
  ecosystem back to being functional.
• Replacement replacing a degraded ecosystem with
  another type of ecosystem.
• Creating artificial ecosystems such as
  artificial wetlands for flood reduction and
  sewage treatment.

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ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

• Five basic science-based principles for
  ecological restoration
• Identify cause.
• Stop abuse by eliminating or sharply reducing
  factors.
• Reintroduce species if necessary.
• Protect area form further degradation.
• Use adaptive management to monitor efforts,
  assess successes, and modify strategies.