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Sustaining Ecosystems

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Sustaining Ecosystems Land Use, Conservation, Management & Deforestation, Biodiversity and Forest Management – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Sustaining Ecosystems


1
Sustaining Ecosystems
  • Land Use, Conservation, Management
    Deforestation, Biodiversity and Forest Management

2
  • We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity
    belonging to us. When we see land as a community
    to which we belong we may begin to use it with
    love and respect.
  • Aldo Leopold

3
5 Reasons Forests are Commercially Important
  • Lumber for housing
  • Biomass for fuelwood
  • Pulp for papers
  • Medicines
  • Food (agriculture)

4
5 Reasons forests are ecologically important
  • Slow down runoff/erosion
  • Water recharge for surface/groundwater
  • Influence climate (water cycle, photosynthesis,
    cellular respiration)
  • Vital to global carbon cycle
  • Air purification

5
Why is Biodiversity considered a key
environmental problem?
  • A biological wealth vital to all life economies
  • The ecological processes associated with
    biodiversity such as matter cycling, energy flow,
    and species interactions is vital to all life and
    economies
  • Biological consequences of biodiversity loss
    through environmental degradation impact lives
    and economies.

6
  • The ecological health of an area are described in
    terms of biodiversity richness and ecological
    integrity which is the conditions and natural
    processes that generate and maintain biodiversity
    and allow evolutionary change as a key mechanism
    for adapting to changes in environmental
    conditions.
  • Conservation Biology
  • maintaining earths life support system

7
Age of Conservation
  • Between 1872-1927 increased involvement of
    federal government
  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • Persuaded Congress to give him power to designate
    public land as federal wildlife refuges.
  • Established first wildlife refugee, 1903 at
    Pelican Island, Florida for preservation of the
    endangered brown pelican
  • Tripled the size of the forest reserves and
    transferred administration from DOI to Dept of
    Agriculture
  • 1905 US Forest Service created
  • Gifford Pinchot as its first chief
  • Used principles of sustainable yield and multiple
    use

8
Public Lands in the US
  • USA largest area public lands
  • Mostly Alaska (73) West US (22)
  • Classified as
  • multiple use lands
  • Moderately restricted lands
  • Restricted-use lands

9
Multiple Use Lands
  • Grasslands Forests managed by US Forest Service
  • Principles of Management
  • Sustainable yield (cutting trees no faster than
    they could regenerate)
  • Multiple use (timber harvesting, grazing,
    recreation, wildlife conservation)
  • Actual uses
  • Logging
  • Mining
  • livestock grazing
  • oil extraction
  • Recreation
  • sport/commercial fishing
  • Hunting
  • watershed, soil wildlife conservation

10
Multiple Use Lands
  • National Resource Lands Alaska are managed by
    the Bureau of Land Management managed under
    multiple use principal with an emphasis on
    providing secure domestic supply of energy and
    strategic minerals and on preserving rangelands
    for livestock under a permit system.

11
Moderately Restricted-Use Lands
  • 508 National Wildlife Refuges managed by USFWS
  • Protect habitats and breeding areas for waterfowl
    and big game to provide a harvestable supply for
    hunters, protect endangered species
  • Some permittable uses include
  • Sport hunting
  • Trapping
  • Sport/commercial fishing
  • Oil gas development
  • Mining
  • Logging
  • Grazing
  • Military activities
  • Farming
  • DOI must find these uses compatible with the
    purpose of each refuge

12
Restricted Use Lands
  • Permitted Uses camping, hiking, sport fishing,
    boating, sport hunting, mining, and oil/gas
    drilling
  • 49 of the National Park System is designated as
    wilderness area.
  • Managed by National Park Service, FWS, Bureau of
    Land Management (BLM)
  • 375 National Parks include major parks,
    recreational areas, monuments, memorial,
    battlefields, historic sites, parkways, trails,
    rivers, seashores, and lakeshores
  • Example Fire Island National Seashore

13
Restricted Use Lands
  • T. Roosevelt set up initial system
  • Carter made most additions, especially Alaska in
    1980
  • Clinton added a new national monument area the
    size of Yellowstone in 1996.

14
Property Rights Controversy
  • Paralyze government regulation of public lands
  • Local regulations would take precedence over
    federal regulations
  • Ultimately limit environmental degradation
  • Private industry using public lands would pursue
    court battles. Would sue federal government for
    losses ? compensation
  • Eminent Domain force a citizen to sell property
    needed for public good. (5th Amendment)
    compensation for property loss is debatable.
  • If ALL properties including wetlands had to be
    compensated for eminent domain property takings
    there would be no money left for regulatory
    branch.
  • Pay me and I wont pollute, develop this land,
    build an incinerator or landfill here, or fill in
    this wetland!

15
Managing Sustaining Rangelands
  • Rangeland land that supplies forage or
    vegetation for grazing (grass-eating) and
    browsing (shrub-eating) animals.
  • They act as watershed areas habitat for wildlife
  • Supports ruminants digest cellulose in grasses
    and convert it to meat milk
  • Cows, sheep, goats (domesticated)
  • Rangelands also provide areas for hiking,
    camping, and hunting

16
Managing Sustaining Rangelands
  • Overgrazing occurs when too many animals graze
    for too long and exceed the carrying capacity of
    a grassland area
  • Impacts from overgrazing
  • Decrease biodiversity
  • Soil compaction ? decrease water holding capacity
  • Increase erosion because it becomes drier,
    prickly pear cactus and mesquite (shrub) dominate
    ? desertification
  • Impacts adjacent riparian zones
  • Riparian Zone thin strips of lush vegetation
    along streams which prevent floods by absorption
    of flood waters
  • Overgrazing causes increased soil erosion along
    banks of stream/rivers ? mud down streams
    (turbidity increases, decrease in dissolved
    oxygen) ? degraded water quality

17
How should rangelands by managed?
  • Goal maximize livestock productivity without
    overgrazing rangeland vegetation
  • Methods
  • Stocking rate most widely used. Control the
    number of each kind of animal/unit area so an
    areas carrying capacity is not exceeded
    resource partitioning by ranchers
  • Continuous grazing occurs throughout the year
    and requires little rancher intervention.
    Problem they tend to overgraze flat areas and
    riparian zones
  • Deferred-Rotation Grazing moving livestock
    between 2 or more range areas to allow perennial
    grasses to recover from grazing
  • Ranchers must also consider predator control
    coyotes, grey wolf, grizzly bear
  • Solution penning young lambs/cattle together
    for 30 days ? allow them to graze together.
    Cattle kicking predators, protecting sheep

18
Grazing on public lands
  • Big Business pay very low fees for permits
  • How can it become more sustainable?
  • Limit grazing in riparian areas
  • Ban grazing on stressed rangeland
  • Competitive bidding for grazing permits
  • Allow environmental groups to purchase grazing
    permits, even if they choose not to graze the
    land
  • Raise grazing fees to fair market value
  • Abolish rancher-dominated advisory boards

19
Managing Sustaining National Parks
  • 54 Nationally,1100 Globally
  • Parks are threatened by
  • Natural resources in developing countries
  • Poachers
  • popularity increases, but budget cuts to park
    service (1 park ranger 84,000 visitors)
  • Plagued with litter, noise, traffic jams
  • Increased crime
  • Invasion of non-native species
  • Yellowstone 1000 snowmobiles/day
  • Tailpipe admissions of 1.7 million cars/year!
  • Vanishing predators (wolves, bear, coyotes)

20
Developing Countries
  • Integrated Management Plans (IMP)
  • Combine conservation practices with sustainable
    development of resources in and adjacent to parks
  • Core Protection Areas
  • Buffer Areas (surrounding the core)
  • Commercial logging, sustainable grazing by
    livestock, sustainable hunting/fishing
  • Involve residents in developing management and
    restoration plans for the park
  • IMPs need adequate funding to be successful and
    inner core areas must be large enough to sustain
    larger animals

21
How can US National Parks be improved?
  • Presently managed under natural regulation as
    if they were wilderness ecosystems that would
    sustain themselves if left alone.
  • Annual budget 1.5 billion
  • 6 billion backlog of maintenance, repairs high
    priority construction to accommodate increase
    visitors numbers
  • 92 budget to spent on visitor services
  • 7 spent on natural resources protection
  • 1 spent on environmental research for ecological
  • management strategies

22
How can US Nat. Parks be improved?
  • All entrance fees used for management, upkeep and
    repair instead of going into national treasury
  • Require IMPs for all parks and nearby federal
    lands.
  • Increase new parkland near the most threatened
    parks
  • Increase budget for buying private lands within
    parks
  • Identify all available visitor parking
  • Increase private concession fees to 22 presently
    pay 6.7 of gross income
  • Concessionaires should lease, not own the land
  • Increase entrance fees
  • Restrict numbers of visitors
  • Encourage volunteers to give lectures/tours NOT
    National Park Service personnel
  • Encourage donations from individuals/corporations
    fo public maintenance/repair

23
Biodiversity Sanctuaries
  • Set up Biosphere Reserves worldwide (presently
    300)
  • Goal large enough to support species and
    combine conservation and sustainable use of
    natural resources
  • Conservation biologists believe that in order to
    protect biodiversity and ecological integrity is
    through a worldwide network of reserves, parks,
    wildlife sanctuaries, wilderness and other
    protected areas.
  • Minimum 10 of globes land area!
  • Based on theory of Island Biogeography (habitat
    islands)
  • Many countries cant set aside large tracts of
    land
  • Establish wildlife corridors connecting
    small-medium sized bioreserve areas. (allows for
    migration and genetic diversity)

24
1996 World Wildlife Fund
  • Identified 217 terrestrial, marine, and
    freshwater eco-regions in greatest need of
    protection (Earths most bio-diverse countries)
    Australia, North S America, Mexico, India, China,
    Parts of Africa
  • Most economists, developers, and miners disagree
    with protecting these areas!

25
Why preserve Wilderness Areas?
  • US Wilderness Act of 1964
  • Act authorized the government to protect
    undeveloped tract of public land as part of
    National Wilderness System unless Congress later
    decides they are needed for the national good.
    Land in this system is to be used only for
    nondestructive forms of recreation such as hiking
    and camping.
  • Why preserve them?
  • Aesthetic Value
  • Psychological value
  • Preserve biodiversity and ecological integrity
  • Preserve for scenic/recreational purposes
  • Protect areas from exploitation and degradation

26
US National Wild Scenic Rivers System
  • 1968 National Wild Scenic Rivers Act
  • Protected if have outstanding scenic,
    recreational, geological, wildlife, historical
    or cultural value
  • Free of development
  • Only 0.2 of rivers listed
  • Urge for 1500 more to be added

27
US National Trails System
  • 1968 Protects scenic and historic hiking trails
  • Low priority, receives little funding
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