Chapter 12 Lecture Outline* William P. Cunningham University of Minnesota Mary Ann Cunningham Vassar College *See PowerPoint Image Slides for all figures and tables pre-inserted into PowerPoint without notes. Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Biodiversity: Preserving Landscapes

Outline World Forests Deforestation Old Growth Harvest Methods Grasslands Parks and Preserves Terrestrial Marine

World Forests A forest is any area where trees cover more than 10% of the land. Most remaining forests are in tropical and boreal regions. Savannas - trees cover less than 20% of ground Closed canopy - tree crowns cover most of ground Highest rates of forest loss in Africa and South America

World Forests Carbon sink for carbon dioxide Moisture contributes to rainfall. Old growth forests - cover a large enough area and have been undisturbed by humans long enough that trees can live out a natural life cycle and ecological processes are normal Home to much of world’s biodiversity, endangered species and indigenous people

Major Forest Types

Forests Provide Products Wood and paper Developed countries provide less than half of industrial wood, but 80% of consumption. Paper pulp is 1/5 of all wood consumption. Fuel accounts for 1/2 of global wood use. One quarter of world’s forests are managed for wood production, much of it in single species monoculture forestry. Successful reforestation plans in China, Korea and Japan

Tropical Forests are Being Cleared Tropical forests occupy less than 10% of land surface but contain half of all species. FAO estimates that 12.3 million ha are deforested every yr, the equivalent of one football field every second.

Causes of Deforestation Logging Building roads to remove trees also allows entry to forest by farmers, miners, hunters. Conversion of forest to agriculture Accounts for 2/3 of destruction in tropics Shifting cultivation (“slash and burn”) is only sustainable if populations are small. Repeated cropping over a short time leads to permanent deforestation.

Causes of Deforestation As forests are cleared, plant transpiration and rainfall decrease. This leads to drought. Drought kills more vegetation. Fires become more numerous and extensive. More of the forest is lost.

Forest Protection Some places are being reforested (U.S. and China have had greatest gains.) About 12% of world’s forests are protected. Guanacaste National Park, Costa Rica Chipko Andolan movement in India. Women hugged trees to prevent logging and preserve firewood for their families. Debt for Nature Swaps - conservation organizations buy debt obligations, then offer to cancel the debt if the debtor country protects biologically important areas

Temperate Forests have Competing Uses U.S. Forest Service managed for “multiple uses” but many were conflicting e.g. bird watching and dirt biking. Old growth forests vs. logging Less than 10% of old growth forest remains in U.S. and 80% of that is scheduled to be logged. Spotted owl vs. logging jobs Compromise forest management plan allows some logging, but protects some prime habitat. But may not be enough to save the salmon and steelhead in northwestern rivers.

Old Growth Forest Temperate rainforest and the spotted owl. Only 2,000 remain in the old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Harvest Methods Clear cutting - every tree in a given area is cut regardless of size Increases erosion and eliminates habitat Shelterwood harvesting - mature trees are removed in a series of two or more cuts Strip cutting - all the trees in a narrow corridor are harvested Selective cutting - only a small percentage of the mature trees are taken in each 10 to 20 year rotation

Harvesting Top photo shows clear cutting (removal of all trees) in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Bottom photo shows selective harvesting.

Logging on Public Lands? Some are calling for an end to all logging on public lands. Lands provide ecological services such as clean water, rivers for fish, irrigation, recreation. Worth $224 billion. Federal government builds roads, manages forests, fights fires and then sells the timber to logging companies for less than their costs. This is a subsidy for the logging industry. Worth $4 billion.

Logging on Public Lands? Timber companies claim logging produces jobs, supports rural communities, keeps forests healthy. Roads on public lands are another controversy. Economists argue it opens up land for motorized recreation and industrial uses. Wildlife supporters see it as disruptive. Clinton protected 23.7 million ha of wilderness from roads; Bush overturned this and ordered expedited logging and mining.

Fire Management

Fire Management U.S. adopted a policy of aggressive fire control in the 1930s. Recent studies indicate many biological communities are fire-adapted and require periodic burning for regeneration. Eliminating fires has caused woody debris to accumulate over the years. Fires are now larger and more severe. 40 million Americans now live in areas of high wildfire risk.

Ecosystem Management Ecosystem management attempts to integrate sustainable ecological, economic, and social goals in a unified systems approach. Managing across whole landscapes over ecological time scales Considering human needs and promoting sustainable economic development Maintaining biological diversity and ecosystem processes

Ecosystem Management continued Utilizing cooperative institutional arrangements Generating meaningful stakeholder and public involvement and facilitating collective decision making Adapting management over time based on conscious experimentation and routine monitoring.

Grasslands Occupy about 1/4 of world’s land surface Frequently converted to cropland, urban areas, or other human use More threatened plants in rangelands than in any other American biome Can be used sustainably Pastoralists herd their animals to adjust to variations in rainfall and seasonal conditions. Often overgrazed leading to desertification

Overgrazing 75% of rangelands in the world are degraded; one-third of that is due to overgrazing. 55% of U.S. public lands are in poor or very poor condition. Grazing fees charged for use of public lands are below market value and represent a hidden subsidy to ranchers. Ranchers claim that without a viable ranch economy, western lands would be further subdivided.

New Grazing Methods When cattle graze freely, they eat the tender grasses leaving the tough species to gradually dominate the landscape. Rotational grazing confines animals to a small area for a day or two before shifting them to a new location. Some plant communities (e.g. desert Southwest) cannot tolerate grazing. Can raise wild species such as bison, which forage more efficiently and fend off predators, diseases and pests better than cattle

Rangeland Soil Degradation

Rotational Grazing Intensive rotational grazing encloses livestock in a small area for a short time within a movable electric fence to force them to eat vegetation evenly and fertilize the area evenly.

Parks and Preserves 12% of Earth’s land area is protected. Categories of protection are shown in Table 12.2. They range from wilderness in which little human impact is permitted to areas of multiple use such as recreation areas.

Parks and Preserves In the developing world, some parks exist only on paper because they do not have money for staff and management. Brazil has the largest protected area. With more than 25% of the world’s tropical forests, Brazil is especially important to biodiversity. Some biomes are well represented in nature preserves, while others are underprotected.

Preserves Not Safe from Exploitation Excessive stock grazing Dam building Oil drilling Mining Logging Coral reefs damaged by dynamite fishing Hunting; eggs from endangered sea turtles are taken by hunters Overuse by the public

Overuse of National Parks in U.S. Entertainment trumped nature protection. Fire suppression resulted in large fires. Traffic congestion Surrounding areas clear cut or mined Air pollution and smog Parks are profitable, but do not get to keep the money they generate.

World Conservation Strategy Developed by the IUCN Has 3 objectives: Maintain essential ecological processes and life support systems Preserve genetic diversity essential to improving cultivated plants and domestic animals Ensure that utilization of wild species and ecosystems is sustainable.

Marine Ecosystems Need Protection Global fish stocks are becoming depleted and biologists are calling for protected areas where species can be sheltered. 20% of nearshore territory should be marine refuge area. Refuge can replenish nearby areas. Coral reefs are threatened by rising temperatures, destructive fishing, coral mining and sediment runoff. If conditions persist, all will be gone in 50 years.

Marine Ecosystems Need Protection Australia has the largest marine reserve in the Great Barrier Reef (photo at right). The U.S. has the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument.

Conservation and Economic Development Struggle to save ecosystems cannot be divorced from struggle to meet human needs. Ecotourism - tourism that is ecologically and socially sustainable Native people have valuable ecological knowledge that can be used in ecosystem management. UNESCO initiated “Man and Biosphere” program (MAB) calling for the establishment of biosphere reserves, protected areas divided into zones with different purposes.

A Model Biosphere Reserve

Size and Design of Nature Preserves SLOSS debate - Is it better to have single large or several small reserves? Edge effects Corridors of natural habitat essential

Size and Design of Nature Preserves One of the reasons that large preserves are considered better than small reserves is that they have more core habitat, area deep within the interior of the habitat that has better conditions for specialized species. As human disturbance fragments the ecosystem, habitat is broken into increasingly isolated islands with less core and more edge, supporting fewer species.

Landscape Ecology Landscape ecology - science that examines the relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes such as species movement or survival Variables: Habitat size Shape Relative amount of core and edge Kinds of land cover surrounding habitat

How Small Can a Habitat Be?