Mrs. Dow Unit Four Chapter 11 Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: Managing and protecting Ecosystems Mrs. Dow Unit Four Chapter 11 4/16/2017

Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone 4/16/2017 2

Case Study: Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone At one time the gray wolf ranged over most of North America 1850-1900- an ~ 2 million wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned by ranchers, hunters, and government employees Trying to make the West and Great Plains safe for livestock and big game

1973 the ESA (Endangered Species Act) was passed Only ~ 400-500 gray wolves remained in lower 48. Gray wolves an important keystone species They culled the herds of bison, elk and deer The number of bison and elk increased devastating the some of the vegetation, increased erosion and threatened the niches of other species 1995 wolves were reintroduced 2004 the number were up to 760 wolves downgraded them from endangered to threatened

Human impacts on terrestrial biodiversity 11.1 We have degraded 50-83% of land surface Cleared 82% of temperate forests for farming Logged 95% of virgin forests 98% of tall prairie grassland has disappeared Extinction rate is 100-10,000x what is was prior to humans 4/16/2017

Preservation of biodiversity Needed for . . . Goods & services Scientific information Recreation Ecological services Valuing natural beauty Leaving capital for future generations 4/16/2017

Conservation biology 11.2 Conservation biology is a multidisciplinary science; its goal is to use emergency responses to slow down the rate at which we are destroying and degrading the earth's biodiversity Identify hotspots- the most endangered and species-rich ecosystems Rapid assessment teams (RAT) Evaluate Make recommendations Take emergency actions 4/16/2017

Applied science of managing, analyzing, communicating biological info Bioinformatics Applied science of managing, analyzing, communicating biological info Tools High-res digitized images DNA sequencing for identifying microorganisms 4/16/2017

11.3 Public lands National parks and preserves National forests Mo 4/16/2017 National parks and preserves National forests (and Xs) National wildlife refuges

National parks and preserves (and Xs) National wildlife refuges National forests (and Xs) National wildlife refuges 4/16/2017

Public lands in the U.S. 11.3 Public lands help preserve biodiversity U.S. has set aside more land than any other nation More than a 1/3rd of the land in the US consist of publicly owned national forests, resource lands, parks, wildlife refuges and protected wilderness areas 73% of that is in Alaska National forests & resource lands (USFS) Logging, mining, grazing, oil, gas, recreation National Wildlife Refuges (USFWS) Protected habitats & breeding grounds May hunt, trap, fish, mine, log, graze, farm 4/16/2017

National Park System (NPS) Allows camping, hiking, sport fishing, boating, not hunting, mining or oil National Wilderness Preservation System Only recreational use 4/16/2017

Critical and endangered Arctic Circle 60° EUROPE NORTH AMERICA ASIA 30°N Tropic of Cancer Atlantic Ocean AFRICA Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean 0° 150° 120° 90° 30°W 0° 60°E 90° 150° SOUTH AMERICA Indian Ocean Tropic of Capricorn AUSTRALIA 30°S 60° Antarctic Circle ANTARCTICA Critical and endangered Threatened Stable or intact Projected Status of Biodiversity 1998–2018 4/16/2017

Controversy over using public lands for resources From an environmentalist approach . . . Protect biodiversity and habitats No subsidies for taking resources Compensation to public for use Extractors pay for damage Federal gvt gives billions yearly to private interests 4/16/2017

Developers & extractors No federal funding for admin of land Cut old trees and replant Open land to drilling Dismantling NPS – building theme parks Support 1872 Mining Law Repealing Endangered Species Act Decreasing wetlands 4/16/2017

Managing & sustaining forests 11.4 3 types 1. Old growth/frontier Not seriously disturbed by humans/natural disasters Land at less than market value Large amounts of diversity 22% of world’s forest Logging threatens 33% 4/16/2017

3. Tree plantations/tree farms 2. Second-growth Develop after human activities/natural forces Secondary succession 63% of world’s forest 3. Tree plantations/tree farms Replant & clear-cut one species of tree in regular cycle 5% of world’s forest 4/16/2017

Forest management Even-aged – tree plantations Uneven-aged Maintains trees about the same age & size Replaces an old-growth forest Uneven-aged Variety of ages & sizes Promotes diversity Selectively cut various aged trees Used for timber, wildlife, recreation 4/16/2017

Highway Old growth Building roads into previously inaccessible forests paves the way to their fragmentation, destruction and degradation 4/16/2017

Cleared plots Highway for grazing Cleared plots for agriculture 4/16/2017

Logging roads Increase erosion, sediment runoff, affect habitats, loss of biodiversity Expose forests to invasion by nonnative pests, disease Access to human pests (ticks) Disqualify land for protection as wilderness 4/16/2017

4/16/2017 Selective Cutting

Selective cutting High grading Intermediate aged/mature trees cut in small groups Reduces crowding, encourages growth of younger trees maintains a uneven-aged forest High grading Largest, best specimens cut Forest floor becomes warmer, drier, subject to erosion, fire 4/16/2017

Clear cut 25 15 10 30 Years of growth 5 Weak trees removed Seedlings planted Clear cut 25 15 10 30 Years of growth 5 4/16/2017

Cut 2 Cut 1 4/16/2017 Shelterwood Cutting

4/16/2017 Seed-Tree Cutting

Clear-Cutting 4/16/2017

Uncut Cut Cut Cut Uncut 1 year ago 3–5 years ago 6–10 years ago Strip Cutting 4/16/2017

Three ways to harvest trees that need full to moderate sunlight Shelterwood cutting Removes all mature trees in an area in two or three cuttings over a period of time Seed-tree cutting Removes nearly all trees but leaves a few seed-producing trees who would begin a new generation Clear cutting Every tree in one cutting 4/16/2017

Clear-Cutting Forests Trade-Offs Clear-Cutting Forests Advantages Disadvantages Higher timber yields Maximum economic return in shortest time Can reforest with genetically improved fast-growing trees Short time to establish new stand of trees Needs less skill and planning Best way to harvest tree plantations Good for tree species needing full or moderate sunlight for growth Reduces biodiversity Disrupts ecosystem processes Destroys and fragments some wildlife habitats Leaves moderate to large openings Increases soil erosion Increases sediment water pollution and flooding when done on steep slopes Eliminates most recreational value for several decades 4/16/2017 30

Effects of deforestation Reduces biodiversity Change regional climate Destroys and fragments some wildlife habitats Increases soil erosion Emits carbon dioxide (global climate) Original world forest decreased by 20 to 50% Mainly in tropics 4/16/2017

Some tropics have been replanted Temperate forest have increased from reforestation (secondary succession) Some tropics have been replanted 4/16/2017

Forest resources & management in U.S. 11.5 40% U.S. forests protected U.S. mainly losing old-growth & second-growth 4/16/2017

White pine blister rust Nonnative insect species causing billions in damage and tree lost 4/16/2017 Sudden oak death White pine blister rust Pine shoot beetle Beech bark disease Hemlock wooly adelgid

Individuals Matter: Butterfly in a Redwood Tree Julia “Butterfly” Hill spent 2 years of her life on a small platform near the top of a giant redwood tree in California to protest the clear-cutting of forest of these ancient trees, some of them over 1,000 years old She lost her battle but persuaded Pacific lumber MAXXAM to save her tree called Luna and a 60- meter buffer zone around it. Someone seriously damaged it with a chain saw cables and steel plates have been used to preserve it.

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4/16/2017 Surface fire

Types of fires 1. Surface fires Burn underbrush, leaf litter, most animals survive Germinate some plants Can kill seedling but spare most mature trees and allow most wildlife to escape 4/16/2017

4/16/2017 Crown fire

2. Crown fires 3. Ground fires Hot & leap from tree to tree More ground litter  greater destruction Destroy most vegetation, kill wildlife, increase erosion 3. Ground fires Most common in peat bogs Go underground Hard to detect & fight 4/16/2017

Preventing forest fires Prescribed burns Logging leaves debris Goats clear area Goals Reduce ground-level fuel Clearing flammable vegetation around homes Fire lanes 4/16/2017

The Healthy Forests Initiative (HFI) was launched in August 2002 by President Bush with the intent to reduce the risks severe wildfires pose to people, communities, and the environment. By protecting forests, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands from unnaturally intensive and destructive fires 4/16/2017

Healthy forest Initiative Congress passed law in 2003 Timber companies are allowed to cut down economically valuable medium and large trees in 71% of the country’s forest for 10 years In return for clearing away smaller fire prone trees and underbrush Exempts most thinning projects from environmental reviews and appeals

Controversy in national forests Timber companies want low prices Conservationists want less cutting Incentives have been given to FS for selling timber Reforesting does not include road building, overhead costs Recreation, hunting, fishing adds more money than cutting timber 4/16/2017

Increase efficiency of wood consumption Construction Excess packaging, junk mail Paper recycling Reuse wooden shipping containers 4/16/2017

Use kenaf for packaging Paper can be made without trees. One acre of kenaf, a plant related to cotton, produces as much fibre in one year as an acre of yellow pine does in twenty. 4/16/2017

Tropical deforestation 11.6 Brazil 40% remaining rainforests Gone in 50 yrs. 450 tree species/2 house lots Loss of chemicals, storehouse for carbon 4/16/2017

Rauvolfia Rauvolfia sepentina, Southeast Asia Tranquilizer, high blood pressure medication 4/16/2017

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea, Europe Digitalis for heart failure 4/16/2017

Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia, Pacific Northwest Ovarian cancer 4/16/2017

Cinchona Cinchona ledogeriana, South America Quinine for malaria treatment 4/16/2017

Rosy periwinkle Cathranthus roseus, Madagascar Hodgkin's disease, lymphocytic leukemia 4/16/2017

Neem tree Azadirachta indica, India Treatment of many diseases, insecticide, spermicide 4/16/2017

Destroy tropical rainforest? Population growth & poverty Gvt subsidies Poor given title to land they clear International companies encourage building, mining Ranchers move in after slashing/burning (deforestation makes land dry) 4/16/2017

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To reduce deforestation in rainforests Help settlers learn sustainability Debt for nature swaps Loggers harvest better Reforest Prevent illegal logging 4/16/2017

Green belt movement Started in Kenya Wangari Maathai founded the green movement in 1977 Women's self-help group Establish tree nurseries, raise seedlings Goal to plant and raise a tree for each of the 32 million people of Kenya 2003: 50,000 members established 6,000 nurseries and planted more than 20 million trees 4/16/2017

National Parks 11.7 Established by gvts Some need help Loggers, miners, poachers Native species illegally moved Nonnative invade parks Too many cars; off road vehicles Visitors expected urban facilities Rangers spend time on law enforcement; not conservation 4/16/2017

Solutions National Parks Integrate plans for managing parks and nearby federal lands Add new parkland near threatened parks Buy private land inside parks Locate visitor paring outside parks and use shuttle buses for entering and touring heavily used parks Increase funds for park maintenance and repairs Survey wildlife in parks Raise entry fees for visitors and use funds for park management and maintenance Limit number of visitors to crowded park rangers Increase number and pay of park rangers Encourage volunteers to give visitor lectures and tours Seek private donations for park maitenance and repairs 4/16/2017

Nature reserves 11.8 Conservation approach Protect at least 20% of earth’s global systems Nature Conservancy (1951) Large private natural systems in 30 countries Wilderness Act (1964) 4.6% of land protected in U.S. 4/16/2017

Costa Rica eight mega reserves Nicaragua Caribbean Sea Llanuras de Tortuguero Guanacastle Costa Rica Arenal La Amistad Bajo Tempisque Cordillera Volcanica Central Pacifico Central Pacific Ocean Peninsula Osa Panama 4/16/2017 Costa Rica eight mega reserves

Ecological restoration 11.9 Restoring wetlands Replanting forests Reintroduce native species Removing nonnative species Removing dams 4/16/2017

Endangered Natural Capital -25 hotspots 4/16/2017

What can You do? Plant trees and take care of them Recycle paper and buy recyled paper products Buy wood and wood products made from trees that have been grown sustainably