1. Chapter 6: Environmental Conservation: Forests, Grasslands, Parks, and Nature Preserves
This slide set includes material from Chapter 6. It covers conservation of forests, grasslands, parks and nature preserves.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

2. Chapter Six Topics World Forests Rangelands Parks and Nature Preserves
World Parks and Preserves
Wilderness Areas
Wildlife Refuges
Topics we will cover include world forests, rangelands (grasslands), parks and nature preserves in the United States, world parks and preserves and wilderness areas and wildlife refuges.

3. Main vegetation zones of the world's forests under natural conditions
Our first topic is forests. Earlier we talked about biomes. This map shows forest biomes and the general type of forest that is present in each region. The forests include coniferous forests that extend mostly in the northern latitudes, and tropical forests, which extend in a belt fairly close to the equator.

4. Part 1: World Forests
This table shows the land area of forests relative to the total land area on each continent and the yearly changes in forest area. Note that Europe, which historically was almost entirely deforested, is actually increasing the amount of forested land, whereas other regions are losing forest land. In the case of Africa and South America, the primary reason for this loss is the clearing of land for agricultural land, while in Asia and the Americas, the primary reason is urbanization.

5. Forest Products firewood rubber
The materials that we take from forests and the way we use forest products range tremendously. The most direct use of trees is the use of their wood. On a worldwide scale, large amounts of wood are used as firewood to produce heat for homes, cook food, and in some cases, to produce other forms of energy such as electricity.
The right hand side of the image shows latex being extracted from rubber trees. This process does not involve the destruction of the and there are lots of other examples of ways to use trees without destroying them, including collecting nuts and fruit and the raking of foliage for animal bedding and fuel.
firewood
rubber

6. Wood Consumption
Total annual world wood consumption is about 3.7 billion metric tons, more than steel and plastic consumption together.
Firewood accounts for slightly more than 50% of all wood harvested worldwide.
Developed countries produce less than half of all industrial wood, but account for about 80% of its consumption.
By 2025, demand for fuelwood may be twice the available supply.
The consumption of wood products outranks the use of most other natural resources. The 3.7 billion metric tons of wood that are consumed each year is more than steel and plastic consumption put together. Of the total amount of wood used, a little more than half is used for firewood.
When I was in the Peace Corps in Tanzania, the area I worked in had been native forest just a few decades before and had been largely converted into rangeland through tree cutting, burning and grazing. The people needed firewood and building poles and in many cases they were walking several miles a day to get to places where they could cut wood. What I was trying to do was have them grow trees closer to their homes because first of all, it would make their lives easier and secondly, they would not have as great an impact on the forested areas up in the mountains.
Developed countries produce less than half of all "industrial" wood, but account for 80% of wood consumption. All we have to do is look around Seattle and see the materials that are used in the construction of a home and look at our use of paper, including that of taking exams in this class. Then we can understand why developed countries consume a disproportionate amount of wood. It is estimated that in the next twenty-five years, the demand for fuel wood, or wood that is used as firewood and for heating (including my house) will about double. The demand will be twice what is currently available from forests, and will have a particularly negative on impact poorer countries.

7. About 25% of the world's forests are managed for wood production.
Extraction
Replanting
scientific planning for sustainable harvests
Monoculture forestry - single species replanted
If you look at the total amount of forestland, something on the order of 25 percent of those lands are managed in one way or another for the production of wood. This includes the simple extraction of wood from a natural forest to determining the exact nature of the trees that will be grow on a site in the future through vegetation control and planting.
There has been a lot of criticism of what is called monoculture forestry (also known as plantation forestry), a type of reforestation that is similar to growing corn. One tree species is planted and all other species are excluded. This type of intensive forestry can produce large amounts of wood on small amounts of land. For example, in Brazil, less than two percent of the forestland is in plantation forestry, but it produces about half of the total products consumed in that country. If you continued to extract wood from native forests, it is estimated that it would take twenty acres of native forest to produce the same amount of products that one acre of land can produce when it is managed intensively. If we use intensive forestry in cooperation with species and habitat preservation, the net impact in Brazil, at least in the southeast part of the country, is that there is a lot more potential for maintaining and protecting natural lands and still producing the large quantity wood products that are demanded by a society.

8. Some Causes of Tropical Deforestation
Logging for valuable hardwoods such as mahogany, teak, ebony
Taking down one tree often brings down several others
Building roads opens forest to others
Clearing of land for cattle ranches and export crop production (bananas, pineapples, etc.)
If we look at the reasons that forests are logged, we see t hat one of the major ones is the value of materials that can be extracted. In the case of tropical forests, this includes many valuable timber species such as mahogany. Not all logging is permanently detrimental. If a tropical forest is logged and then left alone, it rapidly turns into a new forest. Most of the forests of Central and South America probably have been cut to some extent, even during the times of the ancient civilizations of the Maya and the Aztecs. The cut areas were left alone and rapidly reforested naturally. However, the clearing of forest land for cattle ranching and its continuous maintenance as grazing land can result in the long-term deforestation of an area.
Slash and burn agriculture is a practice that worked well when population levels were low. In this practice, people bring in a lot of vegetation and burn it on a site and the nutrients released in the burning make the soil more productive for farming. Once the crops have exhausted the nutrients, the people move on to the next area, and the one they have left reverts to forests. Thus, traditional slash and burn does not causes significant deforestation. That is only true when population levels are low. When the time between agriculture and abandonment becomes shorter and shorter because there are more people using the land, the slash and burn system that worked for thousands of years may no longer work, and may result in long-term deforestation.

9. Cutting and burning of tropical rainforest results in
Wildlife destruction;
Habitat loss;
Rapid water runoff;
Soil erosion; and
Waste of forest resources.
The major problem associated with forest cutting is turning the area into permanent non-forest by occupying it for other, non-forest purposes. This results in the destruction of habitat of those particular animals that were adapted to that site. In many cases tropical forests have high amounts of seasonal rainfall and in some cases the destruction of the forest can result in increased soil erosion. This can lead to fast runoff and soil erosion during a rain event. I saw this in my work in Tanzania, Indonesia and Brazil. One of the major negative impacts of the cutting and burning of tropical rainforests is that, in many cases, food is grown and trees are extremely competitive for light, nutrients and water. I am a strong proponent of a system where resources are used so Society gets the maximum benefit. I have seen situations in Brazil because of bans on importation of tropical hardwoods into Europe where wood that could have been utilized and actually provided a value was actually just piled and burned.

10. Another thing I have seen in Indonesia, Brazil, and Tanzania is that roads were often built in order to transport logs. Roads often open up forests to people who have very little means and those roads allow them into the area so that they can move machinery and animals in and then move the food and other things they produce out to market. In many case, then, the initial logging actually has a secondary impact, which is the permanent occupation of the land by people and animals. This slide shows two dramatically contrasting examples of human habitat and their impact on forests. The slide on the left shows a hut and what appears to be relatively low impact on the nearby forest. It shows the possibility of humans interacting and living in a largely natural system without affecting it negatively. The slide on the right shows that human impact on the land can be substantial. It shows the results of grazing on a previously forested area – the land is barren except for a fenced-in forest in the middle of the picture. In this case, the increased soil erosion reduces the ability of the soil to sustain a new forest. The negative impact of deforestation in this area will likely be very long term.

11. One model Cutting down forest reduces plant transpiration
Rainfall decreases
Drought kills more vegetation, fires increase, further destroying remaining forest

12. National forests
Originally set aside for development of their natural resources (that is, the trees)

13. Temperate Forest Issues
Logging of old-growth
Endangered species vs. jobs
Northern spotted owl
Salmon
Issues related to temperate forests are both similar to and different than issues around tropical forests. In the temperate forests in the United States, for instance, the logging of old growth is a big issue, particularly with respect to the species that live in old growth forests. The northern spotted owl has been the centerpiece of this attention in the Pacific Northwest because 30 or 40 years ago, it was selected as an indicator species of the health of the Pacific Northwest coniferous forest. It was thought that if the owl were healthy, it indicated that the forest was relatively healthy. If the owl started to disappear, that would be an indicator (like a canary in the coal mine) that the entire ecosystem was in jeopardy. Salmon are also emerging as a major issue in temperate forest politics.

14. Old-growth forests Many of large trees >1000 yrs old
e.g., Pacific Northwest
High biodiversity, large amounts of biomass accumulate
In U.S., <10% remain, 80% of this to be cut

15. Clear-cutting and Road Building
Road building in the Pacific Northwest is a key issue and is on the minds of many people today. If you drive along the Interstate 90 corridor you can see numerous examples of roads that have been built into what were relatively pristine forests just a few years ago. Most of these roads were built to allow logging. In some cases, you will notice forests that you would think had been there for hundreds of years. New road building in National Forests is very controversial and many of the roads that were built in the past are being removed. In fact, the clearcuts you see as you drive up to the Cascades on I-90 have been revegetated and restored by the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway. It is greening out so the roads do not show up like they did in the past. However, many of the areas that you cannot see do not receive the same kind of attention. Old logging roads in some places wash out and become focus points for water and soil erosion.

16. Fire Management Issues
Fire suppression vs. natural burnout
Fire, and in particular catastrophic wildfire, has been a big issue in the press lately. In Colorado, as of June 2002, we had the largest, most intense, and most destructive fires in the history of the state. In October of 2003, California had wildfires that caused many deaths and tremendous loss of property and forest land. Washington and Oregon experienced destructive fires recently as well. The major issue here is the suppression of fires over the last hundred years by the forest service. Fire suppression allows fuel to build up to the point that, during a dry period, such as an El Nino season, things become so dry and there is so much fuel that when a fire breaks out, it is uncontrollable.
The potential for reintroducing fire into ecosystems is becoming a major, controversial issue. The Yellowstone Fire of 1988 actually started when smaller, lightening-caused fires in the Yellowstone ecosystem were allowed to burn naturally, and as conditions got drier and windier, they grew into a catastrophic wildfire. One of the problems is that right now if you are a federal land manager and you take the initiative to put out a fire, you aren't doing anything to threaten you career. However, if you do decide to let the fire burn to mimic what would happen in nature but something goes wrong, you are probably going to have your head handed to you on a silver platter.

17. Since 1930’s, policy is to suppress natural fires
Results in buildup of dead material
Especially bad in dry areas
Many natural communities adapted to periodic fires; fires needed for regeneration
Controlled burns

18. Part 2: Rangelands
Grassland – a biome dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants
Rangeland – grasslands (and open forest) that are suitable for livestock grazing

19. Overgrazing Overgrazed Rangeland Lightly grazed pasture (cattle)
This slide shows the impact of a fence on grazing. On the left is an area that has been overgrazed by cattle and on the right, an area that has been left to native grazers. In the overgrazed area, you will notice a lot of bare soil and spots where animals have pushed through the fence to get to the grasses on the other side. On the right, you will notice an abundance of different types of grasses.
The differences between these two areas shows the impact of large animals, particularly domestic and introduced animals, on a landscape. Historically, conditions like those on the left may have existed temporarily when a herd of buffalo moved through an area. However, the buffalo were migratory and they likely would have moved on and an overgrazed area would recover. Buffalo did not impact the entire landscape at any given time. Permanent, large animals on a site have a different, more negative impact than large animals that are temporarily on a site.
Overgrazed
Rangeland
Lightly grazed
pasture
(cattle)
(native grazers)

20. Effects of overgrazing
Rain runs off before it can soak into ground; springs & wells dry up
Seeds unable to germinate
Barren ground reflects more of sun’s heat, changing wind patterns, driving away rain clouds
Further desiccation
Converts fertile land to desert - desertification

21. New Approaches to Ranching
The changes that occurred on rangelands in the United States were very dramatic. One native grazer, the American Bison or buffalo, was nearly driven to extinction – at one point there were only a few hundred left. That small number of animals has increased to hundreds of thousands today.
If we could mimic the systems that have existed for hundreds of thousands, or even possibly millions, of years, ranching is likely to be more sustainable. The west will never go back to a situation where we have bison ranging over millions of acres in migratory patterns but we might be able to mimic some of that historic function with domestic systems to the benefit of long-term ranching as well as other environment qualities.
Using short-duration, rotational grazing
Raising wild native species, such as bison

22. Part 3: Parks and Nature Preserves
We will now consider the examples of parks and preserves. These are areas that were originally set aside as wilderness areas, unlike the national forests, which were set aside for development of their resources.
The person on the left of the photo, taken in approximately 1903, is Theodore Roosevelt. During his presidency, from 1901 – 1909, he created numerous game preserves, bird reservations, and national monuments, as well as 150 national forests and five national parks.
On the right is John Muir, Roosevelt's contemporary, and one of the world's great naturalists. Muir and Roosevelt are standing on Glacier Point in Yosemite Valley, California. Muir, who lived in Yosemite for many years as an explorer and guide, was very influential in having Yosemite established as a national park (1890).

23. Parks worldwide
More parks in North & South America than in rest of world
In parks in N. Am., land actually set aside
In U.S., areas originally set aside as wilderness areas (more on these later)
In other areas of the world, parks of have people living in them, or have plantations rather than native forest

24. U.S. National Park System
376 parks, monuments, historic sites, and recreation areas
Total size: 108,000 square miles
300 million visitors each year
The U.S. National Park system has been referred to as the park system that is the envy of the world. The system includes very large parks such as Yellowstone, the North Cascades, and huge national parks in Alaska as well as very tiny historical sites. The total size of the U.S. park system is 108,000,000 square miles, or over half a billion acres. The system receives more people than the population of the United States when measured as day-visitors per year. It is a very important system for the preservation of resources and also for the enjoyment of American citizens and international visitors.

25. Park Problems Development pressures at boundaries
Overcrowding and visitor demands for facilities
Pollution, noise, and environmental degradation due to motorized vehicles
Mining and oil interests (and others)
Just because an area is designated a park or a preserve does not mean that there are not problems with overcrowding. Mt. Rainier as an example of a park that has escaped most of the problems facing other parks. If you compare it to Great Smokey Mountains National Park, you can see the difference. Every road leading to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is pretty much lined with development. If the park cannot handle the cars, busses, and visitor demands for facilities, there is a problem. Other issues include pollution of the parks from cars and busses, noise that disturbs the wildlife, and environmental degradation that results when people don't stay on the trails. Rainier is not without problems of overcrowding…the trails at Paradise are now paved and park officials watch the crowds that come in the summer to make sure they do not step off of the trails. It is nearly impossible to get a parking spot at Paradise during nice summer days.

26. Wildlife Issues Reintroduction of predators Hunting
Increased human/ animal interaction
A good example of the conflict between natural systems and the desire for human recreation in national parks is the reintroduction of wolves into the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. Wolves were exterminated from that region about one hundred years ago and lately they have been reintroduced. Some people think that reintroduction of predators interferes with sport hunting and the potential for direct attack of humans and livestock by wolves. However, the idea of wolves running wild in a national park is pretty exciting to a lot of people. The exposure of other park animals—bears, for example-- to people becomes a real problem when park visitors, give handouts of food to bears. The handouts teach bears to look for food around campsites, rather than forage in the forest as they normally would

27. Parks as Ecosystems
Park boundaries usually based on political rather than ecological considerations
Biogeographical area important
IUCN categories (International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources)
One of the stated purposes for National Parks is preserving ecosystems. This map shows the extent of Yellowstone National Park, which includes many geysers, and Grand Teton National Park to the south. There are large national forest lands adjacent to Yellowstone and there are also large areas some distance from the National Park, such as the region where Cody, Wyoming is located. These areas are considered necessary to make Yellowstone a complete ecosystem, one that encompasses enough land for most migrations. The original park boundaries were drawn without considering ecological values that are now being identified.

28. The following table shows the amount of human interaction and intervention acceptable in different categories of protected areas. The most protected are ecological reserves and wilderness areas, where the idea is to have little or no interaction from humans. National Parks, in theory, should have a low amount of human interaction, although along the roads and in certain campsites the impact can be high. National Monuments and archeological sites are places were low impact is desired - you do not want people destroying the archaeology of a Mesa Verde or destroying the Washington Monument. Humans impact habitat and wildlife management areas because the area is often being manipulated to provide the best possible wildlife populations. Human impacts can be much higher on scenic landscapes, cultural relics and recreation areas without much negative impact.

29. 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
The exact design and the size of preserves is always a subject of debate. In particular, the question comes up: is it better to have several small reserves that are closer to places where people might champion the cause for that preserve, or is it better to have a single large preserve? A key concept that comes into play here is that of edge effect, or the boundary between different habitats. Scientists have learned that creating preserves with too much edge effect can have negative impacts on biodiversity. The concept of corridors is also important when designing preserves. Corridors are areas that wildlife need to migrate. Corridors sometimes can connect several small reserves. Spreading reserves out over a larger area by creating several small reserves can reduce the potential for the reserve to be eliminated by a natural catastrophe such as a hurricane or flooding. On the other hand, having a larger single reserve reduces the impact of edge effects and could potentially maintain corridors for animals to migrate through.

30. Experiment in Brazilian rainforest
Experiment in Brazilian rainforest. Scientists tracking wildlife in different sized plots, some connected to others, some surrounded by clearcuts.
How small must a reserve be to be effective is a critical question. The answer depends on the species under consideration. Having an edge effect is not always a negative. In fact, many species of wildlife and plants are adapted to edge conditions. Gaps in forests, as diagramed on the right hand side of the slide, can be important types of habitat. Notice on the left that there a small continuous band (light green) around the forested area (dark green). If a bird was not willing to fly across that bare area because it felt threatened, it becomes isolated from the rest of the forest around it. That population of birds would not intermix and breed with the adjacent one. This has all kind of implications including the potential of there not being a viable population within that area and it would not be habitat for that species any more.

31. Conservation and Economic Development
Immediate human survival always takes precedence over long-term environmental goals.
Ecotourism - a viable option ?
Indigenous peoples
Something I found when I was in the Peace Corps was that you think differently when you are living on the edge of starvation. Surviving will always take precedence over protecting the environment. One way to potentially protect the environment in areas that have a relatively low standard of living is to increase that standard by using the land for ecotourism instead of taking food from it or growing food on it. Ecotourism is the preservation of nature for adventure travel, exploration, or education, and it does provide an option through which local people might champion and protect a beautiful example of nature so that visitors would come and spend money there.
I always encourage people to travel and visit ecotourist spots, but to do it in such a way that actually contributes to the economy and the people, and to let the people know that you will continue to do so if the special conditions continue. It is important that the local people know that you are there to see some beautiful forest, mountain, bird or whatever. Your visit is likely to increase the potential that the areas are preserved if local people know it is in their best interest to do so. On the down side, ecotourism can degrade natural areas as local people move into them because of economic opportunity and bring with them the normal problems that come with people living on the land.

32. Part 5: Wilderness Areas
In theory, wilderness areas receive a completely different class of protection than a national park. The idea is that a wilderness area is a place that is untouched by human development, a place where you can enjoy a true wilderness experience. You can go into a wilderness area and you are unlikely to see the impact of anything human, either other human beings or their signs, such as trash, garbage, and roads. You wouldn't hear the sounds of human-made things like mountain bikes, cars, power boats, or chainsaws. You should just be a visitor and when you leave, the wilderness area is completely unchanged by your visit. The ideal and the actuality of wilderness areas are often very different. For instance, the designation of an area as "wilderness" automatically makes many people attracted to the area. The Enchantments in Washington are an example of an area that is a magnet for hikers because of the wilderness designation, and in many cases, visits must be restricted. Thus, an area can be degraded simply because it has been designated a wilderness area.

33. Wilderness area 1964 Wilderness Act
More protection than in a National Park
Made of undeveloped land affected primarily by natural forces; humans are merely visitors
Most areas in the western states and Alaska
Designation as a wilderness may actually degrade the area

34. Do we need more wilderness?
For: refuge for endangered wildlife, opportunity for solitude and primitive recreation, baseline for ecological research, contains features of geological, scientific, or historical value
Against: natural resources locked up, decreased access for motorized recreation, traditional ways of life threatened
For many people, especially those in developing countries, the idea of having pristine wilderness is not very important.
There are various arguments for and against wilderness areas. I for one tend to enjoy them tremendously and I am very happy that there are a lot of them in the state of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. The arguments for them include the potential as a refuge for wildlife, but also important to me is the ability to go somewhere and be able to get away from it all. These areas can also be used as baselines in ecological research when scientist want to study the effects of lack of human intervention. Arguments against wilderness areas include the benefits of using the natural resources more directly, including being able to get to them in cars and harvest wood or other products. In situations where people in developing countries do not have enough food and making a living is difficult, pristine wilderness just does not have any importance. The concept that a wilderness area is something to be created when people do not have enough food to eat does not work well at all.

35. Part 6: Wildlife Refuges
Areas to preserve wildlife habitat in U.S.
Approximately 1% of U.S. surface area (511 total)
About 60% of all refuges allow activities that are harmful to wildlife.
More than 75% of U.S. refuges have water pollution problems.
Wildlife refuges are another kind of preserve. The idea behind these is to preserve wildlife habitat. Many of these are oriented around waterfowl because the taxes from migratory wildlife stamps required for hunting. For the last 50 years or so, 10% of the purchase price of firearms, ammunition and fishing equipment and lures has been collected by the federal government for wildlife and fish programs. Refuges are also created by the organizations like The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, which has done a large amount of buying and preserving habitat associated with waterfowl. Wildlife refuges cover a very small percent of the land in the U.S., and most of the refuges allow things like farming and hunting. Some will have picnic tables with the idea being that people paid for them and they should be able to use them to a certain extent. Many wildlife refuges are located near cities and many have problems with water pollution.

36. Refuges in developing countries
Preserves set up mainly to protect wildlife
Example: Serengeti system in Kenya & Tanzania
Wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, impalas, giraffes, lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetas, wild dogs, vultures, to name a few
Major problem – poaching
Illegal hunters massacre wildlife for meat, horns, & tusks