Chapter 10

 America’s “crown jewel”

 Parks are diverse and come in many different

sizes

 Purchases have been made by government or

private individuals/companies

 Yellowstone NP was the first (1872)

 John Muir – S16 & S17

 Henry David Thoreau

 Aldo Leopold

 President Teddy Roosevelt

 Sierra Club (1892)

 Audubon Society

 The Nature Conservancy (1951) – has created

the world’s largest system of private natural
areas and wildlife sanctuaries in 30 countries.
 National Park Service (1916) – manages the National Parks
System; falls under the Dept. of Interior

 US Forest Service (1905) – manages and protects the forest

reserves.

 US Fish and Wildlife Service (1940) –

◦ responsible for identification and listing of,
◦ and monitoring the import of threatened and endangered
species.
◦ Responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act

 National Wildlife Refuges – areas that have been set aside

for the protection of threatened or endangered species.
1. Air, noise and water pollution

2. Invasion of non-native species

3. Tourism – high number of park visitors can

degrade natural areas

4. LACK OF FUNDING

5. Pressure from developers, lumber and mining

companies
 Parks can be viewed as habitat islands
surrounded by:
1. Logging

2. Industrial activity

3. Energy extraction (minerals, oil, coal)

4. Agriculture

5. Dissected by roads (very detrimental)

 Forest Reserve Act (1891)
 Lacey Act (1900)
 National Parks and Services Act (1916)
 Migratory Bird Act (1918)
 Taylor Grazing Act (1934)
 Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (1937)
 Wilderness Act (1964)
 Smokey Bear Campaign (1970s)
 Healthy Forests Restoration Act (2003)
 Allows activities such as camping, kayaking,
canoeing and fishing; NOT motor boating

 Offers protection to rivers or segments of

rivers with
◦ Cultural and historical value
◦ Wildlife and scenic value
◦ Recreational value
 Around 1800 – healthy population

 1850–1900 - decline due to human

activity

 U.S. Endangered Species Act (1973)

 1995–1996 - relocation of gray wolves

to Yellowstone Park

 2008 - Gray wolf removed from

Endangered Species list
 Keystone species  Leave the park and
attack cattle and sheep
 Cull herds of bison, elk
and caribou  Kill big-game animals

 Keep the coyote  Mining and logging

population down companies feared
having to halt
 Provide meat for operations on wolf-
scavengers populated federal land

Farmers, Hunters,
Environmentalists
Loggers and Miners
 Forest ecosystems provide ecological services far greater
in value than the value of raw materials obtained from
forests.

 Unsustainable cutting and burning of forests, along with

diseases and insects, are the chief threats to forest
ecosystems.

 Tropical deforestation is a potentially catastrophic problem

because of the vital ecological services at risk, the high rate
of tropical deforestation, and its growing contribution to
global warming.
 About 5% of Earth’s  Forests cover about
remaining areas are 30% of the United
protected either strictly States.
or partially by law.
 About 40% of the
 About 20% of Earth’s forests in the US are
land area is needed to protected.
adequately preserve
biodiversity.

Wilderness Forests
 Old-growth or primary forest
◦ An uncut or regenerated forest that has not been
disturbed by human activities or natural disaster
for several hundred years
◦ 36% of world’s forests

 Second-growth forest
◦ A stand of trees resulting from natural secondary
ecological succession; once cleared for timber or
for conversion for cropland, or by natural forces
(fires, hurricanes, volcanic eruption).
◦ 60% of world’s forests

 Tree plantation, tree farm or commercial forest

◦ 4% of world’s forests
 Uniformly aged
 Genetically uniform
 Harvested by clear-cutting
 May supply most of the industrial wood in the
future
 Have decreased the need for timber production
in the US
Short rotation cycle of cutting and re growth of a
monoculture tree plantation
 Support energy flow and
chemical cycling
 Reduce soil erosion
 Absorb and release water
 Purify water and air
 Influence local and regional
climate
 Store atmospheric carbon
 Habitats
 Forests valued for ecological services
◦ Nutrient cycling
◦ Climate regulation
◦ Erosion control
◦ Waste treatment
◦ Recreation
◦ Raw materials

 $4.7 Trillion per year

 Increased erosion
 Sediment runoff into waterways
 Habitat fragmentation
 Loss of biodiversity
 Invasion by
◦ Nonnative pests
◦ Disease
◦ Wildlife species
 Clear cutting
◦ Removal of all trees
from an area
◦ Allows for maximum
profit in shortest
amount of time
◦ Results in
 Erosion and water
pollution
 Increased flooding
 Habitat fragmentation
 Loss of biodiversity
Selective cutting
• mature trees cut
singly or in
groups
• Cutting trees of
different sizes,
ages and species
• Allows for uneven
age; higher
diversity
Major Tree Harvesting Methods
(cont.)
Strip-cutting
• A variation clear-
cutting
• Involves clear-cutting
a narrow corridor of
land, allowing a few
years for
regeneration, then
logging another strip
above the previous
strip(s).
(a) Selective cutting

(b) Clear-cutting

Clear stream
Muddy
stream

(c) Strip cutting Uncut

Cut 1 year ago

Dirt road

Cut 3–10 years ago

Uncut

Clear stream
Stepped Art
Fig. 10-6a, p. 219
 Burn fast and quick; kill
seedlings and small trees
but spare most large trees
 Ecological Benefits : burn
away flammable ground
material , free valuable
mineral nutrients tied up in
decomposing litter and
undergrowth , release seeds
from pine cones , stimulate
germination of certain tree
seeds, help control tree
diseases and insects
Crown Fires
 Extremely hot fire
that leaps from tree
top to tree top
burning whole trees.
 Occur in forests that
have not
experiences surface
fires for decades
 Can destroy
vegetation, kill wild
life, increase soil
erosion, sterilize the
soil, and burn or
damage human
structures
 The Smokey Bear educational campaign
 Prescribed fires
 Allow fires on public lands to burn
 Protect structures in fire-prone areas
 Thin forests in fire-prone areas
 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act
◦ Pros – clear away fire prone trees and underbrush
◦ Cons – cut down economically valuable medium-sized and
large trees in 71% of the country’s national forests
 Introduction of
foreign diseases and
insects
◦ Accidental
◦ Deliberate
 Global warming
◦ Rising temperatures
◦ Trees more
susceptible to
diseases and pests
◦ Drier forests: more
fires
◦ More greenhouse
gases
 Cover about 6% of Earth’s area

 More than ½ of the world’s tropical forests

are located in Brazil, Indonesia, Zaire and
Peru

 More than ½ have already been cleared or

degraded
 Deforestation
◦ Tropical forests
 Especially in Latin
America (Brazil),
Indonesia, and Africa
◦ Boreal forests
 Especially in Alaska,
Canada, Scandinavia,
and Russia
Deforestation in Thailand
 Forests of the eastern United States decimated
between 1620 and 1920
 Grown back naturally through secondary ecological
succession
 Biologically simplified tree plantations reduce
biodiversity
 Majority of loss
since 1950
 Brazil and
Indonesia tropical
forest loss
 Role of
deforestation in
species’ extinction
 NATURAL
CAPITAL
DEGRADATION
Major Causes of the Destruction and Degradation of Tropical Forests
Basic Causes Secondary Causes
• Not valuing ecological services • Roads • Cattle ranching
• Crop and timber exports • Fires • Logging
• Government policies • Settler farming • Tree plantations
• Cash crops
• Poverty
• Population growth
Cattle Tree
Logging
ranching plantations
Cash crops

Settler
farming
Roads Fires

Fig. 10-15, p. 225

 Population growth

 Poverty

 Oil extraction

 Massive foreign debt

 We can sustain forests by emphasizing the
economic value of their ecological services,
protecting old-growth forests, harvesting trees
no faster than they are replenished, and using
sustainable substitute resources.
 Collins Pine
◦ Owns and manages protective timberland

 Forest Stewardship Council

◦ Nonprofit
◦ Developed list of environmentally sound practices
◦ Certifies timber and products
 Improve the efficiency
of wood use
◦ Reduce construction
waste
◦ Reduce the amount of
junk mail
◦ Use laminated boards
 Make tree-free paper
◦ Kenaf
◦ Hemp
 Fuelwood – most common use of trees worldwide
 Possible solutions
◦ Establish small plantations of fast-growing fuelwood trees
and shrubs
◦ Burn wood more efficiently
◦ Solar or wind-generated electricity
 Haiti: ecological disaster
 South Korea: model for successful reforestation
 Reduce fuelwood demand
 Practice small-scale sustainable agriculture and forestry in
tropical forest
 Debt-for-nature swaps
 Conservation concessions
 Use gentler logging methods
 Buy certified lumber and wood products
 Green Belt Movement: 1977
◦ Self-help group of women in Kenya
◦ Success of tree planting

 Nobel Peace Prize: 2004

 SOLUTIONS
Sustaining Tropical Forests
Prevention Restoration
Protect the most diverse Encourage
and endangered areas regrowth through
secondary
Educate settlers about succession
sustainable agriculture
and forestry
Subsidize only
sustainable forest use
Rehabilitate
Protect forests with degraded
debt-for-nature swaps areas
and conservation
concessions
Certify sustainably grown
timber Concentrate farming
and ranching in
Reduce poverty already-cleared
Slow population growth areas

Fig. 10-19, p. 231

 We can sustain the productivity of grasslands
by controlling the number and distribution of
grazing livestock and restoring degraded
grasslands.
 Important ecological services of grasslands
◦ Soil formation
◦ Erosion control
◦ Nutrient cycling
◦ Storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide in biomass
◦ Maintenance of diversity
 Overgrazing of
rangelands
◦ Reduces grass cover
◦ Leads to erosion of soil by
water and wind
◦ Soil becomes compacted
◦ Enhances invasion of plant
species that cattle won’t eat

 Malapi Borderlands
◦ Management success story
The most widely used method for sustainable management
of rangeland is controlling the number of grazing animals
and the duration of their grazing.
 Rotational grazing at water holes and feeding areas
 Suppress growth of invasive species
◦ Herbicides
◦ Mechanical removal
◦ Controlled burning
◦ Controlled short-term trampling
 Replant barren areas with native grass seeds and fertilizer
 Protect riparian areas from overgrazing
 Reduce soil erosion
 American southwest:
population surge since
1980
 Land trust groups: limit
land development
 Reduce the harmful
environmental impact of
herds
◦ Rotate cattle away from
riparian areas
◦ Use less fertilizers and
pesticides
◦ Operate ranch more
economically
 Sustaining biodiversity will require protecting
much more of the earth’s remaining
undisturbed land area as parks and nature
reserves.
 Worldwide: 1100
major national
parks
 Parks in
developing
countries
◦ Greatest
biodiversity
◦ 1% protected
against
 Illegal animal
poaching
 Illegal logging
and mining
 58 Major national parks in the U.S.
 Biggest problem may be popularity
◦ Noise
◦ Congestion
◦ Pollution
◦ Damage or destruction to vegetation and wildlife
 Repairs needed to trails and buildings
 Gray wolves prey on elk and push them to a higher
elevation
◦ Re growth of aspen, cottonwoods, and willows
◦ Increased population of riparian songbirds
 Reduced the number of coyotes
◦ Fewer attacks on cattle
 Wolf pups susceptible to parvovirus carried by dogs
 Conservationists’ goal: protect 20% of the
earth’s land
 Cooperation between government and private
groups
 Nature Conservancy
 Eco-philanthropists
 Developers and resource extractors opposition
 Large versus small reserves
 The buffer zone concept
◦ United Nations: 529 biosphere reserves in 105
countries
 Habitat corridors between isolated reserves
◦ Advantages – allows migration by vertebrates that
need large ranges, migration of populations when
environment deteriorate
◦ Disadvantages – can threaten isolated populations
Biosphere Reserve

Core area
Research
station
Visitor
education
center

Buffer zone 1
Human
settlements Buffer zone 2

Fig. 10-24, p. 237

 1963–1983: cleared
much of the forest
 1986–2006: forests grew
from 26% to 51%
◦ Goal: to reduce net
carbon dioxide
emissions to zero by
2021
 Eight zoned mega
reserves
◦ Designed to sustain
around 80% of Costa
Rica’s biodiversity
 Wilderness Act of 1964
 How much of the United States is
protected land?
 Road Less Rule
 2005: End of “Road Less areas”
within the national forest system
We can help sustain biodiversity by identifying severely
threatened areas and protecting those with high plant
diversity and those where ecosystem services are being
impaired.
Sustaining biodiversity will require a global effort to
rehabilitate and restore damaged ecosystems.
Humans dominate most of the earth’s land, and
preserving biodiversity will require sharing as much
of it as possible with other species.
 Map global ecosystems; identify species
 Locate and protect most endangered species
 Restore degraded ecosystems
 Development must be biodiversity-friendly
 Are new laws needed?
 Areas especially rich in plant and animal species
that are found nowhere else and are in great
danger of extinction or serious ecological
disruption.

 These areas cover only a little over 2% of the

earth’s land surface but contain 52% of the
world’s plant species and 36% of all terrestrial
vertebrates.

 These areas are the only homes for more than

1/3 of the planet’s known terrestrial plant and
animal species.
 1988: Norman Myers
◦ Identify biodiversity hot spots rich in plant
species
 Not sufficient public support and funding
 Drawbacks of this approach
◦ May not be rich in animal diversity
◦ People may be displaced and/or lose access
to important resources
 Biodiversity
Hotspots in the
U.S.

Top Six Hotspots

1 Hawaii
2 San Francisco
Bay area
3 Southern
Appalachians
4 Death Valley
5 Southern California
6 Florida Panhandle
Concentration of rare species

Low Moderate High

Biodiversity Hotspots in the US

Fig. 10-27, p. 241
 Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, Africa
◦ Highest concentration of endangered species on
earth
 Threatened due to
◦ Killing of forests by farmers and loggers
◦ Hunting
◦ Fires
 U.N. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: 2005
◦ Identify key ecosystem services
◦ Human activities degrade or overuse 62% of the
earth’s natural services

 Identify highly stressed life raft ecosystems

 Study how natural ecosystems recover
◦ Restoration
◦ Rehabilitation
◦ Replacement
◦ Creating artificial ecosystems
 How to carry out most forms of ecological restoration
and rehabilitation
◦ Identify what caused the degradation
◦ Stop the abuse
◦ Reintroduce species, if possible
◦ Protect from further degradation
 Guanacaste National Park restoration project
◦ Relinked to adjacent rain forest
◦ Bring in cattle and horses – aid in seed dispersal
◦ Local residents – actively involved
 Preventing ecosystem damage is cheaper than
restoration

 About 5% of the earth’s land is preserved from

the effects of human activities
 Win-Win Ecology: How Earth’s Species Can Survive in
the Midst of Human Enterprise, by Michael L.
Rozenweig, 2003

◦ Reconciliation or applied ecology

◦ Community-based conservation
 Belize and the black howler monkeys
 Protect vital insect pollinators
 Bluebird protection with special housing boxes
 Berlin, Germany: rooftop gardens
 San Francisco: Golden Gate Park
 1970s: Blackfoot River Valley in Montana threatened
by
◦ Poor mining, logging, and grazing practices
◦ Water and air pollution
◦ Unsustainable commercial and residential
development
 Community meetings led to
◦ Weed-pulling parties
◦ Nesting structures for waterfowl
◦ Developed sustainable grazing systems
 Adopt a forest
 Plant trees and take care of them
 Recycle paper and but recycled products
 Buy sustainably produced wood products
 Choose wood substitutes- bamboo
 Help to restore a degraded forest or
grassland
 Landscape your yard with a diversity of plants
natural to the area