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Post-Visit
Activities : Helping Wildlife Communities
Background
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| OBJECTIVES | STANDARDS
| BACKGROUND | PROCEDURES | ASSESSMENT
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Key Points Detailed
Information We
have all of heard of the importance of protecting wildlife
species, but only recently has there been talk about protecting
wildlife communities. In South Carolina there are initiatives
to protect red-cockaded woodpeckers, red wolves and loggerhead
sea turtles. More and more, though, we are beginning to
realize that any one species cannot survive separate from
the wildlife community in which it is adapted to live.
For this reason, conservation is moving slowly from endangered
species to endangered communities. Most of this movement
is brought together under the concept of preserving biodiversity.
Usually
when biodiversity is discussed, it is discussed in terms
of maintaining a wide variety of species, but its definition
is much more broad than that. Biodiversity refers to the
variety of life at all levels, not just at the species
level, but at the genetic level and the community level
as well. By conserving communities, all of these levels
can be preserved. Biodiversity
is important at the species level because all species
are interdependent on each other. No species could survive
by itself. Examples abound. Animals depend on plants for
food and oxygen. Plants depend on animals to help them
spread their pollen to other plants and to help disperse
their seeds. Plants also depend on decomposers to break
down dead organic matter into nutrients that the plants
can use. These relationships exist across the planet.
When
you start looking at specific communities you will start
finding even more specific species relationships. Many
birds depend on trees to build their nests in for shelter.
Large fish, such as grouper, depend on cleaner fish, such
as porkfish, to remove parasites from their bodies. The
entire community depends on apex predators to control
the populations of certain species. For example, white
tail deer no longer have any natural predators left in
most areas, and their populations are exploding. Deer
are creating major damage in many communities. There are
too many of them, and not enough food or space, so they
eat everything, destroying many plants that other animals
depend on for food or shelter. They are also becoming
nuisances in many human developed areas. This might not
be a problem if wolves or mountain lions or other large
predators of deer were still common in eastern forests.
Related
to species biodiversity is the importance of maintaining
genetic biodiversity within a population, the collective
organisms of one species that share an environment and
interbreed. Genetic biodiversity refers to the variety
of genes being passed from generation to generation in
a species population. The different genes within a species
population determine the different characteristics the
individuals of that species will have. The more different
characteristics found in a population, the better the
species ability to adapt to any changes in the environment
that might occur. For example, in one population of fish,
certain individuals of that species may have genes that
allow them to metabolize better in warmer temperatures,
while the rest do so in cooler temperatures. If global
temperatures continue to rise, the fish who metabolize
in cooler temperatures may die out. The fish with the
gene for metabolizing in warmer temperatures would be
able to do well in the climate change and eventually could
replenish the population. This way the population survives
even though some of the general characteristics of the
population have changed. Without the gene for warm weather,
the population may have died out. This genetic diversity
protects species from uncertain futures. Biodiversity
also refers to preserving the variety of different communities.
Communities, like species, are also dependent on each
other. For example, the wildlife communities in the ocean
are dependent on the wildlife communities in the salt
marsh. The plants in the salt marsh release nutrients
in the water that are used for food by ocean organisms,
help to catch pollutants in the rivers before they contaminate
the ocean and provide nursery grounds where the young
of many ocean animals grow and develop. The wildlife community
in the salt marsh, in turn, is dependent on the wildlife
communities in riparian forests along rivers in the Piedmont
and Coastal Plain to prevent sediment from eroding into
the rivers and then smothering the salt marsh. The loss
of the saltmarsh community could have devastating effects
on the ocean communities, and the loss of the Piedmont
riparian forest could greatly affect both of the other
communities. Why
is biodiversity such an urgent issue now? The great success
of humans as a species often comes at the expense of other
species. Almost everything we do that increases the convenience
and comfort of our lives often occurs because something
was taken away from other living things. It is estimated
that currently, approximately 27,000 species go extinct
every year, about one species every twenty seconds. This
places us in the largest mass extinction since the dinosaurs
died off 65 million years ago. All other mass extinctions
in earth's history were caused by natural, abiotic causes
such as changes in climate or strikes from large meteorites.
Our current mass extinction is the only one caused by
living things (man). These
numbers are staggering and may seem hard to believe. How
does this happen? Don't we have endangered species programs
to protect these animals? Because of limited funding,
only a limited number of organisms can be funded for protection
as endangered species. These tend to be large animals
with popular appeal that can get a lot of public support
for funding. Most of the organisms going extinct are plants,
insects and other small animals that live in remote areas
and are not widely known about. It would be difficult
to name all of these organisms on an endangered list,
not only because of lack of money, but because some of
them do not even have names yet. New species are being
discovered all the time and some scientists fear that
many are going extinct before we have a chance to know
anything about them. This is another reason why preserving
communities is important, because it may also preserve
overlooked species. Nature
is resilient, though, and there is still hope for our
remaining wildlife communities, if we all take a share
of the responsibility. The environmental impacts of each
individual person may seem small, but with over six billion
people on the planet, the cumulative impact can be massive.
Every piece of land that is developed is the loss of habitat
for numerous species. Every time fuel is burned, the contaminants
released by it can influence the air and water quality
hundreds of miles away. Spilled oil or antifreeze, litter,
herbicides or pesticides can all be picked up by rain
to infiltrate watersheds and affect all of the organisms
that depend on them. Animals or plants accidentally or
purposefully introduced into foreign environments, can
wipe out native species that are not adapted to the introduced
species' presence. The everyday needs of people for food,
for fuel, for lumber, for minerals and metals can decimate
entire ecosystems on land and in the ocean when those
resources are taken from that environment. Because
each individual contributes to the loss of wildlife communities,
each individual also has the opportunity to help preserve
wildlife communities. A group of students working on a
project can make a major contribution to the preservation
of local wildlife communities. All it requires is a little
thought and a little action. One
way we can help wildlife is through recycling and thinking
about what we purchase. When we buy products, we are taking
something from the natural world. Each product we purchase
is made from materials that were either taken from the
ground, such as oil or iron, or taken from living things,
such as wood or food. The use of that product encourages
more of the resources to be taken. When we throw out these
products, they may not be biodegradable and can spend
centuries in landfills waiting to decompose. Even easily
biodegradable objects such as food can spend decades in
landfills if they are buried where no oxygen can reach
them. Even in perfect conditions, biodegrading can take
a long time: Paper
..30
days Because
little in the landfill is decomposing, these fill up quickly,
and new land has to be claimed for more landfills, taking
away from wildlife communities. Obviously,
we cannot stop eating food or wearing clothes and, as
a society, we are too acclimated to driving cars or buying
cleaning products, but we can be more careful of what
or how much we buy or what we do with the products once
we are finished with them. Buying recycled or recyclable
products helps cut back on the amount of these products
taken from the environment. Being conscientious of recycling
products whenever possible also keeps new resources from
being taken from the environment. Staying away from products
with excessive packaging, or with non-biodegradable packaging,
such as Styrofoam keeps these remains from filling up
landfills. Composting food items keeps these from filling
up landfills and also will produce nutrient rich soil
that can be returned to the earth. Certain products should
be avoided, because the demand for them is affecting wildlife
populations. We
are all probably familiar with how ivory from elephant
tusks is affecting elephant populations, but there are
many animals that are also being affected that are not
as well known. Shark, swordfish, grouper and snapper are
all fish that recent research shows we may be overfishing
to dangerous levels. By stopping the purchase of these
fish, average people can cut down the demand for them
and thus reduce the fishing pressure on these species.
We
can also help in our local community by reducing litter,
reducing the use of chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides
and planting native plants. Not littering is an easy thing
for any conscientious person to do, but we can also help
by picking up the litter that we find left behind by others.
Most chemical herbicides and pesticides can be detrimental
to wildlife communities, because they do not stay where
they were sprayed. They are usually picked up by rainwater
and then carried to local streams, rivers and wetlands
where they can be ingested by wildlife and have detrimental
effects. Herbicides are usually planted to prevent weeds
from growing, but the weeds are usually the native plants
of the land while the grass or other plant that is trying
to be grown is the exotic species. Natural pesticides,
such as ladybugs, are now replacing chemical pesticides.
Ladybugs, a natural part of most North American ecosystems
can be purchased to help remove aphids and other pests
from gardens. Being careful to plant native plants whenever
possible helps to return some of the original ecosystem
to the community. One
of the best ways to preserve wildlife communities is to
preserve the environments in which they live. Writing
letters to local, state and national politicians expressing
concern for the preservation of wild spaces, can help
to pass legislation that slows development and preserves
natural areas. There are also many non-profit conservation
organizations that are working to buy land for wildlife
or have other programs that are helping to preserve biodiversity.
Joining one of these organizations can help them to reach
their goals. One
of the main problems facing wildlife is that most people
are unaware that there is a problem. By educating others,
we can help to reduce the problem by getting more people
involved in solutions. Everything previously mentioned
can be passed to others in the school through the creation
of posters or other forms of information. Preserving
wildlife communities is important because, even though
we have isolated ourselves from them, we are still dependent
upon them. We are but one species among millions, but
we are the only species with the ability to consciously
destroy our environment. We are also the only species
with the ability to learn from the past and think about
the future. As such, we have a responsibility to do what
we can to preserve the wildlife communities across the
planet, so that all species have an equal chance to thrive
on a beautiful planet. |
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