Achieving Conservation Goals With Urbanizing Landscapes

increase in hawks, weasels, badgers, and foxes to this new habitat. Eagles and bear populations

I boarded the Amtrak the early morning of November 5th, 2016 from Davis, California to the Peytonia Slough Ecological Reserve (Peytonia Reserve) in Suisun, California. The trip to this brackish and saltwater reserve was to help me analyze the relationship between humans and wildlife in urban settings. Urban environments depend on the rehabilitation and protection of small natural areas like the Peytonia Reserve. At the Peytonia Reserve, both humans and native/non-native species live in cohabitation, which paints an accurate representation of reconciliation ecology. Humans use these natural areas, the Peytonia Reserve in this case, for recreational activities like hunting and fishing. This, in turn, benefits the wildlife that lives in the area because hunters and fishers want the environment to be well maintained in order to support their activities. I came up with the conclusion that even though humans have more to benefit from wildlife, wildlife also depends on humans to help protect and conserve their habitats.

Duerksen, C. & Snyder, C., (2005). Nature-friendly communities: habitat protection and land use. Case Study for Austin, TX; Washington, DC: Island Press Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/lib/apus/Doc?id=10149942

Since the 1950s, Florida 's population has risen at an annual rate of approximately four percent. In the [past] 50 years, more than eight million acres of forest and wetland habitats (about 24 percent of the state) have been cleared to accommodate the expanding human population. In 1990, about 19 acres per hour of forest, wetland, and agricultural land [were] being converted for urban uses. Because of this growth, Florida’s ecosystems are now

Q2: How effective is the current urbanisation of Canberra in maintaining biodiversity and sustainable living?

Those living in a wildland urban interface area should consider the impacting risks associated with being there. "The wildland urban interface (WUI) has gained increasing importance as more Americans build homes in rural settings adjacent to public lands" (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d., para. 1). With the amount of American population having interest in building their homes around these areas, leaving governing authorities a need to carefully review the impacting effect and risk

Suburbanization is one environmental issue that has been significant to US society since the end of the Cold War. Rapid population growth during the baby boom immediately following WWI sparked an ever expanding of suburbs around major cities across America. The consequences environmentally were lack of planning regarding large areas of America’s rural areas began to ruin the landscape. Misuse of natural resources, over-farming of land, increase building of suburbs, highways across some of America’s most beautiful rural areas has changed the American landscape since Reconstruction. Suburbanization has emphasized to me the need to preserve natural resources, parks, wildlife, etc., to ensure that future generations will have access to them for years to come.

Longwood Park is listed as being 262 acres and one of the largest metropolitan parks in the state. It boasts a 3 acre fishing pond and 3 miles of hiking trails. These trails are partially comprised of crushed asphalt and concrete, but primarily dirt paths. Anticipate muddy conditions along the trails in winter and periods of raining weather. The woodlands are mature deciduous that hold varying levels of habitat support. Most habitat categories reviewed provided a moderate foundation for avian migrant and residents. Woodpeckers appear to be thriving in the woodland areas, migrant and resident thrushes should also benefit from the parks resources. Potential nesting habitats for Yellow and Hooded Warblers in the summer months are a possibility.

“Conservation refers to actions that aim to protect natural environments from present and future change. For example, nature conservancies purchase land that is deemed to be at risk in order to prevent exploitation of the area for residential, industrial, or agricultural development” (“Conservation,” 2009). Environmental conservation in the Tampa Bay area carries a great importance because of our natural resources with estuaries for wildlife and the aquifer, which supplies clean water to residents in the area. Tampa Bay residents interested in environmental conservation, have access to a variety of

This article focuses on a group of secretive wetland birds known as secretive marsh birds. These birds are extremely difficult to observe due to their quiet nature, natural camouflage and shy behavior. However, although these birds are looked over most of the time they still play a role in the wetland ecosystem especially within Missouri. These birds are migratory in nature and tend to move through Missouri through during the fall and spring, visiting various Missouri wetlands as they pass through. It has been found that the presence of these illusive birds can serve as an indicator of the health of a wetland’s ecosystem with these birds preferring to stop in wetlands that feature shallow water and denser vegetation. Therefore,

Due to the new development of estates (namely Crystal Waters, Canterbury, and Jackson’s view) in Drouin as a town undergoing urbanisation, I conducted my research question as ‘Does public open space landscaping, in the new estates in Drouin, contribute to the habitat for indigenous flora and arboreal animal species?’ Established from my concern about the natural environment amongst changing land use across Victoria, my hypothesis is that public open space landscaping in Drouin does not contribute to the habitat for indigenous flora and arboreal animal species in the area.

In modern day urban settings, it is not uncommon to walk outside and experience Madagascar right in the city parks. OK, maybe not quite Madagascar yet, but cities are getting there. The wildlife that used to live out in the wild are now migrating into urban areas because there are no resources left for them in their original homes. The problem is humans. Humans have taken over the resources, homes, and economies that animals need to survive, so they are forced to come closer and closer to humans. The movement caused by this is creating many problems between humans and the animals that are forced to move. Urban wildlife is beginning to cause damage to the environment and needs to be stopped.

The conquering and development of natural land has in the past, been seen as a mark of human civilization. In the United States, our progress is often measured by growth and development, but should this be re-examined? There are many opinions on the subject of urban sprawl and its effects on wildlife, but one thing is for certain, we are expanding. From 1955 to 2005, urban and suburban areas grew by 300%, however, the population only increased by 75% over the same period (Ewing, Kostyack and Chen). According to NatureServe, a non-profit conservation organization, urban sprawl threatens one of every three endangered species in the United States. NatureServe’s analysis states, “rare and endangered species data shows that three-fifths (60

This study explores the concept of whether native vegetation fosters the presence of native birds and/or non-native vegetation fosters the presence of non-native birds. My working hypothesis is: “there is no difference in the percentage of native and non-native birds between “gardens” having native or non-native vegetation.” Note: the word “garden” for the purposes of

The number of people living in urban areas is dramatically increasing across the world. Currently, 75 % of people live in cities in the developed world, (Bernhardt E.S. and Palmer M.A, 2007) despite such high percentage many do not get access to the green and blue spaces available, in other words cannot interact with nature. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency green spaces are ‘land that is partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs or other vegetation’ (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) This includes community gardens, parks as well as cemeteries. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) On the other hand, blue spaces include rivers, canals and lakes. (Sally, M, 2010) As urbanisation increases, it will pose a greater threat to nature such as pollution, habitat destruction, erosion and colonisation of native species. There are various ways to engage with nature. However, one reason for green and blue spaces not being utilised effectively by people may be due to people being unaware of the values that these have and the crucial functions they undertake in the ecosystem such as recycling nutrients and controlling the hydrological cycle.