Achieving Conservation Goals With Urbanizing Landscapes

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

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

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

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.

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

“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

Our findings support what is found in published literature for grasshopper sparrows and upland sandpipers. Smith (1963) and Herkert (1994) found that grasshopper sparrows prefer grassland habitat and exhibit a negative correlation with edge. This is indicated in our results by grasshopper sparrows exhibiting a negative correlation with crops and water. The upland sandpiper prefers 50% or more grass cover (Higgins and Kirsch 1976) and avoids areas with tall and dense vegetation (Bowen and Kruse 1993). Our findings indicate that upland sandpipers have a positive association with grassland

The Eastern Bluebird is an endangered species. Many people do not know that this type of bird has been endangered. My group decided on this project because we feel a responsibility to protect these beautiful birds and we also want to let other people know how to shield and shelter them. As my classmates and I began researching this project, each person on our team was delegated specific responsibilities. Helen Stout worked on the nest building construction of these birds and we have handouts of the nesting box plans. We will also show the students the type of food to feed the bluebirds. I, Thanh Canfield, worked on the board to demonstrate the details about the project. Lupe has built the nest from wood for the sample. The steps we took in researching and implementing this project included browsing different websites on the internet for relevant information. We shared this information with each other via e-mail. We also contacted Pauline Tom, president of Texas Bluebird Society, to collect more information through the booklet.

This study investigated the biodiversity at Lido Beach in Long Island. The objective was to investigate how biodiversity changed for areas away from human habitat. Salt marshes and wetland are under severe threat due to irresponsible actions on the part of humans. There needs to be an awareness and understanding in the general public as to the importance of these natural habitats and their significance to the general ecosystem. There is enough evidence to suggest the degradation has already happened, and how critical it is to protect salt marshes and wetlands. The results were encouraging as they pointed in the general direction that diversity was not impacted close to the pathway that was subjected to human traffic. However, the data collected did not point to any specific conclusions. Nonetheless, it provided valuable information on the subject of the study. The results for the entire class data indicated that for richness, there was a positive correlation between the family richness of the samples and the distance from the path. Specific results for one group for each sample point indicated that for richness, there was more richness observed near the path than away from it. For evenness, the results indicated that as the distance from the path increased, the evenness did not have a clear pattern, even though there was a general increase in evenness away from the path, especially, as shown by the 30m and 50m sampling points. For proportional

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 secretive marsh birds that the article refers to are almost impossible to find without high tech portable tools and even then that only works during the mating season of these birds were they are the most vocal. However, even those these birds are typically neither heard nor seen by humans they interact with their environment acting as the consumers of the dense vegetation that is plentiful in the wetland environment. They also act as the prey for their predators becoming a food source for these animals that without these birds would have a more limited source of food during the fall and spring seasons. Due to the fact that these birds do have an impact on the wetlands of Missouri it is important that we promote conservation efforts within these ecosystems in order to ensure that all of the species that live in and utilize the wetland have the resources they need to survive in the future. These conservation efforts can help promote the health of the ecosystem as a whole and ensure that the environment continues to possess the dense vegetation it needs in order to support the secretive wetland birds. This may help prevent these birds from being unable to find a satisfactory habitat in Missouri to support their current migratory patterns allowing them to remain a part of Missouri’s Wetland

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.

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.

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.

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