The Restoration Of Glacial Park

Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service to conserve natural land from being destroyed or messed with. This enabled it to be preserved for many generations to see rather than it be torn down and made into some lame houses or buildings.

Every forest has a story to tell. By looking closely at its habitants, that story can be interpreted. Much of this narrative is written in the trees: their age, their tolerance to shade, and the rate at which they grow are all characteristics that can imply a lot about their environment. Exploring these relationships and how they connect with each other can indicate the health and history of the land. Heiberg Forest, located in northern New York, was once used for agricultural purposes in the 1800-1900’s. (Nowak, Lecture Notes) Much of the land once used for farming was left to regrow back into a young forest. The life history of different tree species can be determined by examining the most common species in Heiberg.

The Maryland ecosystem is being ravaged by several invasive species. These species are introduced into the ecosystem in several ways, with several discoveries of invasive species every year. Whether it be Wavyleaf basketgrass or Purple loosestrife, these plants are capable of outcompeting with native plants and causing devastation to the native ecosystem. These invasive species are damaging to the environment and we should work as a community to halt the spread and limit its impact on the ecosystem of Maryland.

In this Virtual Lab, one of the introduced species that didn’t become a problem to the area or pose a threat to the ecosystem or biodiversity had been the tulips owing to that it wasn’t really all that invasive. This is in view of the fact that the ecosystem of this gardener’s backyard does not likely support or voles overpowering

Ecosystems can be restored by retaining and restoring the ecological sustainability of watersheds, forests, and rangelands for present and future generations.

The ancient forests of the Northeast aren’t the only aspect of the bioregion that’s fate have been at perpetual risk since the early settlement of Europeans. There is no question that forests still dominate the landscape of Northeastern region accounting for “60% of the total land area, and in New England alone, the coverage is 80%”. Still the species that exist within the understory of the forests have undergone an equally dramatic transformation because of human interaction with the land and the harvest of its resources. Some species in the understory of the mixed forests of the Northeast have been driven out of the region, are under intense ecological pressure, are on the brink of extinction, or have already gone extinct in the region. Perhaps one of the most harmful and impactful effects colonization of the Northeast has had on the resources of the land is the introduction of non-native species and diseases into the region. Over time the overall makeup of the forests have changed drastically as an example, “…the American chestnut once made up as much as 25% of the trees in some areas and was economically the most important hardwood in the Eastern forests”. The introduction of chestnut blight at the turn of the century accounts for

Restoration ecologists study the ecological communities before humans had any interaction with it. The importance of this study is that if the ecosystem can’t function we are able to do something about it.

Invasive species come in many forms; they can be plants, animals, insects, fish, fungus, organisms, and bacteria. Invasive plants are those which cause environmental, economic and human harm and originate from another area or region. They are a complex and difficult problem to tackle. There are more than 4,000 plants species found in Florida, of those 1300 or more are non-native or invasive. Many invasive species are taking over Florida’s waterways disrupting their natural ecosystem by outgrowing and replacing Florida’s native plants. Relieving the damage they cause is not easy, but scientists and members of the communities being affected are finding that it is achievable, as long as everyone works as a team to address the issue.

After attending the “Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Ecosystem Sustainability Conference,” I learned about the ecological issues that Native Americans faced when individuals outside of their community appropriated land towards other means of production. Similarly, the speaker Delphine Jackson had discussed how her community was being disturbed by the construction of dams and highways, which destroyed the environment where animals lived and thrived. Additionally, the speaker Valeria A. Small explained the issues of their culture being impeded by an invasive plant that was established by non-native people. Getting their voices heard was not an easy task, for many of the people who created the newly developed roads and embedded the invasive plant species were seeing reality differently than the natives in the sense that the land was meant to be used

Today, I attended a session in Neff lecture hall. There were four science related presentations in this session. The presentations were about the Peace Chapel Bioblitz, coyote harvesting, brown trout transmitter retention, and the effect of invasive berries on the bird community.

On May 15, 2016 me and around 20 other University of Washington students volunteered to remove invasive plants from Yesler Swamp. We started the day by meeting in front of the Yesler Swamp trial sign. After that, our guides started to introduce themselves there was three of them. Then, started walking on the trail to reach our designated spot that we are going to on. While we were walking Carolyn, one of the guides, started explaining what we are going to do. She started inform us about the different type of plants and which ones we should take out, invasive plants, and which we should leave, native plants.

Biodiversity boots ecosystem productivity where every little species plays an important role in maintaining a healthy community. Maintaining a viable habitat requires lots of efforts, determination and frequency. Invasive plants are a major threat to our natural environment. These invasions change the natural diversity and balance of ecological communities. They threaten the survival of many plants and animals. They are excellent at surviving and reproducing which out-compete the native plants. Understanding these huge consequences let us understand why volunteer activities like this are so helpful and needed. They play a huge part in contributing to our environment in many positive ways. Removing these invasive plants are helping a lot in restoring the habitat and giving native plants greater chance for survival. As time went by, these efforts will slowly help cleaning our atmosphere, providing our environment with fresh air and improve health effects in human (Sagoff,

Georgia has been invaded by numerous species that are known as harmful exotic plants and animals. It is so costly to attempt to control invasive species and the damages they inflict cost the United States annually an estimated $137 billion (Georigia Invasive Species Task Force, 2005). For example, in South Georgia there is an estimate of 7 million acres of Kudzu vine that originated in Japan and China. The damage that arises with the Kudzu vine is that it grows up to one foot per day and overgrows and shades out trees, covers houses, barns and road signs (Georigia Invasive Species Task Force, 2005). In order to make this a top priority some things congress needs to change is the revision of current United States policy on importation of live plants and animals and when considering, reviewing, or approving trade agreements they address specific invasive species. In addition, the implementation of prescribed burnings in areas with invasive species will help eliminate and control the spreading of such invasive species.

ABSTRACT: Robert Elliot's "Faking Nature," (1) represents one of the strongest philosophical rejections of the ground of restoration ecology ever offered. Here, and in a succession of papers defending the original essay, Elliot argued that ecological restoration was akin to art forgery. Just as a copied art work could not reproduce the value of the original, restored nature could not reproduce the value of nature. I reject Elliot's art forgery analogy, and argue that his paper provides grounds for distinguishing between two forms of restoration that must be given separate normative consideration: (1) malicious restorations, those undertaken as a means of justifying harm to nature, and (2) benevolent