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""Amid concrete and clayAmid concrete and clayand general decayand general decaynature must still find a waynature must still find a way““

((MorriseyMorrisey, The Smiths)., The Smiths).

CONSERVATION ECOLOGYCONSERVATION ECOLOGY

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We saw that we’re quickly approaching “the end”, which Dr. Seuss described as follows:

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Your alternatives for a happy ending:

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Conservation Ecology Solutions:Conservation Ecology Solutions:

Reservation

Restoration

Reconciliation

Don’t let the Once-Ler into the area and don’t let it knit a Thneed.

Close down the Thneed factory, replant Truffula trees, unglump the pond, and reintroduce the Bar-ba-loots and the Humming-Fish.

Let the once-Ler live sustainable life in the area; Use some of the trees to make a living, but compensate by feeding the Bar-ba-loots and digging new pools for the Humming-fish.

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Reservation:

Save the earth’s natural habitats in their wild form.

On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill granting Yosemite Valley to the State of California as a public

trust.

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Where it all beganWhere it all began……

Yosemite (Sierra Nevada), CA.Yosemite (Sierra Nevada), CA.

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Yosemite, Half dome

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The Yosemite bill was the spark that allowed for Yellowstone becoming the first official national park in 1872.(Yosemite was set aside as a national park in 1890).

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Masai Mara, Kenya

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The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP)

http://www.co.pima.az.us/cmo/sdcp/index.htmlObjectives: the integration of all natural resource protection

and land use planning activities of Pima county into one plan.

Reservation goals: “Prioritize 26% of the CLS (Conservation Lands System) for conservation by the adoption of Habitat Protection Priorities in Eastern Pima County. This includes approximately 525,000 acres of biological core, important riparian areas, threatened and endangered species management areas, and special landscape elements…. Pima County will continue to nominate and pursue acquisition of biologically sensitive lands for reclassification by the Arizona State Land Department under the Arizona Preserve Initiative”.

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Restorationgeneral definitions:

• Restoration ecology tries to return some developed or degraded areas to a more natural state.

• “Gardening with wild species in natural mosaics”(Allen and Hoekstra 1992).

• “Ecologically-sensitive repair and management of ecosystems through an unusually broad array of experience, knowledge sets and cultural perspectives”(The Society for Ecological Restoration International SER; www.ser.org).

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Objectives of Restoration (Aronson et al., 1993):

1. Restoration (sensu stricto): requires complete emulation of the "original" ecosystem inc. structure, function and diversity.Common in developed countries where social pressure demands it.

2. Restoration (sensu lato): seeks "...to halt degradation and to redirect a disturbed ecosystem in a trajectory resembling that presumed to have prevailed prior to the onset of disturbance".A more practical and realistic approach.

3. Rehabilitation: "...seeks to repair damaged or blocked ecosystem functions, with the primary goal of raising ecosystem productivityfor the benefit of local people...as rapidly as possible...[while attempting to adopt] the indigenous ecosystem's structure and functioning as the principal models to be followed, insofar as they can be determined or guessed".More common among those who use the land for their livelihood (e.g. rangeland managers who often strive to improve rangeland for higher productivity; studied at UA college of Ag.).

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Cultural Foundations for Ecological Restoration

on the White Mountain Apache Reservation.[Long et al. 2003. Conservation Ecology 8(1)]

Tribal Watershed Program logo:incorporates the four directions and the four sacred colors to reinforce the cultural dimensions of its ecological management activities. Signifying the four seasons and essential ecological elements(white=water/snow, black=earth, green=plants, and yellow=harvest or fire)

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Restoration example: Trampling by horses and elk had induced bank erosion and channel incision along Soldier Creek by 1993. Three years of treatments, starting in 1998, inc. electric fencing, sedge transplants, and placement of rock-gravel riffle formations, stimulated dramatic recovery of channel stability and aquatic vegetation.Young tribal members have conducted restoration work at the site each year as part of the Watershed Program’s summer ecology camps.

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A springA spring--fed reach on East Cedar Creek:fed reach on East Cedar Creek:

relatively bare

Rest from season-long grazing spurred rapid growth of vibrant, herbaceous wetland plants that protect the channel from erosion.

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Restoration:

A dense stand of common cattail and soft-stem bulrush at the restoration site on East Cedar Creek.Because these plants are culturally significant, their abundance represents both the functional and symbolic recovery of the site.

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Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada Wetland Restoration:Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

2001: poor yielding agricultural land with significant amount of runoff water carrying nutrients and sediment to a nearby sensitive watercourse.

2004: Water marsh. The wetland is home to migratory and resident wildlife such as Great Blue Herons, Mallards, Sand Pipers, Red-tailed Hawks, White-tailed deer, Coyotes, rodents and insects.

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Ngare Ndare Dryland Restoration Project:

Borana ranch: 35,000 acre,located on the Laikipia Plain, Kenya.

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Daily traffic of thousands of animals and the gathering of fuel-wood

Traditional use of this ranch has been livestock farming of cattle, sheep and goats.

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severe land degradation.

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Restoration objectives and strategy:1. Fencing to stop the entrance and

passage of livestock.

2. Halt the erosion process using a combination of physical and plant barriers. At the same time most water entering the site will penetrate into the soil rather than running straight off.

3. Enhance the soil.

4. Plant multipurpose species which have potential in the region.

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Reconciliation:

Environmentally sound land use(benefiting humans and wildlife).

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Unintentional reconciliation:Rooftops of churches and towers in Europe serve as excellent nesting sites for storks.

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Sharing our habitat with wildlife:Lesser kestrels (an endangered falcon)

nest in ceramic roof tiles of Jerusalem…

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Intentional reconciliation: Hummingbird feeders in Tucson

Based on species distribution surveys and isocline analysis, we figured competitive interactions and community organization.

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Moral: “never give up on a new habitat, no matter how dim its

potential seems to be”

6000 acres of Cooling canals with berms separating them.

Turkey Point Power Plant, Florida

Crocodylus acutus

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Eglin Air Force base, FloridaEglin Air Force base, Florida

Red-cockaded woodpeckers(endangered)

Depend on mature longleaf pine.

Old growth longleaf pine history: ~1900: 460,000 acres.~1970: 1,700 acres.Today (young): 200,000 acres.

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.It is up to you !!!It is up to you !!!

(Dr. Seuss [Theodore Geisel], 1971, The Lorax)

"UNLESS someone like you care a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.“