Introduction
This presentation will center on the issue of rebalancing and urbanization the ecosystem within Sparksville. We will explore the significances of urbanization and the lack of land management planning that offered the problematic seen in Sparkville with the prairie dog. We will also talk about the steps that Sparksville took to reestablish the harmony and ecosystem among the populations and the ecosystem. We will also take a look at how the improved balance invited tourism as well amplified industrialization.
3. Urbanization and the Environment
Urbanization takes about a new set of difficulties to the environment. These difficulties contain land pollution and air pollution. As new roads and builds are built the capability of soil to engross water is reduced. However, these are not the only issues. As the population growths it begins to invade on the land that is occupied by native species. As a result, bigger predators several be scared off by the growing population throwing off the balance of natural selection. This is the case with Sparksville and the prairie dog population.
4.
The Prairie dog is a relative of the squirrel and lives in underground tunnels (National Geographic). Urbanization of Sparksville began to increase, building began within the buffer zone of the prairie dog preservation. Population growth and urbanization scared off natural predators of the prairie dog. This threw off the balance of the ecosystem and natural selection. With no
Roads act as barriers to animal movement and lead to habitat broken up . Many species will not cross the open space created by a road due to the threat of predators. Roads also cause increased animal deaths from traffic. the barrier effect can also prevent species from migrating areas where the species gone locally extinct as well as restricting access to seasonally available or widely scattered resources. Habitat separation may also divide large continuous populations into smaller more isolated populations. The smaller populations are vulnerable to genetic drift such as inbreeding depression and an increased risk of population decline and
The main problem is that with urbanization people can really stop building our community. One solution is that we can preserve lands to keep them safe. There is also another solution of a bigger issue that may affect all animals, pollution. The problem of pollution is also another factor that affects all animal. There are somethings that people doing to stop this problem. In Pennsylvania the Eastern Spadefoot toads are considered to be a threatened
In Natures Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West William Cronon, the author, attempts to enlighten readers on the growth of cities and the relationship they have with the land they are built on. In other words, Cronon’s thesis comes from the belief that there is an observable bond between cities, and the ecosystems under and around them, namely Chicago and the western frontier of 19th century America. We will see that Cronon argues that human construction and taming of Earth’s resources is natural and is in tuned with the surrounding nature, land, and animals. This is accomplished by studying through the frontiers history from the research of journals, articles, and other recorded history of that time. While the information Cronon presented
Species often face multiple threats. We considered the relative impact of three major threats on populations of the San Joaquin kit fox. This species was once widely distributed across the southern San Joaquin Valley, but agriculture and development have replaced much of the now endangered subspecies’ habitat. We modeled impacts of climate change, land-use change, and rodenticide exposure on kit fox populations using a spatially explicit, individual-based population model. Our study indicates that landuse change will have the biggest impact on kit fox populations, with the potential to decrease populations by approximately 9% under a compact growth scenario or 15% under a business-as-usual scenario. 55% of the best kit fox habitat also has
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.
The geologic timeline and events that occurred in the Northeast would have had a major impact in the creation and movement of wildlife, topography, and biodiversity throughout the region. When looking at the Northeast through the lens of a bioregional food shed the largest impact on the biological makeup of the Northeast would have occurred between the early 1700’s through modern day. In that span of time, “…the Northeast would show forests which had occupied 90% of the landscape in 1700 occupied less than 30% in 1900.” Forest ecology is arguably one of the important factors when looking at the long-term history and evolution of one’s bioregion. When European settlers made their most significant landfall with the intent on permanent colonization in the Northeastern territory of the United States they would have been stepping on to ground that was rich in biodiversity. The Northeast was a region plentiful with “great forests of American beeches, maples, birches, eastern hemlocks, and spruces from New England to northern Pennsylvania, and oaks, hickories, American chestnuts, and pines from Maryland through Ohio.” In terms of wildlife and game that would have provided food for the European settlement they would have had access to the harvest of “white-tailed deer, beaver, wild turkey, passenger
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 care deeply about the planet Earth, the home humans originate from, so it pains me to watch “modern” society devastate natural life across the board. I feel personally connected to the issue of how we use our land. Having lived in the Lee County area since birth, I have noticed just in our own little part of the world how much “development” can change things. There used to be so much more plant life: trees, grasses, flowers and a myriad of other greenery. What was once considered “empty” lots, by some, have been adapted to suit human desires be it additional roads, restaurants, shopping malls, and a continuing spread of “chain” corporate industries. Beyond human structures, huge amounts of land also are cultivated for industrial farming
During the 1940’s, wolves were exterminated from Colorado and few have come back since. As a result the ecosystem that we have in Colorado is somewhat skewed due to the absence of them. Many people think that wolves are a nuisance and would get in the way of the agricultural style that colorado has. However, wolves are considered a keystone species which means their “presence would reinvigorate the natural order” (clifford). For this reason wolves should be reintroduced into montezuma county. The reintroduction would greatly benefit and restore the balance of our ecosystem.
Actually, habitat fragmentation occurs when urbanization occurs. Fragmentation is when infrastructure increases and becomes more advanced, biological entities such as forests and plains are broken up. When these areas go from one large being to multiple smaller ones, the population of species splits up. Small habitat patches are usually not able to support the same level of diversity as they were when the area was a whole, and this ends to some species becoming endangered, even sometimes extinct (Kapoor). A study conducted in a Michigan forest that was fragmented due to rapid urbanization showed that predation increased for many bird species and
Carrie Breitbach’s (2009) “The Geographies of a More Just Food System: Building Landscapes for Social Reproduction” revolves around the idea of bringing justice to the food system by rectifying landscape and social reproduction as a solution in South Dakota. In contrast, Peirce F. Lewis’s “Axioms for Reading the Landscape,” focuses on how to read and understand landscapes through a set of rules which he calls “axioms.” In the “Geographic (or Ecological) Axiom,” Lewis argues that studying a landscape outside its location makes no sense in gaining cultural insight on the landscape (1979, 24). While Don Mitchell (2007, 43) in “New Axioms for the Landscape,” presents the idea that the shape of the land provides direction to its social life. He
In the novel Nature’s Metropolis by William Cronon, the author examines the city of Chicago in the context of the environmental and economic factors that has made it a trade center. Additionally, the novel presents the case for a looser definition of nature in relationship to urban centers emphasizing the interconnectedness of both spaces and the role of environmental and anthropogenic factors in shaping them. Interconnectedness to the point that Cronon encourages readers to view the city and hinterlands related to it as “a multitude of overlapping market and resource regions” (Cronon 278). Viewing the landscape through this anthropocentric lens where all spaces are involved in the economics of the region elucidates the relationships present and breaks down the abstract walls between city and hinterland. This essay will critically
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The destruction of various ecosystems through modalities such as bulldozers, cranes, and irrigation systems have shaped the current state of the world. As countries continue to industrialize many parts of the world are becoming increasingly urban. The desire to turn undeveloped areas into bustling cities has been exorbitantly transformative in the state of the world's ecosystems. Increasing populations resulted in a greater amount of socio-economic, agricultural and industrial activities (Schultz). Therefore, a high stress was placed on local ecosystems to meet those demands. Cities now lack
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