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Dr. Thomas M. GehringRoom 181 Brooks Hall
774-2484 [email protected]
http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/gehri1tm
Welcome!BIO 240 – Conservation of
Natural Resources
“In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homosapiens from conqueror of the land-communityto plain member and citizen of it. It impliesrespect for his [her] fellow-members, and alsorespect for the community as such.”
Aldo Leopold
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. ...To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution to intelligent tinkering."
(Aldo Leopold, champion of conservation)
Knowledge Assessment
1) Current human population size?
2) Annual growth rate (%) of human population?
3) Number of species in the World?
4) Daily extinction rate of species?
5) What is biodiversity?
Critical Thinking Skills • First, need to differentiate between beliefs
and knowledge
• Process:
1) Gather complete information
2) Question the methods, conclusions, sources of study or story
3) Tolerate some level of uncertainty
4) Look at the Big Picture
Fail to Reject
Reject
Scientific Method
Importance of Management
• Finite natural resources (land, water, wildlife, fuel, etc…)
Importance of Management
• Healthy Environment = Healthy Human Community
6.7+ Billion
Importance of Management
• Future generations inherit our world
Importance of Management
• Human Land Use – Present Effects
• Extraction of natural resources
• Patterns of development
• Transportation networks
Three Problems• Population –
explosion following Industrial Revolution
• Ultimate cause of environmental problems
• Current population = 6.7+ B (+1.3%/yr)
• By 2050 = 8-9+ B
Three Problems• Prosperity – excessive
consumption (“affluenza”)
• U.S. = 1st place in per capita consumption (30% of world’s resources)
= 5% of world’s population
Prosperity?
• 1 American = 20-40 persons from less developed nation
• Loss of soil > natural replacement rate
• ~1 million A (400,000 ha) farmland converted to subdivision annually
• ~1 million species extinct during 1980-2000 (estimates of 50,000 species/yr
Three Problems
• Prosperity
* Affluenza now for us, next generation
on their own?
Three Problems• Pollution – “There
is no free lunch”
• Air pollution & global impacts
• Global Warming• Acid Deposition
(Rain)• Ozone Depletion
Three Problems
• Pollution – “There is no free lunch”
* Water Pollution leading to:
1) unsafe drinking water
2) regulated fish consumption
3) increased prevalence human disease
Quality of Life
• Future Projections
The Limits of Growth (1972)
Fig. 1.5 – poor prospects with ’72 rates
Unsustainable society (define?)
Updated in 1992 = underestimates
• The Limits of Growth (1972)• Unsustainable society (define?)• Updated in 1992 = underestimates
Differing Viewpoints
• Optimists
Technology will solve our problems
Differing Viewpoints
• Pessimists
Time is too short for “techno-fixes”
Differing Viewpoints
• Moderates
Develop a sustainable society….SOON!
Six Principles of Sustainability
• Conservation: use needed resources wisely• Recycling: reuse materials again
• Renewable Resources: resources that replenish themselves
• Restoration: repair damaged systems
• Population Control & Mgt.
• Adaptability
Do you live sustainably?
• Next time: Calculate your carbon debt• How many tons of CO2 do you produce?
• What actions could you take to reduce this debt?
• Turn in 1-page written assignment
History of Conservation
• 19th Century
– Early history of U.S.
– National Park & National Forests
• 20th Century
-- Four major periods
History of Conservation• Fur trade & near extinction of beaver
(Castor canadensis) • Market hunting
• Near extinction of bison : 60M to ~150
History of Conservation• Market hunting
• Successful extinction of passenger pigeon
History of Conservation• Passenger pigeon
- immense abundance (400 km long, 1800)
- 1878 – 3 months, 1.5 M pigeons from MI to market
Conservation in the 20th CenturyFirst Wave: Early 1900’s
• Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, John Muir
• White House Conference on Nat. Res.:
1) timber depletion
2) irrigation farming
3) lack of water & resource use
4) mismanagement of resources
Conservation in the 20th CenturyFirst Wave: Early 1900’s
• National Conservation Commission– Result of White House Conference– Completed 1st Natural Resources Inventory– State conservation departments created
(MI DNR)
Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold
Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold
• Natural Resources Board (2nd Nat. Res. Inventory
• New Programs:
- Prairie States Forestry Project (erosion)
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Soil Conservation Service (SCS NRCS
Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s
• Wildlife Management & Land Ethic
The Wilderness Society- founded 1935- Leopold = co-founder
Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Rachel Carson, Gaylord Nelson
April 22, 1970
Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Rachel Carson, Gaylord Nelson
• Important Conservation Legislation:
• 1964 Wilderness Act • 1970 Clean Air Act• 1969 National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA)
Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• All federal actions significantly affecting environment
• Directs the preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• 1973 Endangered Species Act- Sec. Interior & Commerce- Listing species & develop recovery plans
• 1976 National Forest Management Act- Sec. Agriculture- assess forest lands, multiple-use mgt.
program, implement mgt. plan for each unit of the National Forest System.
• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)
Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• 1977 Clean Water Act• 1985 Food Security Act
- Farm Bill Provisions- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)
Conservation in the 20th CenturyFourth Wave: 1990’s 2000
• Bill Clinton, Al Gore, E.O. Wilson
• Earth Summit• Kyoto Treaty• Sustainable Development
Conservation & Wilderness Lands
Years President Acreage (MA)
63-69 Johnson 9.9
69-74 Nixon 1.3
74-77 Ford 3.5
77-81 Carter 66.3
81-89 Reagan 10.6
89-93 Bush 3.9
93-01 Clinton 9.5
01-present Bush 0.5
Conservation in the 21st CenturyFifth Wave?
• BIO 240 Students – What will you leave
for the future generations?
– How will you leave this a better place?
Concepts & Terms
Renewable: - natural processes replenish over finite time- continued use depends on proper mgt.- soil, forests, wildlife, fisheries
Types of Resources
Concepts & Terms Types of Resources
Non-Renewable: - finite resource; near infinite time- fossil fuels, minerals, metals
Concepts & Terms
• Exploitation- maximum use /
maximum $$- limitless resources - great pineries of Great
Lakes States, passenger pigeon, bison
- reoccurrence in developing nations
- USA?
Resource Management Approaches
Concepts & Terms
• Preservation (Muir)- preserve & protect resources- don’t use, ever- establish national parks
& wilderness- Muir & founding of
Sierra Club
Resource Management Approaches
Concepts & Terms
• Utilitarian (Pinchott)- resource use on sustained yield basis
Resource Management Approaches
sustained yield: manage renewable resources for future use by harvest at rate sustained by natural (or human-aided) processes
Concepts & Terms
• Ecological (Sustainable) (Pinchot, Leopold)- multiple use approach of resource use
Resource Management Approaches
- ecosystem-management approachadds component of limit human impacts to multiple-use concept – sustain ecosystems = whole systems
Concepts & Terms
• Ecological (Sustainable)• Course filter• Fine filter
Resource Management Approaches
Concepts & Terms
• Ecological (Sustainable) (cont.)
adaptive management: given current scientific understanding,
1) implement mgt. strategy, but2) monitor effects and adjust
Resource Management Approaches
Adaptive Management
Economics
• market economy: driven by supply/demand
- demand dictates production (> profit = increased production)
• measure success via Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = all goods & services generated (approx. $10 trillion)
Improving Market Economics (ME)
1) ME assumes infinite growth potential, but works in finite system
2) ME time frame is short (< 5 yrs); ecological time frame is long (10’s-millions yrs)
3) ME has input/output flaws – incorporate
environmental impacts, social & cultural
impacts, pollution
Improving Market Economics (ME)
economic externalities: costs associated with ME that are not factored into business costs, rather these are passed onto society as a whole, e.g., air pollution
Improving Market Economics (ME)
4) ME fails to account for “free services”
“Free Services”
• Free pollination services = $4-6 B per year in US (1/3 of our food from pollinated plants)
• Free water purification services, e.g., NYC estimates $6-8 B for an artificial facility + $300 M per year to operate
Ecological Society of America
Improving Market Economics (ME)
5) GDP fails to factor in environmental damage or natural capital
“good” vs. “bad” economic activitiesIndex of Sustainable Economic Welfare
(ISEW)
- alternative measure of success; factors in beneficial gains & negative output (e.g., pollution)