Wildlife Conservation & Management ANIM3353 Flashcards
What is an ecological catastrophe?
- A significant disruption to the natural environment that ic caused by human activity.
- extensive rapid moficiation of habitat can lead to ecological catastrophes
Case Study: The shrinking of the Aral sea
- 90% of the Aral’s sea has shrunk.
- Habitat change from sea to salty desert
- Human impacts (toxic dust storms causing cancer and disease destroyed crops)
- Ecological impacts (Aral Sea softened arctic Siberian winds in winter and cooled the local area in summer = Increased desertification
-20/24 fish species gone
-Decrease in Annual catch - Faunal collapse (Only 38 of 173 vertebrate spp in Aral deltas remain)
What lessons can be learnt from these historical and ongoing ecological catastrophes?
-Importance of sustainable resource management
-consequences of ignoring environmental limits
-the interconnectedness of ecosystems and economies
-significance of international cooperation (Aral Sea spans many countries)
How can we better manage land use change in the future to prevent similar catastrophes from happening?
-sustainable agriculture
-Integrated Water & Land Resource Management
-Environmental Flow Requirements
-Transboundary Cooperation
Multi-anthropogenic effects: heat and noise effects on magpies
-can have additive, synergistic, antagonistic effects
-heat and noise in magpies
–birds more likely to flee
–birds spent more time vigilant
–birds spent more less foraging
–all with heat and noise combined than any other treatment
Lesser Kestral in Italy:
-underwent a rapid decline in the 1950s due to limited nest site availability
-nesting boxes were then placed in Italy and surrounds
-increasing temperatures led to these artificial habitats getting to hot
How can cognition be applied to conservation:
-why did or didnt the chicken cross the road
-We need to not only place something like an overpass but also consider how the animal responds to the environment.
