FORESTS AND GRASSLANDS REACTION PAPER

 International Day of the Forest (3:22) A. Ten ecological services of the forest are supporting energy flow and chemical cycling, reduce soil erosion, absorb and release water, purify water and air, influence local and regional climate, store atmospheric carbon, provide numerous wildlife habitats, provide fresh drinking water, fresh food and help battle against climate change. B. Celebrating this day makes people stop and think about what the forest does for us and makes us appreciate it more. C. Two groups involved in the preservation of forests are IUCN and Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration.  Wild Earth Guardians.  A. Land is considered to be wilderness if there are no roads to travel. It has to remain untouched. B. I was surprised by some of the things they considered when looking into conserving the wilderness such as value of the wildlife habitat and the richness of the species. I would just think that with so many animals facing extinction these days that saving any animal habitat would be expected. C. Two groups on involved in preservation of wilderness are Grand Canyon Trust and Wild Utah Project. D. If you are interested in helping this effort you can donate money to the fund or contact Kevin Mueller for more information on how you can help.  The Land of Mountaintop Removal (2:57) A. The mine can contaminate their air and water causing health issues. Heart, lung, and kidney disease rates are higher. They have also seen a link to birth defects. B. I was actually touched by the video showing the mountains and then quickly showing the mine. It was sad to see all the forest beauty gone. It was also shocking to hear how communities had had to move because the land was bought up for miming. I can’t imagine having your whole community being told to move. C. Ilovemountains.org is a group fighting against mountain top mining and so is The US environmental Protection Agency. D. There are many groups involved in this fight. If you are interested in join them you can search the area you are interested in and contact that agency.  Avatar Grove Making a Stand (7:43) A.. Old growth holds biological importance by destroying large amounts of atmosphere carbon, supporting unique biodiversity and endangered species it also provides clean water for wildlife and people. B. Thinking about how old those trees have been around and hearing they are at risk to being logged was hard to hear. It was surprising to hear that only 20% of the trees are protected. C. Two groups involved in preservation of the Avatar Grove are Ancient Forest Alliance and Port Renfrew Group. D. These groups are asking that you write a letter to Forest Minister Pat Bell and Premier Gordon Campbell asking them to protect this forest.  Climate, Trees, and Legacy (45:23).  A. Assisted migration is a managed migration where colonies of species are forced out of their natural habitat. Connie Barlow is an advocate when it comes to assisted migration. She feels that it is a necessity. B. I found it interesting that it takes a tree about 30 years for a tree to start making seeds to reproduce. I had never thought of the life cycle of a tree. I also thought it was interesting learning about assisted migration. C. Look into the Great March for Action Campaign if you are interested in helping. D. I was unable to get video to load completely.  Importance of Northern Arizona Grasslands A. Five types of grasslands listed were open, restorable, non-native, transitional and historic. Five threats to grasslands are fire, drought, grazing, burrowing animals and soil erosion. B. I was surprised to see Big Chino listed in the grasslands that still need to be studied further. This stood out because I live in Chino. Another thing that stood out to me is that fire was natural and used to keep the bushes down and since we have suppressed fires so much the bushes has been able to grow bigger taking over the grasslands. This stood out to me because of the big fire we had last summer on Williamson Valley. C. Two groups that are working on preserving grasslands are Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and The land owner incentive program. D. If you are interested you can always visit their websites to see how you can participate in their programs.  E.O. Wilson on Biodiversity and Hotspots A. I couldn’t find the names of the hotspots but, found a map showing where the hotspot was. They are: California Floristic Provence, Brazils Atlantic Forest, Madagascar, Colombia, Cerrado, Japan, Horn of Africa, Indoburma, Sundaland, and Wallacea. B. E.O. Wilson was born in June of 1929 in Alabama. An interesting fact I found was that he was blind in one eye due to a fishing accident as a child. He was interested in nature and science as a young child. He had a nickname “father of sociobiology”. He was an environmental advocate. C. It was interesting to hear that one is in California which is where I grew up. I wish I had been more aware. The other thing that stood out to me in the video is that if everyone chipped in to help out the cost would barely affect anyone. D. Two groups involved in preserving hotspots are MacArthur Foundation and Conservation International.

Random Sampling

Random Sampling Data Actual Data Grid Segment (number and letter) Number of Sunflowers Total number of Sunflowers _228_____ (count by hand) Average number of Sunflowers (divide total by 10) Per grid __22.8___ C8 2 J8 0 D10 2 C9 2 G7 3 G6 1 D2 2 F9 3 G1 3 D10 2 Total Number of Sunflowers 20 Average (divide total by 10) 2 Total number of plants in meadow (multiply average by 100) 200 8. Now count all the sunflower plants actually shown in the meadow. Record this number in the data table. Divide this figure by 100 to calculate the average number of sunflower plants per each grid. Analysis 1. Compare the total number you got for sunflowers from the SAMPLING to the ACTUAL count. How close are they? I estimated that there were 200 sunflowers in the meadow. The actual count was 228. I would say for an estimate this is close enough given a margin of error. 2. Why was the paper-slip method used to select the grid segments? The paper slip method was used because it keeps it random. There is no way to skew the results when you are pulling random numbers or letters out of a bowl. 3. A lazy ecologist collects data from the same field, but he stops just on the side of the road and just counts the ten segments near the road. These ten segments are located at J, 1-10. When she submits her report, how many sunflowers will she estimate are in the field? There are 7 sunflowers in that row. With her estimation the meadow would only have 70 sunflowers in it which is extremely off count. 4. Suggest a reason why her estimation differs from your estimation. Many times the outskirts of a meadow are thinner than the inside. By taking it only from the outskirts it is no longer random and is a focused study. 5. Population sampling is usually more effective when the population has an even dispersion pattern. Clumped dispersion patterns are the least effective. Explain why this would be the case. Random sampling won’t work well if there is a clumped dispersion because it throws of the count and is hard to get an average per grid. 6. Describe how you would use sampling to determine the population of dandelions in your yard. I would use this same technique. I would form a grid on my yard and then use the paper slip method to count certain areas in my yard. 7. In an area that measures five miles by five miles, a sample was taken to count the number of desert willow trees. The number of trees counted in the grid is shown below. The grids where the survey was taken were chosen randomly. Determine how desert willow trees are in this forest using the random sampling technique. Show your calculations. 35 divided by 5 = 7 trees per grid divide that by 35 = 5 x 35= 175 trees in the meadow 7 3 5 11 9 Reference Biology Corner. Random Sampling. 2014 Apr 6. Web.

Fearsome Frogs

I actually found the bullfrog video interesting to watch. From the beginning it started sharing facts that I found interesting. I never knew that bullfrogs were brought into Arizona as a sport for cowboys. The bull frogs were introduced into our habitat for the cowboys to hunt for sportsmanship and to provide food for them. The thought of eating frogs is not appealing at all. I am a hunter and into hunting my food and putting it on the table for my family. But, it would take an awful lot of bullfrogs to provide a meal for my family and fill up my belly with the average bullfrog only being 1 pound 8 ounces. I also found in interesting that they are able to eat just about anything: tarantulas, scorpions, snakes and even other frogs, to the point the native leopard species of frogs is gone in Arizona. I can understand what the scientist is hoping to achieve by building a fence to keep the two species separated but, I do not feel that this will solve the issue. I think that the bull frog would find a way to get around the fence. The only way this would work would require a cage to hold and protect the leopard frog. In order to control the bull frogs in Arizona lakes and ponds I think that they would need to bring in known predators to the bull frog to help control the population. The video showed pelicans so I am not sure if this is something that could be brought into Arizona lakes and ponds. The video also showed frog festivals taking place and mentioned that that helped to control the bullfrogs from taking over. I do not see frog eating festivals becoming popular here like they are in other states that help them to keep their population in control. The National Geographic Fearsome Frogs retrieved from http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/fearsome-frogs/?ar_a=1

The Stearn's Dam

The Stearns Dam was built back in 1911 to irrigate the Stearn Ranch from water in the Crooked River. In 1934 the dam had to be constructed even stronger to prevent it from being washed down the hill. Eventually anglers became concerned that the dam would prevent the migration of the native fish. In October 2013 they decided to remove the dam. The concerns were that it was built so long ago that nobody knew what to expect when they tore it apart. The Crooked River runs with the Deshutes River in Grant County, Oregon. It is part of the Grasslands biome community. The river is fed off of Snow Mountain and Funny Butte runoff draining into the rivers. The Crooked River once housed Chinook Salmon and Redband Trout. Unfortunately the Salmon did not survive the dam. Since the dam has been taken down they have tried to place hatchery fish back in the river to see if they can bring up the population again. The river used to be full of waist high grasses and willow trees. Animals that lived there were beavers and rattlesnake. Currently the Crooked River is used for irrigation diversions during the summer months. The biggest struggle right now is trying to get native fish back into the water there and get vegetation up on the river bank to keep it from sliding into the river. Weeds are trying to take over. Another struggle is trying to keep cattle from crossing over the river onto the highways. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooked_River_%28Oregon%29 http://www.bendbulletin.com/home/1574596-151/stearns-dam-completely-gone-from-crooked-river http://portlandtribune.com/ceo/162-news/198386-stearns-dam-removal-gets-under-way http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2011/12/crooked_river_grassland_is_no.html

Lab 8 part 2

I have been trying to do this all day. I wasn't able to figure out the concept map. So this is the closest I could get.

Lab 8 Part 1

I live in Chino Valley, Arizona.  According to Google Earth the biotic community that my home resides in is Grassland (plains and great basin grassland).  A common plant found in grasslands is Indian Grass.  Indian Grass grows well in full sun and dry soil making it able to tolerate the warm summers in the grasslands.  

Exponential Growth

1.       “Approximately when was the bottle half full? “   I would estimate that the bottle was half full at 11:30 since it took 1 hour to fill the bottle. 

2.       Then answer the next question.

3.       Did anything surprise you about these two parts?  I was surprised to see that I got the answer wrong and that it was half full and full at the same time frame. 

4.       “Any time living things are allowed to reproduce freely, their numbers increase exponentially not linearly. And when people talk about "steady growth," they mean exponential growth then, too.” Why do you think people might have trouble understanding exponential growth? I think people will have trouble understanding this because it is not black and white.  We are used to things growing at an even pace and steadily.  Not quickly multiplying.

5.       Whenever you hear that something is growing by some percentage, or that something is growing steadily, what rule should you remember in order to understand the rate of growth? Explain this rule.  You need to remember it is not always linearly but, exponential growth too.  As something grows larger it starts to multiply even faster than it did before.  Keeping ahead of it is nearly impossible. Remembering the rule of 70 says that eventually it will double. 

6.       “When our consumption of a resource (energy, for instance) grows steadily, the doubling time takes on an even scarier meaning.” What is that scarier meaning? The scary thing is that if our society continues to grow our resources will be used up.  There is no way for our supply to keep up with the demand. When looking at the charts we find that we have used up more energy than all of history before us. 

7.       “…if we keep increasing our energy consumption like this, we'll use more energy in the next 25 years than we've produced _in all of history up to now_______________________.”

8.       “There are those who say we don't need to worry about running out of oil, because there's still lots of oil left in the ground. Experts believe that over the past 150 years we have used up about half the total oil on Earth. In other words, our oil supply "bottle" is still half full.” But if we keep doubling our population, what will happen?  We will run out of oil after 1 more doubling.

The People Paradox Video

These questions are in order as the video runs.

About India

1.       Compare the education of the residents of north and south India. How does this correlate with the number of children women bear?  Women in the northern part of the country are uneducated and have an average of 5/6 children each.  In the southern part of the country women are educated and birth rates are down with each women averaging 3 kids.  This could cause the population to double instead of stabilize.

2.       Who are the “gatekeepers to health services” in India?  The US is offering support with the help of Dr. Ravi Anand with healthcare and family planning.   However the husbands and their mothers make all the decisions regarding pregnancy and family planning therefor, they are referred to as the “gate keepers”.

3.       Why might sons be preferred in India? Sons are preferred in India because they stay with the family and care for their elderly parents. With no sons or only one son the parents are at risk of being left “high and dry”.

4.       India demographic pyramid?  Shows that the base is its youth and under 25 reaching reproductive age. What implications does this have?  If they only have 2 kids per couple population growth will halt. 

5.       Why are daughters often considered a burden in India?  Daughters are considedered a burden in India because the family is required to provide a dowry upon marriage. 

6.       How did Abidi Shah change the lives of the young women in the village?  Abidi Shah is a social worker that convinced a town to let her teach vocational education and health to girls.  She helps the women learn skills to get employment.  She also helps them with legal birth control such as the pill.  She teaches them that they have a say in their future as well. 

7.       What are the obstacles for women and employment in India?  India is already struggling with unemployment so it is hard for jobs to come by.  The population is growing too fast for employment to keep up.

8.       What is the knife-edge that India sits upon?  The knife edge that India sits upon has to do with population.  If they can get it under control they will be okay but, just a slight change (couple having 2 kids vs 2.5 kids per couple) it will throw it all off causing drastic consequences. 

About Japan

1.       What is the “revolutionary change” that is happening in Japan?  Japans population is decreasing.  Birth rates have declined greatly and quickly. 

2.       If fertility stays at 1.3, Japan’s population will shrink in ______half___.

3.       What are two reasons Japanese women want to work?  They want their independence and if married many times a dual income family is necessary, especially if children are involved. 

4.       The newswoman and her family had problems with childcare arrangements. What is the relationship between declining birth rates and childcare?  Men spend most of their time at work.  With working wives children spend most of their time in daycare causing guilt with parents.  Because of their dedication to work many couples choose not to have children.

5.       Who cares for elders in Japan?  In the older generations the daughter in law would care for their elderly in-laws.  Today many of the elderly are left on their own because the women in the family are working. 

6.       What does Japan’s age structure look like? What implications does this have?  In Japan the elderly out rule the young.  The down side is that there will be fewer people to replace the retiring elder population.  This could throw off the economy. 

7.       How might immigration help solve this problem?  Immigrants would keep the population up, fill the open spots of employment and keep consumer purchases up. 

8.       What is the average family size worldwide?  The average family worldwide is at or below two children per family.

9.       Many countries encourage families to have more children. It has been found to be easier to  ___cut___ fertility than to __raise______ it.

Sub-Saharan Africa

1.       What does sub-Saharan Africa’s age structure look like? What implications does this have?    The sub-Saharan African age structure is mostly combined of younger population (not even at reproduction age).  If they were to stop reproducing their population would still double.

2.       What situations create tremendous pressures to immigrate?  Falling per capita income and deteriorating social services will cause pressure to immigrate. 

3.       Describe the demographic transition as exemplified in Kenya (starting at 40:21 and in text).The demographic transition exemplified in Kenya with fallen birth rates.  The goal is to have the birth rate and death rates meet up.  Unfortunately in Kenya AIDS is killing off their population quickly. 

4.       Death rates from HIV/AIDS life expectancy has declined from 65 to __49____years.

5.       Women in Africa might have to make a choice between __having a child______ and _being at risk for AIDS_______.

6.       Explain the how the economic gains of Asian Tigers came about.  The government of four countries took money once used for children and used it to create jobs for young adults entering the work force.  The economic growth was enormous.  Helping to eliminate the poverty trap. 

7.       The key to population stabilization key is the __education__ and ___liberation_ of women.

8.       Why should we care about other countries?  We should care about other countries because globally it affects all of us. 

9.       What are two things that struck you most strongly about the situations in this video?  Two things that stuck out the most to me on the video was the females in India being burned and poisoned because of their dowry or not having a male child.  As a father to a daughter it would be devastating to know that could happen.  The other thing I was surprised about was the young boy in Japan that had been the only one in his class since kindergarten.  I didn’t realize how low their child population was.