GEOG 256 1st Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture II Water Supply III Where Water Comes From IV Issues V Water Conservation Outline of Current Lecture II Urbanization Current Lecture Urbanization Why Care Ethical Responsibility o They ve helped us they have inherent rights they are no less important than we are Recreational Value o In 2007 87 million Americans participated in wildlife related recreation and spent 47 bil vs 108 bil at electronics appliance stores Ecosystem services pollination germination seed dispersal soil generation nutrient cycling pest control o Global value of insect pollination 200 bil Genetic storehouse for medicine and agriculture o Waxy monkey frog secretions may treat 70 diseases including cancer diabetes stroke and transplant patients by regulating blood vessel growth Richness number of species falls with urbanization Richness evenness equality of abundance diversity These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Urban and suburban exploiters can increase with urbanization House sparrow Urban avoiders decrease The problem comes from losing the Urban Avoiders Steller s jay How urbanization affects wildlife Habitat loss or degradation o Removal of food cover water nesting sites o Degradation around homes e g non native plant invasions alteration of natural ground cover Habitat fragmentation creation of isolated patches or islands o Reduces dispersal and repopulation o Increases risk of extinction from catastrophic disturbances o Increases edge effects Larger patches reduce the edge effect helping to preserve the natural core interior know what the edge effect is and why larger patches are more susceptible to the edge effect Alteration of ecological processes o Fire suppression and flood control can alter plant composition and related wildlife e g fish Florida panther Predation o Elimination of larger predators allows large herbivores like deer and rabbits to become overpopulated in some areas and they can in turn affect plant diversity e g Madera deer o Overpopulation of cats and raccoons can affect bird nesting small mammals and reptiles e g near saguaro NP Population o Noise chemicals nutrients can harm sensitive species like amphibians Key strategies to accommodate wildlife Preserve large patches of habitat Buffer the patches from urban uses buffers move the edge effect to outside the core link the patches with corridors linkages