10-4 How Should We Manage and Sustain
Parks and Natural Reserves?
• Concept 10-4 Sustaining biodiversity will require
more effective protection of existing parks and
nature reserves, as well as the protection of much
more of the earth’s remaining undisturbed land area.
National Parks Face Many
Environmental Threats
• Today we have more than _____________
major
1100
national parks located in more than 120 countries
• Parks in ________
- developed countries have the
less
greatest biodiversity…
1% of these parklands are
• But only about _____
protected because park services in these countries do
funds
not have enough ___________
or ____________
staff
• illegal animal poaching
• illegal logging and mining
Grand Teton National Park
• The U.S. national park
system, established in
58
1912, has ________
major national parks
• Sometimes called our
country’s _________
crown
jewels
_______________
Fig. 10-22, p. 237
Case Study: Stresses on U.S.
Public Parks (1)
• Biggest problem may be _________________
popularity
• Between 1960 and 2008, the number of visitors to
U.S. national parks ____________
tripled
•
•
•
•
Noise
Congestion
Pollution
Damage or destruction to vegetation and wildlife
state parks are located near urban areas
• Most ________
and receive about __________
twice as many visitors per
year as do national parks
Natural Capital Degradation: Damage
From Off-Road Vehicles
• Damage
caused by off
road vehicles
• Controversy
over whether
these machines
should be
allowed
Fig. 10-23, p. 237
Case Study: Stresses on U.S.
Public Parks (2)
Additional threats to national parks include…
• Damage from _________________
species
nonnative
• Boars and mountain goats
• eat or trample on vegetation...leads to increased soil
erosion
• Introduced plants, insects, worms enter on vehicle
__________
tires or on hikers’ _________
gear
• Native species are sometimes __________
or
killed
_______________
removed
• Not all park visitors understand the rules that protect
species
Case Study: Stresses on U.S.
Public Parks (2)
• Our parks have also become threatened
_____________
of biodiversity
islands
• Surrounded by a “sea” of commercial development
• Nearby human activities threaten the wildlife and
recreational value of parks…
air
• _________
pollution
• _________
acid rain
• Water ___________________
dispersion
8-9
• Estimated that national parks have an $ ________
billion backlog for long overdue maintenance
Science Focus: Reintroducing the Gray
Wolf to Yellowstone National Park
• Removed species
sometimes need to be
reintroduced
__________________
to
national parks for natural
restoration
capital ________________
• Example: Scientists
discovered that the gray
keystone
wolf was a _____________
species essential for the
health of Yellowstone
National Park
Science Focus: Reintroducing the Gray
Wolf to Yellowstone National Park
• 1995 and 1996…_______
31
gray wolves were reintroduced
116 gray wolves
• In 2009 the park had ________
higher elevation
• Prey on elk and push them to a __________
• _______________
Regrowth of aspen, cottonwoods, and willows
• More beaver dams, more _____________,
wetlands more aspens
• “foundation” species
• Compete with and reduced the number of __________
coyotes
• Fewer attacks on cattle
• More small mammals present in the park
Fig. 10-24, p. 239
Nature Reserves Occupy Only a Small
Part of the Earth’s Land
13% of our world
• Nature reserves occupy about ______
5% is strictly protected
land, but no more than ______
• So in other words… we have reserved 95% of the
earth’s land for human use
20% of the
• Conservationists’ goal: to protect ______
earth’s land area in a global system that would
include multiple examples of all the earth’s
biomes
___________
• Protecting more of the earth’s land from
unsustainable use will require action and funding
by…
governments
• National ___________________
• ______________
groups
Private
• _________________
political pressure by concerned
Bottom-up
individuals
Cooperative
• _____________________
ventures involving
governments, businesses, and private conservation
organizations
• For example…The _________________
Nature
____________,
Conservancy founded in 1951 by a group of
professional ecologists, has created the world’s
largest system of __________________
held nature
privately
reserves and wildlife sanctuaries
• In the U.S., private, nonprofit _________
_________
land
trust
____________
have protected large areas of land
groups
• Members pool their financial resources and accept tax
___________________
deductible donations to buy and protect
farmlands, woodlands, and urban green spaces
Silver Creek Nature Conservancy
Preserve near Sun Valley, Idaho
Fig. 10-25, p. 240
Designing and Connecting Nature
Reserves
• Large reserves are typically _____________
better
than
small reserves
• Can hold more species and provide greater habitat
diversity
exposure
• they also minimize __________________
to…
• natural disturbances (fires and hurricanes)
• Invading species
• Human disturbances
rainforest
• This is especially true in tropical _______________
areas…where species diversity is extremely high
Designing and Connecting Nature
Reserves
• Studies of other locales, however, indicate that
_____________,
____________-sized
reserves may be
medium
several
better protect a broader range of habitats
buffer
• When possible, scientists call for using the ____________
__________
concept to design and manage nature
zone
reserves
• This means strictly protecting an _________
inner core of a
reserve and creating ________________
surrounding buffer zones
where locals can use resources sustainably
biosphere
• So far, the U.N. has created 553 ______________
_______________
with this method
reserves
Designing and Connecting Nature
Reserves
• It is also recommended to establish habitat
______________
between isolated reserves to allow
corridors
migration for species that need large ranges
• 2006 study showed that areas connected by habitat
higher
corridors have ___________________
biodiversity
without an increase in nonnative species
Case Study: Costa Rica—A Global
Conservation Leader
• 1963–1983: cleared much of the forest
• 1986–2006: forests grew from 26% to 51%
• Goal: net carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2021
• ¼ of land in nature reserves and natural parks –
global leader
• Earns $1 billion per year in tourism
Solutions: Costa Rica: Parks and
Reserves—Eight Megareserves
Costa Rica
• smaller than West
Virginia but a
biodiversity super
power
• home to more bird
species than found
in all of North
America
mega • Eight _________
_______________
reserves
Fig. 10-26, p. 241
Solutions: Costa Rica: Parks and
Reserves—Eight Megareserves
Government…
• pays landowners to
maintain or restore
_________
tree cover
• has planted nearly
14 million trees
Conservation has paid
off…the country’s
largest source of
income is
_______________
ecotourism
Fig. 10-26, p. 241
Protecting Wilderness Is an Important Way
to Preserve Biodiversity
• One way to protect undeveloped lands from human
exploitation is to set them aside as _____________
wilderness
• Land officially designated as having no serious
disturbance from human activities and where such
law
activities are limited by _________
• Wilderness Act of 1964…allows government to
protect undeveloped public land
• These lands get the ______________
highest level of
protection from human activities
Protecting Wilderness Is an Important Way
to Preserve Biodiversity
• The Wilderness act is controversial because it…
4.7% of U.S. lands
• currently protects only ________
Alaska
• ¾ of this land is in _______________
• In the lower 48 states, only 4 areas are ___________
large
enough to sustain the
species they contain
• Great opposition from oil,
gas, mining, and timber
companies
Wrangell - Saint Elias Wilderness
Review Questions
• Currently, what percentage of earth’s land is strictly
protected?
5%
• What percentage do conservations suggest we need
to protect?
20%
• What methods are suggested for designing and
connecting nature reserves?
Large or medium reserves
Buffer zones
Habitat corridors
Review Questions
• What is a wilderness area?
Undisturbed, undeveloped land protected by law