Biodiversity and Conservation
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assignment below:
Biodiversity sustains life on earth and its conservation is one of the basic principles of Sustainability.
Discuss how you think we can better apply this principle and mimic natural systems, in, California, the Mojave Desert and anywhere around the world without causing undue damage to our social and economic infrastructure?
Biodiversity Conservation- Fire and Sun in the Mojave
Biodiversity Conservation is one of the three main principles of any sustainable environment and is at the center of a great deal of the land management issues in the Mojave Desert. The main issue is how do we sustain this very special ecosystem while still allowing for development and wise usage of the Natural Resources. Renewable Energy (developing Solar PV plants in the Mojave), wildfires and Californias very stringent climate change initiatives have put a great deal of focus on what are our best conservation practices.
It is important to conserve all types of biodiversity at the genetic, species, habitat and whole ecosystem level. We usually focus on minimizing species extinction is important it is however more important to look at biodiversity of habitats that support the many species in the first place and the integrity of whole ecosystems that we must maintain for any life to exist.
Also important to look at conservation and its relationship to biodiversity. The best definition of conservation is the wise management of our natural resources. This predisposes that we study the current state and use of a particular ecosystem and then apply the best scientific management of that ecosystem. This is often called landscape or ecosystem level conservation management. This focus has been adopted by most of our large government natural resource management agencies like the BLM, USFS and National Park Service. However we still often revert back to preservation-managing these ecosystems based on one species and not allowing for other species needs and land-use. Examples of this in the Mojave have been a focus purely on the Desert Tortoise and/or more recently the Joshua Tree. Although this species approach to biodiversity conservation is important it is this authors belief that the broader ecosystem approach is more effective.
Biodiversity Conservation Best Practices
Fire has been used for hundreds of years by Native Americans and others to manage natural landscapes. Natural Resource managers have increasingly used Prescribed Controlled Burns to reduce biomass and reduce fire risk. This strategy relies on carefully managing and controlling burns in the wet season so that they do not escalate into catastrophic, canopy fires that cause irreversible damage. Controlled burns are therefore being advocated all across the West as the best solution to reduce the excessive biomass that is accumulated over the last 40 or 50 years since we have been able to suppress fires very successful. There is significant proof that proper Livestock Grazing, that maintains a correct carrying capacity which in the Mojave can be upwards of 100 acres per cow unit is a viable and sustainable practice. It works to reduce the invasive Mediterranean grasses and eliminate the fire corridor that carries the fire between shrubs, Joshua Trees and other yucca species. These fires are much slower moving and the not catastrophic destroyers of all the vegetation and seed banks in the soil. Fire Breaks that remove or reduce the amount of growth/biomass in, around and between natural landscapes are used very successfully all over the world. A shaded break is a fairly new innovation in which the number of trees or shrubs is significantly reduced/removed to reduce fire risk while on leaving an ugly scar or encouraging vehicle access. This strategy is particularly effective in the dry Coniferous forest in the San Bernardino Mountains where effective fire control over the past 40-50 years had allowed tree density to grow to 200+ per acre instead of recommended 50. The recent wildfires in the South West USA, specifically the Dome Fire in the Mojave National Preserve has focused our attention on the need for these forest management practices. The National Park Service that manages the preserve maintains that the main contributors were climate change and past cattle grazing practices. The cattlemen and natural resource managers suggest that it is more about how these carrying capacity which in the Mojave can be upwards of 100 acres per cow unit is a viable and sustainable alternative. Many suggest the reintroduction of the government grazing allotments many of which were retired after the Bureau of Land Management was sued over poor historically poor management slower moving, not catastrophic destroyers of all the vegetation and and even the seed banks. They would in other words the more similar to
Renewable energy development (solar and wind) have proposed significant challenges to California and the Mojave natural resource managers. These are often very large industrial scale developments that require extensive clearing and destruction of native habitats. Local residents and advocacy groups recommend the use of previously disturbed land and the use of existing rooftops of industrial buildings, closer to the point of use in the Los Angeles basin. Significant progress has been made by government natural resource management agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and San Bernardino County to come up with good Environmental Policy to guide this development and wisely manage the Mojave. Unfortunately this planning has taken a long time and several large projects have been grandfathered in, that are not well designed and would cause significant destruction. To help mitigate this the Center for Biological Diversity filed an injunction with the Fish and Wildfires to give the Joshua tree temporary protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Other Practices
Ecological Restoration
Invasive Weed Management
Water Source Management
Predator Management…..
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