NCSU FW353 Final

George Bird Grinnell

Founded the Audubon Society

Editor of Field and Stream

Theodore Roosevelt

President and major conservationist

Ding Darling

Cartoonist and conservationist

Federal Duck Stamp Program

Helped to found the National Wildlife Federation

Aldo Leopold

The first professor of wildlife management

Sand County Almanac

Gifford Pinchot

First chief of the US Forest Service

Conservationist - Wise Use

John Muir

Helped establish the NPS

Preservationist - No Use

Examples of Wildlife Values

material, economic, spiritual, intrinsic, medicinal, ecological, etc.

Management is the

influence and application of human manipulation based on ecological principles

Manipulation can be

Direct - stocking, shooting, removal, etc

Indirect - bottom up management

Conservation

WISE USE

hands-on - includes sustainability and restoration

Sustainability

Implies USE

Restoration

Hands on to correct

Preservation

NO USE

hands-off

Management Triad

Population, Habitat, People

Adapted Resource Management (ARM)

Assumes an incomplete knowledge

Uses continual feedback and monitoring to improve management

Land Ethic

Aldo Leopold

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community

Pelican Island (1903)

The first federal bird sanctuary

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918

Stopped the excessive take of migratory birds

ESTABLISHED WILDLIFE AS AN INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE

Downfall of the passenger pigeon

-Seen as a crop pest - human wildlife interaction

-Excessive take (aided by trains) hurt population but nomadic nature made people unsure of population status

-Population became to small to be viable - social facilitation required for breeding

Themes of Extinction

-Habitat loss/fragmentation

-Unregulated harvest

-Specialist species

-Introduced species

Irruption

A population boom that goes beyond carrying capacity (k)

After Irruption

Population crashes back below k due to habitat degradation and DENSITY DEPENDENT CORRECTION

Lacey Act 1900

Prohibits transport of wildlife across state lines

- Remove commerce

Duck Stamp Act (1934)

A stamp that must be purchased prior to hunting waterfowl

- provides conservation funds

Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937

an 11% tax on guns and ammunition to support conservation

Dingell-Johnson Act (1950)

A tax on fishing equipment to support conservation

Seven Sisters of the North American Model

-Wildlife is held in the public trust

-No commerce in dead wildlife

-Wildlife is an international resource

-Hunting opportunity for all

-Legitimate use

-Science is the basis for policy

-Democratic rule of law

Wildlife is held in the public trust

Public Trust Doctrine

Oyster beds - 1842

No commerce in dead wildlife

Lacey Act

Remove commercial value of wildlife to eliminate excessive take

Hunting opportunity for all

Influenced by the 2nd amendment

-direct rebuttal to European model

Legitimate use

Food, fur, self-defense, property protection

Valerius Geist

Public trust doctrine hurt by game ranching, sport hunting, and hunting leases on private property

Farming wildlife Concerns

-loss of public trust doctrine

-issues of commerce with the Lacey Act

-iffy in terms of humane practices

William Hornaday

Saw predators as inherently bad, pioneered top-down management (bounties)

Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Scientific evaluation to improve trapping

-Welfare (kill quickly)

-Efficiency (catch and hold majority of targets)

-Selectivity

-Safety

-Practicality

Compensatory mortality

Does not increase the overall mortality

-replaces density dependent mortality factors

Additive mortality

increases mortality

Ethyology

Study of animal behaviors

- Konrad Lorenz

When observing behaviors it is important to

Minimize disruption

Behavior is

a response to stimuli

Tapetum lucidum

A layer in the eye of animals that increases night vision

Predator's vision

Front facing eyes with binocular vision

- give depth perception

Prey vision

Side facing eyes

- give large peripheral field

Vibrassae

Small hairs that have lots of nerve endings

- detect touch and frequencies

Jacobsen's organ

Vomeronasal organ on the roof of the mouth that picks up pheromones and other chemical signals

Benefits of social groups

-increased protection

-grooming and other altruistic behaviors

-better predator detection

Drawbacks of social groups

-require larger resources

-increased risk of disease

-more visible to predators

Altruism

Helper does worse for helping the helpee

Reciprocal altruism

Helping each other, typically based on social kin groups

Hierarchy in social groups

A self reinforcing system that helps to avoid altercations - no fighting if there is a dominant individual

Home range

an area an animal uses regularly

-may overlap, not defended

Territory

An area an animal defends, including the resources

-size influenced by season and resource availability

Dispersal

Permanent movement from birthplace to reproductive range

Play serves to

teach important skills

Monogamy

Exclusive bond of one male and one female

Promiscuity

Any male or female can mate within a social group

Polygnyny

Harem system

-1 male with several females

Polyandry

1 female and many males

Polygynandry

Multiple males and multiple females

Culture

the passive transfer of information one generation to the next

Source

a subpopulation that contributes to the growth of the metapopulation

sink

a subpopulation that drains the metapopulation

Metapopulation

a group of populations that are spatially separate by interbreed

- connected by DISPERSAL

Contribution Metric

Measures how much each subpopulation contributes to the metapopulation

- Cr>1 - source

- Cr<1 - sink

8 extant bear species

polar bear

brown bear

Asiatic black bear

American black bear

sloth bear

sun bear

spectacled bear

giant panda

Native

species that live, thrive, and evolved within an ecosystem

- requires a TEMPORAL COMPONENT

Non-native

species that move into a new system

Naturalized

a non-native species that has expanded its range

DOES NOT OUTCOMPETE NATIVES

Invasive

a non-native animal that is able to outcompete the natives

- reduces species diversity

Energy requirements are

INVERSELY related to body weight

Crude protein

protein synthesized by gut bacteria from different vegetative sources

- required for growth, pregnancy, lactation

Herbivores need

QUALITY > quantity

Carnivores need

QUANTITY > quality

Coprophagy

eating fecal matter to replace lost nutrients

Management options for shortages

-Nothing - allow crash below K

-Reduce the population

-Trap and relocate (exp. and moves problem)

-artificial feeding (extends problem)

-habitat management

USE

What an organisms is using as a resource

SELECTION

Use relative to availability of the resources

PREFERENCE

selection in infinite choices - impossible to judge

Soil composition

50% mineral and organic matter

25% air

25% water

Humus

Decomposed organic matter

Permeability

Ease of water, air, and roots getting through soil

-low permeability, low fertility

Erosion

particles are removed from original location

-incr. by human activity

Crops act as

an artificial food source

- change behavior and migration patterns

- cause human-wildlife tensions

Shelterbelts

artificial edge habitat within artificial habitat of ag.

- protects soils and increase diversity

Acorns are a good food source because they are

high in carbohydrates

Masting

Variable seed production used to saturate predators