Reference no: EM13820936

1. Create a brochure about human society's impact on ecosystems and the costs and benefits of human enterprise. Include the following:

 

• Explain how ecosystem degradation and loss results from human society.
• Describe the effects of human activity on plants, animals, and ecosystem dynamics, and provide specific examples.
• Describe the economic decisions underlying conservation and exploitation. Explain the costs and benefits of human enterprise in terms of ecosystems, and provide specific examples.

 

2. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper about the ecosystems you have chosen and the species that make up these ecosystems. In your paper, include the following items:

 

• Describe your pair of ecosystems and the types of current or proposed exploitation in one or both ecosystems. Explain the past, present, and potential future consequences of overexploitation in these ecosystems. Describe the potential costs and benefits of at least two exploitation activities.
• Explain current and potential management of your ecosystems. How can modification, cultivation, or restoration alter these ecosystems? Outline at least two potential management plans beyond cessation of exploitation, and describe the costs and benefits of each.
• Prioritize conservation efforts in your pair of ecosystems based on values and the principles of conservation biology by including the following elements:
  • Prioritize species and ecosystems for protection based on the values identified in the Acting Locally Paper - Part One.
  • Describe a regional or global threat to your ecosystems, such as global climate change, and outline a plan to combat this threat.
  • Rank the priorities of continuing or ceasing exploitation activities, of alternative management plans, and of the plan to combat the regional or global threat to biodiversity.
  • Defend your prioritization based on specific values and on your plan's overall effect on biodiversity, ecological integrity, and economic feasibility.
• Identify at least two specific practical actions and at least two specific political actions you can take to support the top priorities you have identified for the pair of ecosystems. Interpret how these specific actions can support conservation and biodiversity.

 

3. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper about genetically vigorous populations. Include the following items:

 

• Describe the importance of genetic diversity in populations. Explain how genetic diversity in plants and animals supports long-term viability, biodiversity, and biotic integrity. Describe specific examples of at least one plant population and at least one animal population facing challenges in genetic diversity, and explain the potential or demonstrated threats to viability posed by deficient genetic diversity.
• Describe the values underlying population management. Relate genetic diversity to the success of population management. Explain the costs and benefits in successful population management. Provide at least two specific examples of current and past population management efforts.
• Compare ex situ conservation to in situ conservation. Describe the role of zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens in conservation. Explain the efforts of these institutions to support genetically vigorous populations.
• Explain why the Endangered Species Act was created to promote conservation of plants and animals.