Ecosystems

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= Workshop Questions =

** 1. How does development impact biodiversity in Monteverde (in other places too) ? **
Development affects or impacts biodiversity in many ways, in Monteverde, as well as in other [|biological corridors]. One way development affects biodiversity is, for example, when we, humans build houses and highways and we destroy many [|species] ' habitats. Also, while developing highways and houses, we are [|fragmentating] the animals' habitats and making it harder for them to reproduce. Not only that, but loss of species is also a problem that might happen when we are developing buildings Loss of species could even lead to the extinction of the species. Not only do buildings affect many species, so do things like power lines, which one would never expect to harm a fly, but they do harm many bird species. Big changes matter, and guess what, small ones do too. Small animals such as the bellbird matter.

For a more detailed explanation on the impacts listed previously you might want to visit this site: [|Endangered Wildlife Trust]



Here is more information regarding human influence on biodiversity in other places of the world (at google docs): [|Human Influence on Biodiersity]

** 2. What is the purpose of identifying, classifying and collecting plants and insects? **
Ok, there are many purposes for doing these things. First, the reason for identifying plants is that whenever you see a plant and know from what class it comes, you can know many things about it, not only physical characteristics but things such as: Does it need A LOT of sunlight? Does it need more water than other plants? Or even: Does it live in cool or warm [|environments] ? Also, identifying insects is important. There's a whole variety of insects, just like plants! Some insects eat plants, some insects eat other insects, and some insects feed on something a thousand times bigger than themselves. That's why it's important what each class of bugs does or needs to survive. It's essential to know at least what an insect eats. However, just identifying and knowing the class they're each in, is not enough. There's something beyond observing them in the wild, which is __collecting__ insects AND plants. By collecting plants and insects, scientists have gotten specific information while observing their unique collection of biodiverse species. Not only is all this true, but the main purpose of collecting insects and plants is the preservation of the species we know so well. So, if more and more scientists started their own insect and/or plant collection, we could all learn something new about every class or type of insect or plant.

Here is a video showing insect classification:

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= Related Topics =

** 1. What are the main consequences of ecosystem change for human beings? **
The main positive consequences of ecosystem change for human beings, are meeting the growing needs for food and water in the world, reducing the amount of hungry people, and improving human health. As human population increases there’s a need for more food, so more and larger ecosystems are being used to harvest crops and the increase the reproduction of species that human feed on. Also, by doing this, we are reducing the amount of hungry people and malnourished people in the world, form children to adults. And finally, the use of agriculture provides us with money to invest on hospitals, medicines and other health related issues.

However, there are negative consequences of ecosystem change. Some of these are: degradation of many ecosystems and the depletion of the Earth's natural resources decreasing the ability to sustain future generations. First, changes in ecosystems have damaged them more rapidly in the last 50 years than at any other point in time and more than 50% of the total area of ecosystems have been lost in the last 100 years. This has reduced considerably the resources that humans need to survive. Then, there has been a depletion in the Earth's natural resources, which will affect future generations. We depend so much on ecosystems, that any change could affect humans greatly by reducing food, fuel, and/or water. Also, we can be affected by it in other ways such as floods caused by deforestation and climate change.

Here is a more detailed explanation on how humans are affected by ecosystem changes:



** 2. What are the main threats to biodiversity? **
Threats to biodiversity are numerous and human activity is responsible for most of them. The first main threat to biodiversity is habitat loss and degradation, which affects about 86% of all threatened bird species, about 86% of all threatened mammal species, and about 88% of all threatened amphibian species. As you can see, many species are threatened every day by habitat loss and degradation of the same, either by climate change, or directly from humans. Habitat loss and degradation could lead many animals' death, which would decrease the amount of biodiversity of our ecosystems. Another main threat to biodiversity is the introduction of invasive "alien species", or species from different ecosystems, and is a threat that we, humans, do to species in the wild. Alien species establish and spread outside their normal grouping. Some of the most threatening invasive species include cats and rats, green crabs, zebra mussels, the African tulip tree and the brown tree snake. Introductions of alien species can happen deliberately or unintentionally, for example, by organisms in containers, ships, cars or soil. Also, there's another threat is over-exploitation of natural resources.

I've found a video that might interest you, and it explains what's the problem with invasive species:

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** 3.What is sustainability and how is it measured? **
Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." The Webster Dictionary definition is designating of, or characterized by a practice that sustains a given condition, as economic growth or a human population, __without destroying or depleting natural resources, polluting the environment, without harming biodiversity__ . One can use it regarding biological and human systems. Ecologically, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future. Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological organization,such as: wetlands, prairies, and forests, and is expressed in human organization concepts, such as: Eco-villages, Eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human activities and disciplines, such as:sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture and renewable energy.

Sustainability measurement (involving the sustainability of environmental, social and economic domains, both individually and in various combinations) is still evolving and includes [|indicators], indexes and accounting, as well as assessment, and other reporting systems. It depends on how much space is involved and when it's being measured.

= Interdisciplinary Question =

** 1. What role do market factors play on conservation actions in shaping land use in some biological corridors in our country? **
Market factors play a very important role on conservation action in shaping land use in some biological corridors in Costa Rica. One successful example is the Costa Rican Payments for Environmental Services Program (PESP). In this system, landowners receive direct payments for the ecological services which their lands produce when they adopt land uses and forest management techniques that do not have negative impacts on the environment.

The PESP provides market-based motivations to conserve natural forest ecosystems. The PES program has been partly credited for helping the San Juan, La Selva portion of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, once known as having one of the world’s highest deforestation rates. Results indicate that PES for forest protection has helped to reduce the deforestation rate and that reforestation has been effective at increasing forest areas.

Here, you can look for Monteverde by scrolling down a little:

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Products (Spanish Newscast and Prezi presentation):

This video and this were created by 9th grade students at the University of Georgia campus in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The purpose of this video was to educate people about the history of Monteverde and the biodiversity at biological corridors in Monteverde, in a fun way, a newscast. This newscast can be used to teach students about biodiversity and how to conserve it. I've also done a Prezi presentation about biological corridors (in Spanish) with the same purpose. Here are the video and the Prezi presentation:

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RSS Feed (Weather): l="feed: //open.live.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/en/3621849/3dayforecast.rss" link="true" number="10" enclosure="true"]]San Jose Weather // rss url="http://rss.wunderground.com/auto/rss_full/global/stations/78762.xml?units=metric" link="true" number="10"

RSS Feed (Nature - Latest Research):

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RSS Feed (Nature - News):

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//Bibliography://

Barton, David N. "Economic Instruments." MPRA//. Web. 7 June 2012. .// Website Link[|Tags] Edit [|Delete] "IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature." IUCN//. Web. 07 June 2012. .// Website Link[|Tags] Edit [|Delete] Malavasi, Edgar Ortiz, and John Kellenberg. "Ecological Services in Costa Rica." GSU//. Web. 7 June 2012. .// Website Link[|Tags] Edit [|Delete] "MEASURING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY." Unstats//. Eurostat. Web. 7 June 2012. .// Website Link[|Tags] Edit [|Delete] Samper, Christián. "ActionBioscience - Promoting Bioscience Literacy." ActionBioscience - Promoting Bioscience Literacy//. Aug. 2005. Web. 03 June 2012. .

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