There is no doubt that anthropogenic disturbances have been demonstrated to affect animal behavior, distribution, and abundance. The impacts of human activity and infrastructure development on caribou have been studied for decades and have resulted in numerous debates among scientists, developers and indigenous people affected. These impacts are more commonly referred to as disturbances. A disturbance is technically defined as a deviation in an animal’s behavior from patterns occurring without human influence. An example of animals that are drastically affected by anthropogenic activity is caribou. Caribou, also called reindeer, are found in northern regions of North America, Europe, Asia, and Greenland. The scientific name for this species …show more content…
The most common cause is habitat change, which does not appear reversible within three generations. This means It is difficult for the caribou to return to damaged habitats. The species is largely migratory which makes it susceptible to declines as a result of landscape changes, including the establishment of barriers related to human activities and infrastructure development, which can disrupt migration routes and destroy seasonal habitat. Some other causes for population declines include unregulated hunting, time lags in management and habitat alteration leading to habitat loss, and fragmentation. Furthermore, a warming climate will have complex and effects and concerns are strong about a warmer climate exacerbating effects of disease and parasites including the possibility of …show more content…
In areas where humans are not associated with danger, animals may quickly habituate to human disturbance and thus become more prone to poaching and hunting or becoming road kill. This results in increased mortality rate. Where caribou have been hunted or chased, herds are more likely to experience additional stress from associating humans with danger and are especially sensitive during the calving and rut periods. Harassment of unhabituated caribou to human disturbance may have immediate impacts as well as long term effects. Where humans or their machines are perceived as a threat, caribou often expend more energy attempting to avoid the disturbance. This puts them in the flight response mode and they usually flee from the disturbance. This flight response uses up vital body reserves, increases the chance of physical injury or death during stampedes, and may cause herd fragmentation. Utilization of essential body fat and protein, especially during harsh climatic conditions, can lead to increased cow/calf mortality, and may effectively reduce productivity of the
Nature, it is everywhere, everyone uses it. Quite often, however, people abuse it, such as with humans’ impact on grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are important to the environment because they have many useful purposes for the environment: “they provide an “umbrella” for the environment because they require such large home ranges.” (savethegreatbear.org/CAD/Grizzly.htm) The Grizzly Bear is extremely vulnerable to changes in its habitat and food cycle. This allows humans to detect small changes in the environment, just by watching this amazing species. The Government of Canada needs to try harder to stop the poaching of grizzly bears in Canada.
...ealthy men were getting into helicopters with high powered guns rounding up big groups of caribou and shooting them. The men would then take the racks they wanted and leave. Farley checked out an incident on this and found everything about it to be true. People were using the Caribou for their own fun and games and slaughtering what keeps the tundra alive in the winter.
Wolves are a natural mean of controlling the number of deer, elk, and other large game in an environment. The larger populations of herbivores are a problem for farmers and ranchers. The herd's winter grounds could be the same ranchers use for their cattle. In 1983 the case of Allen Nelson, a rancher in Montana, came to the attention of the Forest Service. Nelson owned land about twenty miles north of Yellowstone National Park. During the winter, elk would eat the grass on his land that he needed to feed his cattle. After Nelson's efforts to persuade the National Park Service elk were migrating form Yellowstone National Park failed he turned to the Forest Service. The Forest Service owned land next Nelson and did not want the degradation of the grass in the forest. Partnering with the State of Montana, Nelson and the Forest Service placed radio collars on a dozen elk. After tracking the elk through the next ...
When Europeans first settled in North America the white tailed deer were found only in southern parts of Canada.
In 1989, there were 12,152 deer-vehicle accidents in the USA in which four people died and over 450 people were injured (7). What humans do not realize is the damage deer are causing to their environment, the human population, and themselves. Until a decision is reached regarding deer population control, the present state of overpopulation will continue to affect humans and the environment alike.
Time and time again it has been seen that human interaction with his/her environment and it’s ecosystems has shown to be increasingly arrogant and self-serving. These endless accounts are proven by the amount of important biological diversity that is being lost to the surrounding environment due to these threats of human development and population growth. There are two forms of these losses of diversity by human hand: direct and indirect. Direct losses would be the destruction of an area needed for human requirements be it social or economical. Examples of these losses would be housing, agriculture, and others. Indirect losses would be those caused by the destruction of an area also needed for the same requirements but the area’s commodities which are valued, water, food, land in general, is needed elsewhere. These losses are few in number compared with those of direct losses yet they are of the greatest importance. They are important because they involve the removal of resources of an area in which other inhabitants are dependent upon. A great example of this regrettable indirect expansion is the loss of the rich habitat of the area known as Owens Valley.
“The decrease in numbers and even the disappearance of many large predators due to habit loss and inbreeding has made hunting a necessity for controlling the population size of certain prolific species, such as deer and geese” (Source 2). The number of species generally deemed as prey has skyrocketed with the disappearance of many large predators. Hunting is now considered a necessity only for these specific species that are over populating an area. Without the removal of these plenteous species, inbreeding and mutations will occur creating problems with the species in the future. “An abiding theme in hunting literature is the healing, calming, insight-generating effects of hunter sojourns in natural settings. The hunter ideal is not violent abandon but calm reflection of the holistic circumstances of the irreversible decision to harvest the life of a game animal” (Source 3). Hunters argue that hunting is not solely murdering with no remorse; it is a pensive act. The hunting literature explains that hunters feel contrition from making a kill and claiming the life of an animal contradicting the stereotypical opinion that every hunter is a stone cold killer. Average hunters who hunt for deer and geese for example only help in maintaining overpopulated species in certain areas. Even though maintaining
Coyotes and bears are a common sight in the woods. These animals, along with others, are predators that help to control deer population but also decrease the amount of land allowed to the deer. In Western NC, deer rates have fallen and bag limits have been reduced. In Pennsylvania, biologists have conducted a lengthy study to determine fawn mortality and predation. Predators killed 46% of fawns, (Hart). A study about coyotes in Ohio found that even though they kill numerous fawns, the population of deer continues to grow, (Hart). It would be critical to maintain...
People today use hunting as a sport. Of course, not everyone agrees with hunting, but those who like to hunt justify their actions by saying that they are helping with the overpopulation of animals, like deer. The truth is that we are affecting the population of animals. Animal overpopulation can be due to the loss of an animal’s natural predator. Predators are extremely important in an ecosystem, and they are nature’s way of controlling the animal population. In William Stolzenburg’s book, Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, he addresses the importance of predators in an ecosystem. He discusses an experiment done by a zoologist named Robert T. Paine. Paine decided to do an experiment to see what happens when one disrupts an ecosystem. He conducted his experiment on rocks along the shore in which a species of starfish was the top predator. Paine’s experiment consisted of grabbing the starfish off the rocks and throwing them into the ocean. His results showed that one single species has a tremendous effect on its ecosystem. After getting rid of the top predator, about half of the species that
For years, we have heard of the devastating effects of global warming and how the melting of the polar ice caps will cause severe climate changes. One animal that has suffered most from global warming is the polar bear. Global warming has caused the polar bear population to decrease due to the results of having to swim longer distances, loss of habitat, and lack of mates to reproduce offspring. Global warming has caused this species to become endangered and has some attention with social media. Global warming has caused much damage to the polar bear population due to the warming of their habitat.
Another significant problem caused by the over-population of white-tailed deer is the prevalence of auto accidents involving deer. Each November, deer become more active, especially around sunset, for the mating season. This coincides with suburban commuter hour and with shorter daylight hours that come with fall. Collisions with deer cost the insurance industry in excess of one billion dollars annually and kill approximately 200 people. Over one...
Thousands of years ago, hunting may have been the cause of the extinction of the North American large land mammals. “Moving up into the 1940’s and 50’s some of today’s most prominent game animals were almost non-existent.”(Kerry G) Over-hunting will directly cause the decline in the particular animal’s species. This will effect everything around it, for example ...
The project at Yellowstone was met with some apprehension. Biologists there feared that without the fear of predation during the past few generations, the resident moose at Yellowstone would not fear the wol...
Milk production, milk fat, protein content and the progression of breeding are also affected, especially in dairy cows. When heat stress occurs, dairy cows tend to reduce the intake of dry matter in order to control their heat production from increasing through the process of metabolism and digestion (Donnelly, 2012).... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved from: http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/dairy/facilities/economic-impacts-of-heat-stress IFAD.
Some main causes of Endangerment are habitat loss, pollution, hunting, competition from non-native plants and animals, plant collecting, logging, clearing forests, and trading animal parts. The growing population also causes some effect because man cause most problems. Diseases or viruses are al...