While exploring the Gulf of Maine Exhibit at the aquarium, I was surprised that many of the species found throughout New England’s coast are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. One species that was emphasized in the exhibit is the piper plover, a small bird that lives along vegetated coastlines. As coastal birds, piper plovers require a large habitat near the shore, however, this habitat is quickly diminishing due to rising sea levels. A study conducted by University of Massachusetts-Amherst revealed that over the next century, piper plover migratory habitats in Long Island will have decreased by 5-12% (Seavey et al). The diminished habitat gives Piper Plovers less space to breed, causing some populations to migrate further
Ever since 1973, when the Endangered Species Act came into being, conservationists and private landowners have been debating over whether to preserve the habitats of many endangered species found in unprotected areas (Ligon et al, 1986). Increasing levels of human development has led to the cutting of old-growth forests and construction of roads and other physical barriers to wildlife. These activities have greatly contributed to the fragmentation of wildlife habitat, which has had detrimental effects on the population structure and survivorship of the affected area’s indigenous species. One species that has been affected by habitat fragmentation is the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), a nonmigratory bird with a home range covering most of the southeastern United States (Roise et al, 1990). Habitat fragmentation has led to the loss of genetic variability, nesting sites, and suitable population sizes to support cooperative breeding requirements. These factors have been responsible for the precipitous decline of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Because the red-cockaded woodpecker provides important ecological and economic benefits to both humans and the environment, we should strongly consider enacting a conservation plan for this species.
The population of the whooping cranes most definitely gets affected from precipitation, because the population gets affected negatively with high precipitation levels present, while positively with low precipitation levels. The population of the whooping cranes gets affected this way because if there were high precipitation levels for a year, the hatching success rate drastically decreases from the precipitation, who damages the eggs laid by the cranes. By either breaking the eggs, making the cranes not be present to incubate their eggs, or actually destroying the birds’ nests. Also, the high precipitation levels may even cause a few fatalities, which is a very serious problem involving this particular endangered species. While with low precipitation
Every day many species are slowly becoming either endangered or extinct and recently an endangered bird species called piping plovers, started nesting on Revere Beach. What would seem as a miraculous discovery, many are averse to their new inhabitants on the beach. Many Revere residents are complaining because the piping plovers now occupy parts of “their” beach. But in the article “Revere Beach should welcome the piping plover” The Editorial Board believes that the presence of the piping plover could be greatly beneficial to the city of Revere and I certainly agree. What led me to select this particular article is my concern for the many endangered species in the world like the piping plover. Human hands have led many species to become endangered
The Long Island Sound is an estuary, and is in fact one of the largest in the world. An estuary is a place where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water from the rivers that drain from the land. Moreover, like other estuaries, the Long Island Sound has an abundance of fish and other waterfowl that add to the natural balance of the island, as well as one of the most important economic factors (Tedesco). Like other estuaries around the world, the Sound provides breeding, feeding, nesting, and nursery areas for many species that will spend most of their adult lives in the oceans (Long Island Sound Study). Despite these similarities to other estuaries, the Long Island Sound is unique from anywhere else in the world. Unlike other estuaries, the Long Island Sound does not just have one connection to the sea but it has two. It has two major sources of fresh water flowing into the bay that empty into the ocean. It combines this two-...
If puffins are disturbed by humans they will leave their nests and will not come back. This has led to the extinction of puffin colonies in parts of the European coastline.
The Florida Everglades have been slowly and steadily diminishing in size for over many decades. Throughout the years, the Everglades have had an abundant, healthy environment. The massive swamps were once rich with marshland, and had ecosystems chock-full of wildlife. However, due to large corporations, natural disasters and most importantly, the growth of the human population, the Everglades are 50% smaller than they were hundreds of years ago. The destruction of the Florida Everglades includes not only a diminishing number of the marshland, but also the lessening of wild life, such as alligators, herons, and exotic plants. While there is a government plan set for the restoration of the everglades, it will take many years to make up for the
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
By conserving the ecosystem, the animal population will incline. Recent reports of record duck numbers throughout much of their continent-wide breeding range is proof that to manage wildlife you need to manage their ecosystems. Wet weather, combined with abundant nesting cover provided by the federal Conservation Reserve Program, has shown that wetland and grassland ecosystems are what make or break duck populations. The same is true for all other species, game and non-game. R. Holmes.
Stories are told about species that can adapt to the world around them at a surprising rate, but not all species can adapt that quickly to sudden changes in the environment. This is important to keep in mind when dealing with dense habitats, in fact several species of animals have gone extinct in the Chesapeake Bay area. If the Bay’s health goes unrestored, then diversity of species will dramatically decrease. In source four, the chart shows the number of Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake Bay through the years 1990-2013, and the data is astonishing. It is seen that as time moves on the number of crabs are in substantial fluctuation as from 1991 to 1993 the number of crabs went from around eight hundred in 1991, down to three hundred the following year, and up to around eight hundred and fifty in 1993. This data shows that the Bay's health was in sudden extremes of health. However the concerning data is from the years 1999 to 2010, when the number of Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake Bay is below the average. For a decade the health of the Bay was obviously substandard. The importance of having the Chesapeake Bay in good health is the survival of all species, not just the survival of
Jennifer Price, in her essay "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History," highlights the American culture's ridiculous obsession with displaying wealth through her use of diction, tone, and simile/metaphor. She depicts American culture as nonsensical, and thus ridiculous, because of its disposal of normal standards or logic in order to fulfill its materialistic desires which is shown through the popularity of the pink plastic flamingo in the 1950s.
In Cold Mountain and "A Poem for the Blue Heron", tone is established in a multitude of ways. These two pieces of literature describe the characteristics and actions of a blue heron, both aiming for the same goal. However, Charles Frazier and Mary Oliver approach their slightly differing tones employing organization, metaphoric language, and diction.
Sandy beaches are highly dynamic environments that have many valuable environmental impacts including: providing protection to inland areas, dissipation of wave energy, are important tourist destinations, and serve as a home to a variety of marine and coastal species such as sea turtles and coral reefs (Absalonsen and Dean, 2010). Both of Florida’s coasts have many sandy beaches, and climate change has impacted many species of fauna such as sea turtles and coral reefs, as well as the shoreline position of Florida’s coastline. In order to understand the impacts of climate change on Florida’s coastline, it is important to describe Florida’s geologic and climate settings.
Globally coastal wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate, the problem is most of society does not realize the value of these precious wetlands. Coastal wetlands provide an important role in the coastal ecosystem. “Coastal wetlands provide critical services such as absorbing energy from coastal storms, preserving shorelines, protecting human populations and infrastructure, supporting commercial seafood harvests, absorbing pollutants and serving as critical habitat for migratory bird populations”(Anonymous, 2011). Coastal wetlands are an economical asset as well as an environmental one.
In Boston, climate change has already started to take it’s effect on the city. Days get hotter sooner in the year, it snows less, but most troubling of it all for me is the rising of the ocean. At first glance it may not seem like a urgent thing to be worried about. Who cares if the water’s a little higher up? But if the sea continues to rise and we don’t prepare for it, our city could take massive damage from flooding. Scott K. Johnson, who has a master’s in Hydrogeology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says “While rising sea levels do threaten to simply inundate some areas around the harbor, they also limit the effectiveness of drainage systems, which function based on the lower elevation of ocean water.”
One of the major effects of global warming is the rise of sea level due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to the melting of land ice. Now there are dozens of land areas that sit well below sea level and the majority of those land areas are very well populated. At least 40 percent of the world 's population lives within 62 miles of the ocean, putting millions of lives and billions of dollars ' worth of property and infrastructure at risk. (Juliet Christian-Smith, 2011) This means if the sea level rises to the projected level of 25 meters (82 feet) half of the world will retreat back to the ocean. (Rohrer, 2007) Also rising sea levels means higher tides and storm surges riding on ever-higher seas which are more dangerous to people and coastal inf...