Environmental Studies
American Museum of Natural History - Lab
The purpose of this lab is to give you a sense of the different ecosystems/biomes around the world and how people have and are changing them. Spend as much or as little time with the exhibits as you want, and realize that the places I have asked you to go represent a very small portion of the exhibits at the museum. There is a huge amount of stuff to see here. I have organized questions by their appropriate exhibit. >>>
“Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities” By Meyers et al
The article discusses and describes twenty five “hotspots” all over the world which the authors feel are extremely important in a conservation point of view. The hotspot approach is similar to what we discussed in class regarding umbrella species and surrogate species. In lack of funding, there is a necessity of these kinds of approaches where scientists choose representative species, places, etc. and then extrapolate their findings to the whole. >>>
The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild
The article is written by a group of scientists working for the Wildlife Conservation Society. It starts out with an interesting analogy of how God made a covenant with Noah to multiply and to replenish the Earth. As the authors point it out, Noah and his children are succeeded, but the results are not so desirable. Summary: all scientists seem to agree in the fact that the overpopulation of humanity profoundly affects our ecosystem. We consume 40% of the net primary productivity produced on Earth each year, in addition to that we consume 35% of the productivity of the oceans and we use 60% of all freshwater run-off. >>>
Red Pandas and the Cotton-top Tamarins - Zoo Lab
The two species I’d like to discuss are the red pandas, and the cotton-top tamarins. But due to the fact that I couldn’t find out a lot about the specifics of these animals, I’ll mention some others that are protected under the Species Survival Plan, including the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, and the Bali Mynah. >>>