Question

Imagine you are a conservation manager in New York City, trying to protect an endangered squirrel. How would you design a reserve system that would help the squirrel, but also work in the context of the city? What are key things to consider, based on your knowledge of island biogeography?

Answer 1

A habitat assessment is an assessment of the biodiversity potential of a site, based on habitats and the rare species they are likely to support. This type of assessment does not attempt to find all the species that use a site, thus is an efficient first step. A habitat assessment can be done at any season , whereas many individual plant or animal species are only detectable at certain times of the year and day, or require special experience and techniques to find. A habitat assessment of a development site, park, nature reserve, or other greenspace in New York City can help guide decisions about conservation, planning, and management. The assessment is the first step in acquiring and analyzing biological information and may need to be followed by targeted surveys for particular species or groups of organisms.

How can design reserve system

One of the very best way to protect biodiversity is by setting aside areas of land in reserves and allowing natural processes to proceed largely uninterrupted. These reserves can be in a variety of forms including national parks, protected watershed, or on private property when the owner has agreed to set aside land for conservation easements. But when the time comes to decide what land should be protected, how much, and in what arrangements, different variables need to be taken into account. Here are some guidelines that are often considered when setting aside land for conservation.

1. It is generally better protect a complete ecosystem. If a whole watershed can be protected, that would be better than if part of the watershed was outside the reserve.

2. Larger reserves are generally better than small one. Large reserves are more likely to have many habitat types and hold larger populations of the species in those habitats. this means that if the choice is to set a side a small area off by itself or add to an already existing reserve, the existing reserve should be expanded.

3. Having a reserve that is unfragmented is better than having one that is fragmented. The fewer roads, power lines, etc. that pass through a reserve the more continuous the habitat will be and so have fewer edge effects.

4. Having more reserves is better than having few reserves.

5. Connecting reserves with corridors is better than having reserves that are isolated from one another. Corridors will be different for different species, for example Black Bears seem to like to use tunnels to get under a road, but Grizzly Bears prefer bridges over the road.

6. In the absents of corridors that connect reserves, creation of stepping-stone reserves can have similar effects. Stepping-stone reserves are smaller reserves that lie between larger reserves. These serve to reduce the total dispersal distance that organisms have to travel to find suitable habitat.

7. Protecting an area with many diverse habitats is generally better than protecting areas that have fewer habitats.

8. A reserve that has a more uniform shape will have fewer edge effects and more undisturbed interior area as compared to a reserve that is long and thin or irregular in shape.

9. Generally speaking, having a variety of large and small reserves in an area is better than having reserves that are all the same size.

10. Managing the reserves in an area jointly is better than managing each one individually. This allows for more specialized and targeted management and better biodiversity protection region-wide.