Outline from Feb 16^th Lecture:

R.O.T.D = Imagery Source

Terraserver – USGA/Microsoft

SPOT , SigitalGlobe, Ikonos

-first privately owned “spy-quality” satellite

o Sept. 24, 1999

4 Benefits of Wetlands:

1. Active biological processes –

2. flood protection –

3. Stream flow maintenance –

4. Store line stabilization –

Wetlands Dilemma

Most environmental valuable – b/c it is untouched

Most ‘inexpensive’ land – seen as un-build able, and developers buy it and make it build able

Wetlands Policies

US army corps of Engineers –

Clean water Act -

Municipal Zoning Ordinance produces NWI -

US Fish and Wildlife Service (NWI) -

NJDEP -

Floodplain Terms

Zones:

Channel

Floodway

Floodplain

Floodplain (SPF)

Other Regulatory Terms:

National Floor insurance Program –

FIRM – Flood Insurance Rate map –

FEMA –

Wetland and Shoreline Issues

Ecosystem Destruction -

Loss of Productivity -

Impact on Adjacent Systems -

Loss of recreation areas –

Loss of storm/hurricane protection -

Unstable building structure -

Coastal erosion (lake and Ocean) –

Inter-relationship of wetlands, shorelines,

And floodplains –

Wetlands and shoreline solutions

Shoreline setbacks –

No-fill Rules for wetlands –

Altered Expectations regarding Beach Longevity –

Dune protection -

More carefully planned jetties and Seawalls -

Temporary Beach communities -

WHERE DOES WHAT LIVE?

How to START thinking about Habitat or Landscape Ecology in a nutshell

Habitat Rule 1

The land (or the environment) determines its inhabitants – habitat determines what will live there

The Ecological Value of Vegetation

Primary producers, produce O2, consume CO2
Carbon sink (woody plant biomass)
Develop, maintain, stabilize soils –

Control erosion and runoff –
Moderates climate and weather patterns-
Removes pollutants-

Biodiversity – Biological Diversity

( how many species do we have represented here?)


Ecological values:

• Genetic variation (natural selection) –
• Maintain ecosystem functions
• Redundancy –
• Ecosystem stability – • Maximum productivity –

Human values

• Food sources (animal and plant)
• Natural products
• Biological control agents –
• Source of genes (hybridizing, genetic engineering)

– becomes our KEY or pallet


Exotic or Non-Native Species

• Can be invasive, weedy –
• Displace/replace native species – • Impact ecosystem functions
• Degrade wildlife habitat –
• Produce impoverished, homogeneous landscapes –

New Jersey Exotics

gypsy moth, hemlock woolly adelgid, (killing off its own food source) chestnut blight, (American Chestnuts) Dutch elm disease, purple loosestrife, (destroying WETLANDS all over) Japanese stilt grass, Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry, honeysuckle vine, winged euonymus, shrub honeysuckle, Tree of Heaven, Norway maple, autumn olive

Matrix – Network • In pre-settlement times it WAS the Forest with patches (aberrations) of Native American settlements in between
• TODAY, the matrix is suburban development with patches of forest Development changes the matrix

Matrix – background material, interconnectivity makes the piece unite as a network – more than simply the sum of its parts…. Can be forest or grasslands

EDGES – are the interface b/t different habits… occurs at breakpoint and is a special place in the landscape…. It’s the boundary b/t different types of patches, boundary b/t patch and corridor, high species richness and density, generalist species, tolerate disturbance

Protect the juicy Center – some species can only thrive or survive in the CORE…depending on land shape there can be little CORE lots of edge or vice versa

Look at the Connections = Corridors –serve as conduits for animals , plants, and material may become barriers to movement - have width, length, connections (nodes), have sharp microclimate and soil gradient (side to side), many edge species (if narrow)

Patches – nonlinear surface area, varies in size, shape, type, boundaries