Chapter 10: The Biotic Mosaic
New Jersey has a special section within the Division of Fish and Wildlife to deal with the Endangered and Nongame species. "Its mission is to actively conserve New Jersey's biological diversity by maontaining and enhancing endangered, threatened, and nongame wildlief populations within healthy, functioning ecosystems" (172). This can be hard as populations of people begin to pop up where animals are trying to live. Laws are put into place to protect these animals and their natural habitat. The timber rattlesnake is a species that is threatened by the building of new communities and the already endangered species can't afford to lose more. The scientists within this program did a study using a GPS tracker on 5 males and 4 females to determine the proper way to help these snakes and prevent deaths by motor vehicles as they can't adapt themselves to a local traffic pattern and cross the road safely. Using the information from their study, they created a settlement to protect the snakes from the newly developing communities. "This agreement allowed the completion of an unfinished portion of Georgia O’Keefe Way by directing the developer to build twelve-foot-wide box-type culverts under the road, which allowed both of the endangered snake species to pass through, minimizing mortalities by motor vehicles.5 Under this agreement, building lots with snake nesting areas in them were permanently protected through deed restrictions" (174). Snakes have a bad image, but they are still a part of our ecosystem and deserve a far chance at life. I personally don't like snakes just because I can't tell if they are dangerous or not and they can also swallow you whole. But the chances of that happening are very slim. The Bald Eagle is another species, only unique to North America, that went near extinct. The source of the danger that almost killed them was not from losing its home range to community building or even deforestation, but from pollution. DDT is a pesticide sprayed on lawns to kill off bugs, but when the wind picks up, it is carried through the breeze and into lakes and forests where animals call it home. DDT caused thinner eggshells, resulting in reproductive problems and death. not only that, but the contaminant traveled through the food web ending in their primary food, fish. This created for a dangerous situation for them and these poor birds were in serious danger of extinction. The Bald Eagle was the bird population that was hit the hardest by the contamination of DDT. "New Jersey’s Bald Eagle population was hit especially hard by eggshell thin- ning and loss of habitat, to the point that by the late 1980s there was just one active nest remaining in the state. We gained a second nest in 1988, however, and the population has been growing ever since thanks to the bird’s reintroduction to the state by NJDEP’s Endangered Species and Nongame Program" (175). Without this program we would most likly not see any more Bald Eagles. The hacking program consisted capturing birds to bread and hand raise, then release into the wild. 60 young Eagles were released over an 8 year period, increasing the nesting pairs. Biologists continued to monitor their progress and the Bald Eagles continue to thrive. With the various climate changes happening each year and the dangers that prove to exist against our plant and animal species, it is our job to monitor and help them when needed. New Jersey has various species of plant and animal life that have problems which are not yet dire, but need careful management in case they do become dire. One example of this is "NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife houses many such programs that monitor and protect freshwater fish, marine and shellfisheries, fur-bearing animals, and even insects. Its goal is to maintain the state’s rich variety of fish and wildlife species at stable, healthy levels and to protect and enhance the many habitats on which they depend. The division runs many education programs to alert residents to the values inherent in our fish and wildlife and tries to foster positive human/wildlife coexistence. It also studies and maximizes the recreational and commercial use of fish and wildlife resources for future generations" (180). This is so important and beneficial especially as the years continue. Already, these animals are having trouble with people advocating for them, so it is our job as co inhabitants to help them live long healthy lives- regardless of the animal. If we don't keep an eye out for the animals and keep their population stable then that will be bad for us especially with the animals we consume. For example, there tends to be over fishing of certain marine life and if it continues at a steady rate we will run out of consumable species of fish. We can not help species all over the world, but in helping them locally in New Jersey it can affect the impacts globally. It needs to be a global ecological effort to ensure that some species don't go extinct. Pollution seems unrelated to the marien species for example, but that is not at all true. The more carbon emissions, the more the globe will warm and the sea will warm and some species cannot handle the additional heat. Or global warming could change the timing of the seasons. The last section mentions that for example, an earlier spring season "may interfere with the genetically precise timing of millions of migrating species. Birds may arrive late onto their nesting grounds only to find the abundance of insects or seeds they need for survival and reproduction dissipated" (186). This would be very dangerous for this species of bird as they would starve. We need to work together and take the problems seriously and work on them before they are too deep to fix.
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Gabriella Brycea Junior at Seton Hall University studying Elementary and Special education with Environmental Studies. Archives
April 2018
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