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Biodiversity
by Sheri Zola
Important Aspects of Nature
The Binghamton University natural areas provide a variety of important
ecological functions. These include improving water quality, flood
prevention, supporting biodiversity, and providing a means for carbon
storage. The environment is seriously threatened in many aspects
including deforestation, pollution, and rising global temperatures.
Even the preservation of regions such as our natural areas helps to
contribute to the health of the environment.
Water Quality
Water pollution is a growing concern in today’s society.
Fertilization, pesticide use, wastewater from factories, acid rain, and
sewage are all common sources of this pollution. While some pollutants,
such has heavy metals from industry, are toxic, others, such as
nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and sewage, are detrimental
due to their overabundance. Eutrophication of water, or the presence of
excess nutrients, can cause algal blooms leading to low oxygen levels
as the algae eventually dies off and is decomposed (Montgomery 2003,
411). This situation can also occur when excess organic matter from
sewage is allowed to gather in a body of water. When oxygen levels
plummet, higher organisms such as fish, can not survive.
Wetlands, such as those present in the nature preserve, have the
ability to prevent this situation. When water enters a wetland, it
stagnates and remains there for an extended period of time. If this
water is laden with organic matter, microbial decomposers will have the
time to break it down into carbon dioxide and water (Lewis 2001, 52).
Wetlands can also absorb excess nutrients in several ways. Plants
living in the wetland absorb nitrogen and phosphorous, nitrates can be
converted into nitrogen gas by microbes in the anaerobic soils of the
wetland, and any nitrogen or phosphorus attached to particles is
removed by gravity as the water stagnates (Lewis 2001, 53-54).
Another consideration to take into account is the turbidity of water.
Large amounts of sediment from erosion clouds waters, causing a
decrease in the aquatic plant life from insufficient sunlight
penetrating the water surface (Montgomery 2003, 414). This will destroy
the entire ecosystem of the lake or stream.
The natural areas can help alleviate this problem in two ways. First of
all, forests help to retain soil through the mechanical holding power
of the roots and by reducing the force by which rain impacts the soil
through tree cover and leaf litter (Perry 1994, 498). Also, the
wetlands play an important role in reducing sediment because when water
collects there, it loses the velocity necessary to carry particles and
they fall to the bottom (Lewis 2001, 53).
The role that Binghamton’s natural areas play in improving
water quality is not restricted to the local community. This region is
part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Water collected in this area
flows through groundwater or rivers, eventually ending in the
Chesapeake Bay (Center
for Integrated Water Studies). Preservation locally
translates into benefits for a wide region. Any effort helps.
Flood Control
Our natural areas help to control flooding. This is accomplished in
many ways, the most important being the presence of wetlands. This
ecosystem is excellent at retaining flood waters thereby preventing a
flood when excess rain falls. Water from precipitation or overflowing
streams can be stored in a wetland for an extended period of time where
it may evaporate, or come into contact with ground water and be
absorbed by the underground reservoir (Lewis 2001, 47-49). Instead of
rushing across the landscape, flood water will remain contained within
the wetland either to be taken up by plants and animals, evaporated
into the atmosphere, or used to recharge groundwater.
Biodiversity
Maintaining biodiversity is crucial in protecting the environment. The
interactions between organisms is incredibly complex. Nearly every
species in an ecosystem can exert some sort of influence on at least
one other species. These interactions can include predator-pray
relationships, mutualisms, parasitism, and herbivory. Because of the
complexity of the interactions between organisms, it is necessary to
preserve their diversity. Removing just one species can have disastrous
effects on an ecosystem. This is especially true for keystone species.
Though difficult to define, a keystone species is one that exerts a
strong influence on community structure even though it may be present
in low numbers (Molles 2002, 397). If a keystone species goes extinct
in an area, a cascading effect can occur in which a substantial number
of other species in the community also go extinct because of their
dependence on that one keystone (Perry 1994, 515).
Binghamton’s natural areas are home to a great diversity of
organisms. Each of these organisms fulfills a specific function to
support the community. Amphibians present include the pickerel frog,
red eft, spotted salamander, and the spring peeper. Mammals range from
the keystone beavers, to deer, cottontail rabbits, chipmunks and
opossums. There also exists an extensive bird population consisting of
the plilated woodpecker, kingfishers, red wing black birds, many
sparrow and warbler species, and herons to name a few.
The only way to preserve the species in an ecosystem is to preserve
their habitat. The natural areas here undergo habitat maintenance led
by several professors and the Friends of the Nature Preserve. By
ensuring that fields, forests, shrub-lands, and wetlands persist, the
organisms occupying niches in those communities will be protected. At a
time when forests are dwindling as a result of human activity,
preserving natural areas is essential to support the environment. For
example, wetlands are very important for amphibians, many of which
require this ecosystem breeding (Amphibian
Facts). While at one time the United States was covered by
220-million acres of wetlands, that number has been reduced to about
100-million (Lewis 2001, 4). This number will continue to decrease
owing to the passage of laws that allow the exclusion of many wetlands
from federal protection (Lewis 2001, 17-19). Binghamton
University’s wetlands and vernal pools provide important
breeding grounds for amphibians. The few remaining habitats are
precious to the survival of these organisms and need to be protected to
ensure their continued existence.
Carbon Storage
A major problem the human population appears to have inflicted upon the
environment is increasing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the
atmosphere. By analyzing the composition of air trapped in ice cores,
it has been determined that current levels of carbon dioxide are higher
than they have ever been in 160,000 years, along with finding an
exponential increase since the start of the industrial revolution
(Molles 2002, 542-543).
While humans release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere though the
burning of fossil fuels, the environment has several methods for
storing it. Though the largest amount of carbon is stored in carbonate
rocks and the oceans, significant amounts are also held in soil and
vegetation (Molles 2002, 436). Plants convert carbon dioxide into
oxygen though photosynthesis as well as containing high amounts of
stored carbon as part of their biomass (Perry 1994, 38). By preserving
natural areas, carbon is given another storage pool other than the
atmosphere.
The Binghamton University natural areas provide many important
ecological functions for not only the local environment, but on a much
larger scale as well. Though this area is small in comparison with the
global environmental problems faced by humanity, every contribution
helps. By setting a precedence of conservation and management, the
wildlife here can be protected, as well as motivating others to do the
same.
References
Center for Integrated Watershed Studies. “Current CIWS
Projects.” Center for
Integrated Watershed Studies. (December 11th, 2003).
Lewis, William M. Wetlands Explained. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001.
Molles, Manuel C. Ecology: Concepts and Applications, Second Edition.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Montgomery, Carla W. Environmental Geology, Sixth Edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Perry, David A. Forest Ecosystems. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1994.
University of California, Berkley. “AmphibiaWeb: Information
on amphibian biology and conservation.” Center for
Integrated Watershed Studies. (December 11th, 2003).
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