Date of Award

1995

Document Type

Research Paper

First Advisor

Greg Woirol

Abstract

For this project I looked at some very basic concepts relating to the health of a specific environment or habitat and then related them to a specific habitat that is relevant to the area surrounding Whittier. All of the concepts that I worked with relate in different ways to finding out if the habitat I am looking at can sustain itself on its own without the help from humans. If this habitat can sustain itself as it is now, the only work that would need to be done is protection of the already existing habitat. To analyze whether this habitat would be self-supporting, requires that I look at several different factors. The ones I chose to concentrate on are species dispersal and occurrence, crossover species, and finding an effective indicator for this habitat. The overlying concept for all of this is habitat fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation has come to the forefront in the fields of ecology and land management recently for several reasons. The study and understanding of habitat fragmentation was greatly bolstered by the fight to save the tropical rainforests and the Spotted Owl in the Pacific Northwest. One of the largest problems being addressed by habitat fragmentation is how fragmentation affects localized species extinction. It has been found that when patches of environments and habitats create a smaller more isolated population, this population is at risk for catastrophes, genetic deterioration, and social dysfunction. Whatever the reason for the fragmentation it can pose a serious threat in certain cases to the health of the environment. Do any small patches relate? Does an isolated small patch have basically the same profile of a small patch near a large patch? These are some of the questions I attempt to answer with my project.

Download

Share

COinS