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70-401: For thousands of years, coastal and estuarine environments have provided people with food, safe harbors, transportation access, flood control, and a place to play and relax. The pressures on the nation's coast are enormous and the impacts on economies and ecosystems are becoming increasingly evident. Severe storms, climate change, pollution, habitat alteration and rapid population growth threaten

140-473: A "living laboratory". The National Estuarine Research Reserves serve as living laboratories to support coastal research and long-term monitoring and to provide facilities for on-site staff, visiting scientists and graduate students. They also serve as reference sites for comparative studies on coastal topics such as ecosystem dynamics, human influences on estuarine systems, habitat conservation and restoration, species management, and social science. Additionally,

210-480: A decline in marine habitats over the last 60 years. The rising sea levels and temperatures have caused soil erosion , coastal flooding , and loss of quality in the UK marine ecosystem . About one-fifth (20%) of marine coastal areas have been highly modified by humans. One-fifth of coral reefs have also been destroyed, and another fifth has been severely degraded by overfishing , pollution, and invasive species ; 90% of

280-502: A given area or country. This concept, along with many other results of tropical deforestation from the Geist and Lambin study, can easily be applied to habitat destruction in general. Shoreline erosion: Coastal erosion is a natural process as storms, waves, tides and other water level changes occur. Shoreline stabilization can be done by barriers between land and water such as seawalls and bulkheads. Living shorelines are gaining attention as

350-498: A growth in wood (logging) and food markets. Growth in these markets, in turn, progresses the commercialization of agriculture and logging industries. When these industries become commercialized, they must become more efficient by utilizing larger or more modern machinery that often has a worse effect on the habitat than traditional farming and logging methods. Either way, more land is cleared more rapidly for commercial markets. This common feedback example manifests just how closely related

420-431: A hostile environment/matrix. This process is generally due to pure habitat loss as well as fragmentation effects. Pure habitat loss refers to changes occurring in the composition of the landscape that causes a decrease in individuals. Fragmentation effects refer to an addition of effects occurring due to the habitat changes. Habitat loss can result in negative effects on the dynamic of species richness. The order Hymenoptera

490-424: A lesser extent. Only 10–20% of the world's drylands , which include temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands , scrub , and deciduous forests , have been somewhat degraded. But included in that 10–20% of land is the approximately 9 million square kilometers of seasonally dry-lands that humans have converted to deserts through the process of desertification . The tallgrass prairies of North America, on

560-594: A major source of habitat destruction. Commercial farmers are going to become desperate to produce more food from the same amount of land, so they will use more fertilizers and show less concern for the environment to meet the market demand. Others will seek out new land or will convert other land-uses to agriculture. Agricultural intensification will become widespread at the cost of the environment and its inhabitants. Species will be pushed out of their habitat either directly by habitat destruction or indirectly by fragmentation, degradation , or pollution . Any efforts to protect

630-893: A natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved to elsewhere or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and species numbers . Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide. Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the use of natural resources , agriculture, industrial production and urbanization ( urban sprawl ). Other activities include mining , logging and trawling . Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change , introduction of invasive species , ecosystem nutrient depletion , water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation . Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of

700-404: A new stabilization method. These can reduce damage and erosion while simultaneously providing ecosystem services such as food production, nutrient and sediment removal, and water quality improvement to society Preventing an area from losing its specialist species to generalist invasive species depends on the extent of the habitat destruction that has already taken place. In areas where the habitat

770-601: A reason for change to more sustainable practices. Education about the necessity of family planning to slow population growth is important as greater population leads to greater human caused habitat destruction. Habitat restoration can also take place through the following processes; extending habitats or repairing habitats. Extending habitats aims to counteract habitat loss and fragmentation whereas repairing habitats counteracts degradation. The preservation and creation of habitat corridors can link isolated populations and increase pollination. Corridors are also known to reduce

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840-540: A result of habitat destruction include watershed management , nitrogen fixation , oxygen production, pollination (see pollinator decline ), waste treatment (i.e., the breaking down and immobilization of toxic pollutants), and nutrient recycling of sewage or agricultural runoff . The loss of trees from tropical rainforests alone represents a substantial diminishing of Earth's ability to produce oxygen and to use up carbon dioxide. These services are becoming even more important as increasing carbon dioxide levels

910-429: A universal policy for controlling tropical deforestation would not be able to address the unique combination of proximate and underlying causes of deforestation in each country. Before any local, national, or international deforestation policies are written and enforced, governmental leaders must acquire a detailed understanding of the complex combination of proximate causes and underlying driving forces of deforestation in

980-553: A variety of regional partners to improve the science in support of habitat restoration, restore coastal habitats, control invasive species, protect habitat through acquisition, and implement land management practices that balance the needs for conservation and public access. The Reserve System's Habitat Mapping and Change Plan was developed in 2007 to establish the framework for mapping habitats in reserves for long-term change related to local sea-level change and human-caused stress from reserve watersheds. The habitat mapping and change plan

1050-605: Is a diverse group of plant pollinators who are highly susceptible to the negative effects of habitat loss, this could result in a domino effect between the plant-pollinator interactions leading to major conservation implications within this group. It is observed from the worlds longest running fragmentation experiment over 35 years that habitat fragmentation has caused a decrease in biodiversity from 13% to 75%. Habitat destruction can vastly increase an area's vulnerability to natural disasters like flood and drought , crop failure , spread of disease , and water contamination . On

1120-488: Is becoming better understood is climate regulation . On a local scale, trees provide windbreaks and shade; on a regional scale, plant transpiration recycles rainwater and maintains constant annual rainfall; on a global scale, plants (especially trees in tropical rainforests) around the world counter the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by sequestering carbon dioxide through photosynthesis . Other ecosystem services that are diminished or lost altogether as

1190-1177: Is directly correlated to the poverty status of the local people, most of whom lacking an education and family planning. According to the Geist and Lambin (2002) study, the underlying driving forces were prioritized as follows (with the percent of the 152 cases the factor played a significant role in): economic factors (81%), institutional or policy factors (78%), technological factors (70%), cultural or socio-political factors (66%), and demographic factors (61%). The main economic factors included commercialization and growth of timber markets (68%), which are driven by national and international demands; urban industrial growth (38%); low domestic costs for land, labor, fuel, and timber (32%); and increases in product prices mainly for cash crops (25%). Institutional and policy factors included formal pro- deforestation policies on land development (40%), economic growth including colonization and infrastructure improvement (34%), and subsidies for land-based activities (26%); property rights and land-tenure insecurity (44%); and policy failures such as corruption , lawlessness, or mismanagement (42%). The main technological factor

1260-711: Is lost, a catastrophic event such as an earthquake, flood, or volcanic eruption could cause an ecosystem to crash, and humans would obviously suffer from that. Loss of biodiversity also means that humans are losing animals that could have served as biological-control agents and plants that could potentially provide higher-yielding crop varieties, pharmaceutical drugs to cure existing or future diseases (such as cancer), and new resistant crop-varieties for agricultural species susceptible to pesticide-resistant insects or virulent strains of fungi , viruses , and bacteria . The negative effects of habitat destruction usually impact rural populations more directly than urban populations. Across

1330-488: Is one of the main contributors to global climate change . The loss of biodiversity may not directly affect humans, but the indirect effects of losing many species as well as the diversity of ecosystems in general are enormous. When biodiversity is lost, the environment loses many species that perform valuable and unique roles in the ecosystem. The environment and all its inhabitants rely on biodiversity to recover from extreme environmental conditions. When too much biodiversity

1400-543: Is one such example, with irreversible reclamation proceeding prior to environmental impact assessments and approvals. Other such areas include the eastern coasts of Asia and Africa, northern coasts of South America , and the Caribbean Sea and its associated islands . Regions of un sustainable agriculture or unstable governments, which may go hand-in-hand, typically experience high rates of habitat destruction. South Asia , Central America , Sub-Saharan Africa , and

1470-401: Is relatively undisturbed, halting further habitat destruction may be enough. In areas where habitat destruction is more extreme ( fragmentation or patch loss), restoration ecology may be needed. Education of the general public is possibly the best way to prevent further human habitat destruction. Changing the dull creep of environmental impacts from being viewed as acceptable to being seen

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1540-555: Is supported by additional documents including the NERR Land Cover and Habitat Classification System and associated implementation protocols and documentation. As living laboratories, the reserves are ideal settings to investigate the restoration and protection of estuarine and coastal habitat. Because of their federally protected status, biogeographic diversity, on-site facilities, long-term monitoring programs and data, and professional staff capabilities in science and education,

1610-564: Is that shifting cultivation is not the primary cause of deforestation in all world regions, while transport extension (including the construction of new roads ) is the largest single proximate factor responsible for deforestation. Habitat size and numbers of species are systematically related. Physically larger species and those living at lower latitudes or in forests or oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area. Conversion to "trivial" standardized ecosystems (e.g., monoculture following deforestation) effectively destroys habitat for

1680-492: Is working to advance estuary, climate & ocean literacy. Estuaries can be used as a powerful context to support learning about the interconnections and interdependencies between terrestrial and ocean systems, what important services they provide for humans, and how to restore and protect them. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System's Coastal Training Program (CTP) was formally initiated in 2001 to provide up-to-date scientific information and skill-building opportunities to

1750-597: The Amazonian tropical rainforest areas of South America are the main regions with unsustainable agricultural practices and/or government mismanagement. Areas of high agricultural output tend to have the highest extent of habitat destruction. In the U.S., less than 25% of native vegetation remains in many parts of the East and Midwest . Only 15% of land area remains unmodified by human activities in all of Europe. Currently, changes occurring in different environments around

1820-807: The Centralized Data Management Office (CDMO) , which is managed through a grant to the University of South Carolina and is housed at the North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve in South Carolina. SWMP data can be viewed and downloaded from the CDMO. The NERRS Science Collaborative is designed to put Reserve-based science to work for local communities. Administered by the University of Michigan (UM),

1890-585: The Philippines , and Japan . South and East Asia—especially China , India , Malaysia , Indonesia , and Japan—and many areas in West Africa have extremely dense human populations that allow little room for natural habitat. Marine areas close to highly populated coastal cities also face degradation of their coral reefs or other marine habitat. Forest City , a township in southern Malaysia built on Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Rank 1 wetland

1960-473: The expanding human population ; rate of population increase over time; spatial distribution of people in a given area ( urban versus rural), ecosystem type, and country; and the combined effects of poverty, age, family planning, gender, and education status of people in certain areas. Most of the exponential human population growth worldwide is occurring in or close to biodiversity hotspots . This may explain why human population density accounts for 87.9% of

2030-561: The Philippines' coral reefs alone have been destroyed. Finally, over 35% of the mangrove ecosystems worldwide have been destroyed. Habitat destruction through natural processes such as volcanism, fire , and climate change is well documented in the fossil record. One study shows that habitat fragmentation of tropical rainforests in Euramerica 300 million years ago led to a great loss of amphibian diversity, but simultaneously

2100-1191: The System-Wide Monitoring Program, working with farmers to develop and monitor best management practices from agriculture, monitoring the impacts of canopy cover on salmon habitats, addressing sedimentation impacts into coastal streams by working with adjacent land owners and evaluating land use impacts through tools such as the Non-Point Source Pollution, Erosion and Control (NSPECT) tool. Coastal and estuarine habitats include marshes, forested wetlands, oyster reefs, seagrass beds, beaches, tidal streams, and riparian forests. These habitats are vital not only for fish, birds, and other wildlife, but for human communities as well. They help to protect against flooding, improve water quality, provide recreational opportunities, and support commercial fisheries and tourism. Restoring habitats helps ecosystems by removing pollutants and invasive species, re-establishing natural ecosystem processes, and re-introducing native plants and other wildlife. The Reserves are working with several NOAA programs and

2170-1187: The attention concerning the destruction of habitat. From the approximately 16 million square kilometers of tropical rainforest habitat that originally existed worldwide, less than 9 million square kilometers remain today. The current rate of deforestation is 160,000 square kilometers per year, which equates to a loss of approximately 1% of original forest habitat each year. Other forest ecosystems have suffered as much or more destruction as tropical rainforests . Deforestation for farming and logging have severely disturbed at least 94% of temperate broadleaf forests ; many old growth forest stands have lost more than 98% of their previous area because of human activities. Tropical deciduous dry forests are easier to clear and burn and are more suitable for agriculture and cattle ranching than tropical rainforests; consequently, less than 0.1% of dry forests in Central America's Pacific Coast and less than 8% in Madagascar remain from their original extents. Plains and desert areas have been degraded to

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2240-515: The balance of species keeping up with the extinction threshold leading to a higher likelihood of extinction. Habitat loss is one of the main environmental causes of the decline of biodiversity on local, regional, and global scales. Many believe that habitat fragmentation is also a threat to biodiversity however some believe that it is secondary to habitat loss. The reduction of the amount of habitat available results in specific landscapes that are made of isolated patches of suitable habitat throughout

2310-782: The coastal zone. A core mission of the Reserves is to protect and conserve the more than 1.3 million acres of coastal and estuarine habitat within reserves and to facilitate improved stewardship of coastal habitats outside reserve boundaries. The Reserve System's stewardship approach uses the best available science to maintain and restore healthy, productive and resilient ecosystems, and disseminates information to regional and national stakeholders. Site-based stewardship strategies assess and respond to threats from coastal development, human use of reserve resources, climate change, and invasive species. Invasive species are species not native to an ecosystem, and whose introduction to that ecosystem can harm

2380-556: The complexity of the natural world and express concern at the loss of natural habitats and of animal or plant species worldwide. Probably the most profound impact that habitat destruction has on people is the loss of many valuable ecosystem services . Habitat destruction has altered nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and carbon cycles , which has increased the frequency and severity of acid rain , algal blooms , and fish kills in rivers and oceans and contributed tremendously to global climate change . One ecosystem service whose significance

2450-430: The country, as a result of widespread deforestation in the 20th century. As habitat destruction of an area occurs, the species diversity offsets from a combination of habitat generalists and specialists to a population primarily consisting of generalist species . Invasive species are frequently generalists that are able to survive in much more diverse habitats. Habitat destruction leading to climate change offsets

2520-538: The destruction of the surrounding landscape. Over the past 50 years, the destruction of habitat surrounding agricultural land has degraded approximately 40% of agricultural land worldwide via erosion , salinization , compaction , nutrient depletion , pollution , and urbanization . Humans also lose direct uses of natural habitat when habitat is destroyed. Aesthetic uses such as birdwatching , recreational uses like hunting and fishing , and ecotourism usually rely upon relatively undisturbed habitat. Many people value

2590-898: The drier climate spurred on a burst of diversity among reptiles. Habitat destruction caused by humans includes land conversion from forests, etc. to arable land , urban sprawl , infrastructure development , and other anthropogenic changes to the characteristics of land. Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and pollution are aspects of habitat destruction caused by humans that do not necessarily involve over destruction of habitat, yet result in habitat collapse. Desertification , deforestation , and coral reef degradation are specific types of habitat destruction for those areas ( deserts , forests , coral reefs ). The forces that cause humans to destroy habitat are known as drivers of habitat destruction. Demographic , economic, sociopolitical, scientific and technological, and cultural drivers all contribute to habitat destruction. Demographic drivers include

2660-480: The ecological functions that have supported coastal communities throughout history. Estuaries are the connection between the ocean (or Great Lakes) and the land and humans depend on both for their very existence, so caring for both – and the connection between them – is vital to humans. The System was established by the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) of 1972 as estuarine sanctuaries and

2730-523: The environment, public health or welfare. Reserves manage for invasive species through preventing new introductions and through managed removal if appropriate. Reserves manage and restore habitat to support species of concern by restoring degraded habitat, enhancing habitat connectivity to support multiple life stages of particular species, managing visitor use pressure during critical life stages and restoring species and habitats such as native oysters and sea grass beds where possible. Reserves also work within

2800-413: The first factor—in those areas (25%). Geist and Lambin (2002) assessed 152 case studies of net losses of tropical forest cover to determine any patterns in the proximate and underlying causes of tropical deforestation. Their results, yielded as percentages of the case studies in which each parameter was a significant factor, provide a quantitative prioritization of which proximate and underlying causes were

2870-463: The globe, poor people suffer the most when natural habitat is destroyed, because less natural habitat means fewer natural resources per capita , yet wealthier people and countries can simply pay more to continue to receive more than their per capita share of natural resources. Another way to view the negative effects of habitat destruction is to look at the opportunity cost of destroying a given habitat. In other words, what do people lose out on with

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2940-705: The impacts of non-point source pollution, understanding the role of social science in coastal resource management, and controlling invasive species. The System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP, pronounced "swamp") was established in 1995 as a means of observing short-term variability and long-term changes in estuarine regions. Each reserve participates in SWMP which provides researchers, resource managers, educators, and other coastal decision makers with standardized, quantitative measures to determine how reserve conditions are changing. By using standard operating procedures for each component across all 30 reserves, SWMP data helps establish

3010-951: The majority of the reserves have engaged in restoration science and have planned or conducted small to medium-scale restoration projects (0.5 to 250 acres). An inventory of key habitats at the reserves and restoration activities and priorities conducted in 2000 and updated in 2001 is summarized in the NERRS Restoration Science Strategy. Reserves have investigated both engineering and natural approaches to restore areas to approximate natural, unaltered conditions. Several reserves must first address water quality issues and/or restore hydrologic regimes (i.e. sheet flow, tidal exchange, and freshwater drainage) before they can restore terrestrial and aquatic native plant communities and achieve faunal and ecological recovery. Habitat alteration Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction ) occurs when

3080-524: The more diverse species. Even the simplest forms of agriculture affect diversity – through clearing or draining the land, discouraging weeds and pests , and encouraging just a limited set of domesticated plant and animal species. There are also feedbacks and interactions among the proximate and underlying causes of deforestation that can amplify the process. Road construction has the largest feedback effect, because it interacts with—and leads to—the establishment of new settlements and more people, which causes

3150-597: The most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species . Biodiversity hotspots are chiefly tropical regions that feature high concentrations of endemic species and, when all hotspots are combined, may contain over half of the world's terrestrial species. These hotspots are suffering from habitat loss and destruction. Most of the natural habitat on islands and in areas of high human population density has already been destroyed (WRI, 2003). Islands suffering extreme habitat destruction include New Zealand , Madagascar ,

3220-678: The most significant. The proximate causes were clustered into broad categories of agricultural expansion (96%), infrastructure expansion (72%), and wood extraction (67%). Therefore, according to this study, forest conversion to agriculture is the main land use change responsible for tropical deforestation. The specific categories reveal further insight into the specific causes of tropical deforestation: transport extension (64%), commercial wood extraction (52%), permanent cultivation (48%), cattle ranching (46%), shifting ( slash and burn ) cultivation (41%), subsistence agriculture (40%), and fuel wood extraction for domestic use (28%). One result

3290-438: The negative impacts of habitat destruction. The biggest potential to solving the issue of habitat destruction comes from solving the political, economical and social problems that go along with it such as, individual and commercial material consumption, sustainable extraction of resources, conservation areas , restoration of degraded land and addressing climate change. Governmental leaders need to take action by addressing

3360-482: The other hand, a healthy ecosystem with good management practices can reduce the chance of these events happening, or will at least mitigate adverse impacts. Eliminating swamps—the habitat of pests such as mosquitoes —has contributed to the prevention of diseases such as malaria . Completely depriving an infectious agent (such as a virus) of its habitat—by vaccination , for example—can result in eradicating that infectious agent. Agricultural land can suffer from

3430-517: The other hand, have less than 3% of natural habitat remaining that has not been converted to farmland. Wetlands and marine areas have endured high levels of habitat destruction. More than 50% of wetlands in the U.S. have been destroyed in just the last 200 years. Between 60% and 70% of European wetlands have been completely destroyed. In the United Kingdom, there has been an increase in demand for coastal housing and tourism which has caused

3500-697: The people who are responsible for making decisions affecting coastal lands and waters of the United States. Through this program, National Estuarine Research Reserves can ensure that coastal decision-makers have the knowledge and tools they need to address critical resource management issues of concern to local communities. Coastal Training Programs offered by reserves focus on issues such as stormwater management, community development, restoration science, land use planning and others. Since 2006, these reserve-based programs have delivered more than 400 evaluated training events reaching at least 13,000 decision-makers in

3570-485: The program funds research projects that bring scientists, intended users of the science, stakeholders, educators, and trainers together to address problems related to coastal pollution and habitat degradation in the context of climate change. The results of these projects is shared throughout the System. The Collaborative also sponsors a UM-based graduate and professional education program focused on helping individuals develop

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3640-814: The proximate and underlying causes are to each other. Climate change contributes to destruction of some habitats, endangering various species. For example: When a habitat is destroyed, the carrying capacity for indigenous plants, animals, and other organisms is reduced so that populations decline , sometimes up to the level of extinction . Habitat loss is perhaps the greatest threat to organisms and biodiversity. Temple (1986) found that 82% of endangered bird species were significantly threatened by habitat loss. Most amphibian species are also threatened by native habitat loss, and some species are now only breeding in modified habitat. Endemic organisms with limited ranges are most affected by habitat destruction, mainly because these organisms are not found anywhere else in

3710-404: The reduction of genetic diversity and perhaps the production of infertile youths, as these organisms would have a higher possibility of mating with related organisms within their population, or different species. One of the most famous examples is the impact upon China's giant panda , once found in many areas of Sichuan . Now it is only found in fragmented and isolated regions in the southwest of

3780-492: The removal of a given habitat? A country may increase its food supply by converting forest land to row-crop agriculture, but the value of the same land may be much larger when it can supply natural resources or services such as clean water, timber, ecotourism, or flood regulation and drought control. The rapid expansion of the global human population is increasing the world's food requirement substantially. Simple logic dictates that more people will require more food. In fact, as

3850-658: The replacement of culverts, management of tide gates, and/or removal of dykes. Water quality is a fundamental indicator of the impacts from coastal watersheds and the health of estuarine ecosystems. Good water quality affects coastal habitat quality and human communities that rely on estuaries for recreation and livelihoods. Water quality parameters such as clarity, oxygen content, nutrient concentration, temperature, sedimentation, pH, salinity and others all have profound impacts on natural and human communities in coastal ecosystems. The reserves are addressing water quality through intensive abiotic monitoring of estuarine habitats through

3920-414: The reserves are excellent platforms for advancing the science of restoration, staging demonstration restoration projects, and monitoring their long-term response. Most reserves have extensive areas of undisturbed habitat. These are useful as long-term scientific reference sites for understanding estuarine ecosystems and comparing them with other more disturbed habitats in similar physical settings. To date,

3990-634: The reserves as a system of national reference sites, as well a network of sentinel sites for detecting and understanding the effects of climate change in coastal regions. SWMP currently has three major components that focus on: Abiotic parameters include nutrients, temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and in some cases, contaminants. Biological monitoring includes measures of biodiversity, habitat, and population characteristics. Watershed and land use classifications provide information on types of land use by humans and changes in land cover associated with each reserve. SWMP data for each reserve are managed by

4060-595: The reserves help communities develop strategies to deal successfully with these coastal resource issues. Reserves provide adult audiences with training on estuarine issues of concern in their local communities, offer field classes for K-12 students, and provide estuary education to teachers through the Teachers on the Estuary program. Reserves also provide long-term water quality monitoring as well as opportunities for both scientists and graduate students to conduct research in

4130-605: The reserves serve as sentinel sites to better understand the effects of climate change. The goals of the Reserve System's research and monitoring program include: Each reserve works on a variety of research projects, in addition to participating in the System-wide Monitoring Program . The topics of these projects are varied and depend on local needs and issues, as well as issues of national concern. Topics may include issues such as investigating

4200-413: The skills needed to link science-based information to coastal resource management decisions. National Estuarine Research Reserves are federally designated "to enhance public awareness and understanding of estuarine areas, and provide suitable opportunities for public education and interpretation." Each research reserve is an active member of the local and regional education community and a representative of

4270-590: The state and NOAA stewardship community. The reserve system takes a local approach in advancing estuarine education and generating meaningful experiences for all kinds of people interested in learning about, protecting and restoring estuaries. The Estuary Education Program strives to enhance student, teacher, and public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of estuaries by providing hands-on, investigative field experiences, curriculum and information material, multi-exposure opportunities, teacher training programs, and public outreach events. The Estuary Education Network

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4340-413: The underlying driving forces, rather than merely regulating the proximate causes. In a broader sense, governmental bodies at a local, national, and international scale need to emphasize: It is argued that the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation can be counteracted by including spatial processes in potential restoration management plans. However, even though spatial dynamics are incredibly important in

4410-416: The variation in numbers of threatened species across 114 countries, providing indisputable evidence that people play the largest role in decreasing biodiversity . The boom in human population and migration of people into such species-rich regions are making conservation efforts not only more urgent but also more likely to conflict with local human interests. The high local population density in such areas

4480-659: The watershed to identify, protect, and restore critical habitat for estuarine species such as salmon. Many reserves manage habitat that require fire to survive. Fire management through prescribed burns is particularly challenging as these areas often are located near development. Many reserves manage these fire dependent habitats and monitor habitat and species recovery. Development along our nation's estuaries often results in hydrologic restrictions from roads, dykes, and railroads. These restrictions alter habitat, water quality, and species distribution. Many reserves are addressing these impacts by managing or restoring hydrology through

4550-436: The world are changing the specific geographical habitats that are suitable for plants to grow. Therefore, the ability for plants to migrate to suitable environment areas will have a strong impact on the distribution of plant diversity. However, at the moment, the rates of plant migration that are influenced by habitat loss and fragmentation are not as well understood as they could be. Tropical rainforests have received most of

4620-449: The world's population increases dramatically, agricultural output will need to increase by at least 50%, over the next 30 years. In the past, continually moving to new land and soils provided a boost in food production to meet the global food demand. That easy fix will no longer be available, however, as more than 98% of all land suitable for agriculture is already in use or degraded beyond repair. The impending global food crisis will be

4690-817: The world's remaining natural habitat and biodiversity will compete directly with humans' growing demand for natural resources, especially new agricultural lands. Attempts to address habitat destruction are in international policy commitments embodied by Sustainable Development Goal 15 "Life on Land" and Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water". However, the United Nations Environment Programme report on "Making Peace with Nature" released in 2021 found that most of these efforts had failed to meet their internationally agreed upon goals. Tropical deforestation: In most cases of tropical deforestation , three to four underlying causes are driving two to three proximate causes. This means that

4760-423: The world, and thus have less chance of recovering. Many endemic organisms have very specific requirements for their survival that can only be found within a certain ecosystem, resulting in their extinction. Extinction may also take place very long after the destruction of habitat, a phenomenon known as extinction debt . Habitat destruction can also decrease the range of certain organism populations. This can result in

4830-547: Was renamed to estuarine research reserves in the 1988 reauthorization of the CZMA. NOAA provides funding, national guidance and technical assistance. Each reserve is managed on daily basis by a lead state agency or university, with input from local partners. Reserve staff work with local communities and regional groups to address natural resource management issues, such as non-point source pollution, habitat restoration and invasive species . Through integrated research and education,

4900-519: Was the poor application of technology in the wood industry (45%), which leads to wasteful logging practices. Within the broad category of cultural and sociopolitical factors are public attitudes and values (63%), individual/household behavior (53%), public unconcern toward forest environments (43%), missing basic values (36%), and unconcern by individuals (32%). Demographic factors were the in-migration of colonizing settlers into sparsely populated forest areas (38%) and growing population density—a result of

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