NR 356 Conservation, Systems, and Sustainability

NR 356 Conservation, Systems, and Sustainability
Catalog Description
NR 356 - Conservation, Systems&Sustain
Conservation concepts and practice, viewed through the lens of history, systems, and sustainability. From
site to landscape scale, with case studies and practitioner interviews. Prerequisite: An upper-level ecology
or field science course.
Term: Spring 2015
Time: Mon/Wed 8:30-10:25
Pre-requisite: PBio 223 or equivalent
Instructor: Deane Wang
Office: 268 Jeffords Hall, [email protected]
Office hours: by appointment
Course Description: The class will entail a mix of lectures, case studies/workshops, guest
seminars, blogging, and student presentations in order to cover the diversity of topics
listed below. The first part (1/4) of the course will emphasize conceptual foundations for
conservation and sustainability. The second part (1/2) will emphasize conservation
practice in the past, the present, and what it might be in the future. Conservation will be
examined through the lens of history, systems, sustainability, resilience and adaptation.
The remaining portion of the class (1/4) will entail working with one or two conservation
organizations in thinking about and doing research on adaptation and sustainability
strategies. Students’ online work will supplement lectures and class discussions, and
facilitate self-directed learning. Guest seminars will provide a practitioner’s view of a
variety of conservation work. Student groups will be required to develop concept maps,
systems analyses, and presentations around an historical, contemporary, or future
conservation issue. Part of class time will be devoted to students planning and working in
groups.
Course Goals: To provide students with a broad overview of the foundations and
changing practice of conservation including both specific techniques and “tools,” and the
larger scale strategies of sustainability and adaptation. The emphasis will be on U.S.
conservation. In addition the course will emphasize critical thinking, systems analysis,
and synthesis.
Learning Objectives:
In addition to being familiar with conservation/sustainability approaches and practices,
students should be able to:
• Understand the relationship of ecological science to conservation practice;
• Briefly describe U.S conservation history and its relationship to emerging concepts of
sustainability;
• Survey current conservation activities at various scales; summarize current
environmental threats that challenge existing conservation practice;
• Use a systems approach to develop a menu of alternatives for striving for sustainability
and planning for adaptation (for an organization or community);
• Make informed predictions on how emerging environmental trends (global warming,
population, peak oil, food shortages, etc.) may require rethinking conservation concepts
and practices;
• Describe desirable scenarios of future conservation practice in the context of present
approaches and the broader environmental and sustainability movements;
• Develop frameworks for the broadening an understanding of conservation;
• Put their own worldview into perspective with the broader public's value system.
Course Topics
1) Intellectual Foundations for Conservation (approx. one-quarter of the class)
Ecological overview, what is ecology and ecological thinking -- e.g., Ecophysiology and
habitat; Populations, meta-populations, MVP; Community ecology; Ecosystem ecology;
Landscape ecology, corridor ecology, interior space, edges, and fragmentation; Regional
ecology
Principles and frameworks -- Limits to growth; Systems thinking and complex systems;
Ecological design; Biophilic design; Regenerative design; Sustainability
2) Conservation History and Practice, Future Directions (approx. one-half of the class)
What is conservation?
Site-level conservation; Protected area concepts and reserve design; Landscape-level
conservation; Integrated conservation planning, systematic conservation planning;
Heritage area and cultural conservation concepts; Regional/large-scale conservation
strategies
The 2010 environmental scan and personal world views
Conservation and sustainability
3) Applying Conservation Strategies (approx. one-quarter of the class)
Case studies - research and ecological planning for sustainability
How the Course Works:
The course has 28 class sessions and weekly online assignments using the class website,
a class Blog, and a class Wiki (see the class website for details about the online
component). Students will complete numerous readings, discussion posts and other types
of writing, short oral presentations, along with developing concept maps and a literature
review. Seminars with guest practitioners will have their own requirements.
Grading:
Please contact the professor for questions about grading. As noted above, we are focused
on learning and not grading, so we have a general approach indicated below.
•
•
•
•
Participatory writing: free-writes, reflections, discussion/wiki posts (40%)
Products: concept maps, literature review, and presentations (30%)
Meeting deadlines! (10%)
Overall contribution and participation (20%)
Partial Source List:
Adams, J.S. 2006. Future of the wild: Radical conservation for a crowded world. Beacon
Press, Boston, Massachusetts.
Berlet, C. 2004/ Systems of oppression
(http://www.publiceye.org/oppression/systemic.html)
Brown, J., and Mitchell, N. 2005. Linking culture and nature in the protection of Andean
Landscapes. George Wright Forum.
Bunch, M., D. McCarthy, and D Waltner-Toews. 2008. A family of origin for an
ecosystem approach to managing for sustainability. pp. 125-138 IN Waltner, D., Kay,
J.J., and Lister, N-M. E. (eds.) The Ecosystem Approach - Complexity, Uncertainty, and
Managing for Sustainability. Columbia University Press, New York.
Carroll, C., Phillips, M.K., Lopez-Gonzalez, C.A., and Schumaker, N.H. 2006. Defining
recovery goals and strategies for endangered species: The wolf as a case study.
BioScience 56: 25-37.
Community Forest Collaborative. 2007. Community Forests – A Community
Investment Strategy.
Donlan, J. 2005. Re-wilding North America. Nature 436: 913-914.
Erikson, S., and Hammer, M. 2006. The challenge of combining timber poduction and
biodiversity conservation for long-term ecosystem functioning – A case study of Swedish
boreal forestry. Forest Ecol. Manage. 237:208-217.
Ervin, J. 2002. WWF Rapid assessment and prioritization of protected area management
(RAPPAM) methodology. World Wildlife Foundation, Gland, Switzerland.
ESA Ecotone (various readings)
Encyclopedia of the Earth (various articles)
Faber-Langendoen, D., Aaseng, N., Hop, K., Lew-Smith, M., and Drake, J. 2007.
Vegetation classification, mapping, and monitoring at Voyageurs National Park,
Minnesota: An application of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification. Vegetation
Sci. 10: 361-374.
IUCN. 2004. How much is an ecosystem worth? Assessing the economic value of
conservation. World Bank, Washington, D.C. 33 pp.
Kay, J.J. 2008. An introduction to systems thinking. pp. 3-13 IN Waltner, D., Kay, J.J.,
and Lister, N-M. E. (eds.) The Ecosystem Approach - Complexity, Uncertainty, and
Managing for Sustainability. Columbia University Press, New York.
Kursar, T.A., Caballero-George, C.C., Capson, T.L., Cubilla-Rios, L., Gerwick, W.H.,
Gupta, M.P., Ibanez, A., Linington, R.G., McPhail, K.L., Ortega-Barria, E., Romero, L.I.,
Solis, P.N., and coley, P.D. 2006. Securing economic benefits and promoting
conservation through bioprospecting. BioScience 56: 1005-1012..
Krutilla, J.V. 1967. Conservation reconsidered. The American Economic Review. 57:
777-786.
Margules, C.R., and Pressey, R.L. 2000. Systematic conservation planning. Nature 405:
243-253.
McCormick, S.J. 2006. Thinking outside the park. Nature Cons. (Spring 2006) p. 4-5.
Mitchel, N., and Slaiby, B. 2005. Developing partnerships with local communities for
conservation of protected areas in North America: Recent experiences in the United
States and Canada. George Wright Forum.
Noss. R. 2007. Values are a good thing in conservation biology. Conservation Biol. 21:
18-20.
Stolzenburg, W. 2005. Where the wild things were. Conservation in Practice. (Jan-Mar)
Vol. 7 2 pp.
Tear, T.H., Kareiva, P., Angermeier, P.L., Comer, P., Czech, B., Kautz, R., Landon, L.,
Mehlman, d., Murphy, K., Ruckelshaus, M., Scott, J.M., and Wilhere, G. 2005. How
much is enough? The recurrent problem of setting measurable objectives in conservation.
BioScience 55: 835-849.
TNC. 2000. Five-S Framework for Site Conservation – A Practitioner's Handbook for
Site Conservation Planning and Measuring Conservation Success. Vol. 1, 2nd Edition.
TNC. 2004. Conservation by Design – A Strategic Framework for Mission Success
TNC. 2007. Conservation by Design – A Strategic Framework for Mission Success (10th
Anniversary Edition)
TNC. 2007. Conserving Lake Champlain's Biological Diversity.
Turner, M.G., Gardner, R.H., and O’Neill, R.V. 1995. Ecological dynamics at broad
scales - Ecosystems and landscape. BioScience 45: s29-s35.
Turner, W.R., Brandon, K., Brooks, T.M., Costanza, R., Fonseca, G.A.B., and Portella,
R. 2007. Global conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. BioScience 57:
868-873.
ACCESS:
In keeping with University policy, any student with a documented disability interested in
utilizing accommodations should contact ACCESS, the office of Disability Services on
campus. ACCESS works with students to create reasonable and appropriate
accommodations via an accommodation letter to their professors as early as possible each
semester. They are located at A170 Living/Learning Center, and can be reached by
phone at 802-656-7753, or by emailing [email protected]. Visit their website at
http://www.uvm.edu/access
Code of Academic Integrity:
See: http://www.uvm.edu/%7Euvmppg/ppg/student/acadintegrity.html
For the full policy at UVM
All academic work (e.g., homework assignments, written and oral reports, use of library
materials, creative projects, performances, in-class and take-home exams, extra-credit
projects, research, theses and dissertations) must satisfy the following four standards of
academic integrity:
1. All ideas, arguments, and phrases, submitted without attribution to other sources,
must be the creative product of the student. Thus, all text passages taken from the works
of other authors must be properly cited. The same applies to paraphrased text, opinions,
data, examples, illustrations, and all other creative work. Violations of this standard
constitute plagiarism.
2. All experimental data, observations, interviews, statistical surveys, and other
information collected and reported as part of academic work must be authentic. Any
alteration, e.g., the removal of statistical outliers must be clearly documented. Data must
not be falsified in any way. Violations of this standard constitute fabrication.
3. Students may only collaborate within the limits prescribed by their
instructors. Students may not complete any portion of an assignment, report, project,
experiment or exam for another student. Students may not claim as their own work any
portion of an assignment, report, project, experiment or exam that was completed by
another student, even with that other student’s knowledge and consent. Students may not
provide information about an exam (or portions of an exam) to another student without
the authorization of the instructor. Students may not seek or accept information provided
about an exam (or portions of an exam) from another student without the authorization of
the instructor. Violations of this standard constitute collusion.
4. Students must adhere to the guidelines provided by their instructors for completing
coursework. For example, students must only use materials approved by their instructor
when completing an assignment or exam. Students may not present the same (or
substantially the same) work for more than one course without obtaining approval from
the instructor of each course. Students must adhere to all library course reserves
regulations and refrain from mutilating library material, which are designed to allow
students access to course materials. Violations of this standard constitute cheating.
When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult
the course instructor.
A related set of policies are listed under:
Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmppg/ppg/student/studentcode.html
Also see Our Common Ground statement of values at UVM
http://www.uvm.edu/about_uvm/?Page=values.html
Religious Holidays
Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students
should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes
their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit
students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work.
Link to Interfaith Calendar: http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/2014.htm