Wildlife and Natural Resource Management

4th Edition Deal Solutions Manual

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Chapter 6: The Human Impact on Wildlife

Habitat
Learning Domain - Cognitive

Level of Learning – Comprehension

Time Allocation – Approximately 55 minutes

Learning Objectives:
• List the ways humans affect wildlife habitat.
• List and describe human activities that destroy or harm wildlife habitat.
• List and describe some things humans do that benefit wildlife.
• Explain how specific human activities harm wildlife and wildlife habitat.

Vocabulary Introduced:
• channelization
• chemical pollution
• commercial fish
• ecological resources
• estuaries
• hardwood
• levee
• peat
• spawning
• sport fish
• vegetated wetlands
• watershed
Needed Equipment/Materials:
Instructor: PowerPoint presentation equipment
Student: paper, pencil

References: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, Fourth Edition

I. Introduction

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Habitat destruction is the single greatest threat facing wildlife today

and for the foreseeable future
B. This destruction results from a variety of human activities, including
construction, farming, mining, and timber harvesting
C. As human communities spread, they encroach on wildlife
communities

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 44-45

Slide(s): 6-2

II. Wetlands Loss

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Wetlands as wildlife “factories”

1. Support an astounding variety of wildlife
2. Are often the only habitat in which many species are found
B. Wet environments
1. When we use the term wetlands, we are referring to a variety of
wet environments
2. Wetlands include:
a. Wet meadows
b. Ponds
c. Fens
d. Bogs
e. Coastal and inland marshes
f. Wooded swamps
g. Mudflats
h. Bottomland hardwood forests
3. These areas have traditionally been looked on as having little
economic value
a. Throughout the past 200 years we Americans have encouraged
the draining and development of these areas
b. In the past few years, however, people have realized what
great value these wetland areas hold
i. They are extremely important to wildlife
ii. They slow the destructive power of floods and storms,
purify polluted waters, and provide a variety of
recreational opportunities
4. Over the past 20 years, federal and state laws and programs have
been designed to protect and preserve wetlands
 Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 45
Slide(s): 6-3 through 6-5

III. America’s Wetlands

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Wetlands study
1. In 1979 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a massive study
called “the National Wetlands Trends Analysis”
a. It was designed to determine the status of America’s wetlands
and related trends in terms of gains and losses
b. This study concentrated on the 20-year period from the mid-
1950s to the mid-1970s
2. It was discovered that during this 20-year period, the annual loss
of wetlands averaged 575,000 acres
a. The majority of this loss can be attributed to the demands of
agriculture
b. Many wetlands are damaged by pollution, highway and
railroad construction, and urban sprawl
3. During this period, agricultural development and construction
projects created some 3 million acres of lakes and ponds
a. These areas, however, are generally not as valuable as wildlife
habitat as are vegetated wetlands

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, p. 46

Slide(s): 6-6

IV. Prairie Potholes

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Valuable wetlands
1. Perhaps our most valuable wetlands are the prairie potholes
a. The most recent ice age created thousands of shallow
depressions as glaciers withdrew from these areas
b. These potholes filled with water and have become a major
breeding ground for North American waterfowl
2. These prairie potholes are spread across much of our most
productive farmland
a. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have been drained and turned
into cropland
b. Draining the potholes forced some waterfowl onto just 10
percent of their original habitat
 Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 47
Slide(s): 6-7

V. Forested Wetlands

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Loss of forested wetlands

1. Nearly 80 percent of the bottomland hardwood forests of the
lower Mississippi Valley have been destroyed
a. The remaining forests are the winter home for the majority of
the mallards and virtually all the wood ducks in the central U.S.
b. These lands also provide spawning and nursery areas for fish
2. The Pocosin wetlands of coastal North Carolina are another
example of wetlands under great pressure from humans
a. The two main reasons are peat mining and agriculture
b. These wetlands are important for regulating the flow of
freshwater to nearby coastal estuaries

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, p. 48

Slide(s): 6-8

VI. Coastal Wetlands

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Importance of coastal wetlands

1. Breeding grounds for wading birds
2. Wintering areas for migratory waterfowl
3. Spawning and nursery grounds for the majority of our
commercial and sport fish, including shellfish
B. Losses of coastal wetlands
1. These valuable coastal marshes were disappearing at an alarming
rate before 1960
2. Some of this loss can be attributed to natural causes
a. Sinking terrain
3. Human activities contribute to coastal marsh flooding
a. Oil and gas extraction
b. Levee construction
c. Channelization
4. Most of the coastal marsh losses that can be directly attributed to
human activities:
a. Urbanization
b. Dredging and filling for development
 Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 48
Slide(s): 6-9 and 6-10

VII. Can Wetlands Be Saved?

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Duck Stamps
1. Over the past 50 years, more than 3 million acres have been
preserved using “Duck Stamp” dollars
2. Federal waterfowl stamps, more commonly called Duck Stamps,
must be purchased by all waterfowl hunters
3. Money raised from these stamps is used to buy or lease prime
wetland habitats
B. Pressures on wetlands
1. As urban areas expand and the need for farmland increases,
wetlands will continue to disappear
2. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitors wetlands and any
proposed changes to them
C. Regulations and laws
1. Federal protective laws and those of several states have helped to
slow the destruction of these vital wetlands
2. Wetlands are beginning to be reestablished and dams taken down

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 49-50

Slide(s): 6-11

VIII. Native Prairies

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Loss of native prairies

1. The prairie once covered an area larger than the entire country of
France
2. Today only about 1 percent of the native prairie still exists
3. Prairies have been destroyed for many of the same reasons as
wetlands, using many of the same methods
B. Sodbuster Act
1. Passed as a part of the 1990 farm bill should help to protect
America’s remaining native prairie
2. Designed to discourage the cultivation of fragile soils
3. Carries much the same penalties as Swampbuster
 Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 50
Slide(s): 6-12 and 6-13

IX. America’s Forests

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. America’s forests
1. When the colonists arrived, eastern North America was largely
forested
2. Within 200 years, however, vast areas of forest had been cut
a. Species such as the wild turkey and white-tailed deer became
scarcer and more widely scattered
b. Some species, such as the passenger pigeon, became extinct
3. Most trees, particularly hardwoods, grow slowly
a. Many of the trees in old-growth forests are hundreds of years
old
b. It takes a similar period for these forests to regenerate
B. Harvesting forests
1. Until recently, the most common method of harvest was clear-
cutting
a. This technique calls for all the marketable trees in a large area
to be cut at the same time
b. It is most economical method for the logger but not necessarily
the best method for the environment or for wildlife
i. No cover is left for wildlife
ii. No protective covering is left for the soil
2. Modern forestry techniques include replanting harvested acres
with faster-growing varieties of trees

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, pp. 51

Slide(s): 6-14 and 6-15

X. Habitat Alterations That Benefit Wildlife

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

A. Benefits of Agriculture
1. Crops provide wildlife with food
2. Corners of fields, fence rows, and irrigation ditches provide cover
for many species of wildlife
3. Some crops provide cover
4. Species such as barn owls, mice, snakes, and skunks move into
farm buildings and make themselves at home
B. Benefits of clear-cutting tracts of forest
 1. Species such as mule deer and elk prefer a mixture of forest and
clearings
2. Clearing old-growth forests allows a variety of grasses and forbs
that would not be able to grow in the forest to take hold and grow

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, p. 51

Slide(s): 6-16 and 6-17

XI. Summary

[Time Allocation: 5 min.]

• Humans can be, and often are, destructive to the environment

• Destruction of wildlife habitat follows from many human actions,
including agriculture, construction, and other development
• Effects on wildlife must be considered before construction is begun

Reference: Wildlife and Natural Resource Management, p. 52

Slide(s): 6-18

XII. Assignment – Read Chapter 7 in Wildlife and Natural Resource Management