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101 istorically, biodiversity and ecosystem protection were afterthoughts in local planning (Peck 1998). This is changing with increased public awareness that diverse animal and plant populations and healthy ecosystems are integral to protecting human health and quality of life. This new recognition coincides with and may derive from the evolution of environmental protection from discrete environmental elements (water, land, air, individual species) to a systems approach (ecosystem management, watershed planning, landscape ecological planning). The axiom “think globally—act locally” is relevant to protecting biodiversity. With the right information and tools, a community can draft and implement plans for an ecological network that will sustain a diversity of animals and plants, and preserve water, wetlands, forests, and other natural resources essential for meeting human needs and maintaining a healthy environment. The chapter begins with a definition of biodiversity and summary of the four primary categories of threats to it: habitat loss, invasive species, over-consumption and waste production, and global climate change. Next is a discussion about what saving biodiversity means, and why we should save it, with an emphasis on the relationship of biodiversity preservation to human well-being. This is followed by a step-by-step planning approach for local biodiversity protection , including preventing habitat loss and restoring species and habitats. The chapter finishes with case studies: a biodiversity assessment and conservation plan completed for multiple communities in a Massachusetts watershed, and an urban biodiversity protection program in Chicago. What Is Biodiversity? Biological diversity, or simply biodiversity, is the total variety of living things. Biodiversity can be measured by the total number of species present (species richness) (Heywood and Watson 1995). Expansion of urban and suburban areas is often the driving process responsible for a reduction in species richness. As habitat area is reduced, the smaller fragments that remain support fewer, different, and often non-native species. Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Protection Sharon McGregor and Jack Ahern 8 H 102 Preserving Natural Resources Biodiversity is often subdivided into two fundamental categories of plant and animal species: generalists and specialists . The implications of the two categories and their respective habitat requirements for biodiversity planning are profound. Generalists are adaptable to a wide range of conditions , are not particularly sensitive to human disturbance and presence, and use multiple habitats to complete their life cycle. In the northeastern United States, animal generalists include deer, squirrels, and raccoons. Generalists enjoy ample habitat in fragmented urban and suburban environments . In contrast, specialists require specific habitat conditions that can be satisfied only in large intact areas of native vegetation, like forests, wetlands, or grasslands. Specialists are generally sensitive to human presence and disturbance. Animal specialists in the northeastern United States include the fisher, mink, several owl species, and Neotropical songbirds (songbirds like warblers and vireos that nest in the north and winter in the tropics). When landscapes are transformed by urban or suburban development, habitat for specialists decreases or disappears, while generalist habitat may increase. A main challenge for biodiversity planning is therefore to protect and manage habitat for specialist species and to provide connectivity between habitat patches (Bennett 1999, Forman et al. 1996). It is easy to overlook biodiversity at the local level, since we usually think of nature as existing only where people don’t live. Though much of the American landscape is now developed with buildings, roads, and parking lots, a great amount of biodiversity remains. There are thousands of species of native animals, plants, and fungi in each of the fifty states, and thousands more if you count the ones that can’t be seen with the naked eye, such as microbes. To some, this biodiversity represents a natural asset to be respected and protected—a legacy for future generations. To others, biodiversity is a luxury that can be compromised to meet social needs, like creating new places for people to live and work. Regardless of whether you view nature as intrinsically important or a resource for people to use, biodiversity is inextricably related with the environment that sustains us (Wilson 1988). Like the “canary in the coal mine,” changes in local biodiversity can provide early warning of environmental changes that may have direct human consequences, including loss of water quality, destabilization of soils, loss in forest productivity, or change in quality-oflife values that are difficult to quantify: loss of recreational Biodiversity at Different Levels Biodiversity can be viewed at different interconnected levels —from invisible gene pools to huge physical landscapes of mountains or water. Simplistically, there are four major...

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