GEOG 3318 Project: Biogeographic Pattern

 Anthropogenic Stressors  In the three locations I’ve previously discussed (Wallowa Mountains, Siuslaw National Forest, and Crater Lake National Park), there have been anthropogenic stressors present. Anthropogenic stressors our Human actions that cause a negative impact (directly or indirectly) on a native species in an area. These Anthropogenic stressors have vast effects on the environment and especially the biotic organisms that live in each of the regions.                                               Crater Lake National park Anytime a non native species is introduced to an area, conflicts with the native species can occur. This is because the introduction of a new species can create competition that the native species have never had to deal with. This is exactly what happened at Crater lake national park when Crayfish were introduced. Humans introduced Crayfish to Crater lake in 1915 as a food source for non native fish (Landers 2015). Crayfish were introduced to the area with o

  Long Beach, CA The largest anthropogenic stressor to this area is urbanization.   ACT News 2019. https://www.act-news.com/news/long-beach-becoming-fuel-cell-and-hydrogen-hot-spot/ The construction of infrastructure involves deteriorating natural soil conditions.  The Cataline ironwood is the most “at risk” species out of the two that I have chosen.  Racoons will be fine as they have adapted to live in urban environments already and have a much larger distribution. Under the RCP 8.5 scenario, this area is expected to increase temperature with little change in precipitation (Climate Explorer 2021 1 ).  This will not influence the earthquakes that impact this region.  However, this could increase the rates of hurricane activity in this area.  Cataline ironwoods will be most vulnerable because they are sessile and cannot relocate in the event of an earthquake or hurricane. A conservation plan for this area would include the promotion of environmentally friendly products such as biode

Stressors Atacama Desert https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-copper-mining-atacama-desert     One potentially threatening human activity to the Atacama is the extensive lithium and copper mining done in the region. The process of lithium mining uses huge amounts of water. This creates water shortages not only in the already dry desert but all throughout the country of Chile. In addition, both lithium and copper mining release chemicals into the soils and atmosphere which are potentially harmful to the environment such as hydrochloric acid (Ahmad 2). The Chilean flamingo would be the most likely at risk candidate due to their sole source of food coming from the limited number of salt lakes in the Atacama.  Andes Mountains Source: patagoniajournal.com      In the lower altitudes of the Andes Mountains, logging is a large part of the local economy. It is estimated that around 75% of the tropical section of the Andes has already been cut down, and while the Andes of Chile aren't th

Anthropogenic Stressors Ground-level Ozone      Ground-level ozone pollution is an anthropogenic stressor for all three areas within the Shasta National Forest (Figure 1). Shasta county, containing Lake Shasta and a majority of Shasta National Forest, received an Ozone rating of F from the American Lung Association (2020), with 28 days over 71ppb Ozone and 2 days over 86ppb ground-level ozone concentration in 2020 (American Lung Association 2020; Sandhou 2018). Siskiyou county, which contains Mount Shasta, received an Ozone rating of C from the American Lung Association (2020), with 4 days over 71ppb ground-level ozone concentration in 2020 (American Lung Association 2020; Sandhou 2018).  Figure 1.  Days per year that ground-level ozone exceeded 70ppb from 2010 to 2014 worldwide. Source .      Ground-level ozone is a harmful pollutant created by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), two other anthropogenic pollutants (Environmental Pr

 Habitat Stressors in the National Wildlife Refuge  This habitat faces a number of different stressors but the most common stressors that are taking place is the depletion of the hard wood forest within the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV). The loss of 20 million acres of bottomland forest, forest fragmentation, and the effects of timber harvesting practices have the biggest impact on this habitat type and is in need of extensive management (Connor, 2012).  (Oswalt, 2013)                                                        (Elliott; et al., 2020) As you can see from the picture on the left most of the forest percent is not as low as it could possibly be but is not as high as it could be without the deforestation from agriculture. On the right you can see on the east portion of the state the sliver of green and some parts of yellow that are tightly grouped running north to south. This group is along the refuge and you can also see that in the northern parts of where the refuge is there