By By Hope-Elena Sardella, May, 2019
<p class="has-drop-cap" value="<amp-fit-text layout="fixed-height" min-font-size="6" max-font-size="72" height="80">As the conservation manager, I would like to commence my time here with significant challenges to further repair the wilderness. I suggest to the planning office to look towards uniting forest patches that are isolated by bringing together parkways near roads and riparian forest buffers.Firstly Island biogeography is a theory that the rate of potential candidates for immigration is reduced when there is a high species richness in localized areas thus leading to higher rates of extinction (Smith & Smith, 2015, pg. 19.6, para. 4). The balance of species to extinction ratio is imperative to mitigate extinction. The quantity of species on an island is a representation of the diverse equilibrium of species that migrate and the process of extinction of former dominant species. Authors Chen, & He. (2009) Conducted a study to show how the development of new species (speciation) in the traditional concept of island biogeography, to make a connection to species that only exist in specific areas (endemic species). The evidence suggests that the model developed by Chen & He (2015) makes distinct connections between endemic species populations and the richness of species populations driven by time, thus showing decreased immigration and increased speciation, concluding that when the rates of speciation surpasses exstiction rates it will lead to speciation to overcome immigration rates (pg. 44, para. 2). Additionally, Smith & Smith (2015) elaborate that Island biogeography isn't limited to the typical island one would imagine near the ocean but includes an area of terrain that has increasingly developed a distance of isolation from its original habitats such as; "mountaintops, bogs, ponds, dunes, areas fragmented by human land use and individual hosts of parasites" (pg. 19.6, para. 6). With all this in mind, we can take action in preventative measures by incorporating this knowledge of island biogeography and merge it with the understanding of Landscape Ecology. The term Landscape ecology is defined by the interdisciplinary concepts of complex architecture, physical makeup, and the overall purpose of the landscape (Smith & Smith, pg. 19, para. 2). Additionally, landscape ecology is well known for going beyond everyday ecology disciples by making a connection between the arrangements of patterns and the process in which to mitigate the trends this includes; referring to spatial heterogeneity data that describe spatial patterns; driving forces of patterns and the effect time has on the patterns overall (Smith & Smith, pg. 19, para. 2).In conclusion, I would like to maintain that the island biogeography theory is essential to making necessary changes in landscapes with the use of landscape ecology. These changes can be accomplished with the current evidence that the department of planning currently has from years of documentation, species diversity rates, and declines in animal populations. We can further develop an action plan to connect areas that are isolated from mainland populations by harsh terrain by starting small with isolated roadways. The development of connecting forest buffers and roads will require a different budget for planning and continuous management of connections. With careful research and substantial grant writing the planning commission can work on finding additional funding to maintain connection points long term.Refrences
Chen, X., & He, F. (2009). Speciation and Endemism under the Model of Island Biogeography. Ecology, 90(1), 39-45. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/stable/27650946
Smith, T. M., & Smith, R. L. (2015). Elements of Ecology (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
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