Assignment

 With habitat loss, less land and resources means lower carrying capacity. For the second part of this assignment, you will apply the readings from your Module 4 Home page to two cases in which conservation of habitat applies to carrying capacity and economics. Choose one of these large predators to investigate: African predators (lions, hyenas, etc.), cougars (mountain lions), or polar bears.

What size of land/water is required to support this animal?
What pressures threaten this organism’s habitat?
What role does international trade and political regulation play in protecting this organism? Are these in place and enforced?
Resources

Glick, H. B. (2014). Modeling cougar habitat in the Northeastern United States. Ecological Modeling. 285:78-89.

Websites

Wildlife Conservation Society at www.wcs.org

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife at wdfw.wa.gov/living/cougars.html

Polar Bears International at www.polarbearsinternational.org

Part III

Finally, examine the costs and benefits of conservation using the Montgomery Botanical Centre as a case study. View the results of a study on the costs and benefits of preserving a collection of plants at the following site: http://www.bgci.org/resources/article/0634/.
In 1–2 paragraphs summarize the following in complete sentences:

What are the costs associated with maintaining this collection (generally speaking, not exact numbers)?
What are the benefits of preserving this collection and how are they measured? (Hint: They are described as “conservation success.”)
What part of this collection gives diminishing returns and why?
How does collection size relate to efficiency of management of the collection?
When is it most valuable to preserve a plant species?