Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Jensen Morgan. We're going to talk about some great concepts in environmental science. Today's topic is conservation biology and restoration ecology. So let's get started. We're going to talk about what both conservation biology and restoration ecology are.

Conservation biology is the study of impacts to biodiversity with the intention of conserving it, conservation meaning the protection and management of natural resources. The physical structure of a landscape can heavily influenced biodiversity. If habitat fragmentation occurs, which is when habitat is destroyed and separated into smaller and smaller patches for the sake of human development and use, biodiversity tends to decline.

Corridors connecting habitat patches can be created are protected by conservationists to preserve biodiversity. Conservation biologists often aid in establishing protected areas in order to slow the loss of biodiversity. Challenges to species conservation are often conflicts between habitat needs of species and human use of the land.

An example would be dams and salmon migration. Salmon migrate seasonally for reproductive reasons, swimming up river to lay their eggs. However, humans build dams to control water resources and create hydroelectric energy sources. This blocks salmon migration and fragments their habitat, which can drastically reduce species populations.

Restoration ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interaction with environment, with the intent to determine ways to restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems. For example, let's return to the previous slide's discussion of salmon migration. A restoration ecologist might determine that salmon populations decline are resulting from the existence of the dam.

They might also note that bear populations in the area are impacted by the decline in salmon populations. A restoration ecologists might then suggest that dam removal or relocation of a salmon species could restore an ecosystem to homeostasis.

Now let's have a recap. We talked about conservation biology and restoration ecology. Well, that's all for this tutorial. I hope these concepts have been helpful. I look forward to next time. Bye.