TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems

1. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Exam overview

2. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Examination details: • Monday 11 November 2013 • 12:00 – 15:00 • Welch Hall 324

3. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Examination details: You should be familiar with: • PowerPoint notes from class lectures • assigned readings • your field experiences (not individual presentations, but overall experiences)

4. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Tips: • Focus on key points and concepts in notes and readings • Understand concepts and terms • Be able to relate the concepts to your own local landscape and to our field program • Consider the real-world implications of the concepts

5. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Time provided: 3 hours (for a 2 hour exam) Mixture of questions: • Definitions • Short Answer • Concise essay questions • Point form answers • Read questions carefully • Answer questions on exam sheets provided Worth 25% of total course grade

6. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 1): Urban Ecology - A Basis for Shaping Cities (pp.1-25) • ‘urban ecology’ • Contradiction of values: ‘formal’ versus ‘natural’ / ‘pedigreed’ versus ‘vernacular’ landscapes • Origins of landscapes in cities • Misguided notions: • Parks as places for recreation • City and country as mutually exclusive places • Abundance of cheap energy • Design principles: • Process • Economy of means

7. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 1): Urban Ecology - A Basis for Shaping Cities (pp.1-25) – cont’d. • Design principles: • Understanding ecosystem process (dynamic forces in the landscape) • Economy of means (principle of least effort) • Diversity • Connectedness • Environmental education begins at home • Making the most of opportunities: how can human development processes contribute to the environments they change? • Making visible the processes that sustain life

8. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Farina (Chapter 1): Introduction to landscape ecology (pp.1-42) • Landscape ecology is a relatively new field (1930s) • Inherently interdisciplinary: contributions from many fields • Many definitions of landscape are possible; the landscape can (and must) be described and defined by the observer • Epistomological (knowledge-based) perspective: • The nature of landscape (material components; conceptual aspects) • The role of landscape (domain, system, unit) • The description of landscape (ecological; cognitive) • Multiple relationship between organisms and their landscapes • Visual landscapes (topographic features, visual attributes) • Information landscapes (e.g., foraging areas, nesting areas) • Soundscapes

9. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 3): Plants and plant communities (pp. 86-129) • Plants and natural processes: plants are basis for life on earth • Succession • Structure in plant communities (e.g., forest canopy, middle strata, understory) • Plants in cities: cultivated / native / naturalized • Human perceptions of plants and cultural values • Alternatives to energy-intensive cultivated landscapes: • Restoration • Naturalization • The urban forest / woodland parks / integrated mangement • Changing our love affair with the lawn

10. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 3): Plants and plant communities (pp. 86-129) – cont’d • Changing roles of city spaces: making better use of… • Streets and community space • Vacant lands • Linear corridors / communications links • Rooftops • Industrial lands • Cemeteries • Native and fortuitous natural habitats: • Wetlands • Woodlands • Meadows • Ravines and valley lands

11. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 4): Wildlife (pp.130-159): • Wildlife and natural processes • Urbanization and wildlife • Wildlife and the cultivated landscape • Remnant native habitat in cities • Problems and conflicts: • Safety concerns of wildlife • Nuisance concerns of wildlife • Aesthetic concerns of wildlife • Alternative perspectives on human / wildlife interactions in cities • Creation and management of urban wildlife habitat: • Private property / city parks / active industrial sites / brownfield sites

12. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Alberti(Chapter 5): Hydrological Processes (pp. 133-161) • Urban hydrological cycle: • Processes: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, etc. • Functions: providing and storing water; preventing soil loss and erosion; sequestering and storing nutrients; removing toxins and sediments; supporting riparian and floodplain function; provide habitat for wildlife • Human induced changes in urban watersheds: • Consumption • Land cover change (vegetation removal; impervious surfaces; runoff, etc.) • Flow regime changes (flooding, sediment loading) • Urban effluents and wastewater • Urban impacts on stream integrity and ecological dynamics • Impacts of roads on hydrological process • Landscape fragmentation

13. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Hough (Chapter 6): Climate (pp.189-218) • Basic climate elements: Solar radiation, wind, precipitation, temperature, humidity • Urban influences on climate: • Surface materials (permeability, reflectance, energy absorption) • Surface roughness (cities are more turbulent) • Waste heat in urban areas (urban heat island effect) • Problems resulting from precipitaiton (flooding, poor evaporative cooling) • Air quality issues: particulates, aerosols, toxic substances • Mechanical climate control and its impacts • Alternatives to mechanical climate control: • Plant cover and landscaping; green rooftops; creative use of urban water features; wind control; air pollution control; vegetaion as ‘green lungs’

14. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems Key concepts Alberti (Chapter 4): Landscape Signatures (Sections 4.1-4.3, pp. 93-112) • Urban landscapesas complex systems: open, nonlinear, highly unpredictable; heterogeneous; spatially nested; hierarchically structured • Hybrid environments: ‘natural’ and human processes interact • Gradients (e.g., temperature; sediment; pollutants) • Patches (e.g., shrubs, conifers, grasses, buildings) • Networks (e.g., buildings -> roads; rainfall ->streams -> lakes) • Hierarchies (multiple scales) (e.g., size; height; organization; households / buildings / neighbourhoods / districts / cities) • Landscape patterns: form; density; heterogeneity; connectivity

15. TREN 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems GOODLUCK!