What are Wildlife and Fisheries ?

1. What are Wildlife and Fisheries ?

2. What are Wildlife and Fisheries ? Traditionally:

3. Nature Study and Ecotourism

4. Traditional interpretation was somewhat limited to species that are exploited for sport and commercial purposes Now there are far more diverse interests and wider spectrum of “stakeholders”, so definitions are more inclusive Ecosystem Approach

5. What is Wildlife? • Standard Definitions: • “the practical ecology of vertebrates and their plant and animal associations” • “free-roaming vertebrate animals” • “terrestrial or partially terrestrial vertebrates”

6. Nowadays the following type of definition is more common : “all free living animals” For this class, restricting it to vertebrates is the preferred meaning

7. fish = single species fishes = more than one species fishery = often means a system that includes the fish (or fishes) , habitat, and human users

8. Both the terms “wildlife” and “fish(es)” include species or systems that involve consumptive and non-consumptive use by humans.

9. Management? Ecology ? Biology ?

10. Management: • The manipulation of populations or habitats to achieve specific goals • Goals: • Make population size greater • Make population size smaller • Harvest population for continuing yield • Leave it alone/protect it, but monitor status

11. There are two general types of wildlife management: Manipulative management acts on a population, either changing its numbers by direct means or influencing numbers by the indirect means of altering food supply, habitat, density of predators, or prevalence of disease. This is appropriate when a population is to be harvested, or when it slides to an unacceptably low density or increases to an unacceptably high level. Such densities are inevitably the subjective view of the land owner. Custodial management is preventive or protective. The aim is to minimize external influences on the population and its habitat. It is appropriate in a national park where one of the stated goals is to protect ecological processes. It is also appropriate for conservation of a threatened species where the threat is of external origin rather than being intrinsic to the system. BOTH??

12. Ecology: The study of interrelationships between organisms and their environment Biology: The study of life Biology > Ecology > Management

13. What are the primary activities in the fields of Wildlife and Fisheries? Management Research Legal or Public Forum Law Enforcement

14. These activities are all devoted to the conservation and preservation and wildlife and fisheries resources Conservation: the wise management and use of natural resources Preservation: leaving natural systems or resources as they are These are not necessarily mutually exclusive

15. What are some principles of Fish and Wildlife Ecology? • Wildlife and Fish(es) are resources that have positive and negative benefits that vary over time, among species, and among societies

16. What are some principles of Fish and Wildlife Ecology? • Wildlife and Fish(es) are resources that have positive and negative benefits that vary over time, among species, and among societies. • Conservation of fish and wildlife are influenced by society’s needs, ideals, and morals and by its definition of “quality of life.”

17. Management practices can vary a lot by context and societal values

18. What are some principles of Fish and Wildlife Ecology? The basic unit of management is the population, not the individual Management of a population is based on a species’ life history and its habitat associations

19. Life History Traits that describe the life cycle of an organism; e.g., birth, maturation, reproduction, death Examples: Size and number of offspring, number of reproductive events, life span, senescence…..

20. What are some principles of Wildlife and Fisheries Ecology? Management decisions are a complex function of biological and non-biological issues Dynamic

22. Another Version:

23. Another Version:

24. What are some principles of Fish and Wildlife Ecology? Wildlife or fisheries management is the art of making land or aquatic habitat produce a sustained harvest of wildlife or fish; often in conjunction with other forms of land use and other resources that are valued by society. ART???

25. What are the Challenges and Issues? • Note: Domestic versus International is a critical contrast • Habitat fragmentation and loss • Overexploitation • Introduced species and diseases • Changing attitudes towards the environment, hunting, and fishing • Extinctions

26. What are the Challenges and Issues? • Integrating wildlife and fisheries management with related fields such as restoration ecology, urban ecology, and conservation biology • Managing wildlife and fisheries locally when some of the challenges are at a global scale… • Moving toward management on larger temporal and spatial scales

27. What is the issue that underlies just about all environmental problems?

28. Total Human Population (Illinois)

29. Human Population (w/o largest county) 7x

30. Resources • Money • Laws

31. Old School mentality • Disseminate ideas • Develop technologies

32. Friday • How did we get to this point • History