Assignment
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper about the ecosystems you have chosen and the species that make up these ecosystems. In your paper, include the following items:
• Describe your pair of ecosystems and the types of current or proposed exploitation in one or both ecosystems. Explain the past, present, and potential future consequences of overexploitation in these ecosystems. Describe the potential costs and benefits of at least two exploitation activities.
• Explain current and potential management of your ecosystems. How can modification, cultivation, or restoration alter these ecosystems? Outline at least two potential management plans beyond cessation of exploitation, and describe the costs and benefits of each.
• Prioritize conservation efforts in your pair of ecosystems based on values and the principles of conservation biology by including the following elements:
o Prioritize species and ecosystems for protection based on the values identified in the Acting Locally Paper - Part One.
o Describe a regional or global threat to your ecosystems, such as global climate change, and outline a plan to combat this threat.
o Rank the priorities of continuing or ceasing exploitation activities, of alternative management plans, and of the plan to combat the regional or global threat to biodiversity.
o Defend your prioritization based on specific values and on your plan's overall effect on biodiversity, ecological integrity, and economic feasibility.
• Identify at least two specific practical actions and at least two specific political actions you can take to support the top priorities you have identified for the pair of ecosystems. Interpret how these specific actions can support conservation and biodiversity.
Cite at least four references.