Lesson 5 — Activity 2: Changes in Biodiversity through Loss of Habitat
Completion requirements
Lesson 5 — Activity 2:
Changes in Biodiversity through Loss of Habitat
Explore
Alberta
is a developing province with an increasing population. More roads are
being built into areas that were once inaccessible. Villages are
becoming towns, towns are becoming small cities, and cities such as
Edmonton and Calgary are growing at fast rates! Progress can be very
good, but it can also have some very negative consequences. In this lesson, you will learn more about the changes in biodiversity through loss of habitat.
One
negative consequence is the changes in biodiversity caused by a loss of
habitat. Biodiversity involves a wide variety of plant and animal life
living together in one habitat.
Consider some of the lakes around the province. As people build around the lakes, they want beaches. They clear out the reeds and other plants near the shore and haul in sand to make the beach. Sounds good, right? But what about the animals and birds
that need those plants to survive? They now have no place to live because people wanted to change a habitat into something that suits them. This has a direct effect on the diversity of species in a particular area.
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One species of interest in Alberta is the woodland caribou. As you read the information below, note how human interaction has affected this species. As it disappears, it will affect other species such as wolves that rely on it for food. Take special note
of what the woodland caribou eats and what is happening to its food source.
One
negative consequence is the changes in biodiversity caused by a loss of
habitat. Biodiversity involves a wide variety of plant and animal life
living together in one habitat.
Consider some of the lakes around the province. As people build around the lakes, they want beaches. They clear out the reeds and other plants near the shore and haul in sand to make the beach. Sounds good, right? But what about the animals and birds that need those plants to survive? They now have no place to live because people wanted to change a habitat into something that suits them. This has a direct effect on the diversity of species in a particular area.
@unsplash
Alberta's Woodland Caribou
Status: In 1985, woodland caribou were added to Alberta's endangered wildlife list. Their numbers have been declining since the early 1900s. Today, fewer than 7,000 remain, sparsely distributed over northern and west-central Alberta.
Habitat: Most remain in forested habitats year-round. The mountain population of caribou migrates 80km or more between their forested foothills winter range and alpine summer range.
Food:
The caribou's major food sources are ground lichens and tree lichens. A
forest requires 80 to 150 years to grow enough lichens for caribou.
They also eat shrubs, grasses, and willows.
Risk factors:
Logging, coal mining, and oil and gas exploration have reduced greatly
the woodland caribou's habitat. When large areas of old-growth
coniferous forests are logged, moose, deer, and elk populations
increase. As their prey become more plentiful, more wolves move in.
Caribou are most vulnerable to wolves, so they suffer the greatest
losses.
This increased predation (the preying of one animal on others) is triggered by resource exploitation that fails to take Caribou needs into account. With
over-hunting, these are the main reasons for the decline of woodland caribou in their southern range.
Management: Alberta Environmental Protection's wildlife management branch has enlisted the help of the oil, gas, and forestry industries to protect caribou habitat. The branch also hopes to reduce wolf predation and illegal hunting. Many caribou
have been fitted with radio collars to aid biologists with data collection.
Did you notice how removing natural resources, the very thing that makes our province as thriving as it is, is killing a species and reducing biodiversity in the wilds of Alberta?
Alberta's Woodland Caribou
Status: In 1985, woodland caribou were added to Alberta's endangered wildlife list. Their numbers have been declining since the early 1900s. Today, fewer than 7,000 remain, sparsely distributed over northern and west-central Alberta.
Habitat: Most remain in forested habitats year-round. The mountain population of caribou migrates 80km or more between their forested foothills winter range and alpine summer range.
Food: The caribou's major food sources are ground lichens and tree lichens. A forest requires 80 to 150 years to grow enough lichens for caribou. They also eat shrubs, grasses, and willows.
Risk factors: Logging, coal mining, and oil and gas exploration have reduced greatly the woodland caribou's habitat. When large areas of old-growth coniferous forests are logged, moose, deer, and elk populations increase. As their prey become more plentiful, more wolves move in. Caribou are most vulnerable to wolves, so they suffer the greatest losses.
This increased predation (the preying of one animal on others) is triggered by resource exploitation that fails to take Caribou needs into account. With over-hunting, these are the main reasons for the decline of woodland caribou in their southern range.
Management: Alberta Environmental Protection's wildlife management branch has enlisted the help of the oil, gas, and forestry industries to protect caribou habitat. The branch also hopes to reduce wolf predation and illegal hunting. Many caribou have been fitted with radio collars to aid biologists with data collection.
Did you notice how removing natural resources, the very thing that makes our province as thriving as it is, is killing a species and reducing biodiversity in the wilds of Alberta?
Click on the Play button to watch a video about the woodland caribou in Alberta.
Click on the Play button to watch a video about the woodland caribou in Alberta.