Endangered species
The Coastal Redwood has so many different ecosystems because of its huge size that creates unique conditions with unique habitats. The largest biodiversity is said to be in the canopies of the trees and within the different branch networks up above. Keeping in mind how old the redwoods can grow, imagine the kind of species of mosses for instance one can find up there dating back to the dinosaur ages.
Changes in the ecosystems due to logging may have repurcussions to certain species that no one even knows about yet. Therefore no one can know for sure what the extent of the damage is . Having said that, there are many other species that we do know off and therefore can study and keep tabs of its population size.
There are three species of animals that are going to be focused on here that are have been threatened by the destruction of their natural habitat, old growth redwood forest.
Northern Spotted Owl
The Northern Spotted Owl is a medium sized owl but ranks among the largest in the North America. Its habitat consists of old growth coniferous trees, mainly old growth redwood trees. They are nocturnal and their diet consist of mainly rodents, insects, reptiles and other birds.
Since 1990, the Northern Spotted Owl has been placed under the endangered federation act . Their extinction has been driven largely by the rapid logging in the 20th century that has removed and destroyed majority of their habitat. Since then , efforts have been undertaken by certain conservation groups such as conservation northwest, to ensure the continuition of the species.
However, till today they are still considered as a species under threat of extinction. The reason why they haven’t recovered can be attributed to the invasion of the Barred Owl into their territory . These owls are speculated to have slowly migrated to these areas from eastern United States due to changing environments by humans in their previous habitat. These owls share the same habitat conditions as the spotted owl . They are also bigger and more aggressive then them and they produce more frequently and successfully. Thus they are making it more difficult for the northern spotted owl to repopulate and prevent them from going into extinction.
Since 5 years ago, biologist and the federal government have decided to shoot down Barred Owls in order to save the Northern Spotted Owl from extinction. With Barred Owls making it nearly impossible for the Northern Spotted Owl to repopulate , biologists have had to make the tough decision to reduce the Barred Owl population forcefully. In the next 4 years, the fish and wildlife service are putting a plan to shoot down 3,600 Barred owls and see if this reduction can help the Northern Spotted Owl to repopulate.
This decision has been condemned by animal activist groups such as ‘friends of animals’ as being unethical. However, reducing the population of the Barred Owls can also be viewed as trying to restore a species that is declining because of our own actions as people . In this view, we are responsible for their continuition because we have caused this imbalance .
Humboldt Marten
The Humboldt Marten is a mid sized to small carnivore under the weasel family . Its distinguishing characteristics is a buffy orange throat patch that may extend down the chest . Its habitat is primarily old growth redwood forests due to their closed canopies and dense shrub cover . Their habitat is largely affected, with less then 4% of it left. Their numbers were also greatly reduced due to their highly valued fur .
Their species is currently in the midst of getting protection under the endangred protection act with less than a 100 of them left. It was extremely rare and thought to be extinct until a siting in 1996.
Marbled Murrelet
These birds were first spotted nesting in the old growth redwood forest in 1973. These birds are forest birds during the nesting season from march to september where they lay an egg . During this season which is the summer, they are reddish brown with white spots, do blend with the trees. During the winter , the coloration changes to blend with the sea, with white on the bottom of the bird and greyish black at the top .
These birds have been listed as endangred under the endangered protection act in 1992, when there were only 4,000 of them left . This was a reduction of 90% from original population size. This reduction can be attributed to the extensive logging of their natural habitat, the old growth redwood forests.
To make matters worse , their eggs are increasingly becoming targets to one of their number one predators, Stellar’s jays. This phenomenon occurred only within a particular diameter around campgrounds. Scientist then found out that this was casued by the intentional or unintenional food from the visitors at the park that was attracting an increasing number of Stellar’s jays into the area, which in turn is threatening the reproduction of the Marbled Murrelet.
To address this problem , the state parks have launched a huge educational campaign to prevent the intentional and unintentional feeding of wildlife to in turn stop providing food to Marbled Murrelet predators. This campaign will hope to provide sufficient information in the hopes of changing their behaviors .
The effectiveness of the campaign depends on several factors . Just to name a few, firstly, the framing of the information they put up can affect the perception its success. Studies have shown that using the words efficiency versus conservation is more likely to spark change as conservation implies some sort of sacrifice to the person . Prompts have been shown to be an effective reminder tool, so signs around the park could serve that purpose . Also, it has been shown to be more effective if the information provided tells the people what they can do and not just the problem alone. This is so that the visitors would feel that they have more control over the situation and thus engage in pro-environmental behaviors.