ENWC201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Clovis Culture, Ice Age, Yosemite National Park
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Before man (11,500 BP)
A lot of animals that weren't here before
○
Large animals, typically k strategists
○
Giant animals - megafauna
○
Existed up until about 11,500 years ago, then something happened - what
happened?
Ice age
When we have an ice age the sea levels go down and when
sea levels go down land bridges are exposed
□
Beringia ice bridge - became permanent land people lived
there
□
As the ice age receded beringia disappeared
□
Didn’t wipe out the megafuana, but brought something that
did
□
§
○
•
Pre european era (11,500-1,500)
The clovis
First group of people in north america
§
Came across the bearing land bridge with weaponry - spears
§
Animals had a hard time adapting to these weapons
§
○
The pleistocene overkill
Animals didn’t know how to deal with people hunting in groups
with weapons
§
Large animals start to dissapear - people started to overharvest
animals
§
Lost much of the megafauna - biggest thing left was the bison
§
Humans responsible
§
○
Early impact of humans on fauna in north america
○
Native american agriculture
Native americans starting to spread across continent
§
Landscapes converted from forests to fields
§
50-100 million people
§
○
Columbus/early explorers
Brought steal/other metals
§
Also brought disease
Europeans equipped to handle disease, native americans not□
Tons of epidemics - wiped out 95% of the native american
population
□
§
All of the native american agriculture disappeared, as well as
hunting pressure
§
Eruptions in certain animal populations
§
○
•
Era of abundance (1500-1850)
Abundance of species on the planet is hard to imagine
James audubon wrote about counting so many pigeons
§
Plains were thick with bison ~60,000,000
§
Streams choked with salmon
§
Giant ocean animals
Stellar sea cow 27 ft long, 14,000 lbs□
§
400,000,000 mill ducks
§
The only member of the parrot family in the US
§
○
King James
We wanted to make north america tame - don’t want it wild
§
Fit in with emerging industrial capabilities
§
○
•
Era of Overexploitation (1850-1900)
Railroads started to expand across the continent
Same with telegraphs
§
○
Network of towns and cities that were connected
○
Could start to transport goods with trains
Opens up markets for wildlife
§
Started to go into true overexploitation
§
○
Passenger pigeon
Harvested in massive numbers
§
Baby pigeons became a delicacy
§
Got down to a single pigeon left
Martha - died 1914 Cincinnati zoo□
§
○
Bison
Start at 60 mil bison
§
At war with native americans, so we tried to starve native
americans by having the army kill bison
§
Tongue - delicacy
§
Leather - useful for machinery belts
§
Hide - useful for clothing
§
By 1894 the last free roaming bison outside of yellowstone are shot
§
In 1902 there were 23 bison left in yellowstone
§
○
Stellar sea cow
Better than beef
§
Sealers ate them while hunting seals
§
○
Carolina parakeet
Ate the crops we tried to plant
§
Killed them to prevent that - also destroyed their habitat
§
Last of its species died 1914 in the Cincinnati zoo
§
○
400,000,000 ducks
Became a food resource
§
Market hunting
Harvesting wildlife and selling it□
Our darkest days□
§
More you killed, the more you were paid
§
○
The millinery trade
Bird plumage taken to be put on hats
§
○
Salmon
Dammed rivers, couldn't reproduce
§
Atlantic salmon here on the east coast are minimal
§
○
Bounties placed on predators
As soon as you put a market value on a predator, it will dissapear
§
○
Species lost forever:
Passenger pigeon
§
Carolina parakeet
§
Stellar's sea cow
§
Labrador duck
§
Health hen
§
The great auk
§
The Hawaiian rail
§
○
Some people begin to take notice
Henry david thoreau
Noticed that many plants and animals in books didn’t exist
anymore
□
Didn’t want someone before him to take something away
from this earth, and didn’t want us to take things away from
the future people
□
§
○
Thoughts begin to change
○
Things start to happen:
Game commissions are formed
§
Wardens are hired
§
Some states create bag limits
§
○
•
Era of Protection (1900-1930
Two events
Limit the trade of feathers (lacey act)
§
Teddy Roosevelt
§
○
The lacey act (1900):
Limits the trade of illegal wildlife across state boundaries
§
Stops interstate commerce in feathers
§
○
Teddy roosevelt (1858-1919)
Liked to hunt
§
Represented americans who liked to hunt, saw this pastime start to
dissapear
§
A lot of what he did was focus on conservation efforts
How to use resources in a sustainable way□
§
○
The golden age in Conservation
During Roosevelts presidency
§
Tripled the size of national forests ( +51,000,000 ha)
§
Created the forest service
§
Created the first wildlife refuge
§
84,000,000 acres as oil and coal reserves
§
Millions of acres as national monuments
§
Beefed up enforcement
§
Created more national parks
§
○
Gifford Pinchot
Trained abroad
§
Appointed head of the first service
§
Coined the term conservation
§
"sustained use"
§
○
John Muir
More about preservation
§
Founded the sierra club
§
Yosemite national park
§
John muir and the sierra club
Wanted to conserve yosemite and the neighboring valley
hetch hetchy
□
§
○
All is not roses
Science is lacking
§
Predator control
§
Humans can improve upon nature
§
○
•
Era of Game Management (1930-1966)
Aldo Leopold
The father of wildlife management
§
Report of the Committee on North American Game Policy (1930)
Advice on how to manage species□
Need to do it with science backing□
§
The first professor of game management
§
Help found multiple societies (wilderness, wildlife)
§
"an intelligent humility towards mans place in nature"
§
"to keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent
tinkering"
§
○
New awareness
Other creators protected
§
Parks more restrictive
§
Maintain healthy ecosystems
§
But still a primary focus on game animals
§
○
Funding
Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937
Tax on sporting equipment (guns/ammunition)□
§
Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950
Tax on fishing equipment□
§
Money can only be spent on wildlife conervation
§
○
Near the end,
Silent spring by rachel carson - 1962
About DDT□
Killed all the birds□
§
This book lit a fire across the nation
§
○
•
Era of environmental management (
Increased national awareness
○
Endangered species act
○
Earth day 1970
○
Dozens of acts
Safe drinking water act, the clean water act, clean air act, toxic
substances control act
§
○
•
Era of conservation biology
Conservation biology: an evolutionary ecological perspective
○
Alaska national interest lands act
101,000,000 acres
§
○
Ronald Reagan in office
Anti-environmental policies
§
Despite this progress was made
§
○
Awareness:
Human populations are still climbing at an exponential rate
§
The atmosphere is warming
§
Tropical and temperate rainforests are being cut at alarming rates
§
Serious pollution is much more prevalent than admitted previously
§
○
Recognition = the chance to remedy
○
Public perceptions
○
•
Era of extinction???•
History of Wildlife
Saturday, April 7, 2018
8:37 AM
Before man (11,500 BP)
A lot of animals that weren't here before
○
Large animals, typically k strategists
○
Giant animals - megafauna
○
Existed up until about 11,500 years ago, then something happened - what
happened?
Ice age
When we have an ice age the sea levels go down and when
sea levels go down land bridges are exposed
□
Beringia ice bridge - became permanent land people lived
there
□
As the ice age receded beringia disappeared□
Didn’t wipe out the megafuana, but brought something that
did
□
§
○
•
Pre european era (11,500-1,500)
The clovis
First group of people in north america
§
Came across the bearing land bridge with weaponry - spears
§
Animals had a hard time adapting to these weapons
§
○
The pleistocene overkill
Animals didn’t know how to deal with people hunting in groups
with weapons
§
Large animals start to dissapear - people started to overharvest
animals
§
Lost much of the megafauna - biggest thing left was the bison
§
Humans responsible
§
○
Early impact of humans on fauna in north america
○
Native american agriculture
Native americans starting to spread across continent
§
Landscapes converted from forests to fields
§
50-100 million people
§
○
Columbus/early explorers
Brought steal/other metals
§
Also brought disease
Europeans equipped to handle disease, native americans not
□
Tons of epidemics - wiped out 95% of the native american
population
□
§
All of the native american agriculture disappeared, as well as
hunting pressure
§
Eruptions in certain animal populations
§
○
•
Era of abundance (1500-1850)
Abundance of species on the planet is hard to imagine
James audubon wrote about counting so many pigeons
§
Plains were thick with bison ~60,000,000
§
Streams choked with salmon
§
Giant ocean animals
Stellar sea cow 27 ft long, 14,000 lbs
□
§
400,000,000 mill ducks
§
The only member of the parrot family in the US
§
○
King James
We wanted to make north america tame - don’t want it wild
§
Fit in with emerging industrial capabilities
§
○
•
Era of Overexploitation (1850-1900)
Railroads started to expand across the continent
Same with telegraphs
§
○
Network of towns and cities that were connected
○
Could start to transport goods with trains
Opens up markets for wildlife
§
Started to go into true overexploitation
§
○
Passenger pigeon
Harvested in massive numbers
§
Baby pigeons became a delicacy
§
Got down to a single pigeon left
Martha - died 1914 Cincinnati zoo
□
§
○
Bison
Start at 60 mil bison
§
At war with native americans, so we tried to starve native
americans by having the army kill bison
§
Tongue - delicacy
§
Leather - useful for machinery belts
§
Hide - useful for clothing
§
By 1894 the last free roaming bison outside of yellowstone are shot
§
In 1902 there were 23 bison left in yellowstone
§
○
Stellar sea cow
Better than beef
§
Sealers ate them while hunting seals
§
○
Carolina parakeet
Ate the crops we tried to plant
§
Killed them to prevent that - also destroyed their habitat
§
Last of its species died 1914 in the Cincinnati zoo
§
○
400,000,000 ducks
Became a food resource
§
Market hunting
Harvesting wildlife and selling it□
Our darkest days□
§
More you killed, the more you were paid
§
○
The millinery trade
Bird plumage taken to be put on hats
§
○
Salmon
Dammed rivers, couldn't reproduce
§
Atlantic salmon here on the east coast are minimal
§
○
Bounties placed on predators
As soon as you put a market value on a predator, it will dissapear
§
○
Species lost forever:
Passenger pigeon
§
Carolina parakeet
§
Stellar's sea cow
§
Labrador duck
§
Health hen
§
The great auk
§
The Hawaiian rail
§
○
Some people begin to take notice
Henry david thoreau
Noticed that many plants and animals in books didn’t exist
anymore
□
Didn’t want someone before him to take something away
from this earth, and didn’t want us to take things away from
the future people
□
§
○
Thoughts begin to change
○
Things start to happen:
Game commissions are formed
§
Wardens are hired
§
Some states create bag limits
§
○
•
Era of Protection (1900-1930
Two events
Limit the trade of feathers (lacey act)
§
Teddy Roosevelt
§
○
The lacey act (1900):
Limits the trade of illegal wildlife across state boundaries
§
Stops interstate commerce in feathers
§
○
Teddy roosevelt (1858-1919)
Liked to hunt
§
Represented americans who liked to hunt, saw this pastime start to
dissapear
§
A lot of what he did was focus on conservation efforts
How to use resources in a sustainable way□
§
○
The golden age in Conservation
During Roosevelts presidency
§
Tripled the size of national forests ( +51,000,000 ha)
§
Created the forest service
§
Created the first wildlife refuge
§
84,000,000 acres as oil and coal reserves
§
Millions of acres as national monuments
§
Beefed up enforcement
§
Created more national parks
§
○
Gifford Pinchot
Trained abroad
§
Appointed head of the first service
§
Coined the term conservation
§
"sustained use"
§
○
John Muir
More about preservation
§
Founded the sierra club
§
Yosemite national park
§
John muir and the sierra club
Wanted to conserve yosemite and the neighboring valley
hetch hetchy
□
§
○
All is not roses
Science is lacking
§
Predator control
§
Humans can improve upon nature
§
○
•
Era of Game Management (1930-1966)
Aldo Leopold
The father of wildlife management
§
Report of the Committee on North American Game Policy (1930)
Advice on how to manage species□
Need to do it with science backing□
§
The first professor of game management
§
Help found multiple societies (wilderness, wildlife)
§
"an intelligent humility towards mans place in nature"
§
"to keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent
tinkering"
§
○
New awareness
Other creators protected
§
Parks more restrictive
§
Maintain healthy ecosystems
§
But still a primary focus on game animals
§
○
Funding
Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937
Tax on sporting equipment (guns/ammunition)□
§
Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950
Tax on fishing equipment□
§
Money can only be spent on wildlife conervation
§
○
Near the end,
Silent spring by rachel carson - 1962
About DDT□
Killed all the birds□
§
This book lit a fire across the nation
§
○
•
Era of environmental management (
Increased national awareness
○
Endangered species act
○
Earth day 1970
○
Dozens of acts
Safe drinking water act, the clean water act, clean air act, toxic
substances control act
§
○
•
Era of conservation biology
Conservation biology: an evolutionary ecological perspective
○
Alaska national interest lands act
101,000,000 acres
§
○
Ronald Reagan in office
Anti-environmental policies
§
Despite this progress was made
§
○
Awareness:
Human populations are still climbing at an exponential rate
§
The atmosphere is warming
§
Tropical and temperate rainforests are being cut at alarming rates
§
Serious pollution is much more prevalent than admitted previously
§
○
Recognition = the chance to remedy
○
Public perceptions
○
•
Era of extinction???•
History of Wildlife
Saturday, April 7, 2018 8:37 AM
Document Summary
A lot of animals that weren"t here before. When we have an ice age the sea levels go down and when sea levels go down land bridges are exposed. Beringia ice bridge - became permanent land people lived there. Didn"t wipe out the megafuana, but brought something that did. Came across the bearing land bridge with weaponry - spears. Animals had a hard time adapting to these weapons. Animals didn"t know how to deal with people hunting in groups with weapons. Large animals start to dissapear - people started to overharvest animals. Lost much of the megafauna - biggest thing left was the bison. Early impact of humans on fauna in north america. Europeans equipped to handle disease, native americans not. Tons of epidemics - wiped out 95% of the native american population. All of the native american agriculture disappeared, as well as hunting pressure. Abundance of species on the planet is hard to imagine.
