Tuesday, August 25, 2009

PostHeaderIcon Applied Plant Conservation at the San Diego Zoo

3:27 PM | Posted by NRES 285/ 499, Fall 2010, UIUC | Edit Post
Applied Plant Conservation at the San Diego Zoo

FAST FACTS

• San Diego Zoo operates the Institute for Conservation Research, and this is the “largest zoo-based multi-disciplinary research team in the world”!!! We’re collaborating with the applied plant ecology branch to work on palm research.

• Goals of the Zoo are to help find solutions to resource use issues through
research and application

• One application for harvest of palms is non-timber forest products, such as food, crafts, and medicines. This can help rural families thrive on palms if used sustainably. There is also a desire to further research palm ecology (no one has extensively researched this palm before) by working with locals who are familiar with palm harvest.

• Nature and Culture International (NCI) seeks to foster this connection between local knowledge and people, sustainable resource use, and land protection.

• 30,000 palm leaves are used to weave ONE ROOF!

• Similarly insane are the photos in this slideshow; the town of Alamos looks gorgeous and those palms couldn’t be cooler. Check them OUT. --Lenna O.

photo from Stephanie L.

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About the Class

My photo
Alamos, Sonora, Mexico
This course combines pre-trip classroom instruction with field study in the Sierra de Alamos in Southeastern Sonora, Mexico. Its purpose is to introduce both undergraduate and graduate students to biodiversity and conservation of a diverse and significantly threatened ecosystem.

Readings

  • Alvarez-Yepiz, J. C., A. Martinez-Yrizar, et al. (2008). "Variation in vegetation structure and soil properties related to land use history of old-growth and secondary tropical dry forests in northwestern Mexico." Forest Ecology and Management 256(3): 355-366.
  • Anten, N. P. R., M. Martinez-Ramos, et al. (2003). "Defoliation and growth in an understory palm: Quantifying the contributions of compensatory responses." Ecology 84(11): 2905-2918.
  • Dacosta, J. M. and J. Klicka (2008). "The Great American Interchange in birds: a phylogenetic perspective with the genus Trogon." Molecular Ecology 17(5): 1328-1343.
  • Endress, B. A., D. L. Gorchov, et al. (2004). "Harvest of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis, its effects on leaf production, and implications for sustainable management." Conservation Biology 18(3): 822-830.
  • Endress, B. A., D. L. Gorchov, et al. (2004). "Non-timber forest product extraction: Effects of harvest and browsing on an understory palm." Ecological Applications 14(4): 1139-1153.
  • Felger, R. S. and E. Joyal (1999). "The palms (Areacaceae) of Sonora, Mexico." Aliso 18(1): 1-18.
  • Joyal, E. (1996). "The palm has its time: An ethnoecology of Sabal uresana in Sonora, Mexico." Economic Botany 50(4): 446-462.
  • Joyal, E. (1996). "The use of Sabal uresana (Arecaceae) and other palms in Sonora, Mexico." Economic Botany 50(4): 429-445.
  • O' Brien, C., A. D. Flesch, et al. (2006). Biological inventory of the Rio Aros, Sonora, Mexico: A river unknown. C. O'Brien. Tucson, University of Arizona.
  • Rendon-Carmona, H., A. Martinez-Yrizar, et al. (2009). "Selective cutting of woody species in a Mexican tropical dry forest: Incompatibility between use and conservation." Forest Ecology and Management 257(2): 567-579.
  • Ticktin, T. (2004). "The ecological implications of harvesting non-timber forest products." Journal of Applied Ecology 41(1): 11-21.
  • Vasquez-Leon, M. and D. Liverman (2004). "The political ecology of land-use change: Affluent ranchers and destitute farmers in the Mexican municipio of Alamos." Human Organization 63(1): 21-33.

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