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Search For A Solution: Sustaining the Land, People, and Economy of the Blue Mountains

5. BIODIVERSITY IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Richy J. Harrod, William L. Gaines, Ronald J. Taylor, Richard Everett, Terry Lillybridge, and James D. McIver

Conclusion

The Blue Mountains are diverse in terms of landscapes, ecosystems, communities, and species. Structural and functional components of landscapes and ecosystems are also diverse. However, this diversity has been threatened by a combination of human activities and noxious weed invasion and exacerbated by recent drought. Fire exclusion, extensive grazing, past timber management, and other factors have contributed to the decline in health of both forest and nonforest ecosystems.

A change in management strategy emphasizing the conservation of biodiversity, instead of resource exploitation, needs to be made by both private managers and government agencies within the Blue Mountains. A number of recent laws and policies are raising awareness of and facilitating conservation of biodiversity. Land management planning needs to occur on large scales and must consider processes and functions. A longer planning horizon, both spatially and temporally, must be considered when managing dynamic landscapes and ecosystems.

A number of possible research projects are proposed. These projects will help obtain information to allow management agencies to make more informed and responsible decisions concerning the conservation of biodiversity.

Contents of Chapter Five:

• Introduction
• Definitions
• Importance of Biodiversity
• Diversity in the Blue Mountains
• Landscape Diversity
• Ecosystem and Plant Community Diversity
• Species and Genetic Diversity
• Models for Assessing Diversity
• The Interaction of Disturbance and Biodiversity
• Potential Threats to Biological Diversity
• Natural Process Imbalance
• Human Use Effects on Biodiversity
• Noxious Weed Effects on Biodiversity
• Conserving Biological Diversity
• Current Laws and Policy
• Application of Current Laws and Policies
• Necessary Conservation
• Measure for Biodiversity
• Managing for Biodiversity
• Research Needs
• Ecosystem and Landscape Diversity
• Structural Diversity
• Species Diversity
• Genetic Diversity
• Socioeconomic Component
• Conclusion