The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service restores landscape around Indiana to help preserve the state's endangered wildlife and forestry, a biologist said Wednesday.
Forest Clark, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spoke to about 30 students and faculty members on conservation efforts in Indiana. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management sponsored the lecture as part of Earth Week.
Clark detailed techniques for conserving landscapes, ecosystems and plant and animal diversity, and described some of the techniques used by the IBI in their efforts.
Clark stressed the importance of preserving examples of rare species using the Copperbelly Water Snake and the Karner Blue Butterfly, two of his pet projects, as examples.
Indiana is divided into seven main natural regions, he said. These include till plain - the majority of the state - hills and rivers in the south and prairie in the northwest. The varied landscape provides habitats for many endangered and threatened animals.
Clark said one of the greatest dangers to Indiana's many ecosystems is what he termed second-generation change. First-generation change occurred in Indiana when the first European settlers moved in and turned vast parts of the state into farmland.
Second-generation change is the switch from farmland to developed communities. As areas are built up, they become hostile habitats for native animals.
Clark then talked about the four phases of an environmental conservation effort. Plant conservation and analysis paves the way for animal conservation, where protecting one animal with a wide angle helps to protect several more within that range. The plant and animal solutions merge together for another analysis, and areas for conservation are identified using special software.
Senior Sarah Duhamell said the lecture was interesting and Clark's presentation will be useful to her in the future.
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