1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
National park
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A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
3.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
4.
Ramsar Convention
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The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands and it is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971. The most recent COP12 was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, cOP13 will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2018. The List of Wetlands of International Importance included 2,231 Ramsar Sites in March 2016 covering over 2.1 million square kilometres. The country with the highest number of Sites is the United Kingdom with 170, the Ramsar Sites Information Service is a searchable database which provides information on each Ramsar Site. As of 2016 there are 18 Transboundary Ramsar Sites, as of 2016 there are 15 Ramsar Regional Initiatives covering regions of the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and South America. The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other known as International Organization Partners. The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the Conference of the Parties and as members of the Scientific. Conference of the Parties Conference of the Parties is the Conventions governing body consisting of all governments that have ratified the treaty and this ultimate authority reviews progress under the Convention, identifies new priorities, and sets work plans for members. The COP can also make amendments to the Convention, create expert advisory bodies, review progress reports by member nations, and collaborate with other international organizations and agreements. The Standing Committee The Standing Committee is the executive body which represents the COP between its triennial meetings, within the framework of the decisions made by the COP. The Contracting Parties that are members of the Standing Committee are elected by each meeting of the COP to serve for the three years until the next one, the Secretariat The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day coordination of the Convention’s activities. It is based at the headquarters of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland, the 2nd of February each year is World Wetlands Day, marking the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971. Established to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity, in 2015 World Wetlands Day was celebrated in 59 countries
5.
National Natural Landmark
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The National Natural Landmarks Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private ownership, the program was established on May 18,1962, by United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. The program aims to encourage and support voluntary preservation of sites that illustrate the geological and ecological history of the United States and it also hopes to strengthen the publics appreciation of the countrys natural heritage. As of November 2016,599 sites have been added to the National Registry of National Landmarks, the registry includes nationally significant geological and ecological features in 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The National Park Service administers the NNL Program and if requested, land acquisition by the federal government is not a goal of this program. National Natural Landmarks are nationally significant sites owned by a variety of land stewards, the legislative authority for the National Natural Landmarks Program stems from the Historic Sites Act of August 21,1935, the program is governed by federal regulations. The NNL Program does not have the features of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Thus, designation of a National Natural Landmark presently constitutes only an agreement with the owner to preserve, insofar as possible, administration and preservation of National Natural Landmarks is solely the owners responsibility. Either party may terminate the agreement after they notify the other, the UKs Site of Special Scientific Interest list is a rough equivalent. The NNL designation is made by the Secretary of the Interior after in-depth scientific study of a potential site, all new designations must have owner concurrence. The selection process is rigorous, to be considered for NNL status, since establishment of the NNL program, a multi-step process has been used to designate a site for NNL status. Since 1970, the steps have constituted the process. A natural area inventory of a region is completed to identify the most promising sites. After landowners are notified that the site is being considered for NNL status, the evaluation report is peer reviewed by other experts to assure its soundness. The report is reviewed further by National Park Service staff, the site is reviewed by the Secretary of the Interiors National Park Advisory Board to determine that the site qualifies as an NNL. The findings are provided to the Secretary of the Interior who approves or declines, landowners are notified a third time informing them that the site has been designated an NNL. Each major natural history theme can be subdivided into various sub-themes. The NNL program does not require designated properties to be owned by public entities, lands under almost all forms of ownership or administration have been designated—federal, state, local, municipal and private
6.
South Carolina
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South Carolina /ˌsaʊθ kærəˈlaɪnə/ is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U. S. Constitution, doing so on May 23,1788. South Carolina became the first state to vote to secede from the Union on December 20,1860, after the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25,1868. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and the 23rd most populous U. S. state and its GDP as of 2013 was $183.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3. 13%. The capital and largest city is Columbia with a 2013 population of 133,358, South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, under whose reign the English colony was first formed, with Carolus being Latin for Charles. There is evidence of activity in the area about 12000 years ago. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee, Yuchi, and the Yamasee, further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River, the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their food source. The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, about a dozen separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles mostly by canoe, they wintered on the plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts. The names of these survive in place names like Edisto Island, Kiawah Island. The Spanish were the first Europeans in the area, in 1521, founding San Miguel de Gualdape, established with 500 settlers, it was abandoned within a year by 150 survivors. In 1562 French settlers established a settlement at what is now the Charlesfort-Santa Elena archaeological site on Parris Island, three years later the Spanish built a fort on the same site, but withdrew following hostilities with the English navy. In 1629, King Charles I of England established the Province of Carolina an area covering what is now South and North Carolina, Georgia, in the 1670s, English planters from the Barbados established themselves near what is now Charleston. Settlers built rice plantations in the South Carolina Lowcountry, east of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, settlers came from all over Europe. Plantation labor was done by African slaves who formed the majority of the population by 1720, another cash crop was the Indigo plant, a plant source of blue dye, developed by Eliza Lucas. Meanwhile, in Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by farmers and traders. Colonists overthrew the rule, seeing more direct representation
7.
Old-growth forest
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Old-growth features include diverse tree-related structures that provide diverse wildlife habitat that increases the biodiversity of the forested ecosystem. The concept of tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters. Old-growth forests are valuable, and logging of these forests has been a point of contention between the logging industry and environmentalists. Old-growth forests tend to have trees and standing dead trees, multi-layered canopies with gaps that result from the deaths of individual trees. Depending on the forest, this may take anywhere from a century to several millennia, hardwood forests of the eastern United States can develop old-growth characteristics in one or two generations of trees, or 150–500 years. In British Columbia, Canada, old growth is defined as 120 to 140 years of age in the interior of the province where fire is a frequent and natural occurrence. In British Columbia’s coastal rainforests, old growth is defined as more than 250 years. In Australia, eucalypt trees rarely exceed 350 years of age due to frequent fire disturbance, Forest types have very different development patterns, natural disturbances and appearances. Levels of biodiversity may be higher or lower in old-growth forests compared to that in second-growth forests, depending on circumstances, environmental variables. Logging in old-growth forests is an issue in many parts of the world. Excessive logging reduces biodiversity, affecting not only the old-growth forest itself, a forest in old-growth stage has a mix of tree ages, due to a distinct regeneration pattern for this stage. New trees regenerate at different times from other, because each one of them has different spatial location relative to the main canopy. The mixed age of the forest is an important criterion in ensuring that the forest is a stable ecosystem in the long term. A climax stand that is uniformly aged becomes senescent and degrades within a relatively short time-period to result in a new cycle of forest succession, thus, uniformly aged stands are a less stable ecosystem. Forest canopy gaps are essential in creating and maintaining mixed-age stands, also, some herbaceous plants only become established in canopy openings, but persist beneath an understory. Openings are a result of death due to small impact disturbances such as wind, low-intensity fires. Because old-growth forest is structurally diverse it provides higher-diversity habitat than forests in other stages, thus, sometimes higher biological diversity can be sustained in old-growth forest, or at least a biodiversity that is different from other forest stages. The characteristic topography of much old-growth forest consists of pits and mounds, mounds are caused by decaying fallen trees, and pits by the roots pulled out of the ground when trees fall due to natural causes, including being pushed over by animals
8.
Temperate deciduous forest
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Temperate deciduous forests or temperate broad-leaf forests are dominated by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm, moist summers and mild winters, the three major areas of this forest type occur in the Northern Hemisphere, eastern North America, East Asia, and Europe. Smaller areas occur in Australasia and southern South America, the diversity of tree species is higher in regions where the winter is milder, and also in mountainous regions that provide an array of soil types and microclimates. One of the worlds great protected examples of this forest type is found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the principal factor operating in these forests is the seasonal appearance and disappearance of the canopy. Shade from the limits the growth of many kinds of plants. Many species that are typical of these forests time their growth and flowering to the period just before the canopy opens. Most spring ephemerals are insect-pollinated, and the seeds themselves are transported by ants. There are a number of species able to grow under the canopy. The average yearly precipitation is 30 -60 inches, temperate deciduous forests have a great variety of plant species. Most have three levels of plants, lichen, moss, ferns, wildflowers and other small plants can be found on the forest floor. Shrubs fill in the level and hardwood trees like maple, oak, birch, magnolia, sweet gum. Birds like broad-winged hawks, cardinals, snowy owls, and pileated woodpeckers are found in this biome. Mammals include white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, porcupines and red foxes, animals that live in the temperate deciduous forest must be able to adapt to the changing seasons. Many understory plants have leaf adaptions to cope with low levels. A few, such as Indian pipe and Corallorhiza orchids, have adapted to the shade by parasitism, the trees similarly are controlled by shade. Most tree seedlings require small gaps when trees fall and make space in order to regenerate, a few require larger gaps such as those produced by windstorms. Gradients of soil moisture, soil depth, elevation and aspect control the distribution of trees, shrubs. Some require unusual conditions such as slopes, infertile soil
9.
National Wilderness Preservation System
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The National Wilderness Preservation System of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness areas are managed by four federal land management agencies, the National Park Service, the U. S. Forest Service, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. As of 2015, there are 765 designated wilderness areas, totaling 109,129,657 acres, during the 1950s and 1960s, as the American transportation system was on the rise, concern for clean air and water quality began to grow. A conservation movement began to place with the intent of establishing designated wilderness areas. Howard Zahniser created the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956 and it took nine years and 65 rewrites before the Wilderness Act was finally passed in 1964. The Wilderness Act of 1964, which established the NWPS, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3,1964, the first national forest wilderness areas were established by the Wilderness Act itself. The Great Swamp in New Jersey became the first National Wildlife Refuge with formally designated wilderness in 1968, Wilderness areas in national parks followed, beginning with the designation of wilderness in part of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho in 1970. A smaller spike in 1984 came with the passage of many bills establishing national forest wilderness areas identified by the Forest Services Roadless Area Review and Evaluation process. Over 200 wilderness areas have been created within Bureau of Land Management administered lands since then, as of August 2008, a total of 704 separate wilderness areas, encompassing 107,514,938 acres, had become part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. With the passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Act in March 2009, as of September 2015, the system includes 765 wilderness areas totaling 109,129,657 acres. On federal lands in the United States, Congress may designate an area as wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Congress then reviews these cases on a state by state basis and determines which areas, there have been multiple occasions in which congress designated more federal land than had been recommended by the nominating agency. The Wilderness Act provides criteria for lands being considered for wilderness designation, Wilderness areas are subject to specific management restrictions, human activities are limited to non-motorized recreation, scientific research, and other non-invasive activities. During these activities, patrons are asked to abide by the Leave No Trace policy and this policy sets guidelines for using the wilderness responsibly, and leaving the area as it was before usage. When closely observed, the Leave No Trace ethos ensures that wilderness areas remain untainted by human interaction, Wilderness areas fall into IUCN protected area management category Ia or Ib. Wilderness areas are parts of parks, wildlife refuges, national forests. Initially, the NWPS included 34 areas protecting 9.1 million acres in the national forests, today, there are 762 wilderness areas in the NWPS, preserving 108,916,684 acres
10.
Ernest Hollings
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Ernest Frederick Fritz Hollings served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005, as well as the 106th Governor of South Carolina and the 77th Lieutenant Governor. He served 38 years and 55 days in the Senate, which makes him the 8th-longest-serving Senator in history and he served alongside Republican Strom Thurmond for 36 of those years, making them the longest-serving Senate duo in history, and Hollings the most senior junior senator from a state. At the age of 95, he is currently the oldest living U. S. Senator, Hollings was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Wilhelmine Dorothea and Adolph Gevert Hollings, Sr. He was raised at 338 President St. in the Hampton Park Terrace neighborhood from the age of ten through enrolling in college and he graduated from The Citadel in 1942, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received an LL. B. from the University of South Carolina in 1947 after only 21 months of study, Hollings is a brother of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. He was married to Rita Liddy Peatsy Hollings from 1971 until her death in October 2012 and he had four children with his first wife, Patricia Salley Hollings. In addition, Fritz and Patricia had two sons who died, Hollings served as an officer in the U. S. He received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five Bronze Service Stars for participation in the Tunisia, Southern France, Rome-Arno, Rhineland and he served three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1949 to 1954. After only one term, Hollings colleagues elected him Speaker Pro Tempore in 1951 and 1953 and he was subsequently elected Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1954, and Governor in 1958 at age 36. His term in office saw the establishment of the technical education system. He also called for and achieved significant increases in teachers salaries, in 2000 the state legislature voted to move the flag from above the statehouse to a Confederate soldiers monument in front of the building, where it remained until 2015. It should be done with law and order, Hollings oversaw the last executions in South Carolina before the U. S. Supreme Courts decision in Furman v. Georgia, which temporarily banned capital punishment. During his term, eight inmates were put to death by electric chair, the last was rapist Douglas Thorne, on April 20,1962. He sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U. S. Senate in 1962, Johnston died on April 18,1965. Hollings successor as governor, Donald S. Russell, resigned in order to accept appointment to the Senate seat, in the summer of 1966, Hollings defeated Russell in the Democratic primary for the remaining two years of the term. He then narrowly won the election on November 8,1966, against the Democrat-turned-Republican Marshall Parker. He gained seniority on other newly elected U. S. senators who would have to wait until January 1967, Strom Thurmond won his first term as a Republican at the same time that Hollings prevailed over Parker. In that same election, Democratic Governor Robert Evander McNair defeated the Republican nominee Joseph O. Rogers, Hollings won the Senate seat for his first full term in 1968, when he again defeated Marshall Parker but by a much wider margin
11.
Ecoregion
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An ecoregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than an ecozone. All three of these are less or greater than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, the biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches, firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible, secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges, rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome, biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers. Some physical, some climatic and some ocean chemical related, the history of the term is somewhat vague as it was used in many contexts, forest classifications, biome classifications, biogeographic classifications, etc. The concept of ecoregion of Bailey gives more importance to ecological criteria, while the WWF concept gives more importance to biogeography, there is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making the delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Such transition zones are called ecotones, Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or a holistic, “weight-of-evidence” approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the approach is Robert Bailey’s work for the U. S. The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used, according to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across the Earth, the use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and it is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation, Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean of land, WWF ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions. The WWF effort is a synthesis of previous efforts to define. Many consider this classification to be decisive, and some propose these as stable borders for bioregional democracy initiatives. The eight terrestrial ecozones follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, ecozone boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like the Himalayas and the Sahara
12.
Pinus taeda
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Pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware and southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a yellow pine. U. S. Forest Service surveys found that loblolly pine is the second most common species of tree in the United States, for its timber, the pine species is regarded as the most commercially important tree in Southeastern US. The common name loblolly is given because the species is found mostly in lowlands. Loblolly pine is the first among over 100 species of Pinus to have its genome sequenced. As of March 2014 it is the organism having the largest sequenced genome size and its genome, with 22 billion base pairs, is seven times larger than that of humans. Loblolly pine can reach a height of 30–35 m with a diameter of 0. 4–1.5 m, exceptional specimens may reach 50 m tall, the largest of the southern pines. The needles usually last up to two years before they fall, which gives the species its evergreen character, although some needles fall throughout the year due to severe weather, insect damage, and drought, most needles fall during the autumn and winter of their second year. The seed cones are green, ripening pale buff-brown, 7–13 cm in length, 2–3 cm broad when closed, opening to 4–6 cm wide, each scale bearing a sharp 3–6 mm spine. The tallest loblolly pine currently known, which is 51.4 m tall, and the largest, which measures 42 cubic meters in volume, are in Congaree National Park. The word loblolly is a combination of lob, referring to thick heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and lolly, in the southern United States, the word is used to mean a mudhole, a mire, a sense derived from an allusion to the consistency of porridge. Hence the pine is named as it is found in lowlands. Loblolly pines grow well in clay soil, which is common throughout the South. For the scientific name, Pinus is the Latin name for the pines, the rate of growth is rapid, even among the generally fast-growing southern pines. The yellowish, resinous wood is prized for lumber, but is also used for wood pulp. This tree is grown in extensive plantations. Loblolly pine is the pine of the Lost Pines Forest around Bastrop, Texas and these are isolated populations on areas of acidic sandy soil, surrounded by alkaline clays that are poor for pine growth. A study using loblolly pines showed that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may help the trees to endure ice storms better
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