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Advantageous Arboretum
The Gymnocladus dioicus, or the Kenucky Coffeetree, is one of many trees documented around the University of Maryland campus. This tree in particular can be found outside of Cecil Hall, the image being taken on Sunday, October 14th, 2018. Though the tree may seem like a glorified plant with a plaque to the average student, it actually is part of a way bigger movement which is part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG number 15B discusses life on land and the arboretum on campus is an example of one of the goals to "mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management" ("Life on Land"). One of the markers for this goal is the development of incentives for regions to implement conservation and management programs. That's where the UMD Arboretum and Botanical Garden comes into play. According to their website, the program actually began as a land grant ("History"), meaning the university is allotted a certain amount of public land if they manage and maintain the life and biodiversity on it, allowing the university to develop on the land within the arboretum guidelines.
The arboretum plays a crucial role in the ecology of campus, as ecologists can monitor and record any changes of the various species located on campus and observe how changes may impact the ecosystem dynamics. When forest management is used in an area, data at the individual level can be collected over long spans of time. That data can then be compared to the other individuals to look at the species population over time. Variables like weather patterns, organism interaction, or construction impact can be looked at to determine what may contribute to changes.
The main ecological focus of this sustainable development goal is limiting the damaging effects that the Anthropocene has on local and global forest habitats. Not only does forest management maintain or even improve the biodiversity of plant species, but it can help reduce the effects of climate change. This is because forests are considered to be carbon sinks, capable of soaking up the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, new reports express concern over the status of forest carbon sinks, adding the human activities reduce their effectiveness, but with proper management and conservation they have plenty of potential (Aton). Hence, SDG15 is exceptionally important to improving the quality of life on land by conserving the natural ecosystem while also contributing to ecological research.
Citations:
Aton, Adam. “Surprisingly, Tropical Forests Are Not a Carbon Sink.” Scientific American, 29 Sept. 2017, www.scientificamerican.com/article/surprisingly-tropical-....
“History.” UMD Arboretum & Botanical Garden, arboretum.umd.edu/about-us/history.
“Life on Land” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15
Advantageous Arboretum
The Gymnocladus dioicus, or the Kenucky Coffeetree, is one of many trees documented around the University of Maryland campus. This tree in particular can be found outside of Cecil Hall, the image being taken on Sunday, October 14th, 2018. Though the tree may seem like a glorified plant with a plaque to the average student, it actually is part of a way bigger movement which is part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG number 15B discusses life on land and the arboretum on campus is an example of one of the goals to "mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management" ("Life on Land"). One of the markers for this goal is the development of incentives for regions to implement conservation and management programs. That's where the UMD Arboretum and Botanical Garden comes into play. According to their website, the program actually began as a land grant ("History"), meaning the university is allotted a certain amount of public land if they manage and maintain the life and biodiversity on it, allowing the university to develop on the land within the arboretum guidelines.
The arboretum plays a crucial role in the ecology of campus, as ecologists can monitor and record any changes of the various species located on campus and observe how changes may impact the ecosystem dynamics. When forest management is used in an area, data at the individual level can be collected over long spans of time. That data can then be compared to the other individuals to look at the species population over time. Variables like weather patterns, organism interaction, or construction impact can be looked at to determine what may contribute to changes.
The main ecological focus of this sustainable development goal is limiting the damaging effects that the Anthropocene has on local and global forest habitats. Not only does forest management maintain or even improve the biodiversity of plant species, but it can help reduce the effects of climate change. This is because forests are considered to be carbon sinks, capable of soaking up the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, new reports express concern over the status of forest carbon sinks, adding the human activities reduce their effectiveness, but with proper management and conservation they have plenty of potential (Aton). Hence, SDG15 is exceptionally important to improving the quality of life on land by conserving the natural ecosystem while also contributing to ecological research.
Citations:
Aton, Adam. “Surprisingly, Tropical Forests Are Not a Carbon Sink.” Scientific American, 29 Sept. 2017, www.scientificamerican.com/article/surprisingly-tropical-....
“History.” UMD Arboretum & Botanical Garden, arboretum.umd.edu/about-us/history.
“Life on Land” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15