Case Study: The Green Valley Ranch Incorporation

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The Green Valley Ranch Incorporation is a major beef producer attempting to expand its pasture in Central Valley California. The area which they have chosen, Philip’s Creek, is a part of a wetland ecosystem susceptible to seasonal flooding. Therefore, a dike must be built to minimize the damage and ensure adequate grazing areas for the cattle. However, by building the dike, the company is threatening the Patrick’s Marsh Wren, a species dependent upon the wetland ecosystem the company plans to disrupt. The habitats are exemplified in Figure One.
Patrick’s Marsh Wrens feed on insects native to the water in Central Valley and use the water for protection against predators such as coyotes. The Wrens also migrate back to their original nesting locations, in this case Philip’s Creek, when they are ready to mate. Thus, the destruction may cause damage to the fecundity rate, or reproduction rate, of the Wrens. In addition, surrounding this subpopulation are three other populations, Three Mile Marsh, Castelton Creek, and Delinger Meadow, which supposedly depend on the health of one another. Therefore, if Philip’s Creek were to be removed, all the associated …show more content…

The comparison between the average extinction rate and average final abundance conclude that destroying Philip’s Creek and conserving the population through relocation and habitat maintenance provide the same effect. It also appears that the degradation of the population could be just as severe as the demise of the population due to Green Valley Ranch. Therefore, Green Valley Ranch should be able to expand their pasture; however, when observing the effects of conservation failure, the metapopulation suffers dramatically. If the conservation efforts fail, the final abundance is approximately the same as the severe degradation of the population. Thus, the uncertainty within the two possibilities is too high to decide which group is

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