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 Article:
Speak-o-logical: Defining and Measuring the Ecological Value of WildernessThis article is from Issue Wilderness Benefits - Vol. 7 No. 1.
* Note: All editions of the Natural Inquirer starting with Volume 5 and including future editions require the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 in order to be downloaded. We have upgraded in order to ensure greater accessibility to PDF files. Please click on the following link if you need to upgrade your Adobe Acrobat reader: Upgrade now to Adobe Reader 6.0. It is a free upgrade. When a society decides to set aside areas of land as wilderness, it makes a choice about the value of those lands. In the United States, people have decided that some lands are more valuable without human development. One of the values of wilderness is its ecological value. The scientists decided to compare wilderness with other lands. They wanted to know whether wilderness has greater ecological value than all other types of land.
Welcome to the Wilderness Benefits editionNote to EducatorsWilderness Benefits Lesson PlanReflection Section Answer GuideEducation Standards CorrelationsMeet the scientists that contributed to this article: "Science Topics" covered in this article:
"Environmental Topics" covered in this article:
Regions covered in this article:
"Thinking About Science Themes" covered in this article: To answer a question or solve a problem, scientists must clearly define what they are going to study. In this research, the scientists were interested in exploring a possible difference between wilderness and lands that are not wilderness. Wilderness is legally designated land that is protected from most human activities. The scientists wanted to know if wilderness has greater ecological value than nonwilderness. To answer their research question, the scientists had to find a way to define what is meant by the ecological value of a natural area. Specific "Thinking About Science" Themes:"Thinking About Environmental Themes" covered in this article: The scientists in this study decided that the ecological value of an area is related to two things. Those things are how natural the area is and the area's ability to support life. Think about the word 'natural.' What does that word mean to you? Think about a parking lot, a soccer field, and a path through a forest. Which seems the most natural to you? What makes one area more natural than the other? What makes one area less natural than the other? Which of these areas can best support life? Which one is least able to support life? Specific "Thinking About the Environment" Themes:NSE Standards covered in this article:
Science Benchmarks covered in this article:
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