A few comments on wildlife habitat

Laura K. Paine (lkpaine@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Tue, 15 Aug 1995 13:24:08 -0500

Some questions for Mr. Avery in regard to where the wildlife is and what
land should be protected for wildlife: What about the wildlife that is
adapted to that prime farmland out there? The Midwestern US is a perfect
example. Many native prairie songbird species are declining in population.
Should they be discounted because they happen to occupy some of the most
fertile land in the world?

Grassland ecosystems such as the prairie tend to have a less diverse
wildlife community (fewer species) than woodland ecosystems such as the
tropical rainforest. Does that make prairie species less valuable than
tropical wildlife? Should we decide which communities to preserve based on
the greatest number of species saved per acre? Or based on how valuable the
land that they occupy is for human use? And who is qualified to make these
decisions?

Laura Paine
University of Wisconsin
Agronomy Department
lkpaine@facstaff.wisc.edu