Delta State University

SOC 422/522 COD 522

Spring Semester 2004

 

Study Questions, Week 9

 

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Topics for the Week:

 

Plants & Animals; Forests, Biodiversity

 

Readings for the Week:

 

Kummer, David M. and B.L. Turner II. 1994. The human causes of deforestation in Southeast Asia. BioScience 44(5):323–328.

 

Lynch, Owen J. 1998. Law, pluralism and the promotion of sustainable community-based forest management. Unasylva 49(3):52–56.

 

Biodiversity Websites:

 

      http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/center/what.html

      http://wri.igc.org/biodiv/

      http://endangered.fws.gov/

      http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/hotspotsScience/

      http://www.mdwfp.com/museum/downloads/tandelist.pdf

 

Questions:

 

(1)  What variables contribute to deforestation in tropical areas?  What role do government policies play in deforestation?

 

(2)  Describe the processes through which deforestation occurs in the Philippines, according to Kummer and Turner.  What evidence do they provide to support their model?

 

(3)  What are some problems researchers face when they try to model deforestation processes?

 

(4)  What is the relationship between law and deforestation?  Between civil society and deforestation?  Which is more likely to contribute to sustainable forest management?

 

(5)  What is meant by the term biodiversity?  Why is biodiversity important?

 

(6)  In what ways is biodiversity threatened?  Is this a serious problem?

 

(7)  What are the criteria for listing a species as endangered?  As threatened?  How big a problem are endangered species at the federal and state level?

 

(8)  What is a biodiversity hotspot?  Why was this concept created?  What are some problems with this approach to biodiversity protection?