Friday, February 26, 2010

Plenary 1: Patterns of Global Change


Plenary Description:

In keeping with the conference theme “Patterns of change: learning from our past to manage our present and conserve the future,” speakers in this first plenary session will help us focus on the past and present socio-economic and ecological forces that have influenced and defined our current conservation paradigm and honed the diverse management tools we use for habitat and species conservation. Pressures on grassland habitats are now global in scope and are more intricately tied to the global economy than ever before. Overall, the Economy is the key driver which influences the Environment directly or indirectly. It is a primary influence on how management decisions are made and is a primary determinant influencing the extent to which landscapes are impacted. This session will provide a comprehensive view of the major environmental and socio-economic factors that have shaped the Canadian Prairie landscape mosaic and moulded our approach to conservation. Based on a comprehensive understanding of the factors that have led us to where we currently are, we will be able to better understand and explore meaningful and effective change to help overcome future conservation challenges through the development of new conservation strategies. Within this context, this plenary session will provide the background information needed to help us better understand, and be better positioned to deal with, future change.

Workshop 1: Ecological changes
Moderators: Cary Hamel and Kristen Tuchscherer

Workshop Description: First hand accounts of the current status of species guilds and ecological communities on the prairies. 

What is the prairie telling us?  Examining changes in ecological communities and species guilds can provide us with a current ‘snapshot’ of the current status of the prairies.  Scientific reports on the conservation status of various aspects of prairie diversity will be presented and perhaps speak to broader conservation issues.  Speakers will present first-hand accounts of their research and observations on the ecological changes they have seen over the course of years, decades or over a career.  This workshop will provide the necessary background to and will be a complement for the more solution-oriented Day 2 of the conference.  Participants will leave the workshop understanding the urgent need for continued and enhanced conservation action.  Topics will include the status of grassland birds, prairie herptiles, tall grass prairie, among others. 

Part 1: Ecosystem Status Report

Part 2: Status of Indicator Species and Guilds

Workshop 2: Changes in the Physical Environment
Moderators: Tracy Maconachie and Carol Scott

Workshop Description: Canada’s physical prairie landscape has been and continues to be shaped initially by environmental forces and then by socio-economic forces, the former over millennia, the latter over just the last two hundred years.  The third force that is changing this landscape is ecological with the cumulative effects of clearing and draining the land, intensive agriculture, loss of biodiversity, increased urbanization being compounded by the frequency of droughts, floods and changing weather patterns. And the speed of each change is increasing, perhaps faster than we, and the prairie, can respond. 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.  Here on the prairies, the past is tantalizingly recent, yet we have for the most part, failed to take note of the lessons being taught.  Now the present is being threatened by ecological challenges that look to radically alter how the prairie and its inhabitants – people, plants and animals – co-exist and survive in the not so distant future.  The prairie has always adapted to external forces; can it adapt to these man-made ecological challenges? Or have we altered it too much in the last century for it to be able to respond?  Are we approaching a tipping point?  Humans are responsible for both the prairie landscape’s current design and for the ecological challenges now assailing the prairie. Can we learn the lessons from the prairie’s past fast enough and well enough to help it adapt?  And, if we can, will we as a society, demand and support and defend the economic, political and societal changes necessary?

Part 1: The Past as Prologue

Part 2: The Future is Now

Workshop 3: Changing Socio-economic pressures
Moderators: Allen Tyrchniewicz and Lauren Stone

Workshop Description: The Prairies face several socio-economic pressures that influence land management and indirectly prairie conservation and endangered species.  The purpose of this workshop is to highlight some of these current pressures.  This workshop is divided into two parts. 

The first, On-Farm Socio-Economic Pressures examines how on-farm decision-making can impact land transition. Much of the Canadian Prairies is privately owned with many of the owners relying on their land to provide income for their families.  In this part of the session, speakers will focus on how land use is in transition between habitat and income generation.  They will also discuss the trends in farm income and how it affects land use as well as the use of environmental farm plans to improve the impact of production agriculture on the prairie habitat.

The second, External Socio-Economic Pressures, examines external forces that influence decision-making on the farm and the subsequent impacts on prairie conservation and endangered species. Although several external pressures exist, this session will focus on water management, energy production and the new demand for biofuels.  The long term supply of water across the prairies is in question with melting glaciers and variable precipitation. At the same time the demand for water is increasing leading to challenging questions about water allocation while ensuring the health of the prairie water bodies.  Water policies across the Canadian prairies are being revised to address environmental concerns about water quality.  As the price of oil and gas increases, energy companies are expanding their search for more supplies, including the native prairies.  Much of these landscapes are privately owned, requiring energy companies to enter into lease agreements with the landowners.  As the production of energy and agriculture compete for the same land base additional pressure is placed on wildlife habitat increasing its uncertainty in the future. 

Part 1: On-farm Socio-economic Pressures

Part 2: External Socio-economic pressures


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