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Showing posts from May, 2023

Biodiversity as I see it & its Importance Locally and Internationally

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To me, Biodiversity is the existence of different plants, animals and other micro-organisms that complement each other and provide necessary ecosystem services such as forage, habitat, and soil health to name a few. The key, as I see it, is how different organisms work together in the larger picture.  For example, having a diverse forest provides benefit to many different animals in terms of forage and habitat. It can also play a role in reducing soil erosion and improving soil health. This is a great look at a benefit that is seen here in Rockingham County. With intensive land uses such as agriculture, it is even more important to have ecosystems that provide services as described above (reducing soil erosion and improving soil health) as many people depend of healthy soils and clean water to make a living. Biodiversity is important across the globe for the same reasons. As the human race continues to grow, urban centers continue to expand and as agriculture must increase to feed the

Rationale for Area of Study

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The area that I am focusing on is Rockingham County, Virginia. Rockingham County is considered by many to be the epicenter of agriculture in Virginia and has a number of issues around conservation including water quality, lack of biodiversity (in some areas), and lack of responsible land management. All of these issues can stem from agriculture or other intensive land uses. Aside from being interested in this area due to the challenges it faces, I also work full-time as an affiliate employee of USDA-NRCS where we cover Rockingham and Page counties. I know that my experience working in this area will make for an encompassing look into biodiversity and will give me direction to research and learn more about the area I serve and the challenges it faces.  As I’ve stated above, there are serious environmental issues that this county faces. I know from previous research, that there are studies that look into the Shenandoah Valley and cover many different things from water quality to implemen