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<br />WATER AS ECOSYSTEM BASE <br /> <br />Melinda Kassen <br />Director, Western Water Project <br /> <br />31st Gunnison Water Workshop <br />July 25, 2006 <br /> <br />I appreciate the opportunity to address the Gunnison Water Workshop regarding "the <br />emerging role and value of water as an essential foundation" of the earth's ecosystems. <br /> <br />1. What is the ecolo2:ical value of water? <br /> <br />Poets and philosophers wax eloquent regarding water as life, rivers as the arteries of a <br />landscape. In addition to the scientific belief that life on earth first emerged from the <br />water, we know that no living creature can survive without water. A few more practical <br />examples of the importance of water to ecosystems are: <br /> <br />a. Species' water dependency. Many species, including terrestrial ones, are water <br />dependent. As a result of hydrologic modifications and other alterations to the natural <br />environment, a much larger number of water dependent species are currently at risk <br />(threatened, endangered, sensitive) <br /> <br />Threatened Share of US Species <br />Groups -- % extinct, impaired <br />or vulnerable <br /> <br /> <br />Ecological Communities <br />by Ecoregion <br />(higher densities are darker) <br /> <br /> <br />Number of ecological <br />communities by ecoregion <br />. > 400 <br />.201 -400 <br />.100-200 <br /><: 100 <br /> <br />..-] <br /> <br />._1" , <br />, .- <br />...., <br /> <br /> <br />~ <br />