APS 123 Macro Ecology (and Dave Edwards) Flashcards
Three uses of palm oil
Food
Pharmaceuticals
Biofuels
Between 1999 and 2008 there has been a ____ increase in area used for palm oil, this equates to _____ Mha of expansion
56%
5.5Mha
Where is deforestation for palm oil occurring most and where has recent reduction in deforestation for palm oil occurred
Most rapid in south east asia
Brazil reducing its rates of deforestation
What are the two main targets for palm oil plantations?
Primary
Selectivly logged woodland
Why does oil palm cause a net release of carbon?
For starters they will burn the site to clear current forest
- then the intake is 163 tonnes per hectare less in dipterocarp flrest and 1450 tonnes per hecatre less in swamp land
Other than carbon release what is an effect of burning forests for oil palm
Air quailty - places like shanghai get smoke from burning trees in south east asia
Caused premature deaths of 100,000
How long would it take to recoup the carbon released from:
Dipterocarp forest
Peat swamp forest
Dipterocarp - 75-90 years
Peat swamp - 600 years
What are industries arguments against palm oil causing a loss in biodiveristy?
Oil palm creates a greater variety in ground veg
Benefit to orangutans since they can feed on vitamnin A and E rich palm fruit
Define functional diversity
Quantifying the range and abundance of functional roles played by specie within a community
What is functional richness?
The volume of functional trait space occupied by a set of species
With higher levels of _______ or ________, ecosystems ______ are better protected
Functional diverosty or richness
Ecosystem services
With an oil palm plantation in place what were the reductoins in dung bettle and bird populations as compared with natural woodland
90% in birds
98% in dung bettles
What is the effect of retaining forested land on palm oil production?
Could bring in benefits and negatives
- beneficial biodiveristy e.g. Pest controllers
Negative biodiversity - e.g. Pests
Overall neutral effect
Define species climate niche
The specifc range of climatic requriements that enables a species fo survive and reproduce
What are four methods used in ecology to gain information on where organisms live
Museum
Enthusiasts
Previous data sets
Fieldwork
How do you create a bioclimate enevelope model?
Obtain Records of location
Map current distribution
Overlay maps of environment features e.g. Topography soil rainfall and temp
Cross reference the two maps
Predict a species distribution from environmental requirements
- start a model to predict where they can exist
Use future predictions to see where they will likely move
Describe the effects increased temperatures are having on corn, gove two methods to counter this effect
100-160% increase in growing days with temperatures above 29 degrees corn cant grow in these conditons
- need to develop heat tolerant strains or move crops further north
Why will climate change increase the frequency of vector bourne diseaes in north Europe?
Climactic niche changes for vectors e.g. Mosquito who can now move further north
- as they move north can bring viruses with them
E.g. West nile virus in italy
What % of a population of austrlian flying foxes died within one day of extreme heat exposure?
10%
By 2050 it is predicted that between _________ of species will be committed to extinction
15-37%
What three ways could animals manage changes in temperatures?
Have an inbuilt behaviour plasticity
Have in built thermal tolerances
Survive by heritable genetic changes- would this be fast enough?
Where do organisms have broader thermal tolerances?
More varied climates have broader physiology limits
- tropics non varied since more stable
High or low thermal tolerances in mammals and birds?
High in birds
Low in Mammals
Define phenology
The timing of seasonal activities of animals and plants
E.g. Migrant arrival and breeding
What are some benefits to organisms from climate change?
Exploit favourbale conditions earlier in the year
Earlier acsess to nest sites = more breeding attempts
What effect is climate change having on phenotype synchrony?
Temporal mismatch between food and prey
E.g. Winter moths hatching earlier with increasing temperatures but oak trees not budding earlier
A study on UK butterflies movement with climate change saw what percentage of them moving how far?
65% shifted northwards by 35-240Km
35 non migratory species studied
In a study on moths on a tropical mountain how many species moved upwards in altitude and what was the average movement
102 species upwards
Average 67 meters
Give three reasons why observed habitat shifts due to climate change don’t meet expected changes
Cant move as fast as predictions
Scale too coarse - 1x1Km grid cells - species at smaller scales
Microhabitat buffering
Give some examples of microhabitats
Epiphytic ferns, phytotelmata, ground vegetation
Experiment done to see difference between ambient and microhabitats what was found?
Frogs have 2-9 degree extra tolerance within microhabitats
For every one extreme temperature hour within an epiphytic fern there were 31 outside
By moving down from canopy to ground there is a _______ temperture change this is equivalent to moving ______ up a mountain
2 degree
400 meters up
By moving from canopy to floor there is an 11% change in moisture gradients this is equivalent to what increase in altitude?
2200
In tropical frogs there is less _________ with decreasing _________
Less arboreiality with decreasing elevation
define alpha diversity
number of species - essentially species richness
define gamma diversity
diveristy across mulitple sites
define beta diversity
the differnces in turnover of species
how do you measure beta diversity
using the jaccard coefficeint
a= number of species on both sites
b = number of species on site 1 but not site 2
c = number of species on site 2 but not site 1
jaccard = a/a+b+c
where jaccard = 0 the two sites are totally different
= 1 and they totally identical
what is meant by habitats being nested?
one larger habitat contains at least all the same species as another smaller one. hence the smaller is nested within the larger
describe a species area relationship
islands with larger area will have more species, because there will be more different niches
not a linear relationship since it levels off at the end
what is the non logged form of the species area relationship equation
S=cA^z
s= number of species A = area c = intercept z = expopnent
show the logged form of the species area relationship equation, why is this needed?
log(s) = log(c) + zlog(A)
needed to form a straight line
name the very small ‘island’ habitat in arctic environments formed by dust particles
cryoconite holes
how consistent is the species area relationship - give vaues
pretty consistent
- gradient usually between 0.25 and 0.4
- meaning a double in species with a 10 fold increase in area
describe the study of mountain top juniper and coniferous forests. why is species area important here?
juniper at mid altitude
coniferous at top
3 degree increase in temperture - confierous cant grow
- juniper moves up the slope to cope
- less area at the top of the slope hence species richness declines
on mainland areas the main threat to biodiversity is habitat loss, but on islands it is..
species invasion and disease
why is there a shallower curve curve on mainland islands than real islands species area relationship
far less movement between geogrpahic islands as compared with other ‘isalnds’
what is meant by island saturation, what is the relationship between this and island distance? what is this known as
a fully saturated island would have 100% of the species found on the mainland
- as you move further from the mainland island saturation decreases
known as the species isolation relationship
species richness on an island is a balance between _____ and _____
immigration and extinction
describe how you can find the equilibirum point of an islands species richness - what happens at this equilibirum?
plot immigration and extinctionn
- immigration declines with increasing number of species
- extinction increses with increasing number of species
where the two lines intersect is the equilibirum - type of species may vary as extinction and immigration continue but they occur at the same rate hence overall number of species remains the same
why is extinction lower on nearby islands?
because there is a continual restocking of individuals from the mainland
why is immigration greater on nearby islands?
because less distance for immigrants to travel
why do area and distance of islands have effects on each other?
larger island is a bigger target for immigrants hence more can get there
it also can hold a larger population hence buffers against extinction
immigration ___ with area
immigration ___ with isolation
extinction ____ with area
extinction ____ with isolation
increase
decrease
decrease
increase
why is there no clear differnces between the richness on the channel islands around california
not far enough away from the mainland to see changes in species isolation relationships
was there evidence of an equilibirum in the californian channel islands?
yes, turnover between extinction and immigration
- except santa rosa 1 extinction for 12 immigrations
why may an island not be in equilibirum?
extinction and immigration vary a lot between species
what does the species area and species isolation relationship assume?
no speciation occurs on the islands
what species of lizard shows a repeated pattern of evolution on islands? how many morphs are there?
6 eco morphs of anols have evolved on each island seperately
what is odd about the species area relationship of anols ? what is causing this?
very small populations at first, then sudden huge increases, caused by speciation
who was first to notice the specis richness latitudinal gradient?
alexander von humbolt
what two groups can hypotheses regarding the species area relationship be put into?
ecological - climactic factors
evolution - historical factors
what are the main ecologcial explanation for the latitudinal diversity gradient
more energy at the tropics and hence greater abundance of resources
increased habitat heterogeneity = greater variety within a habitat nearer the tropics
how does an increase in avaiable energy effect ecto and endo therms?
ectotherms - get extra warmth so can obtain more resources
endotherms - need to expend less energy on keeping warm so can be spent elsewhere
the latitudinal diversity gradient is a very general trend give an exception to the rule
cycads
what measure is used as a proxy for energy when looking at Latitudinal diversity gradients?
potential evapotranspiration
describe an experiment on habitat heterogenity using fir trees and spiders
manipulated a fir tree to have less different habitats on it
- more spiders on trees with more habitats
what are the three evolutionary hypothesies to explain the latitudinal diveristy gradient
tropical cascade - lots of speciation
tropical museum of diveristy - low extinction
out of the tropics - species move out of the tropics lots of speciation and very low extinction
if the tropical cradles hypothesis is true then _____ will vary with latitude but ______ wont . The reverse is true for the _____________ hypothesis
speciation varies - peaks on tropics
extinction rates
reverse true for tropical museums
if the out of the tropics model is true then ______ should peak in the tropics and ______ should decline
speciation should peak
extinction rate declines
what evidence supports the the out of the tropics model as an explanation for the LDG
phylogenetic evidence shows that speciation rates higher in the tropics whilst extinction rates lower
- also shows a net transition out of the tropics
what evidence suggests that causes of the LDG differ dependant on species
phylogenetic evidence on marine mamals suggests that speciation occurs more out of the tropics
what is bergmanns rule?
body size increases with higher lattitudes - i.e. where it gets colder
what explains bergmans rule?
explained to the greatest extent by temperture
in species rich areas you are likely to find more ______ bodied individuals
small
what three factors is bergmanns rule driven by?
thermoregulation
taxonomic turnover
community assembly
what is allens rule
species with longer appendages in closely related vertebrate increase in hotter environments
when you look at cumulative species protected by reserves does a large or a small reserve accumulate more species
many small
what percentage of global land is protected?
11.5%
where are reseves often found? why?
poor soil
high elevation
because this is the least economicaly valuable land
___ global hotspots cover _% of the worlds surface. encompassing over __% of plant species and ___% of vertebrates
34
2.3
50
42
is the hotspot method of choosing reserves better or worse than random selection? Why?
worse
worse because:
- hotspots dont account for species turnover and are clustered together
which approach is better than both the hotspot and random approach in reserve design?
complementary approach
other than size or reserve give other factors effecting how protective a reserve would be
proximity to one and other
bufferzones
shape
connectedness
why is single large reserve better than small reserves when looking only at edge area ratios?
edge area ratio higher in a small reserve (as well as elongated)
species respond differently in the edge and the core
minimising the edge if disireable as it reduces fragmentation and protects more core habitat
what is a major assumption regarding persitence of a species in reserves that is inccorect?
that presence equals persistence
if you can support 70-90 bears the population has a ___% chance of survival but if your population is 100 then chance of survival is ___%
95
99
what is the most important thing to question when looking at small reserve sizes and their chance of disturbance?
wether not the sites are independant i.e. wether a wild fire in one site increases the chance of a wild fire in another site
when can several small sites be more persistent over disater?
where they can disperse between sites
- i.e. if one sites burnt in a wild fire it could be restocked by another small reserve
what is the ideal distance between small reserves?
far apart enough to be independant but close enough to allow dispersal
