BIO220 Lecture 23

Question 1

due to warming climate, we expect…

Answer 1

• migration (to poles & mountain tops)
• evolution
• population dynamics (e.g. extinction)
• phenotype changes

Question 2

How do we predict range shift?

Answer 2

1. assume that where species are now = their optimal
2. use GCM to predict how conditions will change
3. map where those optimal conditions will be in the future

Question 3

Range shifts are common due to the constantly changing climate. Why is it a problem now?

Answer 3

Anthropocentric changes happen to fast for some species to migrate or evolve in time

Question 4

Pronghorn antelope grazing habits

Answer 4

Follow grassland:

• north in summer
• south in winter

Question 5

Anthropogenic change to pronghorn antelope

Answer 5

Built Green River natural grass field in their summer-winter migration route

Question 6

Pronghorns are the…

Why?

Answer 6

fastest North American mammal;

get away from American Cheetah

Question 7

American Cheetah

Answer 7

• skeleton similar to African Cheetah
• mDNA more similar to American cougar
• extinct

Question 8

Why are pronghorns getting killed?

Answer 8

Get trapped by barb wire fences

Question 9

Passenger pigeons travel in…

Answer 9

huge nomadic flocks

Question 10

Anthropocentric change to passenger pigeons

Answer 10

• Shooting parks (organized slaughter)

- forest fragmentation

Question 11

Why were passenger pigeons so successful?

Answer 11

can eat mast crops (which is used as defense by oak & breech trees)

Question 12

Why did passenger pigeons go extinct?

Answer 12

• shooting
• fragmentation of forest: no mast crops
• allee effects: not big enough group for mating to happen

Question 13

ideal habitat for pikas

Answer 13

Great Basin:

small mountain ranges surrounded by desert

Question 14

lethal temp for pikas

Answer 14

27C

Question 15

Pikas are adapted for life in…

Answer 15

high, cold mountains

Question 16

on mountains, when temp warms 3C, you have to move upwards by ___

Answer 16

500 m

Question 17

why are mountain creatures so impacted by warming climate?

Answer 17

As you move up the mountain, habitat gets smaller (cone-shape)

Question 18

Modeling species lost from Sky Islands with climate change

Answer 18

S = cA^z

habitat loss for species if temp warms

Question 19

Measuring species lost from Sky Islands

Answer 19

• 25 mountain ranges measured

- pikas lost from 7 of them :(

Question 20

Pyke’s study on bumblebees

Answer 20

• 2 species of bees studied

- both species shifted up the mountain from 1974 -> 2007

Question 21

altitude-latitude conversion

Answer 21

100m altitude = 300 km latitude

Question 22

which species are most affected by climate change?

Answer 22

• mountain-inhabiting species [habitat]

- grass species (fast life cycle) [life history]

Question 23

Areas that warm faster have ____ altitudinal & latitudinal change

Answer 23

more

Question 24

how do we track evolutionary responses to global climate change?

Answer 24

track genetic polymorphisms & Mendelian traits

- infer genotype from phenotype

Question 25

what is dominant in ladybugs: red or black? why?

Answer 25

black;

keeps them warm

Question 26

Where were ladybugs studied?

Answer 26

coast -> interior of the Netherlands

Question 27

prediction for ladybug colour based on temp

Answer 27

colder times = favour black

warmer times = favour red

Question 28

data for ladybug coat colour

Answer 28

number of melanic coats is declining over time

• before: colder in east, so east has more melanics
• now: east = west temp, melanics decline

Question 29

Effect of global climate change on organsims

Answer 29

• migration
• phenology
• range limits
• evolution

Question 30

antagonistic pleiotropy

Answer 30

natural selection favours alleles with short-term gains, even if there are long-term costs (which is why we age and die)