Chapter 13 - Conservation Ecology

Question 1

What is conservation?

Answer 1

It is the name given to various actions we can take to slow/reverse the loss of species and biodiversity

Question 2

What is biodiversity?

Answer 2

It is equivalent to species richness as it is the number of species present in a defined area. It can range from looking at genetic to community diversity.

3 nested levels are: ecosystem>species>genes

Question 3

What is restoration?

Answer 3

It is conservation in a broader sense as it’s goal is to reverse a past failure to conserve.

ex. reintroducing a species to an area where they had previously gone locally extinct, usually due to anthropogenic habitat destruction

Question 4

What are the types of species classifications based on risk of extinction?

Answer 4

From ON Endangered Species Act (2007):

• special concern
• threatened
• endangered
• extirpated (local extinction)
• extinct

Question 5

What is demographic uncertainty/stochasity?

Answer 5

It is the random variations in variables that are super important to the fate of a pop, like: the number of individuals born male or female; the number that die/reproduce in a year; and the genetic qualities of survival/reproductive capacity.

ex. a year where all females were born could be catastrophic to that pop (easier to get skewed gender ratio in smaller pops)

Question 6

What is environmental uncertainty/stochasity?

Answer 6

It is the unpredictable changes in environmental factors, like disasters (ex. high magnitude earthquake) and minor events (ex. avg temp variations) that can also seal the fate of a pop.

ex. adverse conditions could be fatal - small pops have less variable availability to survive

Question 7

What are alleles?

Answer 7

They are a pair of genes that occur at the same location on a chromosome

Question 8

What are recessive alleles?

Answer 8

They are rare genes that may provide no immediate advantage, but could allow a species to be well suited to changed environmental conditions in the future. They can be harmful and/or lethal though

Question 9

What are homozygous alleles?

Answer 9

It is when the alleles provided by both the mother and father are identical. This occurs when individuals breed with close relatives, causing offspring to be more likely to receive harmful genes.

Question 10

What is close breeding with relatives causing offspring to receive harmful genes referred to as?

Answer 10

Inbreeding depression. This often results in a loss of genetic variation within small pops.

ex. reduction in fertility, survival, and growth rates

Question 11

What are heterozygous alleles?

Answer 11

It is when there is one dominant and one recessive allele (different genes from both parents make up a pair), is much healthier, and is most often found in larger pops

Question 12

What is overexploitation?

Answer 12

It is a pop that is harvested at an unsustainable rate, given the natural mortality and reproduction

Question 13

What is an introduced species?

Answer 13

They are species accidentally, intentionally (often unaware of potential consequences) introduced by humans that can cause invasions of exotic species. Sometimes they can be assimilated into communities without harm, but some are responsible for dramatic changes and they can be invasive.

Question 14

What is an extinction vortex?

Answer 14

It is a pop that has been reduced to a small size and can lead to increased inbreeding, leading to reduced survivorship/fecundity and causing the pop to continually become smaller until it is extinct

Question 15

What is the minimum viable population (MVP)?

Answer 15

The numbers vary, but the MVP value is typically determined by at least a 95% probability of species persistence for 100 yrs

Question 16

What is population viability analyses (PVAs)?

Answer 16

It provides an alternative, specific way of gauging viability as it estimates survivorship & reproductive rates in age-structured pops and simulates variations to represent impacts of environmental disturbances, like varied disaster frequencies and intensities.

Question 17

What is a charismatic species?

Answer 17

They are animals that are easy to sell to the public because it is in trouble/of importance and people care about it.

ex. polar bear

Question 18

What is a protected area (PA)?

Answer 18

It is a clearly defined geographical space that is recognized, dedicated, and managed through legal means to achieve long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values

Question 19

What is a marine protected area (MPA)?

Answer 19

It is mainly protected water areas, with adjacent land included, especially when it is tied to ecosystem function. They were first developed to protect biodiversity and fishery resources

Question 20

What is a no-take zone?

Answer 20

It is an area where no fishing is allowed and they are well protected from land-based pollution/other human disturbance - some MPAs are no-take zones

Question 21

What is a complementarity selection?

Answer 21

It is an approach for identifying sites best suited to achieve conservation goals. It occurs in a stepwise fashion - it starts with a single best site and at each step, a site that is most complementary to the previously selected site it selected. This way, whatever the previous sites lack, the new site may provide

Question 22

What is irreplaceability?

Answer 22

It refers to how replaceable each potential area is and is defined as a likelihood of it’s being necessary to achieve conservation targets

Question 23

What are ecosystem services? What are the 4 types?

Answer 23

They are functions/attributes provided in support of human interests by ecosystems, generally saving a cost that would otherwise need to be paid.

1. provisioning services
2. cultural services
3. regulating services
4. supporting services

Question 24

What are provisioning services?

Answer 24

They are products obtained like: wild foods (fish and berries), medicinal herbs, fuel, water, crop pollination, etc.

Question 25

What are cultural services?

Answer 25

They provide experiences/meet values through aesthetic fulfillment and educational/recreational opportunities through nature

Question 26

What are regulating services?

Answer 26

They provide benefits through regulation: like an ecosystem’s ability to break down/filter out pollutants, moderate disturbances, and regulate climate via carbon sequestration

Question 27

What are supporting services?

Answer 27

They are the underlying basis for providing the benfits and they include: primary production, nutrient cycling, soil formation, etc.

Question 28

What is genetic stochasity?

Answer 28

It is when genetic issues can occur, usually due to inbreeding in small pops

Question 29

How do catastrophes influence small pops?

Answer 29

Shit happens. Anthropogenic causes can be detrimental to small pops

ex. oil spills

Question 30

What are alien species?

Answer 30

They are non-native, non-indigenous, exotic, introduced species. They can become invasive if they spread and are negatively impactful

Question 31

What is the small pop paradigm?

Answer 31

It refers to MVP and PVAs helping to conserve small populations

Question 32

What is the declining pop paradigm?

Answer 32

It asks the question: how can we prevent populations from getting smaller in the first place?

ex. protecting keystone species (like beavers and corals
ex 2. avoiding habitat fragmentation - reducing edge habitat is better for interior species