Chapter 7

Question 1

To be most effective in preserving a species…what types of information do you need to know?

Answer 1

-Environment
-Distribution
-Biotic Interactions
-Morphology
-Physiology
-Demography
-Behavior
-Genetics
-Relationship with Humans

Question 2

What does morphology refer to?

Answer 2

-What the organism looks like
-Distinguishing features
-Change over geographic range

Question 3

How might the distribution vary? Why would this be important?

Answer 3

-Random, clustered (clumped), spaced regularly (uniform), metapopulation migration
patterns.

Question 4

What does demography deal with? Why is this important?

Answer 4

-Ne past and present
-Birth rates, death rates, age structure, sex ratio

Question 5

What would we want to know about a species’ genetics?

Answer 5

If there’s heterozygosity, geneflow, inbreeding, etc.

Question 6

How could understanding an organism’s behavior or physiological tolerance be an asset?

Answer 6

-Helps know if they’re nocturnal/diurnal
-understand social organization, mating and reproductive characteristics
-Help understand how they acquire food

Question 7

How is Peer-reviewed different from other sources?

Answer 7

-You’ve had other scientists in the discipline review the paper

Question 8

How is primary literature different from secondary?

Answer 8

-Primary: Original research
-Secondary: Review articles (more their take on the conclusion)

Question 9

What is gray literature?

Answer 9

-Not peer reviews, mainly government reports, conservation organizations, unpublished
dissertations/theses.

Question 10

How would you describe a report from a government agency?

Answer 10

Gray

Question 11

How would you describe a thesis?

Answer 11

Gray

Question 12

How would you describe a text book?

Answer 12

peer-reviewed

Question 13

How would you describe a jounal article?

Answer 13

Peer-reviewed

Question 14

How is a census different from a survey? What might you choose one over the other?
Consider funding and the ability to get volunteers etc…

Answer 14

-Census: Count the number of individuals present in population, works well for organisms that are
easy to detect, immobile, and have small pop., can establish the range/ pop. Trends

-Survey: Repeated sampling of a pop.to estimate the density
–Used when pop is large or range is extensive
-Used when organisms are very small, tracking larval stages
-Disadvanteges: May miss aggregations, have to pick sample sites randomly

Question 15

Why do some biologists use amateur naturalists to gather data? What are the benefits and
risks?

Answer 15

Saves money
-Covers wider area
-Get community involved (Increased education)

Question 16

How is a demographic study different than a survey or census?

Answer 16

A demographic survey collects ecological information (behavior, etc.), while a survey or census only collects population numbers.

Question 17

What if you can’t find an animal? What other types of evidence may indicate its presence?

Answer 17

-Animal calls
-Tracks
-Scat
-DNA traces

Question 18

What is eDNA? What can it tell us? What is the advantage of this technique?
Why may it be helpful for tracking Exotic , Endangered or Rare species?

Answer 18

eDNA is environmental DNA, or DNA we collect from the environment. Commonly, it is a water sample. The sample is tested with known DNA sequences to estimate quantification of a species in the area.

Question 19

**What are the pros and cons of tagging animals?

Answer 19

Pros: Get information of animals in their natural infironment (humans around studying could alter behavior) and can collect ecological data.

Cons: Could impact survival/reproductive success

Question 20

What is PVA?
What management strategies may be included in the models? (consider things that may decrease the death rate, increase the area available, ….

Answer 20

Population viability analysis - make a model of factors to determine survival. Find factors and decide what they can manipulate to help surviva; (ie, do not hunt dring this time)

Question 21

What is the minimum viable population (mvp) and the minimum dynamic area (mda)? How are they
calculated? How might they vary between different types of animals?

Answer 21

mvp: minimum amount of a population to maintain the species

mda: the minimum area needed for the species to survive

Question 22

What does IUCN stand for?

Answer 22

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Question 23

What important service does the IUCN provide?

Answer 23

Conservation Catagories

Question 24

What is the IUCN red list?

Answer 24

List of threatened species

Question 25

Define least concerned

Answer 25

not threatened or near threatened

Question 26

Define near threatened

Answer 26

close to qualifying as vulnerable

Question 27

Define vulnerable

Answer 27

High risk of extinction in the wild in meadium term future, may become endangered, 10% probability of extinction in 100 years

Question 28

Define endangered

Answer 28

High risk of extinction in the wild in near future, may become critically endangered,
20% chance of extinction in 20 years or 5 generations

Question 29

Define critically endangered

Answer 29

High risk of extinction in the wild in immediate future, survival seems unlikely, 50% chance of extinction in 10 years or 3 generations (whichever is longer)

Question 30

**What are the low risk categories? What if there isn’t enough data?

Answer 30

• least concerned
• near threatened

Species without enough data are often put into these lesser priority categories due to us not knowing if they need more help.

Question 31

What information is important in the classification of species in one of the categories? How is extent of occurrence different from area of occupancy? Which one is larger?

Answer 31

-Population decline, area occupied by speciesm # of pop., total # of individuals (# of mature breeding individuals), estimate of the probability of extinction.

-Extent of Occurrence: Area contained within the shortest continuous imaginary boundary which can be drawn to encompass all the known, inferred or projected sites of present occurrence of a
taxon. (Bigger)

-Area of Occupancy: The area within its’ extent of occurrence which is occupied by a taxon.

Question 32

Which of the categories are thought to be the highest priorities in terms of Conservation
efforts? How does this relate to the issue of reducing the opportunity cost of conservation
programs? Why are species classified as Extinct in the Wild not prioritized more?

Answer 32

Population decline is highest priority.

Opportunity cost: the cost to reintroduce a species vs spending the money on the species already there.

Question 33

What is more likely to be classified as Data deficient … a mammal or a polychaete worm? Why
do you think this is the case?

Answer 33

A worm because people don’t care about them, so no one is collecting the data

Question 34

**How do major groups of animals compare in the index of species survival?

Answer 34

SLIDE 52 trends

All species declining, birds and mammals some, amphibians more, and coral significantly

Question 35

**How is the Living planet index different form the IUCN red list?

Answer 35

The Living Planet Index looks at communities and ecosystems while IUCN is only about species. They are both ways to organiza and see how things are doing.