Conservation And Biodiversity

Question 1

Genetic diversity

Answer 1

• genetic variation within population
• cultivated sp animals populations restricted to nature preservesand zoos are loosing genetic variation
• Problems when zoos population introduced to the wild…

Question 2

species diversity

Answer 2

• Globally, 12% birds, 21% mammals, and 32% amphibians “threatened” with extinction
• 1 out of every 5 threatened!

Question 3

biodiversity crisis

Answer 3

• Holocene (6th mass) extinction (began 10,000 years ago)!
• 875 documented extinctions since 1500
• IUCN lists 17,000 Sp. as “Threatened”!

Question 4

threatend categories

Answer 4

Threatened categories:

• Critically endangered (<250 sexually matured individuals)
• Endangered (<2500)
• Vulnerable (<10,000)

Question 5

hotspots

Answer 5

• A hot spot is with 1500 “endemic” species (0.5% of world’s total) which has lost 70% of its primary vegetation
• 25 hotspots (1.4% of land with 35% of vertebrate sp & 44% of higher plants)

Question 6

how many species are there

Answer 6

• 8.7 million species give or take 1.3 m species

- Over 1.9 m sp actually documented…

Question 7

conservation biology

Answer 7

(wildlife management + ecology + genetics…)

• Focuses on endangered sp.; extinction prevention
• Techniques (e.g., captive breeding, legislation)

Question 8

conservation biology guiding principles

Answer 8

1. Evolution for understanding biology
2. Biological entities are dynamic
3. Humans are a part of nature

Question 9

habitat destruciton

Answer 9

-Tropical forests (with >50% world’s biodiversity) – half of original 15 million km2 gone!

Habitat fragmentation
-When top predators disappear, herbivores increased and overexploited vegetation.

Question 10

invasive species

Answer 10

Kudzu (native to China)

• The vine that ate the south!
• U.S. Government spends over $6 m annually to control it…

Question 11

pollution

Answer 11

Chemical compounds in wrong places or concentration!

-E.g., DDT (after World War II) use caused decline of bald eagles.
In 1782, national symbol had 100,000 nesting eagles.DDT ban…
Eagles increased to 9,789 nesting pairs (FWS 2007 report)

-excess of phosphorus (P) in aquatic system (EUTROPHICATION…)

Question 12

over-explotation

Answer 12

hunting,fishing,logging

Learning lesson from Historical example from Easter Island, a Polynesian island
– Easter Island collapsed because inhabitants over-exploited their natural resources…

Question 13

low populations…

deterministic

stochasticity

Answer 13

LOW populations is vulnerable because of..
deterministic:HIPPO that makes r negative…

Stochasiticty: Fluctuations in “r” that wipe out population…

Restoration is all about making “r” positive!