Conservation Biology

Question 1

What latitude does species diversity seem to thrive in?

Answer 1

Near the equator (0 latitude)
Exceptions are artic animals, like seals and penguins

Question 2

Why does species diversity decrease as latitude increase?

Answer 2

Evolutionary history: tropical environments are older and growing season is longer
Climate: High sunlight and precipitation in the tropics, which are correlated with species richness

Question 3

What does the species-area curve represent?

Answer 3

quantifies the idea that, all other factors being equal, a larger geographic area has more species

S=c*A^z
S: number of species in ten habitat
c: constant
A: Area of the habitat
z: how many species should be found in a habitat as its area increases

Question 4

What is the normal z value?

Answer 4

MacArthur and Wilson found that z is usually between 0.2 and 0.4

Question 5

What does the equilibrium model of island biogeography state?

Answer 5

Maintains that species richness on a ecological island levels of at a dynamic equilibrium point

Question 6

What is the basic model for islands?

Answer 6

area and distance to a migrant pool, by influencing immigration and extinction rates, determines the number of species on an island

Question 7

What is the theory of island biogeography?

Answer 7

the number of species on an island should be at dynamic equilibrium
Large, close islands will have the most diversity, and small, distant islands the least

Question 8

How does human activities threaten Earth’s biodiversity?

Answer 8

The high rate of species extinction is largely a result of ecosystem degradation by humans

Question 9

What are the three levels of biodiversity?

Answer 9

generic diversity in a vole population
Species diversity in a coastal redwood ecosystem
Community and ecosystem diversity across the landscape of an entire region

Question 10

Conserving Biodiversity

Answer 10

Conservation of populations and species focuses on population size, genetic diversity, and critical habitat