Conservation Biology

Question 1

What are 2 main goals of conservation biology?

Answer 1

• investigate the impact of human activities on all levels of biodiversity
• develop PRACTICAL approaches to prevent extinction

Question 2

What is a brief definition of “special concern”?

Answer 2

Small or declining populations

Question 3

What was the classic approach to wildlife management?

Answer 3

Management was for maintaining game animals mostly

Question 4

What are 3 examples of practical approaches to prevent extinction?

Answer 4

Habitat protection
Restoration ecology
Progressive wildlife management
Research and application

Question 5

What is the sequence of the extinction vortex?

Answer 5

Small population, inbreeding and random genetic drift leads to loss of genetic variability, reduction in individual fitness and population adaptability, lower reproduction and higher mortality lead to an even smaller population and the vortex continues.

Question 6

What is one of the most important aspects of conservation biology?

Answer 6

Habitat! Location!

Question 7

What are 7 Eco-centric considerations for conservation area design?

Answer 7

• minimum critical area
• habitat diversity
• biodiversity hot spots
• maximum core/ minimum edge
• spacing/ connectivity/ corridors
• buffers/ zoned reserved
• habitat health/ restoration efforts

Question 8

What are 3 considerations for minimum critical area?

Answer 8

• island biogeography
• natural disturbance regimes
• migrations and top predator home ranges

Question 9

Why are top level predator ranges important?

Answer 9

Range of predator is so large that it encompasses many lower tropic level ranges.

Question 10

Why are habitat corridors designed?

Answer 10

Because animals have migration routes

Question 11

Biodiversity hot spots such as…?

Answer 11

Endemics, large number of species

Question 12

Explain biodiversity with respect to islands

Answer 12

Less biodiversity on islands as distance from the mainland increases and less biodiversity on smaller islands

Question 13

What are 4 anthropocentric considerations for conservation area design?

Answer 13

• politics
• economics
• legal issues
• stakeholder interests

Question 14

What are 5 types of stakeholder issues when designing conservation area?

Answer 14

• Housing and highways
• Agriculture
• Industrial development
• Resource extraction
• High/ low impact recreation (hike vs. ATV)

Question 15

Restoration Ecology: Natural succession often slower or faster than rate of human activities?

Answer 15

Slower

Question 16

What is Restoration ecology?

Answer 16

Restoration (ex. streams)/ conversion(change of habitat from dry to wet) of degraded ecosystems to the natural state
Applied side of conservation biology

Question 17

Restoration Ecology: Ecosystems are not infinitely resilient but environmental damage is….?

Answer 17

(partly) reversible

Preventing is easier than restoring/reclaiming

Question 18

What is the physical aspect of restoration ecology?

Answer 18

altering landscape structures

Question 19

What is the hydrological aspect of restoration ecology?

Answer 19

changing flow regimes

Question 20

What is the Chemical aspect of restoration ecology?

Answer 20

bioremediation using bacteria, fungi, plants

Question 21

What is the biological aspect of restoration ecology?

Answer 21

re-vegetation, re-introducing native species, eradicating invasive species, biological augmentation (N-fixers, mycorrhizae)

Question 22

What is the experimental aspect of restoration ecology?

Answer 22

adaptive management

trial and error

Question 23

What are 5 aspects of restoration ecology?

Answer 23

physical
chemical
hydrological
biological
experimental

Question 24

What are 5 limitations to restoration ecology?

Answer 24

money
time
knowledge (restore to what?)
values (re-create for what purpose?)
nature (limited or unpredictable responses of organisms and natural systems

Question 25

What is Wildlife management?

Answer 25

The process of keeping certain (classically game) wildlife populations at “desirable” levels determined by wildlife managers (predator control)

Question 26

What is the Minimum Viable Population?

Answer 26

Smallest number of individuals at which population can sustain itself and avoid extinction vortex (the brink before extinction vortex)

Question 27

What is the Minimum Viable Population based on?

Answer 27

Based on effective (not total) population size (ex. number of reproducing individuals and sex ratio)
Takes into account sex ratio for reproductive success and # of individuals as well as effective population size
Ne (effective pop) = 4 #females x #males/#f +#m)

Question 28

What is Optimum Sustainable Population?

Answer 28

Maximum population that can be sustained indefinitely without detrimental effects on the population or its ecosystem (carrying capacity, k)

Question 29

What is Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)?

Answer 29

population size providing optimum reproduction for commercially exploited species
Theoretically an inflection point of logistic growth curve (k/2)
Difficult to pinpoint
Lots of variables involved
Highest reproduction point is the steepest gradient of graph

Question 30

What is the Anthropocentric approach to wildlife management? Re: value systems

Answer 30

historically focused on game species management for hunting and control of “pest” (competitors) animals and socio-economic values (game/sport)

Question 31

What is the Ecocentric approach to wildlife management? Re: value systems

Answer 31

Should include broader aspects of conservation biology, biodiversity, and ecosystem maintenance, ecological values, ecosystem as a whole, broader picture of niche for animal

Question 32

What is manipulative management? Re: degree of interference

Answer 32

changing population numbers by direct or indirect means

High degree of interference, goal oriented (short-term goals)

Question 33

What is custodial management? Re: degree of interference

Answer 33

minimizing external influences on populations and habitat

Low degree of interference, protective

Question 34

What is traditional management? Re: knowledge base

Answer 34

conservative and based on experience and received wisdom passed down through generations

Question 35

What is experimental management? Re: knowledge base

Answer 35

based on hypothesis testing and trial and error

more modern scientific

Question 36

What are 6 Direct management techniques (for better or worse - value based whether or not we agree with them)?

Answer 36

(Re-)Introduction, stock enhancement
Captive breeding programs
Sterilization programs (predator control)
Regulating hunting/trapping/fishing by season, area, gender, size restrictions
Hunting/trapping/poisoning of “undesirable” species (invasives, competitors, predators)
Deterrents

Question 37

What are some deterrents used in direct management techniques?

Answer 37

sound, physical/visual barriers, chemical irritants, herding (yosemite:minimize contact of ranchers and wolves)

Question 38

What are 7 Indirect management techniques?

Answer 38

Planting food crops
Artificial/ supplemental feeding
Water sources/ Salt licks
Artificial or planted shelters
Artificial nest sites
Habitat alterations
Education (Bearsmart)

Question 39

What are 4 habitat alterations involved with indirect management techniques?

Answer 39

Reforestation, wetland restoration
Controlled burns, cuts, mowings
Adding coarse woody debris to streams
Deliberate habitat impoverishment

Question 40

What is an example of deliberate habitat impoverishment?

Answer 40

Airport bird control

ie. making the habitat unappealing to birds such as no roosts or food sources