Conservation Ecology

Question 1

What are snags? What do they do?

Answer 1

Snags are dying/dead trees that provide nesting, roosting and feeding sites for birds. They are different from nursing trees since snags have not fallen to the ground and still remain upright

Question 2

Give an example of a biodiversity hotspot and what lives there, and why they travel there

Answer 2

Ascension Island: a hot spot for green turtles. Green sea turtles travel 2000km because it is ingrained in their migratory behaviour and they have the instinct to return to the place that they were born to lay their eggs

Question 3

What are photovoltaics, is it an ecological option?

Answer 3

Photovoltaics are solar cells. They have high potential and low risk

Question 4

What is geothermal? Is it an ecological option?

Answer 4

Yes, it is energy derived from earths core

Question 5

The tragedy of the commons; given an example and explain what it is

Answer 5

When a resource gets overused for an attempt of exploitation and self-interest

-Ex: a farmer has 10 cows but keeps buying more cows to get more profit from selling more milk or beef. But since the amount of cows has exceeded the capacity the grass has been overgrazed and becomes barren; leaving the farmer with no profit

Question 6

What happened to Elwha river in 2014?

Answer 6

Two large dams were removed to protect fish populations. It improved fish migration and the sediment from the dam replenished the riverbed and floodplains

Question 7

How many dams have been removed in B.C. since 2006? And why?

Answer 7

21, because owners realized that the dams had either deteriorated, or cost too much to upkeep

Question 8

Channelized stream

Answer 8

A stream that has been diverted or straightened to control flooding

Question 9

Long term consequence of creating channelized streams

Answer 9

Loss of habitat and increased pollution

Question 10

What happened to the Florida Everglades?

Answer 10

The Florida Everglades initially went through channelization and now the Florida state wish to dechannelize it since there has been a 90% decrease in wading birds, 5 billion fish and the extinction of 6 native fish species

Question 11

When wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone how did that impact the grizzly bears?

Answer 11

Since the wolves predated on the elk, the berry bushes were able to thrive and provide more fruit for the bears

Question 12

How do wolves benefit small mammals?

Answer 12

The presence of wolves causes coyotes to avoid areas near wolf dens which is where small rodents thrive

Question 13

Name some Non-native predatory mammals and what percentage of birds, mammals, and reptiles in the past 500 years have gone extinct due to them

Answer 13

-Cats, pigs, dogs, rats
-58%

Question 14

How many birds (predominantly Neotropical migrating songbirds) collide with communication towers each year?

Answer 14

Millions

Question 15

What % of sharks are nearing extinction? And what tool did researchers test?

Answer 15

-More than 30%
-Sharkguard saved 91% of blue sharks and 71% of sting rays

Question 16

How many ecosections in B.C. are more than 12% protected?

Answer 16

27 but they are mainly mountain tops

Question 17

What % of low-elevation old growth forests are protected?

Answer 17

3%

Question 18

Captive breeding

Answer 18

Can significantly contribute to species survival

Question 19

What is a carbon tax

Answer 19

It is a possible fix for global warming and it works by making gas more expensive and causing citizens to seek other methods like using electric cars or solar panels to get by

Question 20

What is Canada ranked in the global carbon emissions chart?

Answer 20

7

Question 21

Paris 2015 agreement

Answer 21

Limit the increase in global average temperature to below 2 degrees

Question 22

The three types of deforestation?

Answer 22

-Clearcutting: removing all trees in patches (most invasive and most widespread with the largest profit margin)
-Variable retention: leaving old growth trees
-Selective cutting: removing single trees by helicopter (least invasive of all logging practices and allows for small-gaps for seedlings to develop)

Question 23

Lateritic soil and where it is found

Answer 23

-Concentrated of magnesium, iron, nickel, and aluminum
-formed in hot and wet tropical areas like Madagascar

Question 24

Protest in Ecuador in 2015

Answer 24

-Indigenous communities protested to defend their territory against mining, oil, and logging

Question 25

BC has about _ of the worlds remaining coastal temperature rainforest

Answer 25

25% or 1/4

Question 26

How much of the Great Barrier Reef have been reduced? Since 1980

Answer 26

50%

Question 27

Edge effect leads to _ which leads to _ and reduced number of species

Answer 27

Reduced fragment size, reduced size of populations

Question 28

What percent of land does Canada, Brazil, USA and Ecuador protect within IUCN categories?

Answer 28

-Canada protects 11%
-Brazil protects 29%
-USA protects 13%
-Ecuador 22%

Question 29

Triangle island

Answer 29

Largest seabird colony in B.C. and largest auklet colony in the world

Question 30

How much of Earths plant species are confined to 1% of Earths land surface?

Answer 30

1/5

Question 31

In the article of the hot-spots analysis, how many endemic plant species are supported by 18 hotspots

Answer 31

50,000 or 20% of Earths plant species

Question 32

The three aspects of park design

Answer 32

Size, shape, number

Question 33

Are little parks or one big park more ideal? (They have the same area) And why?

Answer 33

Big parks are much better than small parks since big parks minimize edge effect, support larger species, and create greater habitat diversity

Question 34

How big can the edge effect be?

Answer 34

10-50 meters or up to 150 meters