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BIOL 465 > Diversity > Flashcards

Diversity Flashcards

1
Q

What is conservation biology?

A

An integrated, multidisciplnary scientific field that has developed in response to the challenge of preserving species and ecosystems

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2
Q

What are the three aims of conservation biology?

A
  1. To document full range of biodiversity on earth
  2. To investigate human impact
  3. Approach extinction prevention, resotre communities
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3
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

“The variety of life, encompasses all forms, levels, and combinations of natural variaiton, at all levels of biological organization”

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4
Q

What are the three levels of biodiversity?

A
  • Ecological
  • Genetic
  • Organismal
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5
Q

Biological species definition

A

A group of individuals that can potentially breed among themselves in the wild and do not breed with individuals of other groups

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6
Q

Morphological Species definition

A

Group of individuals that appear different from others, are morphologically distinct

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7
Q

What is evolutionary species definition?

A

Group of individuals that share unique similarities in their DNA and hence their evolutionary past

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8
Q

What is species richness

A

The number of unique species in a collection or set of observations

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9
Q

What are 3 reasons species richness estimates may be innacurate?

A
  • Inventories are incomplete
  • Described species tend to be larger bodied, more abundant, and more widespread
  • Distributions are best known for temperate regions
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10
Q

Heterogenous biodiversity distribution meaning

A

Biodiversity is distributed ‘unevenly’
Some areas are largely devoid of life whilst others are hyperdiverse
desert vs. rainforest

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11
Q

What is a biodiversity hotspot?

A

Areas with an exceptionally high concnetration of endemic species and are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat

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12
Q

What are the two strict criteria to qualify as a biodiversity hotspot?

A
  • Contain at least 1500 species of endemic vascular plants
  • have lost at least 70% of its primary native vegetation
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13
Q

What is the latitudinal gradient in species richness?

A

Species richness peaks at the equator

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14
Q

What is the species-energy relationship?

A

The amount of available energy in an area impact levels of diversity

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15
Q

How are evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration used in the species-energy hypothesis?

A
  • Evapotranspiration measures the simultaneous availablility of water and solar energy
  • potential evapotranspiration reflects the energy available to evaporate water to the atmosphere
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16
Q

What is the productivity hypothesis?

A

Energy constrains richness via trophic cascades
(Richness is limited by available energy)

17
Q

What is the ambient energy hypothesis?

A

Solar energy impacts organisms and diversity through their physiological response to temperature
- more costly to live at higher latitudes (out of thermal neutral zone)

18
Q

Is water or water energy the primary predictor of plant richness?

A

In tropical areas - water variables are best predictors
In cool areas, water energy variable are best predictors

19
Q

Is water or energy the primary predictor of vertebrate richness?

A

In warm areas water is most associated with richness
In cold climates, ambient energy is most associated

20
Q

What were the two largest mass extinctions?

A

The Cretaceous (dinosaurs) and the Permian (50% of animals)

21
Q

Where are the highest extinction rates and why?

A

On islands (flightless birds)
- Small populations and low dispersal

22
Q

Why are freshwaters imporant

A

They hose 1/4 of vertebrate diversity while they only cover a small portion of the Earth’s surface

23
Q

What is the current estimated extinction rate vs the background extinction rate?

A

0.1-1 E/MSY (background)
vs
1 E/MSY (current)

24
Q

What is a global hectare?

A

A biologically productive hectare with world average biological productivity for a given year

25
Q

Biocapacity

A

Area of productive land available to produce resourves or absorb carbon dioxide waste, given current management practice

26
Q

What is the available biocapacity per person on our planet?

A

1.7 global hectares

27
Q

What are the 5 main pressures on biodiversity

A
  1. Habitat loss and degradation
  2. Climate change
  3. Pollution and nutrient loading
  4. Overexploitation and unsustainable use
  5. Invasive species
28
Q

Habitat fragmentation 3 effects on land area

A
  1. Habitat fragments differ from original habitat
  2. Fragments have a greater amout of edge for area
  3. Centre of each habitat fragment is closer to an edge
29
Q

Why is larger edge due to habitat fragmentation bad?

A
  1. Microenvironment at edge is different from interior
  2. Edge is disturbed habitat
  3. Brings wild populations in contact with domestic plants and animals
30
Q

What are three effects of habitat fragmentation on populations?

A
  1. Limit potential for dispersal and colonization
  2. Reduce foraging ability
  3. Precipitates population decline by dividing up existing population
31
Q

What is extinction debt?

A

The future extinction of species due to events in the past (time lag)

32
Q

Explain species area curves

A

There is often a positive relationship between area and the number of species
- slope is steeper in fragmented landscapes due to greater species lost

33
Q

Eutrophication

A

Human sewage and fertilizers release large amounts of nitrates and phosphates into freshwater systems
Leads to eutrophication
Leads to hypoxia

34
Q

Overexploitation

A

When harvest rate of any population exceeds its natural replacement rate, through reproduction or immigration

35
Q

What are the “missing fish”

A

FAO data of fish exploitation is probably underestimated due to artisanal and subsistence fisheries, bycatch, illegal and unreported catch

36
Q

What is the fishing down process

A

Successive loss of the largest individuals and species in favor of smaller, faster, and shorter-lived fish

37
Q

The bushmeat crisis

A

Populations of large primates, ungulates, and other mammals may be reduced by 80% or more - “half-empty forest”

38
Q

How does habitat loss effect community dynamics?

A
  • Some plants rely on dispersal by species
  • Control by grazing
  • Disrupt nitrogen cycling
  • Reduced competition
  • Habitat engineers
39
Q
A

BIOL 465 (2 decks)

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