ESS_310_Exam2_Study_Guide

Question 1

Plate Tectonics & Species Distributions

Answer 1

Plate movements reshaped continents, influencing species distribution.

Question 2

Major Events & Climate in Mesozoic

Answer 2

Mesozoic was warm with dinosaurs

Question 3

Major Events & Climate in Cenozoic

Answer 3

Cenozoic cooled, leading to mammal dominance.

Question 4

Significance of the K/T Extinction Event

Answer 4

K/T extinction 66 million years ago wiped out dinosaurs, allowing mammals to thrive.

Question 5

Rise of Mammals & Angiosperms

Answer 5

Mammals diversified, angiosperms became dominant, co-evolving with pollinators.

Question 6

Conditions During the LGM

Answer 6

LGM (~26,500 years ago) had extensive ice sheets, lower sea levels, and cooler climate.

Question 7

Orbital Factors Controlling Quaternary Climate

Answer 7

Milankovitch Cycles (eccentricity, obliquity, precession) controlled climate changes.

Question 8

Techniques for Reconstructing Past Environments

Answer 8

Ice cores, pollen analysis, carbon dating, and isotopic studies reconstruct past climates.

Question 9

Biogeographic Impacts of Glacial/Interglacial Cycles

Answer 9

Glacial cycles caused species migrations, extinctions, and formation of refugia.

Question 10

Pleistocene Overkill Hypothesis

Answer 10

Humans possibly overhunted megafauna (e.g., mammoths) around 10,000 years ago.

Question 11

Various Scales of Diversity

Answer 11

Alpha (local), Beta (between ecosystems), Gamma (regional) diversity levels.

Question 12

Three Measures of Diversity

Answer 12

Species richness, evenness, and diversity indices like Shannon and Simpson’s Index.

Question 13

Interpreting Diversity Data

Answer 13

Diversity data show ecosystem stability, dominance, and rarity of species.

Question 14

Diversity Gradients & Exceptions

Answer 14

Diversity usually increases toward tropics, but some deep-sea and desert exceptions exist.

Question 15

Equilibrium vs. Historical Explanations for Diversity

Answer 15

Equilibrium theories focus on competition; historical theories on past events.

Question 16

Janzen’s Hypothesis (Tropical Rainforests)

Answer 16

Janzen’s hypothesis explains how tropical mountain passes act as species barriers.

Question 17

Connell’s Coral Reef & Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

Answer 17

Connell’s research supports that moderate disturbances increase biodiversity.

Question 18

Factors Affecting Diversity & Scales

Answer 18

Diversity influenced by habitat, climate stability, evolutionary history, human impact.

Question 19

Diversity in Ocean Fisheries

Answer 19

Overfishing affects species diversity and disrupts marine ecosystems.

Question 20

Linnaean Shortfall

Answer 20

Many species remain undiscovered, creating a gap in biodiversity knowledge.

Question 21

Types of Species Distributions

Answer 21

Endemic (local), cosmopolitan (worldwide), and disjunct (geographically separated) species.

Question 22

Major Biogeographic Provinces

Answer 22

Biogeographic regions defined by unique species due to history and climate.

Question 23

Importance of Disjunctions

Answer 23

Disjunct distributions suggest past land connections (e.g., South America & Africa).

Question 24

Approaches to Areography & Macroecology

Answer 24

Studies species range sizes and how they relate to environmental factors.

Question 25

Rapoport’s Rule

Answer 25

Higher latitude species have larger ranges than tropical ones.

Question 26

Range Size, Taxa Age, Abundance, & Other Factors

Answer 26

Range size varies based on species lifespan, body size, and environmental tolerance.

Question 27

Why Study Islands?

Answer 27

Islands are natural laboratories for evolution and ecological studies.

Question 28

Preston’s Bell

Answer 28

Graph showing species abundance, where most species are rare and few are common.

Question 29

MacArthur & Wilson’s ETIB (1967)

Answer 29

Species richness on islands balances immigration and extinction, influenced by island size.

Question 30

Testing ETIB

Answer 30

Island recolonization experiments tested the ETIB model.

Question 31

Criticisms of ETIB

Answer 31

Critics say ETIB overlooks speciation, habitat diversity, and human influence.

Question 32

Responses to Criticisms

Answer 32

Modern models add speciation dynamics and habitat complexity.

Question 33

Endemism, Nestedness, & Harmonic/Disharmonic Biotas

Answer 33

Endemism (unique species), nestedness (predictable species patterns), and disharmony.

Question 34

Selective Extinction, Immigrant Selection & Competition

Answer 34

Island species face selective pressures, competition, and immigrant filtering.

Question 35

Density Compensation & Mutually Exclusive Distributions

Answer 35

Species may increase in abundance or avoid overlap with competitors.

Question 36

Ecological Release & Examples

Answer 36

Lack of predators allows species to evolve unique traits, like flightlessness in birds.

Question 37

Body Size Changes on Islands

Answer 37

Island Rule: Large species become smaller; small species become larger due to resources.

Question 38

New Zealand’s Fauna Before Human Arrival

Answer 38

Before humans, New Zealand had flightless birds, giant raptors, and reptilian species.

Question 39

Major Diversity Indices

Answer 39

Shannon Index, Simpson’s Index, and Species-Area Relationship measure diversity.