EXAM 1 REVIEW

Question 1

Why should we care about the history of conservation and conservation biology?

Answer 1

-We are not the first human generation to be concerned about our effects on the planet.
-todays conflicts represent old divisions in how people think about nature.

Question 2

What is romantic-transcendental conservation (preservationist) ethic?

Answer 2

Emerson believed in preservation for the spiritual value nature provides.

Question 3

What is resource conservation ethic?

Answer 3

Pinchot believed in conservation for sustainable resource production.

Question 4

What is evolutionary-ecologic land ethic?

Answer 4

Leopold believed in preserving biology by having man as a part of complex ecology.

Question 5

What are the 4 ecosystem services?

Answer 5

1) provisioning
2) regulating
3) cultural
4) supporting

Question 6

What are provisioning services?

Answer 6

Products obtained from ecosystems:
(i.e. food, water, raw materials, medicines, biotechnology)

Question 7

What are regulating services?

Answer 7

Benefits from regulation of ecosystem processes:
(i.e. air/water purification, climate regulation, soil fertility, erosion control, pest/disease control, pollination, natural disaster mitigation)

Question 8

What are cultural services?

Answer 8

Nonmaterial benefits obtained from ecosystems:
(i.e. recreation, ecotourism, health/well-being, spiritual/religious, aesthetic/inspiration, educational, cultural heritage)

Question 9

What are supporting services?

Answer 9

Ecological processes that control the functioning of ecosystems and production of all other services:
(i.e. resource capture, biomass production, decomposition, nutrient recycling, etc.)

Question 10

What is I = P x A x T

Answer 10

Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

Question 11

Is human population growth linear or exponential?

Answer 11

exponential

Question 12

How do humans impact the environment the most?

Answer 12

Consumption
–Per-person (different cultures consume more than others i.e. America vs. Mali)

Question 13

What does preservation ethic focus on?

Answer 13

Biodiversity

Question 14

What does sustainable use ethic focus on?

Answer 14

Ecosystem services

Question 15

Define the “Crisis Discipline”

Answer 15

The idea that decisions need to be made quickly with limited/complex information to make a change.

Question 16

Why are conservation methods old and persistent?

Answer 16

They were created a long time ago and suggests that we cannot ignore opportunities to conserve nature in human dominated landscapes.

Question 17

What is biodiversity?

Answer 17

–# of species found in a region
–describes both richness/ evenness
–genetic variation within and across species

Question 18

What is the morphological species concept?

Answer 18

individuals who are grouped into species on the basis of morphological/physiological similarities. (i.e. classification ladder)

Question 19

What is the biological species concept?

Answer 19

Individuals that interbreed in the wild to produce viable, fertile offspring are considered to be members of the same species.

Question 20

What is the evolutionary species concept?

Answer 20

There is a distinct evolutionary lineage based on average genetic relatedness.
(i.e. phylogenetic tree)

Question 21

How do we measure biodiversity?

Answer 21

1. Species richness
2. Species evenness
3. Shannon diversity

Question 22

What is species richness?

Answer 22

The number of species in a community.
–easy to calculate
–very dependent on effort/area of sampling because it must be the same to compare.
–quadrats are used.

Question 23

What is species evenness?

Answer 23

The relative abundances compared with one another.

Question 24

What is Shannon diversity?

Answer 24

This combines species richness and species evenness.

Question 25

How do we compare richness samples?

Answer 25

1. rarefaction
2. Evenness
3. Shannon diversity

Question 26

What is rarefaction?

Answer 26

The method to standardize effort to compare biodiversity across sites sampled in different ways.

Question 27

What is Shannon diversity?

Answer 27

proportions of species within a community calculated using the Shannon diversity index.

Question 28

What is the Shannon diversity index?

Answer 28

H = - {{ Pi(lnPi) where Pi is the proportion of each species in the sample. ( {{= summation symbol)

Question 29

How can we calculate phylogenetic diversity?

Answer 29

Using a phylogenetic tree; taking the sum of all the branch lengths connecting all species .
**measures evolutionary dispersion of biotas

Question 30

What is functional diversity?

Answer 30

Species weighted based on their ecological distinctiveness
It is calculated based on traits representing niche dimensions (how each species influences ecosystem function)
–Plant traits: root depth, plant height, leaf type, pollination mechanism
–Animal traits: body size, diet, habitat, metabolic rate
–Measures ecological dispersion of biotas

Question 31

what are the 3 scales of biodiversity?

Answer 31

1. Alpha diversity
2. Beta diversity
3. Gamma diversity

Question 32

What is Alpha diversity?

Answer 32

Species biodiversity of a local community (within-habitat diversity)

Question 33

What is Beta diversity?

Answer 33

Change (or turnover) in species composition over small distance (between-habitat)

Question 34

What is Gamma diversity?

Answer 34

Total diversity over a large geographic area such as biome, continent, or ocean basin (could be called regional scale alpha diversity)
**Represents combined influence of local alpha diversity and beta diversity

Question 35

What is the pattern in alpha diversity at local scales?

Answer 35

There is no consistent pattern

Question 36

What is the pattern in alpha diversity for global and biogeographic scales?

Answer 36

Global = down
Biogeographic = up