Habitat and Space Use

Question 1

What are the effects of habitat loss on biodiversity?

Answer 1

Reduced species richness, abundance, distribution, number of specialist, large-bodied species.

Reduces population growth, alters species interactions, impacts breeding success, dispersal success, predation rate, and aspects of animal behaviour that affect foraging success rate.

(Fahrig, 2003)

Question 2

Extinction Threshold

Answer 2

Habitat level below which a population cannot survive.

(Fahrig, 2003)

Question 3

Landscape Complementation

Answer 3

The degree to which landscape structure facilitates movement among different required habitats.

(Fahrig, 2003)

Question 4

Habitat

Answer 4

All the abiotic and biotic factors that an organism requires to survive at some point in its life.

This means that habitat varies not only by species but also by the different life stages of a particular species.

(Hall et al., 1997)

Question 5

What is the difference between habitat and niche?

Answer 5

A habitat is the place where an organism lives while a niche is that organism’s role within that environment. Habitat focuses on how the environment impacts the organism while niche focuses on how the organism impacts the environment.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/habitat-niche#:~:text=Description,the%20organism%20impacts%20the%20environment.

Question 6

Sympatry

Answer 6

Occurring within the same geographical area; overlapping in distribution.

(Mac Dictionary)

Question 7

Niche

Answer 7

The role an organism plays in a community. A species’ niche encompasses both the physical and environmental conditions it requires (like temperature or terrain) and the interactions it has with other species (like predation or competition).

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/niche/

Question 8

Habitat Loss

Answer 8

The outright conversion of an ecosystem to another use by human activities.

(BIOL 2600 Notes)

Question 9

Habitat Degradation

Answer 9

Anthropogenic change that reduces the quality of habitat for many, but not all, species.

(BIOL 2600 Notes)

Question 10

Bathymetric Map

Answer 10

A map depicting the depth contours of a water body.

(Zale et al, 2012)

Question 11

What is the difference between residency and site fidelity?

Answer 11

Residency is when an animal spends most of its time in a given area. It may depart sometimes but the departures are part of its normal behaviours.

Site fidelity on the other hand is when an animal does not spend most of its time in a given area but does return to it regularly.

(Kraft et al, 2023)

Question 12

How is residency measured?

Answer 12

Using the residency index.

The residency index (IR) has two forms.

The total number of days the animal was detected (Dd) can be divided by either
(1) detection interval, the number of days between first and last detection (Di) or
(2) monitoring or study interval, the total number of monitoring days in the study (time between tagging date and last monitoring day) (Dt).

The index provides values ranging from 0, or no residency, to 1 which is full residency.

(Kraft et al, 2023)

Question 13

Home Range

Answer 13

That area traversed by the individual in its normal activities of food gathering, mating, and caring for young. Occasional sallies outside the area, perhaps exploratory in nature, should not be considered as in part of the home range. The size of the home range may vary with sex, possibly age, and season.

(Kraft et al, 2023)

Question 14

What are the different ways to evaluate space use?

Answer 14

Abacus Plots
Residency
Home range

(Kraft et al, 2023)

Question 15

Spatiotemporal

Answer 15

Refers to patterns in both space and time.

(Wikipedia)

Question 16

Habitat Type

Answer 16

Refers only to the type of vegetation in an area.

(Hall et al, 1997)

Question 17

Habitat Use

Answer 17

The way an animal uses (or “consumes,” in a generic sense) a collection of physical and biological components (i.e., resources) in a habitat.

Habitat use refers to organisms occurring in an area, not necessarily by choice.

(Hall et al, 1997; Montgomery & Roloff, 2013)

Question 18

Habitat Selection

Answer 18

The act of choosing the combination of available abiotic and biotic elements for the purpose of fulfilling the life history events of the organism (e.g., mating, raising young, and avoiding death). An organism’s selection of habitat varies across space and time as certain needs are fulfilled and others pursued.

(Montgomery & Roloff, 2013)

Question 19

Habitat Preference

Answer 19

Habitat preference is applied at the species level and refers to the habitat that the species prefers above all others, even if that habitat is unavailable in the landscape where a local population resides.

(Montgomery & Roloff, 2013)

Question 20

Habitat Quality

Answer 20

The ability of the environment to provide conditions appropriate for individual and population persistence.

It should be considered a continuous variable, ranging from low to medium to high, based on resources available for survival, reproduction, and population persistence, respectively.

(Hall et al, 1997)

Question 21

Critical Habitat

Answer 21

A legal term describing the physical or biological features essential to the conservation of a species, which may require special management considerations or protection.

(Hall et al, 1997)