Habitat Loss, Degradation, and Fragmentation - exam 2 Flashcards
Define:
habitat conversion/transformation
habitat loss
habitat degradation
habitat fragmentation
What % of earth’s surface has been transformed by humans? What % is considered degraded or unsustainably used?
What types of habitat have been most heavily impacted by habitat loss?
Which are predicted to suffer the most future losses?
How much native vegetation cover remains in the US?
Which 3 states have the greatest numbers of threatened ecosystems?
What is the number 1 land use that leads to habitat loss/degradation/fragmentation? What factors related to this use determine its impacts on biodiversity?
What are 5 other major causes of land degradation?
Describe the steps in the process of habitat fragmentation.
Define habitat patch and matrix.
Describe habitat shredding and tentacles.
How does natural disturbance affect habitat heterogeneity? What is this pattern called?
How does this affect the species on the landscape, and at what scale(s)?
What are some examples?
Compare natural patchiness vs. human-caused fragmentation.
connectivity
unique features
structure
contrast/edge
What is habitat contrast?
What are edge effects and why are they important?
How are they affected by habitat patch size?
With regards to fragmentation, what is initial exclusion? What is the lifeboat effect?
How might the lifeboat effect be misleading to biodiversity assessments?
lifeboat effect can lead to an intial increase in species density before relaxation occurs
Describe insularization and area-sensitive species.
area-sensitive probably due to edge effects
What is the matrix effect?
What underlying factors cause it?
What are metapopulations?
What is colonization capacity, and what factors influence it?
What is a good example of this?
Describe source/sink metapopulation dynamics.
Generally describe the effects of habitat fragmentation on Florida’s 2 smallest populations of black bears.
What is one tool that is being used to maintain connectivity where roads fragment the landscape?
Describe fragmentation, insularization, and homogenization caused by invasive species.
What are some ecosystem services provided by forests?
How much forest (%) has been lost globally in the past 300 years?
How many countries have lost over 90% of their forest? 100?
What is the least forested continent besides Antarctica?
What continent has the highest current rate of forest loss?
What proportion of humans practice slash and burn?
What is the most at risk type of forest, and how much has been lost?
What % of the world’s terrestrial species live in the Amazon Rain Forest (ARF)?
What is it often called because of its effects on climate regulation?
How much of the ARF has been lost as of 2022?
What kinds of activities are leading to its loss?
What is happening in the eastern section of the ARF and why is that important?
What did overexploitation of forests in the US lead to in the late 1800s?
How much (%) forest has KY lost?
What is unique/important about KY forests (2 things)?
What portion of KY forests are privately/publicly owned?
What are 2 major extractive causes of landscape-scale forest loss in North America?
What are grasslands, and how much of our 2 major types (?) have we lost in the US?
How much urbanization (acres) per day and per year is happening in KY?
What is the “golden triangle” and what is happening there?
How much farmland (%) has KY lost to urbanization in the past 40 years?
What are wetlands and what are the 3 characteristics that define them?
What are major threats to wetlands?
What % of streams in the US and globally run unimpeded?
What percent of fish and mussels that are federally listed are affected by impoundments (dams)? What are other major threats to these species?
Describe the distribution of wetlands in the US, and the distribution of their greatest losses (% of original extent).
What % of wetlands has KY lost? What about the US?
How much economic benefit do wetlands provide?
50% loss in US
$100B in economic benefits
What is hydrological connectivity?
What are examples of deleterious downtream human activities and their effects upstream in the system?
What are 2 international and 3 US water bodies that are suffering catastrophic habitat loss and degradation?
in addition to pollution and overuse, the reduced water volume causes concentration of otherwise normal contents (like salt) causing the remaining water to become toxic to widlife
What % of the human population lives within 60 miles of a coastline? What % of coastal systems are highly modified?
What are the 5 biggest threats to coastal ecosystems?
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
What is the major culprit?
Explain eutrophication and hypoxic dead zones. Where do some of these occur?
Besides eutrophication, what are some other major pollution sources in marine systems?
What is hydrological fragmentation and what are some major species groups affected by it in the US?
rivers broken up by dams, other impediments
Name and define 4 types of measurements we can use to assess habitat loss and fragmentation.
What are 6 broad categories of species that are especially vulnerable to fragmentation?
What are 3 general strategies used by some species to cope with fragmentation? What is a major threat to all these strategies?
How does light pollution act to degrade or destroy habitat?
What are examples of toxins that degrade or destroy habitat?
also large chemical spills and dumping (exxon valdez, deepwater horizon, etc.)
What are EDCs? What are some examples?
Define these types:
teratogenic
carcinogenic
metabolic
reproductive
Describe the formation and impacts of acid rain.
