Introduction

Question 1

What is conservation biology?

Answer 1

integrated, multidisciplinary scientific field, goal of preserving species and ecosystems

Question 2

What are the goals of conservation biology?

Answer 2

1. document all biodiversity on Earth
2. Investigate impacts of anthropogenic activities on biodiversity
3. develop practical approaches to prevent biodiversity

Question 3

Define environmentalism.

Answer 3

Widespread movement that involves political and education activism; goal is to protect environment from destruction and pollution, focus on sustainability

Question 4

Define sustainable.

Answer 4

• something that con continue indefinitely

L> most human activities are NOT sustainable

Question 5

Define biological diversity / biodiversity.

Answer 5

All life on earth

Question 6

What are the three types of biodiversity?

Answer 6

1. Genetic diversity
   L> variation within a species genes (among individuals, between populations)
2. Species diversity
   L> all life on earth, varies locally, regionally, across larger scales
3. Ecosystem diversity
   L> variation of species across ecosystems
   L> variation of ecosystems within an area

Question 7

Explain the genetic factors affecting small populations.

Answer 7

1. Inbreeding depression
   L> short term impacts
   L>is the reduced biological fitness in a given population as a result of inbreeding, or breeding of related individuals.
   L> often the result of a population bottleneck.
   **higher genetic diversity / gene pool in population prevents this.
2. Loss of genetic diversity
   L> long term impacts

** caused by stochastic changes in genetic composition over time due to small population size. Long term impact –> loss of ability to adapt in future.

Question 8

Define speciation.

Answer 8

• act of one lineage diverging into two lineages

* change accumulate over time

Question 9

Define phyletic speciation.

Answer 9

• gradual transformation of one species into another over time.
• change accumulate over time

Question 10

Define hybrid speciation.

Answer 10

• formation of a novel species through hybridization between two parent species

Question 11

Why are there no known examples of hybrid speciation, even though many species hybridize in nature?

Answer 11

• often sterile bc of divergent evolution in each sp
• even if the hybrid is healthy, it commonly suffers “minority cytotype disadvantage” bc it encounters few mates of its own kind, and back crosses to the more abundant parent species

Question 12

What is biodiversity often measured as ?

Answer 12

• Species richness

L> number of species in an area

Question 13

What are the three measures of species richness in an area?

Answer 13

• Alpha diversity
  L> number of species in a community
• Gamma diversity
  L> number of species in a region
• Beta diversity
  L> links alpha and gamma diversity together (rate of change of species composition along an environmental or geographical gradient) aka gamma/alpha

Question 14

Is defining a species straightforward?

Answer 14

• no it is problematic.

- there are more than 24 species concepts

Question 15

List the species concepts covered in class.

Answer 15

1. Biological Species Concept (BSC)
2. Morphological Species concept (MSC)
3. Evolutionary Species Concept (ESC)

Question 16

Explain the biological species concept (BSC).

Answer 16

• species = group of individuals that can interbreed in nature and produce fertile offspring
• Strengths:
  L> interbreeding: populations that look and behave similarly.

L>Reproductive isolation: evolutionary divergence / speciation

• Weaknesses?
  L> fertile hybrids are common in nature
  L> asexual species do not reproduce sexually
  L> allopatric (non overlapping organisms of related species or populations) species never meet in nature e
  L> very hard to tell if fossils could interbreed

**Ex: dogs! German shepherd and coyote = coydog; Polar bears and grizzle bears = pizzleys and grolars (females of both species are often fertile.

Question 17

Explain the Morphological Species Concept (MSC).

Answer 17

• species are defined as a group of organisms that are distinct from other groups based on their morphology, biochemistry or physiology.
• morphospecies = taxon that is probably an individual species based on their appearance but has not been recognized as such as of yet
• Strengths?
  L>emphasizes characteristics that can be easily measured
  L> works for fossils, asexual species, allopatric species

-Weaknesses?
L> sexually dimorphic species can be misleading….ex: Pine Swamp Warbler: black throated blue warblers are males and Swamp warbler is actually a female BTB warbler; ex 2: angler fish.
L> geographic variation in morphology within a species
L> cryptic species exist (look identical but are distinct)
L> how much variation is enough

Question 18

What did the weaknesses of the morphological species concept lead to?

Answer 18

• Phenetic Species Concept
  L> measure lots of characteristics -> actual numbers
  L> use number to use to differentiate groups into species
  L> considered very arbitrary and subjective

**not highlighted in red

Question 19

Explain the evolutionary species concept (ESC).

Answer 19

• species are classified as a group of organisms that share unique similarities of their DNA and so share an evolutionary past.
• Strengths
  L> uses DNA sequence DNA (basic information of all life, so is applicable to sexual, asexual organisms and younger fossils that still have dna)
  L> includes a historic component (considers past evolutionary history of the organisms
• Weakness?
  L> pretty vague, how different (%DNA) do two things have to be to be considered different? (in some birds, only 0.5% of their genome is different ex.)
  L> different parts of genome have different mutation rates, different evolutionary histories

Question 20

Why does it matter how species are defined?

Answer 20

• impacts
• biodiversity and endemism , estimated population sizes, conservation efforts, and more

**not red

Question 21

What are evolutionarily significant units (ESUs)?

Answer 21

• genetic variation and evolutionary history are the focus
• no taxonomic status..akin to morphospecies for ESC
• pop of organisms considered distinct for Conservation

Question 22

What is adaptive radiation?

Answer 22

• evolutionary process where organisms diverge rapdily from an ancestral sp into new forms, particularly when a change in the enviornement makes new resources available, created new challenges, or opens new niches

Question 23

What is a background extinction rate?

Answer 23

• also known as the normal extinction rate, refers to the standard rate of extinction in earth’s geological and biological history before humans became a primary contributor to extinctions
• typically assumed to be: 1 sp ext per 10,000 species per 100 years (aka 0.1 – 1 sp ext per million sp per year = E/MSY)

Question 24

What human related activities lead to small populations?

Answer 24

1. overexploitation
2. coopting resources
3. habitat fragmentation / loss
4. invasive species
5. climate change and its effects

Question 25

What are the four types of ecosystem services?

Answer 25

1. Provisioning
   L>water and food supply
2. Supporting
   L> maintenance of other ecosystem services (e.g. nutrient recycling, primary production)
3. Regulating
   L> maintenance of planetary processes (esp of a climate system)
4. Cultural
   L> recreational/ spiritual benefits

Question 26

What are risks to provisioning services?

Answer 26

1. Overexploitation - too many individuals harvested, driving population towards extinction over time
2. Water stress
   L> surface water used by humans is more than 40% of what is available

Question 27

Explain how carbon sequestration is a regulating service at risk.

Answer 27

• carbon sequestration is the ability of ecosystems to store carbon…plants/wetlands and peat oils do this.
• climate change impacts this service
  L> converting a biome into another…changes the C storage potential of the area
  L> lowers plant growth or plant size -> decreased carbon pool
  L> feedback on plats -> increase carbons forage 9eg high latitude forest in Euro and NA have higher productivity)
• change sin land use can influence carbon levels.
• smaller trees store less carbon than large trees.
• deforestation releases C into atmosphere
• carbon sinks are vulnerable

Question 28

Explain how carbon sequestration is a regulating service at risk.

Answer 28

• carbon sequestration is the ability of ecosystems to store carbon…plants/wetlands and peat bogs do this.
• climate change impacts this service
  L> converting a biome into another…changes the C storage potential of the area
  L> lowers plant growth or plant size -> decreased carbon pool
  L> feedback on plants -> increase carbons storage eg high latitude forest in Euro and NA have higher productivity)
• changes in land use can influence carbon levels.
• smaller trees store less carbon than large trees.
  L> forests converted into annual croplands = lots of C release - deforestation releases C into atmosphere
  L> Euro/NA, farmland conversion to forests = net carbon sink.
• carbon sinks are vulnerable

Question 29

List other examples of services at risk.

Answer 29

1. Coral reef
2. Cloud forests
3. Forests

*not red