Lecture 1

Question 1

Conservation biology

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Environmentalism

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Sustainable

Answer 3

something that can continue indefinitely.

Question 4

Environmental sustainability

Answer 4

rate of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely.

Question 5

Biological diversity (biodiversity)

Answer 5

all life on earth.

Question 6

Speciation

Answer 6

act of one lineage diverging into two lineages.

Question 7

Phyletic speciation

Answer 7

gradual transformation of one species into another over time.

Question 8

Hybrid speciation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Adaptive Radiation

Answer 9

evolutionary process where different populations of a species adapt to local conditions, followed by rapid speciation.

Question 10

Species richness

Answer 10

number of species in a given area (most common way to measure biodiversity).

Question 11

Alpha diversity

Answer 11

number of species in a community.

Question 12

Gamma diversity

Answer 12

number of species in a region.

Question 13

Beta diversity

Answer 13

rate of change of species composition along an environmental or geographical gradient.

Question 14

Biological Species Concept (BSC)

Answer 14

a species is a group of individuals that can interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring (Ernst Mayr, 1990).

Question 15

Morphological Species Concept (MSC)

Answer 15

a species is a group of individuals that can are distinct from other groups based on their morphology, biochemistry, or physiology.

Question 16

Morphospecies

Answer 16

a taxon that is probably an individual species based on their appearance but has not been recognized as such as of yet.

Question 17

Evolutionary Species Concept (ESC)

Answer 17

a species is a group of individuals that share unique similarities of their DNA, and so share an evolutionary history.

Question 18

Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs)

Answer 18

a population with a species with a unique genetic variation and evolutionary history.

Question 19

Provisioning

Answer 19

water and food supply

Question 20

Overexploitation

Answer 20

too many individuals harvested, driving population towards extinction over time.

Question 21

Water stress

Answer 21

surface water used by humans is more than 40% of what is available.

Question 22

Supporting

Answer 22

maintenance of other ecosystem services (e.g. nutrient recycling, primary production).

Question 23

Regulating

Answer 23

maintenance of planetary processes (especially of climate system).

Question 24

Cultural

Answer 24

recreational / spiritual benefits.