lecture 12 - reserve design

Question 1

What is the SLOSS debate?

Answer 1

“single large or several small”

refers to do different approaches to land conservation in order to protect biodiversity - is one large area better than several small ones

Question 2

SLOSS summary

Answer 2

• several small better for maximum diversity
• single large better for minimising edge effects
• single large supports larger populations and allows longer term persistence
• several small populations can persist longer if disturbance to sites are independent and especially where individuals disperse between sites

Question 3

definition of species turnover

Answer 3

the change in species composition in a site

Question 4

percentage of global land surface in protected areas

Answer 4

11.5%

Question 5

global hotspot info:

Answer 5

34 hotspots
2.3% earth’s land surface
>50% earth’s plant species
42% of all terrestrial vertebrates

Question 6

edge to area ratio

Answer 6

minimising edge to area ratio is effective for biodiversity

one large site has smaller edge to area ratio - better for minimising impacts of edge effects

Question 7

what is the allee effect?

Answer 7

correlation between fitness and population size/ density

fitness decreased with size/density

Question 8

probability theory

Answer 8

if 2 events are independent from one another then the probability of both events occurring is the probability of one occurring multiplied by the probability of the other occurring

Question 9

spacing between reserves needs to be…

Answer 9

• far enough apart that disturbances like fires impact each site independently
• but close enough together to allow dispersal and recolonisation