REN3301 - Module Info

Question 1

m1 - As it has been described as a ‘crisis frontier-science’, conservation biology is a far broader field, that deals with, in urgency:

Answer 1

• Biological knowledge
• Ethics
• Laws and regulations
• Land and resource management
• Politics
• Economics and trade

Question 2

m1 - What is a suitable definition of conservation biology?

Answer 2

A multidisciplinary science concerned with the description of biodiversity, causes of biodiversity loss, and remedial actions to protect and renew habitats and ecosystems, manage threatened populations and address deep causes of biodiversity loss.

Question 3

m1 - What is the SCB?

Answer 3

The Society for Conservation Biology - one of the fastest growing societies in biology.

Question 4

m1 - How can modern conservation biology be described?

Answer 4

• a new, integrated science developed in response to severe changes in the ecosystem
• multi-disciplinary in nature
• a discipline that focuses on the study and preservation of life itself
• both value-laden and mission-driven
• advocacy oriented
• crisis-oriented
• being concerned with evolutionary time
• an adaptive science
• a legally empowered science

Question 5

m1 - What is the flux of nature paradigm?

Answer 5

It emphasises that ecological systems are:
 are open to external forces
 often do not seek or maintain stable-point equilibria
 undergo directional change (succession that may be strongly influences by stochastic forces
 are influenced by idiosyncrasies of current community composition and recent history
 are subject to common natural disturbances
 have experienced important human influences typically for hundreds of years.

Question 6

m1 - Primack (2010) provides a list of recent developments in conservation biology that reinforce the discipline as a dynamic and growing field:

Answer 6

 conservation biology has resulted in government action at both national and international levels;
 conservation biology programs and activities have received significant funding in recent years;
 conservation biology goals have been adopted by international conservation organisations;
 conservation biology goals are being incorporated into scientific activities and policy;
 conservation biology’s aims and goals are reaching a broader audience through increased media coverage;
 conservation biology courses and curricula are expanding, and;
 conservation biology has a rapidly expanding professional society.

Question 7

m2 - What is the structure of an ecosystem?

Answer 7

Knowing how species are arranged, i.e. knowing that one area contains 500 species and another contains 50 species doesn’t tell us how they’re arranged, or what they do (function).

It includes the physical patterns of life forms, from the individual physiognomy of a single plant to vertical layers of vegetation, from non-woody herbs to tree canopies

Question 8

m2 - The three areas of biodiversity as per Heywood are: Ecological, organismal and genetic.

What are some elements of each?

Answer 8

Ecological - Biomes, Bioregions, Landscapes, Ecosystems, Habitats, Niches, Populations.

Organismal - Kingdoms, Phyla, Families, Genera, Species, Subspecies, Populations

Genetic - Populations, Individuals, Chromosomes, Genes, Nucleotides

Question 9

m2 - What is a biome?

Answer 9

A large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat (i.e. forest).

Question 10

m2 - What is an functional diversity?

Answer 10

The range of functions that are performed by organisms in a system

Question 11

m2 - Species diversity, in terms of species richness, generally increases with:

Answer 11

i) Climate (increased solar radiation, precipitation, temperature fluctuations)
ii) Geological time (increase in different kinds of animals)
iii) Elevation (richness lowest at high levels)
iv) Topography (greater complexity of topography, higher species richness)
v) Area (larger areas = greater richness)

Question 12

m3 - What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

Answer 12

When disturbances are frequent, species which are unable to recover in the inter-disturbance period will potentially be lost from the system. When disturbances are rare, a system is effectively at equilibrium and competitive interactions would be expected to dominate. The intermediate disturbance hypothesis predicts that in between these two extremes is a level of disturbance at which species diversity is maximized [see figure 2.10]

Question 13

m3 - What are the 5 previous mass extinction events?

Answer 13

1) Ordovician extinction - (440-450mya): caused by glaciation of the continent Gondwana
2) Devonian extinction - (360mya): Meteorite / global cooling
3) Permian extinction - (250mya): Methane emissions (sea water anoxia), increased volcanism, meteorite, climate change
4) Triassic extinction - (210mya): Meteor, anoxia, volcanic activity, etc.
5) Cretaceous extinction - (65mya): Meteor (K-T)

Question 14

m3 - Since 1600 extinction rates include:

Answer 14

 2.1% mammals
 1.3% birds
 20% of all bird species extinct in past 200 years
 20% of the world’s freshwater fishes extinct or in serious decline.

Question 15

m3 - What, according to Primack, makes some species more vulnerable to extinction than others?

Answer 15

 small populations tend to be at higher risk than large populations
 species with a narrow geographic range are at higher risk than those found over a broad area
 populations that fluctuate in size significantly are generally at greater risk than similarly sized populations that are more stable
 species that are highly specialised in terms of habitat or other resources are generally more vulnerable than generalist species
 symbiotic species (those that rely on some other species to survive) are highly vulnerable
 large-bodied species tend to be vulnerable because they require large areas
 species with low reproductive rates tend to be at risk as it may take a long time to recover from population decline
 complex life-histories can increase the risk of extinction because it often means that there are more things (or more places) that a species relies upon
 poor dispersers are often more vulnerable than those that have greater dispersal abilities
 species that live on islands generally are much more vulnerable than those on the mainland.

Question 16

m4 - What are the instrumental values of biodiversity, according to Groom?

Answer 16

i) Goods: food, fibre, forest products, fuel, medicine, horticultural products, breeding stocks and genetic reservoirs
ii) Services: hydrological cycles, soil structure, pollination, recycling, nutrient cycling, climate regulation, ecosystem resilience
iii) genetic resources, applied/pure science
iv) aesthetic value, religious value, scientific knowledge, Indigenous knowledge

Question 17

m4 - Hampicke (1994) describes three economic approaches to the evaluation of the value of biodiversity:

Answer 17

i) monetary evaluation is impossible: development will result in extinction of an endemic species or other non-reversible, non-trivial losses
ii. willingness-to-pay arguments: monetary value of a system estimated by cost incurred by individuals to visit it e.g. wilderness safaris
iii. nature’s services: assess both material and immaterial services provided by system.

Question 18

m4 - Define morals

Answer 18

Morals reflect predominate feelings of a culture about ethical issues.

Question 19

m4 - Define environmental ethics.

Answer 19

Environmental ethics is a topic of applied ethics that examines the moral basis of environmental responsibility and which employs concepts from the entire field of philosophy, especially aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, and social and political philosophy

Question 20

m4 - Naess (1989) identified a number of basic principles of deep ecology, including:

Answer 20

 both human and non-human life has intrinsic value which is independent of the usefulness for human purposes
 richness and diversity and life-forms contribute to the flourishing of human and non-human life
 humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs
 present human interference with the non-human world is excessive and worsening.

Question 21

m4 - What is the Western worldview?

Answer 21

Planetary management - we are separate from nature and can manage nature to meet our needs and wants. Because of our technological ingenuity, we will not run out of resources.
Therefore, the potential for economic growth is unlimited.

Question 22

m4 - What is the Stewardship ethic?

Answer 22

We have ethical responsibility to be stewards of the earth. We will probably not run out of resources, but shouldn’t be wasteful.

Question 23

m4 - What is Deep Ecology worldview?

Answer 23

Environmental wisdom - We are a part of, and exist within nature and are dependant upon it. Resources are limited and should not be wasted. We should encourage earth-sustaining forms of economic growth only, and discourage degrading growth.

Question 24

m5 - What was the primary purpose of the MEA (2005)?

Answer 24

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment examined the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and aimed to establish the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their contributions to human well-being. However, a primary purpose of the process was to provide policy relevant recommendations, not policy prescriptive outcomes.

Question 25

m5 - What were 4 key findings of the MEA (2005)?

Answer 25

i) Humans have changed ecosysems more rapidly than any other time in history (in past 50 years).
ii) These changes have led to huge gains in human well-being an economic development, at cost of ecosystem degradations.
iii) Degradation of ecosystem services could grow hugely during first half of this century
iv) To reverse this damage means undertaking political and institutional changes not yet undertaken

Question 26

m5 - What are the 3 modes of foreign species dispersal formally recognised?

Answer 26

i) Intentional introduction: Either as value bringing or preventative measures (i.e. cane toad, camels, etc.)
ii) Accidental introduction: Usually due to association with humans, i.e. Northern Pacific Seastar
iii) Natural / Facilitated introduction: Can be from a flood or weather event.

Question 27

m6 - What are the 3 main reasons why a small population might go extinct?

Answer 27

i) Loss of genetic variability, resulting in inbreeding problems, and genetic drift
ii) Demographic fluctuations due to random variations in birth and death rates
iii) Environmental fluctuations - catastrophes, etc.

Question 28

m6 - What are the 11 major genetic issues in conservation biology?

Answer 28

1. The deleterious effect of inbreeding on reproduction and survival (inbreeding depression)
2. Loss of genetic diversity and ability to evolve in response to environmental change
3. Fragmentation of populations and reduction in gene flow
4. Random processes (genetic drift) overriding natural selection as the main evolutionary process
5. Accumulation and loss (purging) of deleterious mutations
6. Genetic adaptation to captivity and its adverse effects on reintroduction success
7. Resolving taxonomic uncertainties
8. Defining management units within species
9. Use of molecular genetic analyses in forensics
10. Use of molecular genetic analyses to understand aspects of species biology important to conservation
11. Deleterious effects of fitness that sometimes occur as a result of outcrossing (outbreeding depression).

Question 29

m6 - What is genetic diversity?

Answer 29

The variety of genetic information contained in all living organisms, of which there are 3 levels:

i) Heterozygosity (within individuals)
ii) Allelic diversity (within populations)
iii) Among populations

Question 30

m6 - What is a dominant and recessive phenotype?

Answer 30

Designated by a capital letter, they are also known as dominant allele, while recessive alleles are given a lower case letter.

Question 31

m6 - What is zygosity?

Answer 31

The similarity of genes for a trait.
Homozygous is where both genes are the same (two brown eyes).
Heterozygous is where both genes are different (i.e. one brown eye, one blue). High heterozygosity means high genetic variability.

Question 32

m6 - What 3 basic concepts do population genetics deal with?

Answer 32

i) Quantitative distribution of alleles within a population
ii) the quantitative distribution of genotypes within a population
iii) the quantitative distribution of phenotypes within a population

Question 33

m6 - What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle regarding frequency of genes in populations?

Answer 33

Genotype: AA AB BB
Frequency: p^2 2pq q^2

(p+q)^2 = p^2 + 2pq + q^2

Where p equals the frequency of allele A and q is the frequency of allele B

Question 34

m6 - What are five assumptions that need to be violated in order to alter gene frequencies within a population?

Answer 34

 the population size is large
 there is random mating
 there is no ‘assortative mating’ (selection of mate based on genotype)
 there is no migration in or out of the population
 natural selection does not occur.

Question 35

m6 - Genetic diversity is controlled by four processes. What are they?

Answer 35

1) Selection - the force that causes adaptive evolution. Takes into account fitness,
2) Migration and gene flow - The gene pools of populations diverge over time as a result of chance and selection. Such differences are reduced by migration
3) Mutation - A mutation is a sudden genetic change in an allele or chromosome. All genetic diversity originates from mutation
4) Genetic drift - Genetic drift is a stochastic (random) process. When a small population reproduces, the subsequent generation is derived from each parent

Question 36

m6 - What is gene flow?

Answer 36

The individual may not be well adapted to its new environment and may not be capable of surviving to reproduce. If it does reproduce, the incorporation of its genes into the gene pool of the new population is known as gene flow. Gene flow is a source of variation for a population as long as the donor population has different alleles or allele frequencies

Question 37

m6 - What is a demographic bottleneck?

Answer 37

A demographic (population) bottleneck — where a population is reduced to small numbers — is an extreme example of genetic drift. Demographic bottlenecks refers to the loss of variation at the level of individual genes that contribute to genetic diversity and occurs when there is a major loss in an particular, usually isolated, population.

Question 38

m6 - What is a founder effect?

Answer 38

A founder effect occurs when a new colony is started by a few members of the original population. This small population size means that the new colony may have:
 reduced genetic variation from the original population
 a non-random sample of the genes in the original population.

Question 39

m6 - What is inbreeding depression?

Answer 39

Inbreeding reduces reproduction and survival (reproductive fitness) – referred to as inbreeding depression.

Question 40

m7 - What is demographic stochasticity?

Answer 40

Demographic stochasticity refers to the variability in population growth rates arising from random differences among individuals in survival and reproduction within a breeding (reproductive) season.

Question 41

m7 - What is environmental stochasticity?

Answer 41

Environmental stochasticity refers to variation in birth (natality) and death (mortality) rates from one season to the next in response to weather, disease, competition, predation, or other factors external to the population.

Question 42

m7 - What is the allee effect?

Answer 42

In the Allee effect, when populations are small, some population processes break down (for example, it may become harder to find mates). In these cases, fecundity could actually decrease at low population size

Question 43

m7 - Which two propositions is the theory of sources and sinks dependant on?

Answer 43

 reproductive success of individuals within populations is dependent upon habitat quality and
 not all habitats have equal quality within the range of a species.

Question 44

m8 - What is an ecosystem?

Answer 44

An ecosystem is the set of interacting species in a community and their abiotic environment. A number of emergent and collective properties can be identified when the ecosystem is the focus of conservation.

Question 45

m8 - What is the difference between endogenous and exogenous disturbance to ecosystems?

Answer 45

 endogenous disturbance: those to which community repeatedly exposed to over evolutionary time – tend to be ‘natural’ disturbances.

 exogenous disturbance: those which are ‘novel’ to the community – tend to be human-induced disturbances.

Question 46

m8 - What is the ‘patch-corridor matrix’?

Answer 46

Landscapes are composed of elements – the spatial components that make up the landscape. A convenient and popular model for conceptualizing and representing the elements in a categorical map pattern is known as the patch-corridor-matrix model

Question 47

m8 - What 3 major landscape elements are typically recognised under the patch-corridor matrix?

Answer 47

i) Patch - refers to areas of suitable habitat, varying in shape, size and complexity.
ii) Corridor - The concept of a corridor, also referred to as a biolink or greenway, is linked to the idea of connectivity. Corridors vary in width, continuity and linearity, and include hedgerows, roadsides, streams, and streamside vegetation
iii) Matrix - The matrix is the dominant component of the landscape – that land use or vegetation type that surrounds the patch.

Question 48

m8 - When describing an ecosystem in terms of past landscape level disturbance, describe which 2 terms are used.

Answer 48

i) Intact - ecosystem largely unaffected by landscape-scale destruction
ii) Modified - natural or semi-natural ecosystems affected by fine-scale destruction, discomposition (selective changes to populations – e.g. selective removal of species, species introductions etc)

Question 49

m8 - When discussing the concept of ‘landscape variegation’, what does fragmented, variegated and relict mean?

Answer 49

i) Fragmented - modified or unmodified ecosystems destroyed over substantial parts of landscape;
ii) Ecosystems still form significant component of the landscape matrix, although there may be areas where they have been destroyed
iii) Ecosystem largely destroyed with only very small areas containing elements of the modified communities remaining in the landscape

Question 50

m8 - What are the phases in a typical pattern of fragmentation?

Answer 50

i) Perforation - A new settlement or logging coup is established within a natural matrix.
ii) Dissection - roads, power lines or tracks divide areas of natural land, usually with equal-width lines. The landscape becomes subdivided into sections
iii) Fragmentation - occurs when a continuous object is broken up into pieces.
iv) Shrinkage - frequently occurs when surrounding land uses impinge into the remnant. Often clearing occurs around the edge of fragments of native vegetation.
v) Attrition - whole parcels of a particular land type are lost.

Question 51

m8 - What are mutualisms and indirect effects when talking about species interactions within an ecosystem?

Answer 51

i) mutualisms – relationship in which two or more species benefit from specific and often highly co-evolved interaction
ii) interaction ‘web’ effects where changes in dominant species and functional groups may result in shifts in community structure.

Question 52

m8 - What are the 4 types of keystone species within ecosystems?

Answer 52

i) Keystone predator - predator species that effectively regulate the population levels of prey species
ii) Keystone food resource - e.g. many plants – in many tropical forests mammals v. much dependent on fruits and seeds
iii) Ecosystem engineer - (habitat modifier) – e.g. beaver, elephants
iv) Ecosystem facilitator - e.g. fungi, inconspicuous and microscopic members of ecosystems whose biological processes are critical to the functioning of larger, more evident species.

Question 53

m8 - What is ecosystem resilience?

Answer 53

the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed or accommodated by an ecosystem before its structure is fundamentally changed to a different state, that is, before it is altered beyond the point of returning to its original state.

Question 54

m8 - In ecosystem management, what considerations of ecosystem health should be considered?

Answer 54

 include human activities and impacts
 focus on large spatial and long time scale
 management decisions undertaken must include multiple stakeholders.

Question 55

m8 - Who are the stakeholders in ecosystem management?

Answer 55

 have a real or perceived interest in a resource about which decisions are being made, its use, its protection, or its users
 are dependent on a resource
 believe that management decisions will affect them
 are located in or near the areas about which decisions are being made
 pay for the decision or action
 are in a position of authority to review the decisions.

Question 56

m8 - Groom et al. (2006) point to nine key actions for ecosystem management:

Answer 56

 development of a shared vision for ecosystem condition and its uses (i.e., goals) – agreed upon through partnerships and collaboration
 development of coordinated approaches to achieve and maintain targeted ecosystem condition
 the use of ecological approaches that restore or maintain biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability
 support for actions that incorporate sustained economic, socio-cultural, and community goals
 respect and ensure private property rights and work cooperatively with landholders to achieve conservation goals
 recognition that ecosystems and institutions are complex and dynamic (e.g. there is always uncertainty and risk)
 use an adaptive approach to management, to achieve goals and advance an ever-better understanding of the ecosystem
 integrate the best science available into the decision-making process, while continuing scientific research to improve the knowledge base
 establishment of baseline conditions, then monitor changes to help evaluate if goals and objectives are being achieved.

Question 57

m9 - What is the CBD?

Answer 57

Convention on Biological Diversity - resulted from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or ‘Earth Summit’) held in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. It has 3 main goals:

 to conserve biological diversity
 the use biological diversity in a sustainable fashion
 to share the benefits of biological diversity fairly and equitably.

Question 58

m9 - What is CITES?

Answer 58

Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora - CITES’s main function is to maintain three appendices of species, for each of which a different extent of trade is allowed. If a species is listed in Appendix I then international trade is forbidden except with special permission, and so on.

Question 59

m9 - What key approaches are planning reserve systems often based on?

Answer 59

i) Keystone species
ii) Indicator species - strong indicators of environmental health or quality
iii) Umbrella species - require large areas of habitat that benefits other species too
iv) Flagship species - charismatic species
v) Species richness
vi) Ecosystem functioning - preserving ecological processes

Question 60

m9 - Determining whether a single large or several small is a better approach to PA’s depends on:

Answer 60

 the nature of the disturbance regimes
 the degree of spatial continuity
 the dispersal capabilities of the species in question
 population demographics
 the characteristics of species concerned.

Question 61

m9 - Vulnerability is the likelihood of biodiversity loss to current or impending threatened processes. Three dimensions of vulnerability can be identified

Answer 61

 exposure – probability of threatening process affecting an area over a specified time;
 intensity – may be differences in intensity of threatening process impacting upon a system. Less intense threatening processes will of considerably lower concern;
 impact – effects of threatening process on particular components of biodiversity.q

Question 62

m10 - Define restoration ecology

Answer 62

Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed

Question 63

m10 - The terms degradation, damage, destruction and transformation all represent deviations from the normal or desired state of an intact ecosystem. What do these terms mean?

Answer 63

• Degradation pertains to subtle or gradual changes that reduce ecological integrity and ecosystem health.
• Damage refers to acute and obvious changes in an ecosystem.
• An ecosystem is destroyed when degradation or damage removes all macroscopic life, and commonly ruins the physical environment as well.
• Transformation is the conversion of an ecosystem to a different kind of ecosystem or land use type.

Question 64

m10 - What is a reference ecosystem?

Answer 64

A ‘natural’ or ‘near-pristine’ ecosystem.

Question 65

m10 - What is passive and active restoration of ecosystems?

Answer 65

• passive restoration: remove or reduce the causes of degradation and allow for natural processes to drive recovery;
• active restoration – remove or reduce the causes of degradation and actively intervene to replicate or accelerate natural processes. For example, planting seedlings, establishing litter layer, translocating species etc.

Question 66

m10 - Groom et al. (2006) identify a number of important decisions that need to be incorporated in the design and implementation of ecological restorations. What are they?

Answer 66

 site assessment
 goal setting
 design
 implementation
 monitoring and adaptive management.

Question 67

m10 - Groom et al. (2006) identify a number of pragmatic considerations that hinder the implementation of effective restoration. What are they?

Answer 67

• Lack of knowledge
• Scale issues in restoration
• Implementation in practice

Question 68

m11 - Ecosystem management can be considered as a process broadly consisting of three components:

Answer 68

i) the recognition of ecosystem as appropriate management unit
ii) stakeholders are included in process of decision making from beginning
iii) a flexible and ongoing adaptive management model used.

Question 69

m11 - In the broader landscape perspective, conservation management may include what possible elements?

Answer 69

• protected areas (reserves),
• ecological restoration
• matrix (off-reserve) management.

Question 70

m11 - The key elements of adaptive management are (Meffe & Carroll 1997):

Answer 70

 feedback – knowledge or data on the effects or results of an action, purposefully collected and used to improve future actions
 adjustment – using knowledge and data provided through feedback to redirect subsequent action
 experience – important of experience is implicitly recognised and change made to reflect experience – acknowledges learning-based approach to conservation management
 consists of simultaneous attention to ecological, socio-economic and institutional concerns
 includes large spatial and temporal scales
 includes all relevant stakeholders