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Ecology > The Anthropocene > Flashcards

The Anthropocene Flashcards

1
Q

What mass extinction correlated with human dispersion?

A

Late Pleistocene.

  • evidence contested
  • some places like the giant sloth correlate well and the delaying of their extinction on the islands supports
  • some studies found no through-time correlation of human populations and extinction rates, but did find one with changing temperatures
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2
Q

How has human impact on the world developed and changed overt time?

A

Hunter-gatherer
- limited impact, some relation to extinction of megafauna, existed as part of the ecosystem
- seed dispersal, fires

Agricultural revolution
- land use/cover change
- deforestation, fires
- domestication
- population increase

Industrial revolution
- increased population sizes
- overexploitation of resources
- habitat destruction
- increased nonbiological element use

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3
Q

What are some of main examples of how humans have impacted the world?

A
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4
Q

What is funtional diversity?

A

Functional diversity is the different functions of species. The variety of different ecosystem/species functions. I.e worms aerating soil, bacteria cleaning water.

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5
Q

What was the aim of the Millenium ecosystem assessment?

A

Strengthen the capacity to manage ecosystems sustainably for human well-being

Focused on ecosystem services

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6
Q

Name some Ecosystem services

(Provisioning, Regulating, Cultural)

A
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7
Q

How much have extinction rates increased by?

A

1000x

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8
Q

Name some of the biggest direct human affects on species diversity

A
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9
Q

What does conservation biogeography address>

A

Biogeography addresses the distribution of organisms across earth
* Analyses of spatial distributions
* Identification of the factors influencing the distribution
Historical factors

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9
Q

Wallaces line split south east asia in two in reference to the biological realms of differening fauna/flora on either side.

After phylogenetic analysis, how many zoogeographic regions are there?

A

20 world wide, within 11 realms

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10
Q

what is a disjunct species distribution?

A

Disjunct, distributed with a large gap, habitat-specific.

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11
Q

What is phylogenetic niche conservatism?

A

Close related species are also ecologically similar.

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12
Q

What historical factors affect the species distribution?

A

1) past Extinctions

2) Dispersal
* Range expansion
* Jumping across an unfavourable habitat
* Like isthmus of panama connecting america
* Ability to disperse varies, dispersion by air is determined by prevailing wind

3) Vicarance
* Spliting taxon range
* Population splits and then divergence and speciation
* Break up of gondwanaland explains disribution of rities and marsupials
* also camelids split between south America and africa

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13
Q

Define these terms in reference to evolution

Allochtonous
Autochthonous

A

Allochtonous: evolved elsewhere (and presumably migrated)

Autochthonous: evolved within the region

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14
Q

How can tropical forests be classified?

(moist broadlead, moist deciduous, tropical dry, tropical and sub tropical)

A
  • Tropical moist broadleaf forests (tropical rainforest
    • > 2000 mm annually
    • High biodiversity
    • Tropical moist decidous (monsoon forest)
    • 1000-2000 annual mm
    • Semi decidous
    • Tropical dry
    • Long dry season, 1000-1500 mm rain, decidous
    • Tropical and sub tropical coniferous
      High altitude, lower biodiversity, high endemism
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15
Q

Whats the LBG

A
  • higher diversity at lower latitudes
  • Origination in tropics, biodiversity expanded out and diversified
  • Less extinction in the tropics
    Higher rates of speciation
  • tropics stayed relatively more stable in glaciations so less extinctions

Pliocene
* Final stages of a cooling trend that led up to the quarternary ice ages
* Some evidence plants still recovering and recolonising up in latitude from LGM

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16
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages to using mitochondrial DNA as a marker in molecular ecology?

A

Advantages:
— Maternally inherited
— No recombination
(Can directly sequence haplotypes,
or inherited alleles from one parent)
— Multiple copies so easy to amplify
— Often a higher mutation rate so more variation (information)

  • Disadvantages
    — Genetic introgression between closely related species
    — Copies can move to the nuclear genome and form
    pseudogenes (numts — “nuclear copies of mtDNA”)
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17
Q

Name invasive and non invasive dna sampling methods

A
  • DNA sampling:
  • Tissue: toe clippings ear clips blood wing punches
    Non-invasive: buccal swabs faecal samples hair traps museum samples
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18
Q

What are cryptic species?

A

Species which are distinct but are morphologically distinguishable

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19
Q

What is dna barcoding?

A

The use of cytochrome C to distinuish between species.

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20
Q

What are the consequences of periodic glaciations in the north and in the tropics?

A

There are several refugia e.g. in Europe this includes Iberia, southern Italy, and the Balkans.

You have intergalcial refugia for cold adapted species in northern Europe (Scandinavia)

You have glacial refugia for temperate adapted species in southern Europe like the balkans, Italy and Spain.

The alps/pyreneese provided a geological barrier to recolonising. During the glacial periods, they migrated to refugia in Italy, Spain and the balkans. Because of the mountain ranges, they couldn’t cross over easily, so central europe has grasshoppers most closely related to the bulkan ones. They could track their migration via mtDNA.

Hedgehog species were able to cross the mountain ranges and could recolognise out.

Hybrid or suture zones can be formed where two or more genetic lineages from different refugia come together.

Consequences of periodic glaciations in
the Tropics
* This contracted and fragmented tropical forests and increased grasslands and savannah
* Great genetic diversity often with divergence dating to the Pleistocene e.g. >100 species of
* e.g. rhacophorine tree frogs in Sri Lanka
High level of species in montane regions

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21
Q

What is the rainforest refugia hypothesis?

A
22
Q

Describe the ecosystem approach to conservation

A
  • A strategy for the integrated management of land water and living resources to focus conservation and sustainable use in a fair way
    • Based on appropriate scientific methodologies focusing on the essential parts and processes and functions among organisms and their environment
      Integrates societal needs as an integral component
23
Q

Define ecosystem

A

dynamic complex biotic and abiotic components of an environment and their interactions

24
Q

Define Umbrella, indicator and keystone species.

A
  • Umbrella species, require large range, monitoring these serves to monitor whole ecosystem, flagship species
    • Indicator species, sensitive to environmental change

Keystone, plays disproportionately large role in ecosystem, e.g. otters predating kelp eaters

25
Q

What make certain subspecies evolutionary significant?

A

They are the species from which the others have evolved from, so have the greatest genetic diversity

26
Q

Whats the difference between evolutionary significant units and management units?

A
  • Evolutionary significant units, distinct units, usallly genetically diverse from each other than have a common history, i think within a species
    • So two different genetic groups within the same species would be two ESUs

Management units, differ in allele frequency, isolated populations but still similar in genetic make up, more a recent split

27
Q

What are the different ways people have suggested to focus conservation efforts?

A
  • Evolutionary significant units
  • Umberella, keystone and indicator species
  • Biodiversity hot spots/major tropical wilderness areas (25, have high diversity and endemism)
  • priority ecoregions/ global deal for nature
  • ecosystem approach
28
Q

What are biodiversity hotspots

A

High diversity and endemism
0.5% or1500 vascular plants endemic

29
Q

What are priority ecoregions and what is the global deal for nature?

A

Ecoregions
*large area containing a distinct assemblage of species
* Share conditions
interactions that are critical for their long-term persistence

Priority ecoregions
* highly important ecoregions whereby their conservation would protect a large proportion of wildlife

  • Global 200 is a list by WWF of 238 priority ecoregions that if conserved would protect the majority of life on earth

Global Deal for Nature
* Global deal for nature
* Ecoregion based approach to protetect and connect 50% of land by 2030
* Works alongside the Paris deal, the target set by CBD was 17%
Integral to the deal is empowerment of indigenous people and local communities

30
Q

What is the ecosystem approach to conservation?

A
  • A strategy for the integrated management of land water and living resources to focus on conservation and sustainable use in a fair way
  • Focus on processes that allow species to exist
  • Based on appropriate scientific methodologies focusing on the essential parts and processes and functions among organisms and their environment
  • Integrates societal needs as an integral component

Blend human needs, and economic needs with ecology

31
Q

What method helps you determine population size when impractical to count each one?

A

Capture mark recapture

Proportion unmarked first time, is assumed to be same as proportion unmarked second time

32
Q

What is observation bias?

A

Proportion you can actually see

33
Q

What does theory of reserve design try and address?

A

Theory of reserve design is concerned with making the most effective way of conserving biodiversity.

  • Scientific basis of the conservation
  • Impact on humans
  • Provision of ecosystem services
34
Q

Whats the rescue effect?
Whats the Target effect?

A

Rescue effect
Immigration can recolinise previously extinct patched, promoting long term persistence of the populations.

Target effect
* larger islands have higher colonisatoin rates as high likelihood cuz bigger

35
Q

Why are large reserves better than small?

A

In reserve design size matters:
the bigger the better

Fewer ‘edge effects’
Larger reserves can support larger population
sizes
Larger reserves will have more species
Larger species are less likely to go extinct in
in larger reserves
Larger reserves more likely to have a wider
range of habitats and zones of use
Less susceptible to natural or anthropogenic
disturbance

36
Q

Why are edge effects bad

A

Edge effects:
* Lower quality
* Invasion of other species
* Different microclimate due to increased wind/temp/sunlight/humidity
Less cover, avoided by interior species

37
Q

What are meta populations?

A

Where individuals can move between reserves so the reserve can be managed as one.

38
Q

Why are habitat corridors good?

A
  • Additional habitat
    • Recolonisation oppotunities
      Increased gene flow and survival
  • when trying to introduce corridor, previous behaviour can be difficult to change, i.e not passing through where the fence used to be
39
Q

How is conflict in goals reduced (i.e between local people and conservation)

A

Unesco sites

  • Have buffer zones where compensation, coexistance and education is prioritiesed.

i.e costa rica in Tortuguero.

Community management]* hasbeen shown to be as ifnot more effective than outside management.

Provide alternative economic acitivites

40
Q

Define colonialisms and neocolonialism

A
41
Q

What is the wiilderness view of conservation and whats wrong with it?

A

That complete wilderness is the ideal, with no human inhabitants.

Ignors the indigenous people who have always been there. Suggests humans cant coexist with nature.

42
Q

What is the bonn convenetion

A

aims to help conserve migratory species

Convention on the conservation of migratory species

Also have the arctic migratory birds initiative

43
Q

What makes a nature friendly human modified forest landscape?

A

Nature friendly human modified forest landscapes
* Human modified landscapes should contain
* Over 40% forest cover
10% in one patch, 30 evenly dispersed

43
Q

What makes a nature friendly human modified forest landscape?

A

Nature friendly human modified forest landscapes
* Human modified landscapes should contain
* Over 40% forest cover
10% in one patch, 30 evenly dispersed

44
Q

Give an example of agroecology

A

Agro ecology, making farmland more biodiverse
Planting shade grown coffee instead of clearing forest, by planting fruit trees, then loss in yeild can be mitigated

45
Q

What two factors do logistic equations rely on for working out competition between species?

A

Population size, relative to carrying capacity

  • Can be modified to include the relative of each species i.e elephant more effect than a grasshopper, via locta volterra models
46
Q

Why are Locta Volterra models useful?

A

They are used to determine competition between species but allow for effect of each species to be weighted. I.e Elephant more than a grasshoper

47
Q

Carrying capacity can be directly shifted due to predators

A

Population growth is 0 at equilibrium

48
Q

What is the overall effect of competition a single species and then when multiple species involved?

A

1 species
- carrying capacity is effect, at equilibrium there is no population growth

Multiple species
* Creates 4 outcomes
- Species 1 eliminatd
- Species 2 eliminated
- Which species is eliminated depends on starting point
- Coexistance of both species

49
Q

What is it called when two similar species occupy two different niches in order to coexist?

A

Niche partitioning

Also there is resource partitioning

50
Q

What is character displacement and how is it generated?

A

Character displacement is the evolutionary change when two species occupy the same area, in order to reduce competition.

51
Q

Define

  • Aposematic
    • Cryptic coloratoin
    • Batesian mimicry
    • Mullerian mimicry
    • Physical defenses
    • Intimidation
  • Predator satiation
A
  • Aposematic; Colour to warn predators this animal is dangerous
    • Cryptic coloratoin; Colour to hide
    • Batesian mimicry; Non-poisonous prey pretends to be poisonous by copying the colour
    • Mullerian mimicry; multiple poisonous or unpalatable animals colour the same
    • Physical defenses; turtles
    • Intimidation; frilled lizards
      Predator satiation; cicada
52
Q

What markers are used in molecular ecology?

A
  • Allozymes
    • Microsatellites (high mutation rates make informative for detecting recent events)
    • Mitochondrial DNA
    • Nuclear sequences
    • Single nucleotide polymorphisms
      Whole genomes

Ecology (3 decks)

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