Week 4-5

Question 1

What questions on population growth can you use matrix modelling to answer?

Answer 1

• Given specific values of demographic parameters, what will the population growth rate be?
• What is the stable age distribution;e.g. how big a fraction of the population is of breeding age?- What is the mean generation time of the population?

Question 2

Which events can lead to changes in population size?

Answer 2

Birthrate, deathrate, immigration, emigration

Question 3

What are the underlying causes of changes to population size?

Answer 3

Food availibility, predation, habitat change, disease…

Question 4

When should you use discrete time in a predictive model?

Answer 4

When you are working with an episodically reproducing organism (i.e. seasonality)

Question 5

When should you use continous time in a predictive model?

Answer 5

When you are working with organisms that reproduce continually, often in habitats with little seasonal change.

Question 6

Why is it important to consider age classes when developing predictive models?

Answer 6

Reproductive and survival rates can vary depending on age of the animal

Question 7

What is meant by sensitivity in discrete predictive models? (N_t+1 = lambda*N)

Answer 7

Absolute change in lambda (i.e. fecundity, survival rate) for a given unit change in parameters
- the actual increase of decrease in lambda from previous measures (birthrate of 3 - birthrate of 2)

Question 8

What is meant by elasticity in discrete predictive models? (N_t+1 = lambda*N)

Answer 8

Relative change in lambda (i.e. fecundity, survival rate) for a given relative change in elements/parameters
-The ratio of absolute change - fraction of change (birthrate of 3/birthrate of 2)

Question 9

No environment is constant, how can we account for this?

Answer 9

Using stochastic models, which can account for random year to year variation

Question 10

Name the five goals of characterising a species habitat

Answer 10

1) To achieve proper habitat management, manipulation and restoration
2) To obtain a better understanding of carrying capacity and population dynamics
3) To obtain a better understanding of a species potential and realized interactions with other species occuring in the same habitat
4) To study habitat preference and selection as ecological and evolutionary processess
5) To predict where a species might occur by constructing and using species distribution models

Question 11

Explain the refugee species concept

Answer 11

Species that are confined to suboptimal habitats with resulting decreased fitness and related conservation risk.
Happens when species original distribution range is shifted into non-optimal habitat. Poses a danger in conservation, if the new non-optimal habitat is thought to be the original optimal habitat.

Question 12

What are selection ratios a meassure of?

Answer 12

The ratio between the proportion of animals observed in the habitat (used) and the proportion of habitat space (availible)

Question 13

Explain Ideal free distribution

Answer 13

Animals will distribute themselves in such a way that they maximize their individual fitness.

Question 14

What are ecological traps?

Answer 14

When adaptive behaviour becomes maladaptive. Can happen under rapid environmental change, or when habitat selecion cues become decoupled from the true habitat quality, i.e. when animals favour a low quality habitat over a superiour habitat.

Question 15

What is the difference between participating as a stakeholder or as a citizen?

Answer 15

Difference between prioritization of interest. Stakeholders prioritize their own private/strategic interests, citizens can feel a sense of responsibility that goes beyond private interests, prioritize the interest of the broader community

Question 16

What outcomes can we cain from citizin participation?

Answer 16

Ownership, community engagement and agency, shared values, sustainable solutions for the local community and the project, participants as a resource (trust)

Question 17

What is the deficit model?

Answer 17

The deficit model assumes that septicism toward science is based on lack of information or scientific literacy

Question 18

What happens in phase 1 of the critical utopian dialogue approach?

Answer 18

Critique: problem mapping and frustration/fear sharing
Utopian/visions: thinking outside the box, what would the ideal be?
Implementation: how do we reach ideal state? What knowledge do we lack to do this? Who can help find this knowledge?

Question 19

What happens in phase 2 of the critical utopian dialogue approach?

Answer 19

The research phase:
Dialogue with relevant experts/researchers
Documenting the process and suggestions

Question 20

What happens in phase 3 of the critical utopian dialogue approach?

Answer 20

The puplic phase:
Community-meeting - with locals not part of the planning process
Meeting with authorities

Question 21

What is adaptive management?

Answer 21

Adaptive management is build on continued evaluation of management actions based of of continued monitoration.
Aknowledge the ecological uncertainty in a system –> needs a flexible and responsive management plan

Question 22

What is a fundamental objective?

Answer 22

The combined outcomes of management actions that gets us to the desired state

Question 23

What are enabling objectives?

Answer 23

A particular management action that contributes to achieving the fundamental objective

Question 24

What are four limitations of adaptive management?

Answer 24

The monitoring cannot be rigorous enough to provide useful information for decision making.
The risks associated with learning-based decision making is too high.
The fundamental objectives change too frequenctly.
There are significant time lags between management actions and ecosystem impacts.