BIOL378 EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS GRADED A++
protecting threatened birds impacts common birds
effort put into protected rare birds, no effort into common birds
today there are 3 billion fewer birds in N.America than there was in 1970
threat risk of wild relative crops
farmed varieties do well, wild relatives threatened.
e.g. ancestor of vanilla is doing poor, if there was a disease outbreak in farmed vanilla,
will need to find an old version to selective breed, will be harder if ancestors are extinct.
ecological extinction
reduction of a species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in the
community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species
what is conservation biology
formally established 1985
multidisciplinary -
need social scientists as its a people problem
need to work together
biodiversity plays role in ecosystem function
physical, chemical, and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-
maintenance of the ecosystem; including energy flow, nutrient cycling, filtering, buffering
of contaminants, and regulation of populations
,ecosystem resilience
maintenance of ecosystem function and services under substantial predicted future
environmental change is crucial
greater biodiversity provides more resilience
species diversity-ecosystem function: conservation implications
ecosystem function increases slowly at low levels of richness and more rapidly at
highest levels of species richness
initial extinctions lead to large functional loss
all species required for ecosystem function; but need to protect the most sensitive
species lost first with disturbance
natures services to people
nature and economic wellbeing - social, cultural and human health benefits need to be
recognized
primary industries closely linked with natural environment
4 ecosystem services
provisioning services: physically takes resource and use immediately
regulating: nature provides this
supporting services: utilized for other types of services
cultural services: important in NZ
hawaii based cultural ecosystem services framework
knowledge - opportunities to learn
spirituality: recognition of familial guardians/ancestors; resources themselves
, social interactions: opportunities to share local knowledge
physical/mental wellbeing: availability and access to resources
impact of the 5 drivers of biodiversity loss
currently climate change has most impact compared to historically.
pollution has had most impact currently and historically
habitat change has high impact historically and currently.
invasive species has impact currently but not really historically
grant descriptions from philanthropies
putting money into climate change and habitat loss
A LOT going into over exploitation
habitat change
most important driver of species extinctions worldwide
combination of loss and fragmentation
e.g. putting road through forest, alters forest composition - creates and edge.
30% of forests are within 200 meters of an edge
60% of forests are within 1km or more meters of an edge
habitat change - effects of change at multiple scales
overall reduction in amount of reamining natural habitat
reduction in patch area
increase in patch isolation
increase in perimeter area ratios
altered diversity of habitat types
SOLUTIONS GRADED A++
protecting threatened birds impacts common birds
effort put into protected rare birds, no effort into common birds
today there are 3 billion fewer birds in N.America than there was in 1970
threat risk of wild relative crops
farmed varieties do well, wild relatives threatened.
e.g. ancestor of vanilla is doing poor, if there was a disease outbreak in farmed vanilla,
will need to find an old version to selective breed, will be harder if ancestors are extinct.
ecological extinction
reduction of a species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in the
community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species
what is conservation biology
formally established 1985
multidisciplinary -
need social scientists as its a people problem
need to work together
biodiversity plays role in ecosystem function
physical, chemical, and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-
maintenance of the ecosystem; including energy flow, nutrient cycling, filtering, buffering
of contaminants, and regulation of populations
,ecosystem resilience
maintenance of ecosystem function and services under substantial predicted future
environmental change is crucial
greater biodiversity provides more resilience
species diversity-ecosystem function: conservation implications
ecosystem function increases slowly at low levels of richness and more rapidly at
highest levels of species richness
initial extinctions lead to large functional loss
all species required for ecosystem function; but need to protect the most sensitive
species lost first with disturbance
natures services to people
nature and economic wellbeing - social, cultural and human health benefits need to be
recognized
primary industries closely linked with natural environment
4 ecosystem services
provisioning services: physically takes resource and use immediately
regulating: nature provides this
supporting services: utilized for other types of services
cultural services: important in NZ
hawaii based cultural ecosystem services framework
knowledge - opportunities to learn
spirituality: recognition of familial guardians/ancestors; resources themselves
, social interactions: opportunities to share local knowledge
physical/mental wellbeing: availability and access to resources
impact of the 5 drivers of biodiversity loss
currently climate change has most impact compared to historically.
pollution has had most impact currently and historically
habitat change has high impact historically and currently.
invasive species has impact currently but not really historically
grant descriptions from philanthropies
putting money into climate change and habitat loss
A LOT going into over exploitation
habitat change
most important driver of species extinctions worldwide
combination of loss and fragmentation
e.g. putting road through forest, alters forest composition - creates and edge.
30% of forests are within 200 meters of an edge
60% of forests are within 1km or more meters of an edge
habitat change - effects of change at multiple scales
overall reduction in amount of reamining natural habitat
reduction in patch area
increase in patch isolation
increase in perimeter area ratios
altered diversity of habitat types
