Ecology Ch. 56 Conservation Biology
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christy_joseph on September 27, 2012
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43 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 zoned reserve | land managment in which protected areas are surrounded by buffer zones. in transitional areas, sustainable land use is promoted and the most destructive human activities are conducted on the outermost fringes |
| movement corridors | helpful in areas that have been fragmented. connections between habitat fragments. a narrow strip or series of small clumps connecting otherwise isolatlated patches |
| bioremediation | use of organisms to detoxify polluntants |
| Biophilia (inverntor of term) | the natural human connection to nature and other forms of life- Edward O. Wilson- an evolutionary product of natural selection acting on a brainy species whose survival depends on a close connection to the environment |
| rising CO2 levels favor C4 or C3? | C3 |
| possible consequence of rising CO2 levels | increased vegetative productivity, with more co2 and adequate supplies of water and sunlight, plants can build more biomass |
| Scientists' current concern about extinction | extinction occurring faster than ever before at rates faster than rates of which new species form, human activities directly responsible for today's mass extinctions, one of greatest periods of mass extinction occurring now, large numbers of plant species which form base of terrestrial food webs are becoming extinct |
| declining population approach | emphasizes the environmental factors that caused a population's decline, focuses on threatened and endangered populations that show a downward trend. Evaluates population declination on a case-by-case basis. Confirm species is in decline, test most likely hypothesis first, develop hypotheses for all possible causes of decline, determine species' environmental requirements |
| small-population approach | emphasizes smallness itself as an ultimate cause of a population's extinction and the impact of the loss of genetic diversity in a population. used to help increase the population size of prairie chickens in illinois, extinction vortex, minimum viable population size, effective population size |
| central american country leader in zoned reserves | costa rica, 8 zoned reserves |
| biological augmentation | using plants or other organisms to add certain materials to an ecosystem |
| ecosystem services | encompasses all the processes through which natural ecosystems and the species they contain help sustain human life of earth. ex. crop pollination, water purification, moderation of weather extremes |
| 4 threats to biodiversity | global change, [habitat alteration, fragmentation, and destruction], overharvesting, introduced species |
| components of biodiversity | ecosystem, genetic, species |
| human activities that have increased supply of fixed nitrogen available to primary producers | use of nitrogen fertlizers, deliberate burning of fields, increased cultivation of legumes. |
| destruction of ozone linked to | release of chlorofluorocarbons/CFCs into the atmosphere |
| group most severely threatened with extinction | amphibians |
| key factor driving an extinction vortex | loss of genetic variation , populations depend on genetic variation for evolutionary response to environmental change |
| edge effects | defining features of landscapes, as a habitat patch becomes progressively smaller the % of patch influenced by the edge effect increases, as habitats are fragmented edge-adapted species benefit at the expense of other species that are not edgeadapted, edges have their own set of physical conditions which differ from those on either side |
| effective population size | (Ne) based on breeding potential of a population, incorporating info about the sex ratio of breeding individuals Ne=4NfNm/(Nf+Nm), an estimate of the size of a population based on the numbers of females and males that successfully breed, generally smaller than total population size |
| Ne | effective population size |
| Nf | numbers of females that successfully breed |
| Nm | number of males that successfully breed |
| Minimal viable population size | (MVP) the minimal population size at which a species is able to sustain its numbers and survive, method of predicting whether of not a species will survive over time, requires that researches calculate the effective population size |
| conservation biology | the integration of several sciences such as ecology and genetics to sustain biological diversity at all levels. the study and protection of biological diversity |
| cause of 40% of extincitions since 1750 | introduced species |
| corridors | have prevented many animals from being killed crossing highways |
| biodiversity hotspots | regions with a high concentration of endemic species that are at a high risk of extinctions should the hot spot be degraded |
| greatest cause of extinction today | habitat alteration |
| what would rapidly increase genetic diversity of a pop. in an extinction vortex? | introduce new individuals transported from other populations of the same species |
| way to estimate past atmospheric co2 concentraitons | measure co2 concentrations in air bubbles trapped in glacial ice |
| three levels of biodiversity | genetic, species, ecosystem |
| riparian areas | allow for movement between fragments. thin patches of vegetation along streams that interface between terrestrial and aquatic habitats |
| biological magnification | toxic chemicals in the environment pose greater risk to top-level predators than to primary consumers bc the biomass at any given trophic level is produced from a larger biomass ingested at the level below |
| ozone | beneficial in the upper atmosphere, protects earth by absorbing UV radiation. harmful in the lower atmosphere bc of adverse effects on lung function |
| main cause of increase in CO2 | the burning of larger amounts of wood and fossil fuels |
| preserving biodiversity | national parks are one of many types of protected areas, management of a protected area should be coordinated with management of the land surrounding the area, it is especially imp. to protect biodiversity hot spots, most protected areas are too small to protect species |
| population conservation focuses on | population size, genetic diversity, and critical habitat |
| critical load | the amount of added nutrient (usually nitrogen or phosporus) that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity |
| rachel carson | helped promote a new environmental ethic->ban on DDT & strong control on use of other chemicals |
| assisted migration | the trans location of a species to a favorable habitat beyond its native range to protect the species from human caused threats- last resort bc of dangers of invasive species |
| sustainable development | concept of economic development that meets the needs of people today without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their needs. |
| Sustainable Biosphere Initiative | goal is to define and acquire basic ecological info needed to develop, manage, and conserve Earth's resources as responsibly as possible |
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