L1:

What are the basic three principles of creating a reserve systems (three r's)? 

1.) representative: reserve should be representative of the region in which it occurs.

2.) resilient: reserve should be capable of providing effective protection into the future.

3.) redundancy: the reserve should protect each characteristic that warrants protecting at multiple sites as a back-up. 

L1:

What is the general pattern of extinction commonality in large vs. small reserves? 

More extinctions occur in small parks than large parks.

The number of extinctions was greatest for the oldest parks. 

L1:

What is faunal relaxation? 

L1:

What species are most likely to disappear from an area during faunal relaxation? 

L1:

What are the advantages to creating a large reserve? 

a.) big reserves can support bigger population sizes.

b.) big reserves tend to contain more species.

c.) as reserve size increases, the variety of habitat within the reserve will increase.

d.) less "edge" habitat (good because core species are vulnerable).

e.) big areas are more likely to contain entire ecosystems.

f.) larger reserves may require less management. 

L1:

What are the disadvantages to creating big reserves?

a.) a big area is vulnerable to catastrophes (allows disease, fire, etc. to spread rapidly)

b.) big reserves usually = reduction in number of reserves (all eggs in one basket).

c.)  a very large reserve cannot usually protect all the species in one region (habitats are not spatially arranged like this).

d.) large areas are not always available. 

L1:

What does SLOSS (the SLOSS debate) stand for? What is it? 

L1:

Give one example when it has been a wiser choice to select several small habitats/locations to preserve instead of one larger area? 

L1:

What are the two major thoughts that have arisen as an outcome of the SLOSS debate? 

- a big reserve is nearly always better than a small one.

- having multiple reserves is nearly always better than having only a few. 

L1:

What are three major considerations to be made when designing a reserve? 

a.) reserve shape

b.) landscape context

c.) facilitating movements 

L1:

What is theoretically the best shape for a reserve and why? 

- a perfect circle.

- it would minimize the portion of the reserve influenced by edge effects. 

L1:

Define "matrix" and "buffer" in the context of reserve design.

(respectively)

- the surrounding landscape of a reserve. Should be similar to the land within the reserve (this will maximize reserve effectiveness).

- land that is not as well protected as that within the habitat, but has some lower level of protection.

L1:

What is another detail in reserve design that can facilitate movement between reserves? 

L1:

Why are corridors and stepping stones important to reserve design (list some advantages)? 

- Basic: they allow all reserves in one area that are connected by them to function as a metapopulation.

- they allow immigration into populations that may otherwise go extinct.

- facilitate gene flow between segments of the population.

- help seasonal migrants move between different habitats they need at different parts of the year. 

L1:

List some disadvantages of incorporating stepping stones or corridors into reserve design. 

-  can allow disease, invasive species, etc. to spread throughout a population.

- can draw dispersers into edge habitat; make them more vulnerable to predators/other threats associated with edge conditions.

- may create a sink habitat; "fooling" individuals into settling in suboptimal edge habitats. 

L0:

Define "metapopulation". 

L0:

Define a "source" population.

Define a "sink" population. 

A source population is one in which reproduction exceeds mortality; the population produces more individuals than are needed to maintain a stable population size.

A sink population is one in which there are not enough births to match the number of deaths. These populations will decline, unless there is immigration to make up the shortfall. 

L0:

Give one example of a situation in which a sink population can appear stable.

L2:

What is the IUCN's recommendation to nations in terms of how much of their land should be conserved? 

L2:

What did the 2001 study conducted by Rodrigues and Gaston focus on?  

- attempted to estimate the proportion of land within an area that was needed to protect all of the species within some target group.

- found to be 13% (very close to the 10% IUCN recommends) although this is a mean: some areas need much more (remember it is MINIMUM protection too).

-  found that the proportion of the total amount of land (not just total area) increased with the number of species that need to be protected). 

- protecting plants requires a greater proportion of total area than protecting vertebrates (plants = smaller ranges). 

L2:

L2:

Why are developing agricultural systems that double as havens for species important? 

- agricultural is a dominant land use: 1/3 of earth's terrestrial surface.

- Rice takes of 10% of agricultural fields. 

L2:

What is the fundamental change in rice farming methods that could provide habitat for wetland species? 

L2:

What are the benefits offered to rice farmers by switching their winter treatment of their fields to flooding? 

L2:

What is the difference between shade coffee and regularly grown coffee? 

Normally, coffee fields are created in the tropics by cutting down areas of rainforest and establishing fields in direct sunlight.

Shade coffee is grown as an understory in regular rainforests; many of the tropical trees are left standing. 

L2:

What are the ecological/biological benefits of shade coffee? 

- it keeps the forest somewhat intact.

- supports a much wider variety of organisms than sun coffee.

- reduces the amount of soil erosion relative to sun coffee.

- Fewer chemicals are used on shade coffee.

L2:

What are the economic/farmer benefits of shade coffee? 

- the number of pollinators visiting coffee flowers and the subsequent amount of pollination increase as you move closer to the forest.

- there is a larger presence of insectivorous birds and bats near forests; this has a clear effect on the number of arthropods on coffee plants. 

L3:

T/F 

Most places are managed.  

L3:

How were grasslands managed in the past and how are they managed now? What is the fundamental difference between the two and how have we compensated for the difference? 

Historically: grasslands formed by natural disturbance (fire, windstorms, flooding, beavers), or human intervention (Native American agriculture).

Now: Almost entirely dependent upon human management.

The difference: the sources of disturbance that helped maintain early successional habitats in the past are gone.

The solution: we must simulate disturbance to knock back succession. 

L3:

What are our three approaches to managing predators? Give examples of each. 

a.) we purposefully reinforce some predators high populations. EX.: we value and keep them as pets, we give them supplemental feeding; there is no negative feedback to reduce cat populations when prey populations decline.

b.) we selectively remove some predators and this makes lower predators flourish. EX.: removal of wolves lead to explosion of mesopredators.

c.) we unknowingly reinforce some predators: humans make excessive amounts of food available to predators. EX.: open garbage dumps lead to high gull, crows, skunk, raccoon populations. 

L3:

What is the dominant challenge when managing the way people interact with the environment? 

L3:

What are three approaches to managing people's usage of the environment? 

1.) complete restriction to sensitive area.

2.) zoning: different activities are allowed in differenct areas within a region that is being managed (paths with schemes to keep people on them).

3.) DRACONIAN MEASURES: manipulating the system to make it unattractive to people. 

L3:

What are the four important aspects of creating a management program as an experiment? 

1.) establish a control (an area in which the management will not be carried out).

2.) Select several management treatments to utilize and apply.

3.) make sure the changes you have observed are due to your treatment, not  outside influences.

4.) follow up on experiment to evaluate effectiveness. 

L3:

What are the methods that one can use to avoid getting results that are not due to your management (four)? 

1.) replication (multiple sites, or repeating several times)

2.) independent experimental units (make sure your unites that are being experimented on are independent of eachother!) Replications must be independent of eachother, with a single variable that you are testing.

3.) randomization (experimentation must be applied randomly: each experimental unit must have an equal probability of receiving a particular form of management).

4.) interspersing treatment (different treatments must be well interspersed amongst eachother) 

L3:

What is adaptive management? 

L3:

Management gone wrong!

Discuss the approach and problems with rhino protection. 

Approach: Remove horns; there is no incentive to poach!

Problems: 1.) horns gros back quickly

2.) most poaching happens at night: poachers don't check for a horn until after they have shot rhinos.

3.) females without horns are screwed and cannot protect their babies. 

L3:

Management gone wrong!

Discuss the approach and problems withwood duck nest boxes.

Approach: Population size of wood ducks is limited by the availibility of tree cavities that are suitable for nesting in.

Problems: 1.) Wood ducks are brood parasites; when the boxes are close to eachother they will parasitize HEAVILY.

2.) Boxes not well hidden like real nests.

3.) when nest density is high, hatching rates fall.

L4:

What are the key components of the definition of restoration? 

a.) the proposed new habitat should be something that is indigenous to the area and occurred at the site historically

b.) the goal of creating something that acts in the same way as the target ecosystem 

L4:

What are the four approaches to restoration? 

a.) do not do anything.

b.) rehabilitation.

c.) partial restoration.

d.) complete restoration. 

L4:

What is a reason that mitigation projects should be restored before the original project begins?

L4:

What three additional sites should be established before a restoration project begins? 

a.) start comparison site: a site to represent the start point of the project.

b.) end comparison site: a site to represent the end point of the project.

c.) control site (s): start out the same as the "start" site, allow one to determine how much progress has been made; how much of the change is actually due to restoration management.

L4:

What are a few (three) situations in which restoration is not really feasible? 

1.) a situation in which the cause of habitat degradation is still present.

2.) when an area has been so fundamentally altered that it is not possible for the historic ecosystem to exist.

3.) lack of the availability of materials needed for a successful restoration.  

L4:

Give a situation in which the speed of restoration can and cannot be sped up. 

Can: when seeds can be carried to the habitat to speed dispersal into the area.

Cannot: when a certain events must occur in a specific order (ex. sand dune restoration: dune must be stabilized by root systems of certain early plants). 

L4:

What are some of the other fields involved in restoration? 

a.) civil engineers

b.) hydrologists

c.) horticulturists

d.) toxicologists 

L0:

What is a pseudo-sink? Why is the PSEUDO part important? 

A site that can switch from having a net loss of individuals to having a net gain.

EX. if the population density is high, breeding and survival rates may be suppressed, because individuals are competing against one another for resources to live. If this population were to decline slightly, the competition would fall off and the birth and/or survival rate to increase.

This effect has another name... DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? 

L0:

What is density-dependence?

L5:

 What is economics in the context of conservation biology?

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

Define "use value". 

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5:

(this is going to make you want to kill yourself)

L5

Why do conservation biologists use money to quantify ecological value? 

L5

What two "uses" does the direct value of something account for? What are the definitions of these two uses? 

1.) consumptive uses: the value of things, like food that has been hunted or grown for local consumption.

2.) productive uses: the use of things in trade. 

L5:

What does the indirect value of something account for? 

L5:

What did the Costanza et. all study tell us? 

L5:

What did the James et. all study tell us? 

it created an estimate of how much it would cost to do an adequate job of protecting global biodiversity:

The cost of creating a decent reserve system: $28 bil

The cost of provinding good protection in the surrounding matrix: $289 bil

TOGETHER: 317 billion.  

 This is .1 - 1% of the worth of the services it provides us with.

L5:

What did the Balmford et. all tell us? 

Looked at the price of implementing field-based conservation programs in different countries.

 - they are most expensive in developed countries, and cheapest in developing. 

- the cost of ex situ in zoos is more expensive than in situ conservation in the MOST expensive places.

- the ratio of conservation benefits to economic costs is highest in developing countries. 

L6:

What are conservation easements? 

L6:

What is conservation leasing? 

L6:

What is conservation banking? 

L6:

What is the purpose of habitat mitigation? 

L6:

What is the CRP? 

L6:

What are the CRP's two main goals? 

1.) provide long term protection of soil and water

2.) providing wildlife habitat 

L6:

What are the benefits to farmers that partake in the CRP program?

What do the farmers need to do to receive this? 

a.) paid annual rental fees.

b.) receive financial help in creating suitable vegetation cover.

c.) signing bonuses also paid out.

Farmers sign a 10 - 15 year contract, agree to manage land by planting prescribed plants, not using it for crops. 

L6:

Name the many types of legislation that influence biodiversity protection. 

1.) pollution control

2.) import/export

3.) indirect protection

4.) direct species/habitat protection 

L6:

Tell me about the Endangered Species act. When was it passed? What is its main function? What groups does it organize threatened species into? 

- passed in 1973, Nixon.

- main function is to identify and protect species that are threatened with extinction.

- organized into:

threatened: sp. likely to become endangered in the near future.

endangered: sp. likely to become extinct in all or major portion of their range in the near future. 

L6:

How many sp. are on the ESA?  

- 1925 on list.

- 570 are foreign species: included to provide them with protection because they might be imported into the U.S. 

L6:

What types of sp. are on the ESA? 

- a wide variety, but a clear preference to charismatic sp.!

- 369 verts/238 inverts, 713 flowering plants/31 other plants. 

L6:

 What does the ESA do (three things)?

1.) requires that government agencies consult the USFWS on any activity that will effect listed sp.

2.) prevents "take" of listed sp.

3.) requires agencies to develop recovery plans for listed sp., including specific recovery goals. 

L6:

T/F 

Recovery goals of the ESA are generally written to achieve the MVP. 

L6:

What are ESA recovery plans and goals likely influenced by?  

Non-biological variables (gasp)!

- size of pop when plan was written: smaller populations have lower target sizes.

- when the plan was written (goals have increased with time)

- whether or not the species is listed throughout its geographic range (range-wide distributions have higher population targets).

L6:

What are some well-known arguments against the ESA? 

a.) it costs too much. 

i. loss of income that could be made from protected land.

ii. direct cost of recovering species. 

b.)  it limits growth

c.) it interferes with private land-owner rights.

d.) it does not work. 

L6:

What is one major compromise that has been made due to arguments against the ESA? What is the idea behind this compromise? What are two benefits associated with the compromise (ecological and to business)?

Habitat Conservation Plans.

Plans are created to allow for development in certain areas, but that also ensure protection occurs elsewhere.

A benefit is that it protects endangered sp. and sp. that could become endangered in the future.

A business benefit is that, by helping ensure there are sufficient protected areas, their liability concerning endangered sp. in the future may be limited.

L6:

L6:

What is an argument against the ESA regarding the loss of species?  What are the problems with this argument? 

- "since very few species have ever been removed from the list, the Act and recovery process do not work."

Problems: 1.) most sp. are not listed until they are already in dire straits.

2.) endangered species recovery and protection is very expensive and the number of listed species is rapidly increasing.