Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology – Flashcards

Biology integrating ecology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, and evolutionary biology to conserve biological diversity at all levels, work to sustain ecosystem processes from harmful human activities and to lessen the loss of biodiversity

Ecology applying ecological principles to return ecosystems that have been disturbed by human activity to a condition as similar as possible to their natural state, seeks to initiate or sped up the recovery of degraded ecosystems

1. Genetic Diversity 2. Species Diversity 3. Ecosystem Diversity

Level of biodiversity dealing with the genetic variation within and between populations, this diversity allows microevolution of adaptations to the environment to occur, important for humans in providing a variety of genes to use in genetic engineering to improve crops, heal, etc. , loss of these genes means the loss of genes that may have had medical, crop, or fiber benefits for humans and also the loss of proteins they produced

Variety of species in an ecosystem or throughout the biosphere, species diversity decreases as more species are lost to extinction, loss of species means loss of genes

Species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Species that is considered likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future

Variety of the biosphere's ecosystems, the local extinction of one species can have a negative impact on the overall species richness of the community because of the network of community interactions among populations of different species within an ecosystem, humans rely on ecosystem services for our survival, don't have money or resources to mimic what ecosystems do

Sense of connection to nature and other forms of life, moral argument for biodiversity protection

All the processes through which natural ecosystems help sustain human life on earth EX: ecosystem purify air and water

1. Habitat Loss 2. Introduced Species 3. Overexploitation

Greatest threat to biodiversity involving human alteration of habitats, habitat loss sometimes leads to extinction, terrestrial and aquatic habitats are being destroyed, habitats are destroyed by human activities like agriculture, urban development, forestry, mining, pollution and global warming

Threat to biodiversity that occurs when humans move, either intentionally or not, non-native/exotic species from their native locations to new geographic regions, this transplant of species has been accelerated by air and water travel, transplanted species spread very rapidly because they originally do not have any predators/parasites/pathogens to worry about, introduced species disrupt their adopted communities by preying on native organisms or by outcompeting them for resources, lead to a lot of extinctions worldwide

Threat to biodiversity in which human harvesting of wild organisms at rates exceeding the ability of populations of those species to rebound, particularly harms species with small habitats, large organisms with low reproductive rates (elephants) are also susceptible,

Illegal hunting

1. Small Population Approach 2. Declining Population Approach

Conservation biologists taking this approach focus on the processes that cause extinctions once population sizes have been severely reduced, genetic variation is the key issue, emphasizes smallness itself and the loss of genetic variation as the ultimate causes of extinction

Positive feedback loops of inbreeding and genetic drift that draw a population down this vortex toward smaller and smaller population size until no individuals exist, small populations are extremely susceptible to this, driven by the loss of genetic variation necessary for evolutionary responses to environmental changes **see diagram on p. 1251**

Minimal population size at which a species is able to sustain its numbers and survive, number that is just outside of sending the species down an extinction vortex, this value is often used in population viability analyses to predict a population's probability chance for survival

Number based on the breeding potential for the population, this number is needed for a meaningful estimate of MVP because the total size of the small population can be misleading as only certain members of the population breed successfully and pass on their alleles to offspring, this value will decrease with any deviations from a 1:1 sex ratio and with any individuals that do not breed, fraction of the total population, thus conservation biologists have a goal of sustaining an effective population size above MVP, formula: Ne = 4NfNm/Nf + Nm (Nf/m = number of females/males that breed)

Conservation biologists take this approach to focus on threatened and endangered populations that show a downward trend even if the population is above MVP, emphasizes the environmental factors that cause of population to decline in the first place, intervention and analysis is on a case by case basis

1. Use population date to confirm that the species is presently in decline or that is was formerly more abundant/widely distributed 2. Study natural history of this and related species to determine the species' environmental requirements 3. Develop hypotheses for all possible causes of the decline and list predictions of each hypothesis 4. Because many factors may be correlated with the decline, test the most likely hypothesis first 5. Apply the results of the diagnosis to manage the threatened species and monitor recovery

Boundaries of ecosystems, serve as good habitats for many species that benefit from resources of both neighboring habitats, natural ecosystem edges usually contribute to biodiversity through speciation but fragmentation caused by humans usually reduces biodiversity because the large amount of edge adapted species causes the majority of the individuals of a species to be adapted to the edge habitats, as a result landscapes dominated by small fragments will support fewer species due to the loss of interior adapted species

Narrow strip/series of small clumps of habitat connecting otherwise isolated patches, like a bridge over edges continuing the habitat, help conserve biodiversity, promote dispersal and reduce inbreeding of declining populations, can sometimes be harmful by facilitating spread of disease EX: streamside habitats

Relatively small area with an exceptional concentration of endemic species and a large number of endangered/threatened species, often the focus of conservation biologists in preserving biodiversity, sometimes hard to identify because a hotspot for one taxa may not be one for another, these spaces are good choices for nature reserves

Biodiversity islands in a sea of habitat degraded areas caused by human activity, protected islands are not isolated from their surroundings and the non equilibrium model applies to these areas, debated on whether to be big or small, etc.

Extensive region that includes areas relatively undisturbed by humans surrounded by areas that have been changed by human activity and are used for economic gain, seek to develop a socioeconomic climate in the surrounding lands that is compatible with the long term viability of the protected core, surrounding area is regulated to prevent extension into protected area so the surrounding habitats serve as a buffer zone against further intrusion into the undisturbed area, AKA conservation areas, Costa Rica is very good at these

1. Bioremediation 2. Biological Augmentation

One strategy of restoration ecology involving the use of organisms, usually prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to detoxify polluted ecosystems, genetic engineering will probably be used to improve the performance of prokaryotes and other organisms that serve as bioremediators

One strategy of restoration ecology that uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem, first must determine factors that have been removed from an area and are limiting the area's recovery rate

Concept of development that meets the needs of people today without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their needs, to sustain ecosystem processes and stem the loss of biodiversity, focus on long term not short term