Conservation Bio Exam 1

Public Trust Doctrine

all property in the US is owned by everyone in the US. Animals are entrusted to the government, who holds them for the benefit of the public and for management purposes

“trust property” of public trust doctrine

animals and natural resources

“trustee” of public trust doctrine

the government

“beneficiary” of public trust doctrine

public, both current and future

Definitions of Conservation Biology

multidisciplinary, crisis discipline, date-limited, inexact science, value-laden, on a evolutionary timescale, science of eternal vigilance

multidisciplinary

many people and professions work together

crisis discipline

time is running out to protect species, so urgent action is needed

data-limited

hard to find information

inexact science

always changing and not everything is set in stone

value-laden

involves the morals and opinions of many different people and many different viewpoints need to be considered

evolutionary timescale

conservation biology impacts the present and future, it takes a long time for results to appear

science of eternal vigilance

conservation biology goes on forever, be aware of everything going on

Anthropocentric viewpoint

views humans above other species, favors species that are similar to humans or useful

biocentric viewpoint

views humans as just species in the ecosystem and sees every species as having equal value

utilitarian

support use of nature for human purposes

moralistic

believes in nature has its own intrinsic value

negativistic

does not want to interact with nature

ecological

believes everything in nature has value for being a unique part of an ecosystem

neutralistic

no strong feelings either way

Aesthetic

sees artistic value in nature, values nature’s beauty

scientific

believes nature has value for discovering and learning new things about it

keystone species

extremely needed species in the ecosystem because everything else depends on them

cyclic trend of carrying capacity

population goes above and below carrying capacity in cycles

chaotic trend of carrying capacity

population rises and falls below carrying capacity randomly

Damped oscillation trend of carrying capacity

population peaks the highest over carrying capacity, falls the most below, and then rise and falls incrementally by smaller and smaller amounts

crash trend of carrying capacity

population exceeds carrying capacity, then falls way below and struggles to rise again

limiting resource

determines the carrying capacity

carrying capacity (K)

the point where populations can’t grow because of a lack of resource in an ecosystem

ecosystem

includes biotic and abiotic elements

abiotic environments

nonliving parts and processes of the environment

Abrahamic views

1. everything was created by an entity to serve humans 2. if nature isn’t used, it’s wasting and insulting

alleles

is one of two or more versions of DNA sequence at a loci

allopatric species

a species that formed because of a physical barrier separated one part of a population from the other and they evolved

alpha diversity

local species count, # of different species @ each point

behavioral isolation

differences in mating behaviors (not times) that separates two species

beta diversity

gamma diversity/alpha diversity; ratio between regional and species diversity.

biodiversity

biological diversity

biological community

interacting group of species in a common location

biological diversity

variety of life on earth

biological species concept

a group of individuals capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring

chromosomes

threadlike structures made of protein and a single molecule of DNA that serve to carry the genomic information from cell to cell

consumers

they get their energy from eating producers or other consumers

cryptic species

a species that is indistinguishable from another despite being two different species

decomposers

recycles nutrients back into the environment by breaking down decaying organisms

delta diversity

change in species composition and abundance between areas of gamma diversity

dysfunctional crosses

when you genetically cross two individuals and it causes more problems

how to avoid dysfunctional crosses

perform genetic and environmental background checks to ensure the two individuals match (no evidence of local adaptation, gene flow in the last 500 years, no fixed chromosomal differences)

ecological isolations

separation of groups of organisms as a result of changes in their ecology or in the environment

ecological species

aka ecomorphs, species in terms of its functional niche

ecological species concept

species is a set of organisms adapted to a particular set of resources, called a niche, in the environment.

ecomorphs

species in terms of its functional niche

ecosystem

includes biotic and abiotic elements

ecosystem productivity

want a high level of diversity and biomass without going over carrying capacity

evenness in biodiversity

found by spatial alpha diversity , unevenness shows where conservation is most needed

environmental engineer species

species that actively alters the environment in such a way that improves conditions of other species in that environment

evolutionary species concept

single lineage of ancestor- \n descendant populations which maintain its identity from other such lineages and which has it own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate.

evolutionary-ecological land ethic

nature is a complicated and integrated system of interdependent processes components; biological diversity is and needs to be abundant and all species are important

extrinsic isolating mechanisms

environmental factors that prevent species from merging

exponential growth

growth whose rate becomes more rapid in proportion to the growing total number/size

foundation species

a species that is important to an ecosystem because of how their alter the environment

founder effects

few individuals become isolated from a larger population and establish a new population with low genetic diversity compared to the larger populations

gamma diversity

number of different species in a large geographic area

gene flow

movement of alleles in and out of a population due to the migration of fertile individuals, reduces genetic variation between population

gene frequencies

the percentage of individuals in a population who have a specific allele

gene rescue

introducing more alleles into a population to increase genetic diversity/ minimize inbreeding

genetic bottleneck

sudden change in the environment reduces size of population causing certain alleles

genetic diversity

diversity within a species, foundations of all conservation efforts, allows for adaptation and natural selection to drive evolutionary processes

genotype

genetic makeup of an individual that determines phenotype

assumptions of a population in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

1. large population 2. proper migration 3. no net single mutation 4. random mating 5. no natural selection

heterozygosity

having two different alleles for one trait

heterozygous gene

having two different alleles

homozygous gene

having the same allele for a gene

hybrids

offspring of two different breeds or species

interbreeding

breeding between two populations/species

intra-trophic level

biodiversity within a trophic level, ex: having multiple predators

inter-trophic level

diversity between trophic levels, ex: wolves eat both deer and foxes

intrinsic isolating mechanisms

involve changes to organisms that prevent interbreeding, habitat elements, mating seasons, courtship behavior, diet

intrinsic value

nature is valuable by itself

K’ line

carrying capacity

keystone resources

a resource that all other organisms in an ecosystem rely on

morphological species concept

a group of individuals that look the morphologically the same

mutation

change in genetic sequence

outbreeding depression

decrease in fitness from outcrosses of individuals from different populations

phenotype

physical trait/characteristic

phylogenetic species

single lineage of ancestor- \n descendant populations with unique derived features and shared ancestry

pleiotropy

one gene controls multiple traits

polygenic

lots of genes code for a single trait

polymorphic

two or more variant forms of a DNA sequence that can occur among different individuals

preservation ethics

wildlife has intrinsic value for a wider system, John Muir

producers

produce their own food source from the energy on the sun

resource conservation ethics

Gifford Pinchot, nature should be preserved so it can be used sustainably and distributed fairly

speciation

formation of a new species through gradual evolution

species

similar individuals capable of interbreeding

sympatric species

species that evolves from within a population not because of physical barriers, but intrinsic mechanisms

temporal isolation

species that come into contact with each other but can’t interbreed because they mate at different times

trophic levels

steps in a food web: producers, primary consumers/herbivores, secondary consumers/carnivore, tertiary consumer, quaternary consumer

typological species concept

The concept of a species as a group whose members share certain characteristics that distinguish them from other species

parapatric speciation

hybrids of two species form their own species