conservation bio exam 3

Systematic Conservation Planning

A data-driven, objective process for reserve selection that prioritizes complementarity and representativeness over ad hoc or aesthetic choices.

Complementarity

The principle of selecting new protected areas that contain species, features, or ecosystems not already represented in the existing network.

30x30 Target

A global conservation goal from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect 30% of the world's land and sea by 2030.

Biodiversity Hotspot

A region with high levels of species richness and endemism that is also under significant threat from habitat loss.

Edge Effects

Biological and physical changes (e.g., microclimate, predation) that occur at the boundary between two habitats

Connectivity

The degree to which a landscape facilitates or impedes the movement of organisms between resource patches.

Working Landscape

A landscape used for human production (timber, agriculture) that is managed to also sustain native biodiversity and ecological functions.

Triad Perspective

A forest management model that divides the landscape into strict reserves, high-yield plantations, and multiple-use/ecological forestry zones.

Heterogeneity

Variation in habitat age, structure, and species composition

Process over Pattern

A management philosophy focusing on sustaining underlying ecological processes (like fire or floods) rather than maintaining a static "snapshot" of a community.

Restoration Threshold

A point of degradation beyond which an ecosystem cannot recover passively and requires active human intervention.

Physician Analogy

The principle that population management should follow a strict sequence: diagnose the limiting factor first, intervene second, and monitor continuously.

Limiting Factor (Bottleneck)

The specific environmental variable or threat currently preventing a population from increasing in size.

Three Levers of Population Management

1. Provide Resources, 2. Control Threats, 3. Direct Manipulation (breeding, translocation).

Egg Fostering

A direct manipulation technique where eggs are moved to "foster" parents of the same or different species to increase reproductive output (e.g., Black Robin).

Ex Situ Conservation

Conservation that occurs outside of a species' natural habitat, such as in zoos, botanical gardens, or seed banks.

Basin-Scale Restoration

An approach that considers the entire watershed as a single unit, focusing on connectivity and processes across the whole system (e.g., Penobscot River).

Social-Ecological System

A system that recognizes the inseparable link between human societies (culture, economy) and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Seven-Generation View

A planning horizon used by the Penobscot Nation that evaluates restoration success based on its impact seven generations into the future.

Urban Filter

The selective process by which certain species thrive in cities while others (often specialists) are excluded due to urban stressors.

Avoidable Mortality

Human-caused deaths in "near-people" landscapes that can be reduced through better design, such as window strikes or vehicle collisions.

Agroforestry

A land-use system that integrates trees and shrubs into crop or livestock landscapes to increase structural diversity (e.g., shade-grown coffee).

Land Sparing

An approach that maximizes agricultural yields on existing farmland to "spare" other land for strict nature reserves.

Land Sharing

An approach that integrates biodiversity conservation directly into productive agricultural landscapes.

Snags

Dead standing trees that provide critical habitat, such as nesting cavities and insect food sources, in a forest.

Ecological Forestry

A management style that uses natural disturbance patterns as a template for timber harvesting to maintain biological complexity.

Translocation

The intentional movement of individuals from one area to another for conservation purposes, such as reintroduction or reinforcement.

Surrogate Species

A species or ecosystem type used in systematic planning to represent broader biodiversity patterns when data on all species is unavailable.

Buffer Zone

A peripheral area surrounding a protected core where limited human activity is allowed to insulate the core from intensive land use.

Living Collections

Managed populations in zoos or botanical gardens that serve as "genetic insurance" and public education tools.