ENWC McCarthy Midterm

Wildlife

 Includes all non domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms and how they live together

Conservation

primary focus is to maintain the health of the natural world

1. Ethics of resource use, allocation, and protection

2. Saving 

Ecology:

1. study of interactions among organism and between organisms and their environment

   1. Scientist who created study of ecology: Ernest Haeckel

Mammals

have hair, mammary glands, and 3 ear bones (unlike birds, reptiles, and amphibians)

Mammal species in the world:

1. 5,500

other species

1. 8,200 species in the world: reptiles

2. 6,500 species in the world: amphibians 

   1. In most danger

Ecosystem:

1. A biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area as well as all the non living physical components of the environment

Carbon Cycle

1.  Respirated into the atmosphere by animals and fossil fuels

Energy:

comes from the sun and is turned into chemical energy

birds

1. Have feathers

2. Class - aves

3. Species: 9,900

Biomes

1. communities varying in space

Plants:

Critical link between the sun and all other life on earth

Community

living part of ecosystem

biotic community

plant and animal community

succession

the process of change in the species that make up an ecological community over time.

Monotremes:

Egg laying mammals

Carnivora

1. Have prominent canines and sharp claws

Based on the definitions given in class: the term "Wildlife" can include ALL living things, whether domesticated or non-domesticated

FALSE

Ecology is the scientific study of the distributions, abundance and relations of organisms and their interactions with the environment. Choose ALL of the correct root terms used by Ernst Haeckel in creating the word "Ecology".

Oikos "home" Logos "study of"

"Conservation" includes the concept of using our natural resources, e.g. via timber harvest, fishing, and hunting, but doing so in a manner that is sustainable

True

Choose all answers that are defining characteristics of the class Mammalia, i.e., traits that you will only find in mammals and no other animals.

Mammary glands, Vertebrae, Claws, Teeth

Choose all answers that are defining characteristics of the class Mammalia, i.e., traits that you will only find in mammals and no other animals

Three inner ear bones, hair, mammary glands

Choose all answers that are defining characteristics of the class Aves (Birds), i.e., traits that you will only find in birds and no other animals

feathers

How communities (the living part of an ecosystem) vary across time after a disturbance (e.g., a forest fire) is described by the term "Biome"

False

One way to identify if a snake may be venomous is from the shape of its head, even if you do not know which species it is

True

Pioneer communities in the rainforest of Costa Rica create habitat for what are called early successional wildlife species

True

What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?

In primary succession, seeds must blow in from outside the area, and soil needs to be created, whereas in secondary succession, soil already exists and the plants that grow tend to be from the seedbank already in the soil.

When one animal kills and eats another animal this is known as Predation , however, other interactions between animals are also present. One such as interaction is when one species benefits from the actions of another, but the other species is not affected either way. This is called         [ Select ]       and is seen in species like cattle egret that benefit from feeding on insects stirred up by cattle, but the cattle themselves are not affected either way. Another interaction is when two different species compete for the same resource, which is called         [ Select ]      . An example would be when brown bears and mountain lions compete over a deer kill. A fourth interaction is seen when two different species have a symbiotic relationship in which both animals benefit. This interaction, , is exemplified by the gobi fish and pistol shrimp, who share a burrow in the ocean and "help" each other.

1. Predation

2. Commensalism:

3. Mutualism?

Habitat can be separated into four broad, but important categories. Fill in the appropriate category to the following scenario (IMPORTANT, use a single word answer for each, i.e., either shelter or cover is appropriate and equivalent, do not type shelter/cover or the system will not recognize it): The bald eagle occurs during its breeding season in virtually any kind of American wetland habitat such as seacoasts, rivers, large lakes or marshes or other large bodies of open water with an abundance of fish, these fish are the —— component of habitat.

Studies have shown a preference for bodies of water with a circumference greater than 11 km (7 mi), and lakes with an area greater than 10 km2 (4 sq mi) are optimal for breeding bald eagles, this is the ___component

The bald eagle typically requires old-growth and mature stands of coniferous or hardwood trees for perching, roosting, and nesting, this is the ___ component of habitat. Tree species reportedly is less important to the eagle pair than the tree's height, composition and location. Perhaps of paramount importance for this species is an abundance of comparatively large trees surrounding the body of water.

Bald eagles and eaglets (baby eagles) derive the ___ component of habitat from their food. However, adults will sometimes drink while bathing, if fresh water is available.

1. food

2. Space

3. Shelter

4. Water

The term habitat, as defined in class, refers to (select all that apply):

1. The behaviors exhibited by a species of a long time period (e.g. millions of years).

2. The area that an animal protects from all other individuals or species

3. The physical and biological resources needed by an animal to survive

4. The role that an animal plays in its environement (it's job).

5. The physical and biological resources needed by an animal in order to reproduce

The physical and biological resources needed by an animal to survive, The physical and biological resources needed by an animal in order to reproduce

Choose all correct answers: As you move up in trophic level, e.g., from producer "up" to primary consumer, or primary consumer "up" to secondary consumer

There is a decrease in numbers of organisms; there is a loss of approximately 90% of the energy available

A niche is considered an animals habitat, i.e., the physical and biological resources required by an organism for its survival and reproduction

False

Which of the following steps are part of the process of Natural Selection?

Some individuals are able to outcompete others for limited resources and pass on their genes,

There must be genetic variation within a species

An overabundance of individuals leads to a shortage in resources

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to Monteverde Cloud Forest, because it is causing the forest to become warmer and drier, harming the many species in this forest that depend on the moisture.

True

Approximately 40% of the nation's migratory waterfowl use the Mississippi Flyway during their migration, more than any other flyway in the US.

True

A female cougar (also known as a mountain lion, catamount, or puma), reaches reproductive age at ~2 years old and produces a litter every two to three years. Female cougars are very protective of their cubs, which stay with their mother for up to 2 1/2 years. This reproductive system is best described as:

K strategist

In a monogamous species, having a sex ratio skewed towards females (i.e., more females than males) will provide the highest level of production/natality.

False

The following graph shows ___ growth Which exhibits a population that faces ___which results in the number of animals leveling off at K, also known as it's _____

1. logistic growth?

2. imiting factors?

3. Carrying Capacity

Which of these species has been credited with doing extensive damage within Yellowstone National Park due to over-population, primarily because of the removal of wolves?

1. Brown Bear

2. Elk

3. None of the above

4. Bison

5. Moose

Elk

1. Caribou are primarily active across the entire day, which suggest the are a ___ species

2. however their feeding activity occurs primarily around the dawn and dusk hours, which, if we were defining activity patterns based solely on feeding would suggest that they are a ___ species

3. Regardless, both of these classifications are general descriptions of their ___

4. Caribou are also migratory, moving from summer calving grounds to wintering grounds every year, this is part of their____

1. diurnal

2. Crepuscular

3. crepuscular

4. Circa annual cycle

what BEST describes the behavior of an animal that is more likely to emit a warning call to alert its group members that  a predator is near whecludes close relatives, and less likely to emit a warning call when the group is not closely related. This warning call increases the emitters likelihood of being noticed by the predator, and thus endangers the individual.

1. Territoriality

2. Kin Selection

3. Many eyes hypothesis

4. Courtship

5. Atruism

Kin selection

1. One day you are walking to the grocery store (way to be ecologically conscious!) and enjoying the fresh, clean air and the gentle cool breeze from the nearby forest, this is a ____ ecosystem

2. When you get to the grocery store you wander in and purchase wild caught Alaskan salmon for a special dinner, you are benefiting from a ___ ecosystem

3. As you leave the store you take a detour through the local park and stumble across a cave with ancient paintings on the wall depicting wild animals. This suggests that a previous group of humans had a ____ benefit from their ecosystem.

1. Regulating

2. Provisioning

3. Cultural

The Monteverde Cloud Forest is known for having the highest orchid diversity in the world.

True

Leaf cutter ants cut leaves to take back to their underground colony where the leaves then grow a fungus that the ants eat, effectively making them farmers of their own food resource.

True

An early effort to develop a new whooping crane migratory population failed, because when whooping crane chicks imprinted upon sandhill crane mothers they not only learned to migrate and eat like sandhill cranes, but also tried to court/mate with sandhill cranes

True

The Pleistocene Overkill refers to the extinction of elephants, giraffes, giant bison, and many more species of megafauna (large animals) that was caused by humans after they crossed into North America

True

"Father of Wildlife Management"

Aldo Leopold

First Professor of Game Management, wrote first wildlife textbook

Aldo Leopold

An avid hunter and outdoorsman who's presidency in part led to the "Golden Age in Conservation"

Teddy Roosevelt

Tripled our National Forests and created first National Wildlife Refuge

Teddy Roosevelt

Fought to conserve Yosemite and founded the Sierra Club

John Muir

All wildlife in the United States has adequate regulation of their harvest (hunting) to prevent overexploitation.

False

This has led to increased __________ animals within the forest, which are then being sold both at local markets but more importantly at larger cities where there is a high demand

Harvest of

This _______ has shifted what used to be sustainable local consumption into an unsustainable use of wildlife in our tropical forests.

Bushmeat trade

The continued extraction of _____ from tropical forests is leading to an increase in access to within the forest, and also an increase in the connectivity (bigger roads) of small villages to larger population centers

Timber

The end result is ___________ , meaning that even before the forest is cut down there are few animals left within it.

Defaunation

Wetlands are more productive than many other land types and provide important habitat for many wildlife species. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed we have lost over 60% of this land type.

Wetlands

Panther underpasses have been completely successful in stopping Florida panther deaths due to car collisions, i.e., no panthers are killed on roads now and the main limit to their expansion is disease.

False

Because the burrowing owl is a species of special concern in Florida, burrows may not be destroyed without a permit, even if no owls are seen using the burrow.

True

Habitat destruction and fragmentation, often for housing developments or agriculture, is the greatest threat to gopher tortoises.

True

Eutrophication is caused by pesticides that we use on our crops. These pesticides make their way into water after rainfall and cause plants within our rivers, lakes, and oceans to die. This creates what is called a "Dead Zone".

False

______ is a _______ that is created when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide enter the atmosphere and interact with clouds.

Acid rain; secondary air pollutant

This can cause various problems, including the removal of important _________, which reverberates up the food chain, causing snails to be unable to form shells and birds to produce fewer eggs.

Nutrients like calcium

Lake Erie has been plagued with massive algal blooms that lead to "dead zones" in the lake.

True

This river, which flows into Lake Erie, was known as one of the most polluted rivers in the country, catching fire a record 13 times.

Cuyahoga River

Hbaitat

The physical and biological resources required by an organism for its survival and reproduction

Basic components for habitat

food, shelter, water, space

Habitat selection

choice of setting that favor survival and reproduction

Two most important features of habitat selection

shelter and food

cover

provides protection from elements and predators

food

the energy in food provides metabolic fuel for all processes

Wood duck

north America; water with cover; nest inside trees

wood duck foods

water primrose, acorns, insects

Adaptations to limits long term

hibernation, estivation, migration

Adaptations to limits short term

fasting, reduces activity (torpor), rummaging

Adaptation to limits psychological

storing or using body fat stores

Excessive food shortages can result in

-starvation
-decreased reproduction
-increased death

CWD (Chronic wasting disease)

Caused by an infectious misfolded protein, or prion, that creates vacuoles in a deers brain and alters their behavior to the point that they slowly die from starvation

Zoonosis

An animal disease that can transfer to humans, but we are not a necessary part of the cycle

Epizootic

a disease that appears at an unexpected rate, synonymous with epidemic in humans

Resevoir

Any living or nonliving substance that may perpetuate a pathogen in nature

Vector

An organism that carries a pathogen from one host to another, or from a resevoir to a host

Starvation is not considered a disease, as it is not infectious and thus can not be "transmitted" from one animal to another

False

Brown tree snakes in Guam are an example of:

An introduced predator that is affecting populations of birds directly through predation

Starlings were introduced to the United States by Shakespeare enthusiasts. The birds have since spread across the United States and are out-competing native birds (like the blue bird).

True

Although greenhouse gasses are important for maintaining our earths climate, as we increase the amount of them in our atmosphere we are causing more long-wave radiation to be captured/reflected back to the earth, thus causing warming. Similar to how a greenhouse works for plants.

True

Increasing levels of acidity in our oceans (lower pH) is leading to an increase in the availability of free calcium, we will thus see an increase in the number of small organisms such as diatoms and dinoflagellates that are at the bottom of the food web.

False

If spring leaf out date in our eastern forests continue to be earlier and earlier, but migratory song birds return at the same time as always from central and South America, we may see what is called a _____________ mismatch. Breeding birds may suffer because they will miss critical food supplies tied to the leaf out date of trees.

Phenological

This disease is carried by bison, and is of great concern to ranchers bordering Yellowstone.

Brucellosis

The IUCN Red List is used to track whether species from across the world are threatened with extinction

True

When the extinction of a species is followed by extinctions of several other species due to the disruption of losing the first species, we call it a "waterfall effect".

False

Mississippi River

High sediment content, backwater important habitat

Mississippi River Birds

326 species, Mississippi Flyway, US/Canada to Gulf of Mexico/South America; 60% of North American birds

Mississippi River Species

260 species of fish; 25% of all fish species in N America

Monte Verde

Cloud forest climate

Cloud forest

forest in constant cloud cover

Natality

birth rate

r-strategist

reproductive strategy in which organisms reproduce early, bear many small, unprotected offspring (ex. insects, mice).

K strategist

reproductive strategy in which organisms reproduce late, bear few, cared for offspring (ex. humans, elephants).

compensatory mortality

the affect of one kind of mortality influences the affect of another source of mortality

additive mortality

the affect of one kind of mortality is independent of other sources of mortality