ecology exam 3

environmental biology

scientific study of how organisms interact with the environment and respond to human activities

conservation

scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity

applied ecology

field of study that applies ecological concepts to solve local, regional, and global problems

biome

major geographical regions with distinctive climate, vegetation, and animal life

collapsed fisheries

species that can no longer be fished because they dont occur in the area anymore

conservation biology

emerged due to a heightened understanding of issues facing the biosphere in 1980s

biodiversity

all the species that exist within a particular place

how to measure biodiversity

1) species richness

2) evenness

species richness

number of different species

evenness

abundance of each species

how many species have been identified?

about 2 million species

synonymy

some species which have been “discovered” more than once in different places

how many species are discovered each year?

around 15,000-20,000 species

what is the majority of new discovered species?

invertebrates

common methods for estimating biodiversity

1) extrapolations from fractions

2) extrapolations from taxonomic scaling patterns

how many identified species are from the temperate zone?

about 2/3

what is Peter Raven’s estimate for how many species there are total

about 4 million

tropical forest

occur along the equator and subequatorial regions. and temperature is high year round with little seasonal variation

tropical rainforest

rainfall is relatively constant

tropical dry forest

precipitation is highly seasonal

what is the most diverse group of organisms?

beetles, making up 25% of all species

host specific

only found on one species

generalists

can find on losts of different species

what is the predicted number of species?

about 8.7 million

how many species go extinct annually?

30,000 species

for every species discovered, how many go extinct?

two species

mass extinction

extinction rates rise suddenly for a “short” period, resulting in a dramatic loss of species, historically driven by natural causes

speciation

development of new species

why does biodiversity matter?

1) moral, ethic, and aesthetic values

2) utilitarian values

3) ecosystem services

taxol

breast and ovarian cancer

lovastatin

cholesterol lowering drug

respirine

sedative

artenisimin

antimalarial

ecosystem functions

ecological processes that control the fluxes of energy, nutrients, and organic matter through an environment

ecosystem services

benefits that ecosystems provide to humanity

primary production

the process by which plants use sunlight to convert inorganic matter into new organic tissue

provisioning services

involve the production of renewable resources

regulating services

lessen environmental change

extrapolation from fractions

relies on estimating species diversity at a small scale and extrapolating those estimates to the global scale

extrapolations from taxonomic scaling patterns

estimate global species richness by extrapolating from what we know about diversity at higher taxonomic levels

monoculture

contain a single species

meta-analysis

technique used by scientists to examine data from all previous studies

eucalyptus

common commercial species

albizia

member of the legume family

symbiotic relationship

mutually beneficial relationship for both parties

eutrophication

sewage input and agricultural runoff containing nitrogen and phosphorus get into waterway

mesocosm

experimental system that stimulates some real life conditions, while allowing the manipulation of environmental factors

biocomplexity paradigm

no single factor can explain the loss of amphibians (and many other organisms)

what is causing mass extinction of amphibians?

1) habitat loss

2) global climate change

3) pollution

4) invasive species (chytrid fungus)

greenhouse effect

the process by which is recycled in the atmosphere to warm the earth’s surface

greenhouse gas

most common molecules in the atmosphere that can absorb infrared radiation (heat)