Conservation Biology and Human Impacts Lecture

Practice flashcards covering human impacts on biodiversity, population genetics, conservation strategies, and urban ecology based on the lecture transcript.

What are the four major threats to biodiversity caused by human activities?

Habitat loss, introduced species, overharvesting, and global change.

Approximately what percentage of Earth's landscapes have been converted, transformed, or altered by humans?

Over $75\%$.

What is the 'extinction vortex'?

A downward spiral in which a small population experiences inbreeding and lost genetic diversity, leading to lower individual fitness and even smaller population sizes until extinction occurs.

Which historical figure was mentioned as unknowingly experiencing the effects of genetic inbreeding after marrying his cousin?

Charles Darwin

Define Minimum Viable Population (MVP).

The minimum population size at which a species can survive.

What does the term 'effective population size' represent?

The number of males and females in a population that are currently able to breed.

What is the function of 'movement corridors' in conservation?

Strips of habitat, such as forest strips or over-road bridges, that connect isolated patches to allow for species movement and increased genetic diversity.

What is 'urban ecology'?

A field that examines organisms and their environment in urban settings to develop more sustainable city designs.

What examples of urban ecology were provided for Salt Lake City and Halifax?

Salt Lake City features a restored river green belt, and Halifax has a public library with a grassland and garden on its roof.

What are 'biodiversity hotspots'?

Areas where species diversity is not distributed equally but is instead concentrated in high-density patches, often becoming a priority for conservation funding.

What was the 'Biological Dynamics of Forest Management Project'?

A global initiative in Brazil that created various forest fragments (patches) to study how fragmentation influences biodiversity.

What are the primary examples of 'global change' discussed in the lecture?

Nutrient enrichment, toxin accumulation, and climate change.

How does nutrient enrichment from agricultural fertilizers lead to 'dead zones'?

Nitrogen hotspots cause algae and microbe blooms that deplete oxygen, creating an anoxic environment where other species cannot survive.

What is the 'ecological footprint'?

A per capita measure of human impact on the environment, used to understand where environmental issues are being generated on a per-person basis.

Define 'biophilia'.

A view of how humans are connected to the environment rather than just dominating or exploiting it.

In the context of population biology, what does the variable $N$ represent?

The total number of individuals in a population.