RNR 4015 Exam 3

What are the four evolutionary forces?

- Selection
- Migration
- Mutation
- Genetic Drift

Which evolutionary force is the only one that can produce new genetic variation?

Mutation produces genetic variation

Which evolutionary force is the only one that can cause adaptive evolutionary change?

Selection causes adaptive evolutionary change

Why is it important to maintain genetic diversity?

To avoid loss of species from inbreeding, genetic drift or other form of gene related phenomena due to long term persistence and potential to adapt to change.

Why is hybridization more common today than in the past? Why is this a problem?

- Is more common today due to greater invasive species change causing habitat modifications.
- Is a problem due to the potential of genetic swamping and introgression effecting non-hybrid species populations.

Give one reason why we may wish to know about adaptation from a conservation context.

Adaptation is important to understand in a conservation setting due to the risk of adaptation to captivity and how that can affect those populations survival in the wild

List three major approaches that can be used to monitor populations:

- Survey
- Census
- Demographic Study

What does population viability analysis do?

Predicts population potential for extinction

Why is a metapopulation an important concept to consider for the conservation of some species?

Some species respond best to conservation efforts directed at the metapopulation level

Describe major results from long-term monitoring of flamingos in Etosha National Park.

Rain is the main factor in hatchling number success and that it drastically fluctuates, but rainy seasons produce a surplus of chicks that replenish population levels. The varying is normal

Give two factors associated with successful translocations in animals:

- Habitat Quality
-

Give two keys to success in establishing new plant populations:

- Selecting well-established parents
- Choosing individuals from multiple separate populations to include in the new population

Describe a case study of animal reintroduction:

Wild Turkeys:
- Failed attempt to reintroduce individuals into wild from rearing wild turkeys with domesticated ones
- They were to docile, bred to early, etc.

Provide two advantages of ex situ conservation for ANIMALS:

- Easier to monitor status within ex situ areas
- Offers education potential to public (zoos)

Provide two disadvantages of ex situ conservation for ANIMALS:

- Expensive
- Increased risk of disease

Provide two advantages of ex situ conservation for PLANTS:

- Can easily preserve more rare plants
- Offers opportunity to closely monitor plants

Provide two disadvantages of ex situ conservation for PLANTS:

- Time consuming or tedious for large collections
- Takes up a lot of space

Most species of plants have seeds that can be stored and germinated later, and so can be included in seed banks. Give two examples of plants for which seed storage is not possible. Explain how we protect genetic resources for these plant species instead of storing seeds.

- Some plants don't store well and will either germinate or die like the cocoa plant and potatoes
- To protect plants like this, we have organizations and facilities that routinely germinate and cultivate the seeds in order to protect their genetic resources

What is weather?

The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place

What is climate?

Meteorological conditions that characteristically prevail in a region

What is climate change?

A shift of average weather across a region

T/F: Earth's Climate is dynamic

True

How much warmer was the Eocene temperature compared to today?

4-6 degrees C warmer

How much higher were the sea levels during the Eocene compared to today?

100-150 m higher

What is "forcings"?

Physical processes that influence Earth's average temperature

What are the main natural climate forcings?

- Orbital (Changes in orbit)
- Radiative (Solar)
- Volcanic Eruptions

What are the main anthropogenic forcings?

- Ozone
- Land Use Changes
- Aerosols
- GHG (Green House Gases)

What is the IPCC?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

When and who established the IPCC?

- Established in 1988
- World Meteorological Organization and the UN Environment Program

What 3 things does the IPCC assesses?

- The risk of climate change caused by human activities
- Its potential impacts
- Possible options for prevention

What play a key role in annual climate negotiations help by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change?

Assessment reports

What does the UNCED stand for?

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

What is the UNCED also known as?

- Rio de Janerio Conference
- Earth Summit

What does UNFCCC stand for?

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Who implements the UNFCCC as whole?

Conference of Parties (COP)

The UNFCCC is the parent treaty to what?

- Kyoto Protocol 1997
- Paris Agreement 2015
- Legally binding treaties (when ratified by states) intended to enact resolutions from the UNFCCC

Examples of working group assessment reports:

- AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Climate Change
- AR6 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability & Mitigation of Climate Change
- Synthesis
AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023

Human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in the last how many years?

2000 years

What are climate change impacts biota?

- Altered expression of traits
- Range shifts
- Adaptation
- Extinctions

What can rang shifts cause?

- The change can be faster than the dispersal rates leading to population decline
- Habitat fragmentation may create barriers to dispersal

What is MVP stand for?

Minimum viable population

What is the typical range for MVP values?

3000-5000 and a median of 4000 spp

What does MDA stand for?

Minimum dynamic area

What is MDA

the area of suitable habitat necessary

What is the consensus among conservation biologists?

To protect natural processes that lead to long term resilience

What is one of the major processes that lead to long term resilience?

Adaption to change which relies on having sufficient genetic diversity

Susceptibility of small pops to extinction is caused by?

- Loss of genetic variation and inbreeding
- Demographic fluctuations due to random variations in birth and death rates
- Environmental fluctuations due to variation in predation, competition, disease, food supply and irregularly occurring natural disasters

What are the four evolutionary forces?

- Selection
- Genetic drift
- Mutation
- Gene flow

What does selection consider?

- Captivity
- Exploited populations
- Agriculture

What is needed for selection to work effectively?

Large population size

How do people incorporate agriculture into selection?

- Seed banks for source of genetic diversity

What is needed to adapt to change?

Genetic variation

What is genetic drift?

Chance changes in allele frequencies from one generation to the next caused by random sampling

What kind of populations are susceptible to genetic drift?

Small populations

What causes a loss of genetic variation?

Genetic drift

What overpowers selection when the population size is small

Genetic drift

What is the ultimate source of novel genetic variation but often deleterious?

Mutation

In conservation, mutation is cared about in particular when considering:

- The effect of a population bottleneck and recovery
- Gene flow and spread of advantageous alleles

Other than genetic drift, what are small populations also susceptible to?

Inbreeding

What is inbreeding?

Mating among relatives; Increased homozygosity because relatives share alleles

What is inbreeding depression?

loss of fitness due to inbreeding

What kind of traits are expressed when inbreeding occurs?

Deleterious traits

What is inbreeding avoidance?

Dispersal, behavioral inhibitions, and incompatibility loci in plants

What is outbreeding depression?

Mating's between different pops or spp may occur when populations sizes are small

What can outbreeding depression cause?

- Incompatibility of chromosomes, enzyme systems, decoupling of co-adapted gene complexes

Is outbreeding depression usually of less concern?

Yes

What is Ne affected by:

- Sex ratio
- Variation in reproductive success
- Variation in population size

Why does progeny per parent vary?

Genetic, environmental or accidental factors

How does variance react with progeny number

There is high variance in progeny number

Causes of variation in population size:

- May vary naturally
- Bottlenecks, founder effects
- Loss of variation related to smallest population sizes

What can stochasticity or random variation cause?

- Variation in population size

What is the relation of environmental and demographic stochasticity:

- Environmental stochasticity can cause demographic stochasticity/variation

What is demographic stochasticity?

In an ideal, stable environment, a population increases to carrying capacity and mean birth/death rates are equal

What is a census?

Count the # of individuals in a population

Difference between a census and survey?

- Census: entire population, more precise
- Survey: A sample of population, generally faster and cheaper

What does demographic studies do?

Follow known individuals of different ages/sizes to determine growth rate, reproductive success, and survival

What is PVA?

Population Viability analysis

What is LTREB?

Long term research in environmental biology

What is headstarting?

Raised in captivity during venerable stages and then released

Genetic considerations for establishing new populations:

- Loss of variation in captivity
- Adaptation to captivity
- Lower ability to persist in the wild
- Choose individuals to avoid issues with inbreeding and produce a genetically diverse population
- Similarity/dissimilarity

Reintroduction success depends on:

- Habitat quality
- Core of historical range
- Number of individuals

What can reintroductions due for unique species and ecosystems?

Prevent extinction and restore them

Effectiveness of Protected Areas:

- Generally effective when regulations are enforced or when area is isolated
- Obvious differences in biodiversity within park boundaries for tropical areas
- Provides income and services to poor people living near by

Concentrations of biodiversity are often found highly in what kind of areas and give examples.

- Heterogenous areas
- Elevation gradients
- Places where geological formations are juxtaposed
- Geologically old areas
- Places with an abundance of natural resources

List Louisiana's Government Departments:

- Agriculture and Forestry
- Culture, Recreation and Tourism
- Environmental Quality
- Natural Resources
- Wildlife and Fisheries

What are the common mechanisms to establish protected areas:

- Government action
- Land purchases and easements by individuals and conservation organizations
- Actions of indigenous and traditional peoples

Three steps to establish protected areas:

- Establishing priorities for conservation
- Identifying high priority areas that should be protected
- Choosing new protected areas by filling gaps and developing networks

Three criteria for establishing conservation priorities:

- Distinctiveness
- Endangerment
- Utility

Thee criteria for identifying areas to protect:

- Species Approach
- Hotspot Approach
- Ecosystem Approach

What to consider one a high priority area is identified:

- Sites not already protected
- Sites that maximize linkages to create networks
- Locations where the creation of a PA is the practical and cost-effective
- Ensure that investment towards protection is spread adequately and not concentrated on a small number of areas

What is gap analysis?

Methodology to help organizations identify which sites to protect

What is landscape ecology?

Investigates patterns of the physical environment, ecological communities, ecosystem processes, and human-ecosystem interactions

What are monitor components that are crucial to biodiversity?

- Water quality & quantity
- Number of individuals of rare spp
- Vegetation density
- Inventories of biodiversity
- Socioeconomic values