ConBio Exam 2

Why is putting tardigrades on the moon an issue

they are technically an invasive animal there. they are hugely tolerant, meaning they will also be very difficult to get rid of.

Judas goat

idea that one animal will cause other animals to follow

What are some important traits that animal traders look for

rarity

unique traits (color, patterns)

size

cultural or medicinal purposes

some people may want wild vs bred

how can we use desirability to provide relief for animals

if we know what people want, we can breed those animals and help wild populations

Spotted turtles

heavily traded with very fragmented populations. No turtle population can actually sustain harvest, so this is detrimnetal. often seized at airports. cant be released because of disease and not always knowing where they cane from

What can we use to put animals back in their og population after being seized

gene maps can be used. we can compare genetics to see where an animal came from.

reparation

putting a traded animal back into its original place. generally making up for injustices

the issue with this in wildlife trade is that putting an animal back may not be the best thing to do. This animal may spread diseases or may not be locally adapted to that envionrment, making it maladapted for the area. This becomes especially problematic if it breeds ebcasue then the maladaption may spread throughout the population, overall weakening it

issues with releasing turtles into a different envionrment

hybrids may be more fit than either single species, resulting in despeciation and will result in less complexity and variety in landscape

Captive vs wild populations

captive populations often have low genetic variation

wild population have high allelic richness

avoiding too low of genetic variation is why zoos reach out to other zoos for animal exchanges

issue with burning ivory

causes more rarity, making it more rare

other countries caught on and started using ivory from dead animals to drive market. flooded market so ivory was cheap and trade went down because its so common that who cares. China decided to control this better and heavily restrict market, causing a lot of value in ivory again

Devaluing an animal

removing the part of them that is valuable

not always effective because it may lead to their death anyway because people will get mad and still kill the animal as protest. Also may decrease the animals fitness since these structures are likely there for a reason.

How should we actually try to change behavior

top down approach doesnt work. example is criminalizing drugs and building the wall. need to improve the world as is and make mental shifts in people to change behavior.

Farming animals for trade

not viable for every animal such as tigers.

often welfare concerns

often need to rely on wildlife stock particaully for restick and gene flow

some people feel that it ruins the point

How to make farming for animals work

must be equal in qwuality

must not rely on wildlife populations

must be cost effective

demand for from the wild animals must not increase

should never accept wild animals

Ivory billed woodpecker

timber harvest obliterated them

supposedly exists in Big Woods Arkansas. Purchased land jsut in case for severe protection.

6th extinction episode

one million species (no fish, fungi, inverts data yet, so probably more)

13 birds

25 mammals

40 amphibians!!!!

40 gymnosperms!!!!

First indicators that we were in a mass extinction

large mammals from australia and north america (huge chunks of land)

birds going extinct on islands.

Idea of extinction debt

We a;ready degraded everything so much that populations will decline and extinctions will happen even if we change our ways. Many animals are too far gone to compeltely come back

Evolutionary/Ecological trap

an area that seems to have resources but actually doesnt once you get there or maybe haves way too many/too strong of predators. becomes a sink and leads to reduced fitness.

Vulnerability

narow geographic range

lower poppulations to begin with

low population sizes

island habitat

hunted or harvested by humans

• esp true if they are easy to find (cavity ensters)

  • tree species may be overharvested, obviously making trees vulnerable but now also making all other species that rely on it vulnerable too

Allee effects

this is the concept of an individuals fitness being correlated to size of animals around it. For exmaple, Musk ox need to be in large population to defend against other animals. low number means low fitness, even if individuals are no differerent between the two treatments. Rely on strength in numbers

exmaple being plant patches that are too small to attract pollinators. need to cover enough area to attract pollinators to spread their seeds, so being so little in amountcan cause overall less repproduction, even if indiviaul is the same either way

What are some things we must consider with extinction declaration

probable size of population

habitat availability

type of habitat

weather

If the odds of finding something is 10%, you must go out 10 times to see it. If you go out 30 times and never see it, safe to say its simply not there.