NR1020 Study cards

Rosalie Edge

founded the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) in 1929 to push for more aggressive protection of species.

Florence Bailey

was a prominent ornithologist and conservationist known for her contributions to bird study and wildlife conservation efforts. Promoted "birding" over collecting specimens.

Isabella Bird

was a 19th-century explorer and writer known for her travels in remote regions, particularly in Asia and the Americas. She became one of the first female members of the Royal Geographical Society and published several books about her adventures.

Ecosystem

Is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. It includes everything from plants and animals to air, water, and soil, functioning together as a system.

Fitness

The objective of the "Game of Life" is to contribute more genetic copies (offspring) to future generations than others in the population.

Habitat ("Address")

The specific place where a species survives and reproduces.

Niche ("Profession")

Everything a species does to survive and stay fit (e.g., hunting, avoiding predators, raising young).

Factors driving the Conservation/Preservation Movement

Industrialization, pollution, population growth , Decline in wildlife / wilderness areas , Immigration and racial anxieties , Romantic / Transcendentalist thought , Frontier theory on value of wilderness

Evolution by Natural Selection: Requires three "ingredients"

Variation, Differential Survival/Reproduction, and Inheritance. Traits are considered "answers to problems" shaped by the environment over time.

Frederick Law Olmstead

pioneered the American public park movement, viewing designed green spaces as essential democratic "lungs of the city" for public health, social cohesion, and mental restoration

Competitive Exclusion Principle: States "one niche, one species.

Two species cannot occupy the same niche indefinitely; competition usually leads to one species being excluded or niches shifting to resolve the conflict.

Eltonian Pyramid Structure

Producers are at the base, followed by herbivores, carnivores, and top predators.

Energy Loss

Raymond Lindeman’s research at Cedar Bog Lake showed that ~90% of available energy is lost as heat at every trophic level, with only ~10% passing upward.

Fierce Animals are Rare:

Because of this massive energy loss, there is very little energy available at the top of the pyramid to support large populations of top predators.

Survival Strategies:

Migration, Hibernation, and Remaining Active.

Torpor:

An adaptive, controlled lowering of body temperature to conserve energy (e.g., a chickadee dropping its temperature from 108°F to 86°F overnight). (Bears)

Brumation:

The cold-weather state of dormancy used by ectotherms like turtles. (reptiles)

Subnivean Zone:

The small, insulated space between the snowpack and the ground where small mammals like voles stay active and protected from predators and extreme cold.

Hibernation

Hibernation is a state of deep,, prolonged dormancy in animals, characterized by significantly reduced body temperature, heart rate, and metabolic activity to conserve energy during food-scarce winter months (Squirrels, bats, hedgehogs)

Tracking Foundations (The "3 Ps"):

Print, Place, and Pattern

Print:

Individual foot morphology (toes, pads, claws, symmetry).

Pattern:

The gait or arrangement of tracks (e.g., walking, hopping, bounding).

Place:

The landscape context and habitat where the track is found.

Gait Patterns:

Common patterns include the walking gait (deer), bounding (weasels/otters), and galloping (rabbits/squirrels), and waddling (Bear)

6 Arts of tracking

Who: Who made the track? • What: What was it doing? • Where: Where was it going? Where is it now? • When: When was this track made? • Why: Why here? (What motivated the animal?) • How: How was it moving?

Ecological Impacts of Glade-Cutting and Backcountry Recreation

Biodiversity Loss, Edge Effects & Fragmentation, Soil Degradation

Biotic and abiotic changes along an elevation gradient

Along an elevation gradient, abiotic factors like temperature, oxygen, and pressure decrease with altitude, while UV radiation increases, causing species richness and productivity to generally decline. These shifts force biotic changes, including zonation of plant communities, reduced microbial network complexity (for fungi), and a transition from competition to stress-tolerance as the dominant interaction.

What was the frontier theory?

The idea that the American frontier shaped national identity and character; wilderness was seen as essential for maintaining strength and independence.

Who was Frederick Law Olmsted and what did he believe?

Landscape architect who designed Central Park; believed parks improve public health, democracy, and quality of life in cities.

What was the connection between environmental thought and racial ideas in the early 1900s?

Some conservation leaders connected protecting nature with protecting “national character” and supported eugenics and immigration restrictions

Who were the NYZS leaders?

Henry Fairfield Osborn, Madison Grant, and William Temple Hornaday — influential conservationists linked to racial and eugenic ideas.

What was the Boone and Crockett Club?

Conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt that promoted wildlife conservation, the “sportsman’s code,” and helped support Yellowstone, wildlife refuges, the US Forest Service, and the National Park Service.

What is the “sportsman’s code”?

Ethical hunting rules emphasizing “fair chase” and conservation of wildlife populations.

What were market hunters?

Hunters who killed wildlife commercially for sale (meat, feathers, hides), contributing to wildlife population declines.

What was the American Bison Society?

Organization formed to save bison from extinction through conservation and breeding programs.

What three movements were historically connected?

Conservation movement, eugenics movement, and immigration reform.

What was the eugenics movement?

A movement advocating for selective breeding and sterilization to improve the genetic quality of humans, often targeting marginalized groups.

What role did UVM play in the eugenics movement?

Henry F. Perkins led the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, which documented families labeled “undesirable.”

What was Vermont’s 1931 Eugenic Sterilization Law?

A law allowing the forced sterilization of people considered genetically “unfit.”

What did the Immigration Act of 1924 do?

Limited immigration through quotas, favoring Northern Europeans and restricting others.

What is utilitarian conservation?

The idea that natural resources should be managed for sustainable human use.

Who represented utilitarian conservation?

Gifford Pinchot.

What is aesthetic preservation?

Protecting nature for its beauty and intrinsic value.

Who represented preservation?

John Muir.

What was the Hetch Hetchy debate?

A major conflict between conservationists and preservationists over damming a valley in Yosemite for San Francisco’s water supply.

What two major federal land agencies were created in the early 20th century?

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS).

What is the “dual system” of federal land management?

National Parks emphasize preservation; National Forests allow resource use and management.

What was emphasized in Tony D’Amato’s forestry lecture?

History of forestry practices, sustainable forest management, and balancing ecological health with resource use.

Who was Florence Merriam Bailey?

Ornithologist who promoted bird conservation and observation.

Who was Alice Hamilton?

Scientist who studied industrial toxins and occupational health.

Who was Rosalie Edge?

Conservation activist who fought to protect birds of prey.

What role did women’s civic organizations play in conservation?

Organized activism for wildlife protection, parks, and public health reforms.

Who was Aldo Leopold?

Ecologist known for the “land ethic,” emphasizing humans as part of ecological communities. Got rid of the predators, realized that prey didn’t functin without, realized predators are important.

Who was William Vogt?

Ecologist who warned about overpopulation and environmental limits.

What is carrying capacity?

The maximum population size an environment can sustainably support.

Why is “wilderness” considered a human construct?

Because humans define and label landscapes as wilderness even though people historically lived in and shaped those ecosystems.

What is torpor?

A temporary reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature to conserve energy.

What is brumation?

A winter dormancy in reptiles and amphibians.

What is the subnivean zone?

The space between the ground and the snowpack where small animals live during winter.

How do chickadees survive winter?

Store food, lower body temperature at night, and increase metabolism.

How do turtles survive winter?

Remain underwater or buried in mud and slow their metabolism.

How do chipmunks survive winter?

Enter torpor and rely on stored food.

What is glade cutting?

Cutting trees to create open skiable areas in forests.

What are ecological impacts of backcountry recreation?

Habitat disturbance, vegetation loss, soil compaction, and wildlife stress.

What changes along an elevation gradient?

Temperature, species composition, vegetation type, and snow cover.

What is the “evergreen advantage”?

Evergreen trees keep needles year-round, allowing them to photosynthesize earlier and longer than deciduous trees.

What is a population?

A group of individuals of the same species living in one area.

What is fitness in evolution?

An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce.

What is evolution?

Change in inherited traits of populations over generations.

What is natural selection?

Individuals with beneficial traits survive and reproduce more, passing those traits to offspring.

What are the key ingredients for evolution by natural selection?

Variation, heritability, differential survival/reproduction, and time.

What was the “Game of Life”?

A classroom activity demonstrating how traits spread through populations under natural selection.

What is a niche?

The role a species plays in an ecosystem, including how it uses resources and interacts with other species.

What is the Competitive Exclusion Principle?

Two species cannot occupy the exact same niche indefinitely; one will outcompete the other.

What is the Eltonian Pyramid?

A diagram showing energy flow through trophic levels.

What are trophic levels?

Positions in a food chain (producers, herbivores, carnivores, etc.).

Why are large predators rare?

Energy decreases at each trophic level, so fewer organisms can be supported at higher levels.

What are species interaction diagrams?

Visual representations of relationships between species.

What is phenology?

The study of seasonal biological events like flowering or migration.

What are antagonistic interactions?

One species benefits while another is harmed (e.g., predation, herbivory).

What are mutualisms?

Interactions where both species benefit (e.g., plant-pollinator relationships).

What is agroecology?

Applying ecological principles to agricultural systems.

How do humans impact agricultural ecosystems?

Through monoculture, pesticide use, soil modification, and land management practices.

What is land sharing?

Integrating agriculture with biodiversity conservation across the same land.

What is land sparing?

Intensifying agriculture in some areas to leave other areas completely protected.

What is Vermont Town Meeting Day?

A tradition of direct democracy where residents vote on local issues.

What is the main difference between Gifford Pinchot’s conservation philosophy and John Muir’s preservation philosophy?

Pinchot believed in utilitarian conservation—managing natural resources for sustainable human use.
Muir believed in preservation—protecting wilderness for its intrinsic value and spiritual importance.

How did New York Zoological Society leaders reflect the connection between conservation and eugenics?

Leaders like Madison Grant promoted wildlife conservation while also advocating racial hierarchy and immigration restriction.

How did Aldo Leopold’s thinking about predators change?

Early in his career he supported predator control, believing predators harmed ecosystems.
Later he realized predators maintain ecological balance and developed the land ethic

Whose perspective does the idea of wilderness often reflect?

Primarily European/American settler perspectives that viewed land as “untouched” despite Indigenous presence.

How does natural selection shape a species’ niche?

Traits that help organisms survive in their environment become more common over generations.

What did Gause’s Paramecium experiments show?

When two species compete for the same resource, one eventually eliminates the other.

What did MacArthur’s warbler study demonstrate?

Different warbler species avoid competition by using different parts of the same tree (resource partitioning).

four things for invasive species to survive

High reproductive rate, long-term seed viability, aggressive seed dispersal systems, leaf out early, and GENERALIST