CONSERVATION
FRIDAY'S
ASSIGNMENT
- The main point of this chapter is what humans are
doing to habitat size, especially why habitat size
affects biodiversity
- pp. 1003-1008: What are species/area
curves, and how are they connected to Island
Biogeography Theory?
-
Activity 52.1 Species-Area Curves
- Look at the "Seven deadly sins" on
p. 1007. How many of these sins apply to
RibbonWalk? Be prepared to explain.
- Be able to discuss in detail the experiments
described in Figure 52.7
  
and
Activity 52.2 Habitat Fragmentation
- Be prepared to compare and contrast the
heath hen example from the E.O. Wilson CD lab
with these examples: the butterflies on
pp. 1008-1009 and prairie chickens on p. 1012
(box 52.1). Review stochasticity
(demographic, genetic, and environmental) and
its impact on small populations.
- pp. 1010-1015: The value of
biodiversity: could you write a five-page
essay even better than what the textbook says?
- could you explain (in detail)
fig. 52.9?
   
- could you make recommendations for
RibbonWalk or our own campus as a
reserve? As examples for restoration
ecology?
- could you suggest indicator species for
RibbonWalk or our own campus or the
creeks at Freedom Park?
- what is metaphorical about Easter Island?
- Review and reconsider what you learned
about
- biodiversity (chapter 51, the creek critters
labs, the field trip lab, and the professional
research report lab)
- extinction (the E.O. Wilson CD lab, and
chapters 48 and 49)
- population explosions (the E.O. Wilson CD
lab and chapter 48)
- checklist of terms: biodiversity ,
conservation, extinction, "background"
extinction, extinction rates, "red list,"
species-area relationships, species-area curves,
island extinctions, habitat destruction, habitat
fragmentation, edge effects, biomass, metapopulation
- Preview of quiz and exam questions:
-
http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_freeman_biosci_1/0,6452,501463-,00.html
- summary review
#1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
17, 18, 20
- Content Review #1, 2, 3; Conceptual #1, 2, 3, 4;
Applying # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- pre- and post-test questions with
Activity 52.1 Species-Area Curves
Key
textbook points
to review
for Monday and the exam
- pp. 998-1000: alteration of the carbon
cycle, greenhouse effect and climate change
(global warming)
- pp. 999-1000: Alteration of the nitrogen
cycle; why nitrate leaching removes calcium but
increases soluble aluminum
- p. 989: aquatic pollution and eutrophication; dead zones (marine
eutrophication)
- acid rain. results
when the nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus in fossil
fuels are oxidized by burning and then dissolved in
water in rain clouds, for example
N2O5 + H20
---> 2HNO3
(Review acids & pH? pp. 34-35)
- p. 974 and Lab 9: problems in
temperate deciduous forests (it's
d 4-S where U R now)
- pp. 971-2 and chapter 52: problems in tropical forests
- chapter 52: fragmentation
problems & corridor and complementary cell partial solutions
- extinction : lab 10, chapters 48 and 52
- the opposite problem = population
momentum: lab 10, chapters 48 and 52
- Some relevant NEWS STORIES
may be on the exam.
Perspective:
Most people understand the most obvious ecological
consequences, like pollution with toxic materials or
droughts killing a few species. You (because
you are special) need to be able to communicate
more sophisticated issues, like these:
- What happens to the concentration of toxic materials
in food chains? What are some advantages of getting
more people to eat more from the lower trophic levels?
What are some reasons people eat the higher trophic
levels?
- Which toxic materials are mutagens or carcinogens?
- What is the connection between ozone and mutation?
- Is there a chance that mutations will help human
beings or other species evolve adaptations to cope
with acid rain or other types of environmental damage?
How could you weigh this chance with other risks which
should be considered?
- What are the ecological consequences of agriculture?
Which agricultural practices can ameliorate these
consequences? Which agricultural practices are
the worst threats to natural ecosystems? What
ecological principles help explain why monoculture is
particularly risky?
- What happens (ecologically) to abandoned farmland?
- What are the ecological characteristics of timber
plantations? How are they different from
old-growth forests? What are the choices for
meeting the human demand for wood products?
- What is the relation between deforestation and
global warming? How uncertain is this relation?
What solutions have been suggested?
- What consequences will global warming have on the
rates of decomposition? On tolerance ranges of
specific populations?
- What are the connections between deforestation or habitat fragmentation and niches,
colonization, competitive exclusion, and
biodiversity? (Consider Island
Biogeography Theory!)
- What happens to the physical and chemical
characteristics of creeks and other aquatic systems
when the currents are changed? What are the
consequences for the natural populations?
(Consider more than just the Law of the Minimum;
consider natural succession, food chain effects, and
Island Biogeography Theory.)
- What does acid rain do to proteins (enzymes in fish,
for example)? How/why?
- How does acid rain change the mineral qualities of
soil? What happens to primary productivity and
food chains as a result?
- Which human activities produce acid rain? How?
How do prevailing winds affect acid rain? What
measures could reduce acid rain? What are the
disadvantages of using these measures?
- What is the relation between minerals and primary
productivity?
- What is the relation between sewage and primary
productivity? Can treated sewage be used as organic
fertilizer safely?
- What is the relation between eutrophication and
abundance of biomass?
- What is the relation between eutrophication and
competitive exclusion?
- What is the relation between eutrophication and
ecological succession?
- What is the relation between eutrophication and
species diversity?
- Does abundance increase species diversity?
- What are the advantages of higher species diversity?
- What is the relation between species diversity and
genetic diversity?
- What are the ecological advantages of genetic
diversity?
- How do both types of biodiversity benefit human
beings?
- Can genetic engineering replace natural genetic
diversity?
- What lessons should you have learned from your
experiments in diversity? (Again, consider more than just the Law
of the Minimum; consider natural succession, food
chain effects, and Island Biogeography Theory.)
- Which species are most likely to become extinct as a
result of human activity? Why are logistic types
more vulnerable than exponential types? Examples? Can
logistic types adapt to habitat changes by evolving
exponential characteristics, like better immigration?
- What are "keystone" species and why should
we worry about them especially? Any examples? otters,
mycorrhizae,
certain trees, top carnivores, marsh grasses
- Is there a connection between
keystone species and co-evolution?
- How does nature control of sizes of populations?
What are the consequences of depending on nature to
control human population growth?
- To what extent can parks and other conservation
areas preserve or re-establish the biodiversity of the
past?
- What ecological process interact with evolutionary
processes? What consequences should citizens of
tomorrow worry about?
- What are the major causes of extinction?
What do they mean
by "fragmentation"? How are
fragments like islands (from
"island biogeography theory")? What is the "edge
effect"? How could "introduced
species" cause extinctions? What are
some examples?
- What are some reasons to care about extinctions?
When choices have to be made between conservation to
avoid extinctions and other uses of resources, what
are some issues that some people (however
wrong they may be) may consider more
important than extinctions?
- more to come ?
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The
most important questions:
What human
activities are most damaging for ecological
communities? What ecological relationships should
be studied to be able to predict the consequences
of human interference?
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NEWS STORIES,
some of which may be on the exam:
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