Conservation Biology and Sustainability Quiz

Conservation Biology and Sustainability

• Conservation biology focuses on preserving species and ecosystems.
• Environmentalism is a movement that aims to protect the environment through political and educational activism.
• Sustainability refers to practices that can be continued indefinitely.
• Environmental sustainability focuses on the rate at which renewable resources are harvested.

Biodiversity

• Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth.
• Genetic diversity is essential for preventing inbreeding depression.
• Ecosystem diversity encompasses both the variety of species across ecosystems and the variation of ecosystems within a region.
• Species diversity refers to the total range of life on Earth.

Speciation

• Traditional Speciation: One lineage diverges into two distinct lineages.
  • Example: Whales and hippos.
• Phyletic speciation: One lineage undergoes gradual change over time.
  • Example: Whales, Homo sapiens.
• Hybrid speciation: A new species arises from the hybridization of two parent species.
  • This is uncommon because hybrid offspring must:
    • Prefer to mate with other hybrids.
    • Survive to reproductive age.
    • Be fertile, not sterile.
    • Be fit, ideally better adapted than their parent species.

Adaptive Radiation

• Can lead to areas with a high number of species.
• Example: Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands.
• Determining the evolutionary path of species within adaptive radiation can be challenging.

Ring Species

• Neighboring populations within a ring species are slightly different but can still interbreed.
• When the "ring" closes, the two end populations may no longer be able to interbreed.

Determining Biodiversity

• Species richness: the number of species in a given area.
  • Alpha diversity: local diversity within a small area.
  • Gamma diversity: regional diversity across a larger area.
  • Beta diversity: rate of species turnover between different habitats.

Species Concepts

• Biological Species Concept (BSC): Defines species as organisms that can interbreed and produce viable offspring.
  • Pros: Populations that look and act alike are likely to be the same species.
  • Cons: Some species can interbreed but are considered different species. (Ex: Dogs, wolves, coyotes). Difficult to assess interbreeding in fossils or with asexual species.
• Morphological Species Concept (MSC): Organizes species based on physical similarities.
  • Pros: Simple and easy to assess. Useful for fossils, asexual species, and geographically isolated species.
  • Cons: Sexual dimorphism (differences between sexes) can be misleading. Cryptic species (genetically distinct, but appear identical) may be incorrectly lumped together.