Conservation Biology – Midterm Exam Fall 2023 PDF

Name_________________________ Conservation Biology – Midterm Exam Explain the differences between the terms non-native, naturalized and invasive. (1pt) An “Individualist Perspective” is the basis for: (1pt) a) Protecting individual ecosystems b) Protecting individual...

Name_________________________ Conservation Biology – Midterm Exam Explain the differences between the terms non-native, naturalized and invasive. (1pt) An “Individualist Perspective” is the basis for: (1pt) a) Protecting individual ecosystems b) Protecting individual species c) Protecting individual organisms d) Protecting individual genes e) All of the above According to the text book, what is a “cryptic species”? (1pt) Provide an argument that explains why climate alone is unlikely to have been the cause of the megafauna extinction event in New Zealand. (1pt) Describe an example of convergent evolution; include specific details that support your answer. (1pt) Explain the potential connection between what’s going on in this photo and the decline of red knots (which is a species of bird) (1pt)  Plant biomass Draw the relationship typically shown between these variables. (1pt) Number of plant species per plot Which region is likely to have the highest total number of bird species? A) Texas, B) North Dakota, C) Germany , D) Ecuador or E) Iceland (1pt) What is “critical habitat” relative to US law? (1pt) Provide a definition for “immigration credit” (1pt) “Ecological fitting” is best described as: (1pt) a) a co-evolutionary process that allows species to co-exist b) an ecological process that explains the statistical fit of species distribution models c) an eco-evolutionary process that explains how individuals select mates for reproduction d) an ecological process that explains why islands have fewer species than mainlands e) none of the above Military-owned land in the western US often contains many endangered species because: (1pt) a) Military use of the land has decimated native species, b) the military is not typically obligated to recognize the provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) , c) the military is “grandfathered” into older, pre-ESA laws that allow for hunting of game species for provisioning purposes, d) military uses of the land aren’t as detrimental for native species as typical land uses on privately owned land. Describe how over the past 500 years the number of species has changed within temperate (non- tropical) areas by filling in “increased”, “decreased” or “no net change”: (2pts) Plants regionally: ___________ Freshwater fishes on islands: ____________ Birds on islands: __________ Freshwater mollusks in North America: ____________ Aerosol (e.g., sulfur dioxide) pollution has likely had the net effect of, (1pt) A, increasing global temperatures, B, decreasing global temperatures, C, increasing plant growth rates by fertilizing the soil, D, none of the above What is the likely explanation for why so many tree species went extinct in Europe during the Pleistocene, but North America had so few extinctions during the same period? (1pt) Circle the species likely to have the largest minimum dynamic area: a) House sparrow, b) golden eagle, c) dandelion, d) redwood tree or e) house mouse (1pt) What is this figure from the textbook showing about the Pacific Northwest? (1pt) Passenger pigeons were: (1pt) A, relatively rare historically, B, incapable of flying long distances, C, driven extinct primarily by habitat destruction, D, all of the above (i.e., A, B and C), E, none of the above Most native species are rare in some places and common in others. Species occurring outside their native (i.e., in their non-native) range are typically: (1pt) A, rare in some places and common in others, B, common (but not necessarily dominant) in most of the places they occur, C, super abundant and numerically dominant in most places they occur, or D, none of the above. What is a “Before-after-control-impact (BACI) analysis”? (1pt) 3 Rank Ascension, the Azores, Bahamas and Bermuda from oldest to youngest: (1pt) __________ > ____________ > __________ > ___________ The “Pleistocene overkill hypothesis” attributes: (1pt) a) widespread extinctions of large land-dwelling mammals to human hunters, b) widespread extinctions of both large and small mammals to human hunters, c) widespread extinctions of marine mammals to human hunters, d) widespread extinctions of plants and animals on islands by overexploitation Draw a figure below that indicates the relative size and placement of the realized, fundamental and tolerance niche of a species, relative to mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature. Be sure to assign specific quantitative values to the axes. Assume that the species cannot shift its range or evolve quickly. Assume further that it lives on land in a relatively flat area of broad geographic extent. Describe the severity and timing of extinction risk for this species by 2100 if by that time it warms by 4 degrees, but precipitation levels remain unchanged. (2pts)