BIO 377v2 Exam 1 PDF

Michael Isabella Week 1 Review Worksheet Due by 12pm this Thursday Definitions Ecology: the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment Applied Ecology: the assessment, management, and mitigation of human impact on the environment Monitoring: studying species (indi...

Michael Isabella Week 1 Review Worksheet Due by 12pm this Thursday Definitions Ecology: the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment Applied Ecology: the assessment, management, and mitigation of human impact on the environment Monitoring: studying species (individuals, populations, and communities), interactions between species, and the abiotic environment over time to answer a specific question, record change, or check compliance with legislation or policy. Managing: devising and implementing processes and procedures that enable humans to manage the natural world for its benefit, for human benefit, and in many cases, often for the benefit of both. Conserving: a component of management, conservation seeks to prevent the over-exploitation, degradation, and destruction of environments and species. Null Hypothesis Assumes that there is no correlation or interaction Alternative hypothesis Assumes that there is a relationship (correlation or interaction). Helps us form our predictions Autotrophs: Self-feeders -- Can gain their essential molecules from the abiotic environment, i.e., photosynthesize, carbon fixation (also known as the producers) Heterotrophs: Eaters -- must consume to gain essential molecules for growth, repair, and reproduction (also know as the consumers) Obligate herbivores: Only consumes the producers (primary consumer) Secondary or the start of the true predators: Consumes the herbivores. Tertiary, quaternary, etc. predators: Consumes the secondary or tertiary predators -- Apex predators are at the top of the food chain and have no natural predators themselves. Mutualism Competition Predation Parasitism Commensalism Amensalism Anthropocene: An era defined by the environmental impact of humans on a global scale Evolution: change in gene frequency over time Assumptions of natural selection: - More offspring are born than survive to reproduce - Variation within a species exists - Some trait variation is heritable - If the trait variation helps some individuals better at surviving and reproducing, those individuals and their offspring will start to dominate the population Artificial, kin, and sexual selection [Answer with True or False ] - The null hypothesis assumes a relationship between variables. - False - In a commensal relationship is where one species benefits and the other neither receives benefit or harm. - True - Specialist species tend to have larger niches than generalist species. - False [Fill in the blank] - The organisms that can create biomass from the abiotic environment around them are called \_[Autotrophs]\_ - We are currently in an era defined by the environmental impact of humans on a global scale. This era is called the \_[Anthropocene]\_ - Allee effects are \_[Positive]\_ density dependence [Circle or highlight the correct answer(s)] - The living components of the natural world are the **biotic/abiotic** components (biotic is living) (abiotic is non-living) - Organisms that only consume producers are called **obligate/facultative** **omnivores/herbivores** - Evolution happens on the **individual/population** scale - In sexual selection, traits are selected for primarily to increase **survival/reproduction** [Circle or highlight the correct answer] - Which organism is the apex predator in this image? Select all that apply. - Snake - Owl - Hawk - Fox [Answer the questions to the best of your ability] - What are the four main goals humans must work to accomplish to limit our destruction of the planet? Must watch the video on slide 2 in intro lecture. - Phasing Out Fossil Fuels - Replace with renewable energy - Efficient food production - Reduction in meat consumption - Manage the Ocean - Global Network of No Fish Zones - Treaty on the Use of international Waters - Rewild The World - Encourage Nature (In ocean, land we no longer need, and in cities) - Why do we monitor before we manage and conserve? Explain your reasoning. - We must monitor before we manage and conserve because we have to understand the species and environment that is being studied and how the different pieces work before we can identify how to manage and preserve an area. Failure to understand an environment can lead to poor conservation/management techniques that can negatively affect the environment and humans. - Are decomposers autotrophs or heterotrophs? Explain your reasoning. a. Decomposers are heterotrophs because they do not consume resources from abiotic sources, but from dead biotic matter. - Based on previous definitions, what do you think an obligate mutualist is? b. Both organisms cannot survive without the mutualism. - Name 2-3 interactions (mutualism, predation, etc.) that you see in the video on slide 10 of the intro lecture and which organisms are benefiting/harmed/unaffected. c. Mutualism: Sunfish (+benefiting, Parasites Removed) and Cleaner fish (+benefiting, Food source of Parasites) d. Predation: Lizards (+benefiting Food source of Flies) Flies (-harmed Eaten by Lizards) e. Commensalism: Pearlfish ( +benefiting hides from predators within sea cucumber) Sea Cucumber (0 unaffected is not harmed by the interaction) Michael Isabella Week 2 Review Worksheet Definitions Baseline -- Snapshot of one area at one moment in time. Can survey species, habitats, and/or conditions Spatial -- How habitat and species is distributed over certain area Temporal -- Baseline followed by repeated surveys in same area to assess change over time Alert -- "First warning" of potential problems Compliance -- Ensures conformity with agreed codes of practice Impact, mitigation, compensation -- Measuring impact of anthropogenic or stochastic environmental events, any management methods to reduce impact, or any methods used to compensate for impact Presence/absence data: is the species present or absent in certain areas? May have instances of false absence due to cryptic or Lazarus species Prevalence: Proportion of occasions a species is found Abundance: Relative: abundance of species in relation to another (ratios or ranks) Absolute: actual number of individuals or density (individuals per unit of area) Direct observation: sight, smell, sound Indirect observation: signs of animals. Can be physical, physiological, or behavioral sign, e.g., feces, molts, feeding evidence, nests, tracks, dens, etc. Observational, non-invasive, non-destructive: no trapping, restraining or killing Invasive surveys: Catching and sometimes retraining, e.g., mist nets, Longworth traps, harp nets, vacuuming, d-nets for benthic macroinvertebrate surveys Destructive surveys: Catching and killing, e.g., wet pitfall traps Other monitoring tools: Tags: VHF radio telemetry, banding, PIT tags, satellite and/or GPS tracking Camera traps Acoustic monitoring Viewing via satellites, drones, aircraft, boats DNA and eDNA Hair tubes and footprint traps Citizen science Spatial variation Random distributions occur in homogeneous, stable environments Clumped distributions often reflect behavior or distribution of clumped resources. Uniform distributions often reflects strong competition. Assumptions of Capture Mark Recapture: The population is closed, no immigration or emigration and births and deaths are equal so no net population change All animals are equally likely to be captured each time. Bias can be related to age (juveniles or adults may be more easily caught) or individual behavior (trap-happy or trap-shy, bold vs. shy individuals, etc.) The initial trapping does not bias the subsequent trappings Capture and marking does not affect catchability Marks are not lost between samples (Special modeling techniques can account for these assumptions: Jolly-Seber models that incorporate survival rates, probability of capture, age, recruitment rates, etc.) [Answer with True or False ] - Baseline monitoring is the initial snapshot of one area, one moment in time. - True - Random distributions often reflect strong competition. - False - Habitat heterogeneity is common among global habitats, as regular disruptive events prevent habitats from reaching 'stable' states. - True [Fill in the blank] - The four main types of sampling approaches when monitoring species/populations are point, transect, mapping, and \_\_[Quadrat\_\_.] - When measuring aquatic habitat quality, you can measure physical, biological, and \_\_\_[Chemical]\_\_ attributes as a proxy for quality. [Circle or highlight the correct answer(s)] - If you monitor a species using a technique that requires you to catch and restrain but not kill the individuals, this is called a **destructive/invasive** survey - The mark-recapture technique of measuring populations is best used for **stationary/mobile** species [Select the correct answer] All the following are assumptions of the capture-mark recapture method **except**: - Capture and marking does not affect catchability - Marks are not lost between samples - Initial trappings biases subsequent trappings - None of the above Referring to slide 31, select the correct answer and explain your reasoning: Which of the following is the correct interpretation of these data? - There is a relationship between deposited pollen and upland habitat - Increase in area of upland causes an increase in deposited pollen - Increase in deposited pollen creates an increase in area of upland - Some other variable causes this relationship (e.g., amount of air pollution) Explain: The chart only establishes a relationship between the deposited pollen and the proportion of Upland in an area with the best-fit line. It would seem unlikely that depositing pollen would cause an elevation rise in an area. It would seem equally unlikely that an increase in elevation would be the direct cause of deposited pollen. [Answer the questions to the best of your ability] - What are some reasons, while monitoring for presence/absence of a species in a particular area, your results may produce a 'false absence' or 'false zero'? The sample area you are looking at for the population of the animal may be too small, so you do not find any indicators that the animal still exists in the area. You may be unaware of the migratory patterns the animal uses and your collection takes place when the animal is not present. - Referring to slide 9 in the monitoring ppt, what are some tools an applied ecologist may use to survey a species using indirect observation? Explain. - Some of the tools include - Tags- Allow the animal's location to be remotely tracked (Radio Telemetry, Satellite, GPS) - Cameras- Can be left to observe behavior of animals or of the environment - acoustic devices- Listening for the effects of a target population of animals - dna/eDNA- taking dna from the environment such as urine, or spit samples - citizen science- having apps or other reporting methods that allow citizens to report environmental findings. - Referring to slide 10 on the monitoring ppt, what types of ecological data do you think we could get from this newer Motus wildlife tracking system? Think about our monitoring purposes. The ability to track the migratory timing and paths of birds would be greatly increased in accuracy (mapping). As climates change the effects on migration would be seen in real time and risks to the population could be predicted (Alert). As well as better being able to track growth within the populace that is being monitored. - Let's say you have a population of beetles that you want to estimate the population size, so you use dry pitfall traps and the capture-recapture method. The total number of beetles caught and tagged the first round was 10, the total number caught in the second sample was 14, and 6 were marked in the second sample. What is the estimated population size? \ [\$\$N = \\frac{n\_{1}\*n\_{2}}{M}\$\$]{.math.display}\ [*n*~1~ = *the* *total* *number* *of* *individuals* *in* *the* *first* *sample* (*captured*, *marked*, *and* *released*)]{.math.inline} 10 [*n*~2~ = *the* *total* *number* *of* *individuals* *in* *the* *second* *sample*]{.math.inline} 14 [*M* = *the* *number* *of* *marked* *individuals* *recaptured* *in* *the* *second* *sample*]{.math.inline} 6 [\$N = \\frac{10\*14}{6} = 23.3\\ or\\ 24\\ beetles\$]{.math.inline} Week Three Review Worksheet Michael Isabella [Answer with True or False] - The ideal bioindicator has a narrow tolerance range. - False - Both high and low biomass abundance can be indicative of disturbance in habitat integrity. - True - This relationship shows that the more species within the indicator group relates to more biodiversity in the ecosystem:  - True [Fill in the blank] - The survey method that uses multiple species to answer ecological questions is called \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_[Biotic indices]\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. - To be a good ecological indicator, it must be \_\_[closely and predictably]\_\_ linked to the environmental proxy parameter - Ecological indicators are used to determine the chemical, physical, or \_\_\_[biological\_\_\_] condition of their environment due to their \_\_ecology\_. [Circle or highlight the correct answer(s)] - Abiotic conditions are classified as **environmental/biological** indicators - **Increaser/decreaser** grasses are insensitive to disturbances [Circle or highlight the correct answer] What is one of the disadvantages of using ecological indicators? - Indicators reflect all organisms - The absence of an indicator is not conclusive - Indicators reflect conditions over long periods of time - Indicators do not require advanced technology This image shows the scoring chart for an indicator that...A picture containing plot, line, diagram, text Description automatically generated - When found in lower number indicates higher ecological quality - When found in average numbers indicates higher ecological quality - When found in higher numbers indicates higher ecological quality - When not found at all indicates higher ecological quality [Answer the questions to the best of your ability] - What are some issues with monitoring a single species with presence-only data? Explain. - With Single species Presence only data may only give a myopic which only indicates one aspect of the environment rather than a more wholistic approach. The absence of the species would not necessarily be conclusive to the effect, you may need supplementary information to back up the findings. - Let's say you are an ecologist monitoring a large grassland ecosystem that is both publicly and privately owned. When doing a survey, you find that on a few of the privately owned sections, increaser type I grasses make up about 50% of the total grasses. In the publicly owned sections, you find large sections with 65% increaser type II species. Describe your suggestions for management. Explain your reasoning. - Because there is a 65% increaser in type 2 species on public land it would be good to reduce the number of grazers on the property. The private land that was surveyed seems to indicate that there is a need for grazers because it is made up of greater than 25% increaser type one species. Herding the grazers away from the public land and onto the private land (after getting permission from the private land owners) would seem to improve the situation for both parties. - From this table, which taxonomic groups are stronger biodiversity indicators? Pick one of the taxonomic groups and explain why you hypothesize it is a strong or weak indicator.  Both woody plants and Birds have the two highest General Biodiversity indicators 0.647 and 0.604 respectively. Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, crickets) have a low BD indicator rating of 0.324, they are a primary consumer and are most likely consumed by most of the secondary consumers in the system. So their link to their predators would not be close enough to see diversity in the system. This is why they may be a weak biodiversity indicator. - After reading the Nat Geo article and the provided book chapter "Retreat of the American Pika: Up the Mountain or into the Void?" answer the following questions: **\*\*\*For the book chapter, you only have to read (1) the introduction, (2) "Quantifying Patterns of Range Retraction", and (3) the last paragraph "Implications for Other Species."** - What makes the American pika susceptible to climate change? List two examples. Thes pikas are so "physiologically fine-tuned" to their environment any changes with have measurable impacts on their population numbers, The declining winter snowpack is one example because they are comfortable at zero to -5 degrees Celsius and it can be detrimental if it drops below that. With the dropping temperatures the snowpack will melt earlier exposing the mammal to lower temperatures that are impactful on their young offspring. High temperatures during the summer can also hurt the survival of the Pika, with the microclimate under the rocks allowing them to cool off and be sheltered from the outside heat. - What specific characteristics make the pika a good/bad/ok ecological indicator? (think about the definition of what makes a good ecological indicator from today's lecture) The pica is highly finetuned to their environment making them especially susceptible to changes within it. The animal is closely linked to the environmental proxy parameter of the changes in temperature. It is also predictable that the increases in temperature would have a devastating impact on how they function within their environment. They are also a well studied animal in this area with surveys happening every summer by the Pika patrol, - What is the 'Pika Patrol' and what does it do? The Pika patrol is a group of volunteers that hikes in areas where the pika lives during the summer to survey and collect information on them. There are about 72 sites the Pika Patrol visit throughout the Colorado Rockies to gather this information. - From the book chapter, what are some ways scientists monitored pika presence? The scientists have monitored the presence of the animal in several ways. -Finding habitat locations and doing continuous surveying of that area for the pika \- Looking for direct characteristics such as actual sitings and hearing vocalizations -indirect in finding its food caches and distinctive scat Week Four Review Worksheet Michael Isabella [Answer with True or False] What an EIA provides: - Status of the environment in the affected area - Illustrates potential consequences - Identifies all (positive and negative) effects - Suggests alternatives Goals of EIA: - Does the proposed development conform to legislation (is it legal)? - What are the ecological impacts of the proposed development? - Can negative impacts of proposed development be mitigated? Ecological Impact Assessment (EIA): An estimate of the ecological effects of proposed development. Required to assess the physical, cultural, human environments affected by the proposed project When are EIAs required? Federal activities (on federal land), federally funded activities, or federally licensed activities require EIAs. In the US, an EIS is required by the National Environmental Policy Act (1969) to access the potential impact of actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." State and local governments may require EIAs for developments as part of the permitting process (e.g., an EIA may be required to obtain a building permit Receptors include measures of quantity and quality of organisms, habitat, and ecosystem functions. Mitigation Types Avoidance: Avoid an entire development at a time or place Reduction: Reduce the quantity of harmful products/effects Containment: Contain harmful products/effects to smaller areas Remediation: Replace lost organisms or restore habitat on site Rescue: Move organisms or habitat off site Compensation: Replace lost organisms or habitat elsewhere (off site) EIAs are typically required by governmental institutions -- federal and state/local. EIAs are typically required for development (e.g., infrastructure and policy changes). Assessing impact of development on receptors is complex and includes uncertainty. EIAs consider the value of impacted receptors and the severity of the impact to determine if the ecological impacts are acceptable (after mitigation). EIAs can suggest to avoid, reduce, contain, remediate, or compensate to mitigate the ecological impact. - Ecological (or environmental) impact assessments (EIA) require decisionmakers to make the most environmentally sound choice recommended by the EIA under NEPA law. - False (Most EIAs do not require decisionmakers to follow the most environmentally sound suggestion. EIAs simply allow for advanced identification and disclosure of harm. We will discuss the Clean Water Act exception to this) - EIAs only are required at the federal and state level. - False Local as well - EIAs can be required for the development and decommissioning of a project. - True [Fill in the blank] - Populations and habitats can be considered valuable due to their cultural significance, rarity, and [Ecological Function.] - Certain ski resorts in Colorado end their ski season early because elk migration takes place in late spring and their resorts are a part of the migration route. This is an example of \_[Avoidance] mitigation. [Circle or highlight the correct answer(s)] - **Indicator/receptor** is the name assigned to different measures of quantity and quality of organisms, habitat, and ecosystem functions when conducting an EIA [Circle or highlight the correct answer] An EIA: - Suggests alternatives - Provides opportunities for public comment ?? - Illustrates potential consequences of the development - All of the above Replacing lost organisms or habitat off site of the development is a mitigation tactic called: - Rescue - Reduction - Avoidance - Compensation [Answer the questions to the best of your ability] - You are a contractor aiding in the development of an EIA for a proposed resort. This resort will be built on mature forested areas about 1 mile from a local tributary. Discuss some direct, indirect, regional, and possible positive effects you will include in the EIA. (you can come up with some hypothetical situations and bring in some potential concepts from slide 14 and 15 of the EIA ppt). - Severity of impact increases when the impacted receptors are more 'valuable - Because the forest area is more matured the ecosystem the animals reside in will be more difficult to replace. There could be potential for rescuing some of the animals and relocating them in a similar environment. Otherwise they may be displaced into an environment they may not survive in, - There is a potential for debris and runoff from the project site to contaminate the local tributary. This would have to be contained to minimize the effects of construction. - One potential positive effect of the resort is to allow people to better experience the local environment and contribute to environmental causes. - During the EIA process, you find that a threatened species endemic only to the area in which the development is proposed. Describe what mitigation tactics you could employ. - Because the species is threatened and only lives in the area that needs to be developed a rigorous analysis would need to be applied to determine the impact of the development. If the development is necessary, rescue may be the only option for the species within that environment. Because this area in the only one it is found in. But if the development's scope could be reduced to protect the threatened species that could be a preferable option. For the people and for not disturbing the habitat of the species. Michael Isabella Week Five Review Worksheet Remediation -- efforts to remove pollutants from contaminated sites (includes bioremediation) Pollution -- anything harmful that is introduced in the environment by humans (Solids, Liquids, Gasses, Nutrients, Temperature, Noise, Light) Bioremediation -- the use of organisms to degrade pollutants Biostimulation -- encouraging microbial growth for the purpose of biodegradation of pollutants Bioaugmentation -- adding organisms to substrates for the purpose of biodegradation of pollutants. Surfactants -- enhance pollutant availability by breaking the pollutant into smaller pieces, lowering the surface tension, and/or emulsifying the pollutant Phytoremediation - use of living plants for the degradation or containment of pollutants If the plant does phytodegradation, then the pollutant will be rendered safe. Accumulation of pollutants during phytoextraction may be harmful for grazers Bioreactors - typically a vessel or contained bed, a bioreactor allows for relatively fine control over many of the factors that are key to the biodegradation of pollutants by microorganisms such as temperature, pH, aeration, moisture, and the presence and abundance of microorganisms, which together enhance the rate and effectiveness of degradation [Answer with True or False] - Bioaugmentation is the process of encouraging microbial growth by adjusting the environment in which the bioremediation is taking place. - False [Fill in the blank] - \_\_\_[Phytoremediation]\_\_ is a type of bioremediation that uses plants to remove pollutants from the environment. - A type of biostimulation where you introduce more oxygen into an area in called [\_\_\_\_Bioventing\_\_.] - The Leviathan Mine is an example of a \_\_\_Bioreactor \_\_\_ site. [Circle or highlight the correct answer(s)] - The use of organisms to degrade pollutants is called **bioremediation/ecoremediation** - A **biostimulator/bioreactor** is a type of vessel that allows for fine control over the bioremediation process - **Phytodegradation/phytoextraction** is the process of using plants to simply remove the pollutant from the environment, but not render the pollutant safe for other organisms. [Circle or highlight the correct answer] Pollutants can be in the form of - Solids - Gasses - Nutrients - Temperature - All of the above What is the function of surfactants in the bioremediation process? - To isolate pollutants on the surface of water - To make pollutants available to microorganisms - To degrade pollutants independently from microorganisms - None of the above In effort to clean up an old mine site, ecologists use Jerusalem Artichoke to remove pollutants from the soil. This plant occurs naturally in the region, but is not abundant at the site, and ecologists manually plant more plants. - This is an example of bioaugmentation - This is an example of biostimulation - This is an example of the use of surfactants - This is an example of the use of bioreactors [Answer the questions to the best of your ability] - Please watch the video on slide 10 of the Bioremediation ppt. What type of pollution are they discussing? When a developer wants to build a hotel on the beaches of Florida, what type of mitigation tactics do they need to implement to help with this specific issue? Name the type of mitigation from the EIA ppt. The type of pollution being discussed in the video is light pollution. Turtle friendly lighting that is amber rather than white. This is done so the baby turtles do not confuse the white light for the stars and become disoriented to the direction of the sea. This is an example of reduction. - You work for a company that has spilled some sort of hydrocarbon into a plot of soil. Let's say you employ bioremediation, but the microbes you are using do not seem to be neutralizing the pollutant. What kind of biostimulation could you employ? Explain your reasoning for each. One method of biostimulation that can be used is to increase the oxygen level within the soil. This will make the microbe go through its naturals process quicker. This can be augmented with adding more nutrients the microbe needs or adjust the temperature or Ph of the contaminated area.