Lecture 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What does IUCN stand for?

A

International union for the conservation of nature

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2
Q

What is in the IUCN conservation database?

A

. The IUCN Red List I’d Threatened Species: assesses risk of species extinction
. The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems: assesses risk of ecosystem collapse
. The World Database on Key Biodiversity Areas: assesses sites important for biodiversity
. Protected Planet: assesses protected areas
. ECOLEX: provides a gateway to environmental law

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3
Q

In the red list of threatened species what are the categories of threat?

A
. Extinct 
. Extinct in the wild
. Critically endangered 
. Endangered 
. Vulnerable 
. Near threatened 
. Least concern 
. Data deficient 
. Not evaluated
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4
Q

Give some of the assessment criteria for species to go in the red list of threatened species

A

. Declining population (past, present and/ or projected)
. Geographical range size, and fragmentation, decline and fluctuations
. Small population size, and fragmentation, decline and fluctuations
. Very small population or very restricted distribution
. Quantitative analysis of extinction risk (e.g. PVA)

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5
Q

How do you define the current state of a population, predict its future, and identify any threats to its persistence?

A

. Counts
. Demographic data (how many adults/ juveniles in a population- will affect how a population is doing over time)
. Presence/ absence of data (don’t look at one specific species but is/ isn’t there overall

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6
Q

How do you identify and implement solutions to ensure persistence of a species that is threatened?

A

. Manage drivers of change, if applicable
. Used to decide whether to create a protected area and where that should be ideally to protect the species
. Protected area: where? How big?

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7
Q

What is the population viability analysis (PVA) objective?

A

Estimate the probability that a population of a species, or collection of populations, will persist for some particular time in a particular environment (will it increase/ decrease)

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8
Q

What is population viability analysis (PVA)? (2 types)

A

. A time-species PVA, which assumes all individuals in the population are identical
. A demographic PVA, based on estimates of age- or stage-specific vital rates, such as survival and reproduction
. Individual-based models and patch- occupancy data

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9
Q

Describe what the red list criterion 2 (Geographical range size) is and what is it used for?

A

. Used for plants because they can’t move
. Spatial distribution of known sites of present species occurrence
. Extent of occurrence (EOO)=measured area within boundary: line draw around the perimeter of where your species lives (will get a much bigger area- one can have a big effect)
. Area of occupancy (AOO), e.g. sum of occupied grid squares
. Depending on the species it may be more informative to use one rather than the other

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10
Q

What is red list criterion 1, 2, 3?

A
  1. Population decline
  2. Geographic range size (used for plants because they can’t move)
  3. Fragmentation
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11
Q

Explain red list criterion 3: fragmentation

A

If natural habitat has been fragmented it can be used as direct evidence for fragmentation for taxa with poor dispersal capacity (can’t get from one area to another- depends on the species)

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12
Q

Explain red list criterion 2: population size

A

. Geographic range size
. Few populations: islands and size of island
. Smaller population the closer they are to going extinct however, some species are just naturally rare so need to be able to distinguish between the two- links to the range size and the extinction vortex
. Population size: the extinction vortex

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13
Q

As populations decline, the time elapsing before extinction occurs becomes rapidly smaller. Give an example

A

If something happened it could wipe pout the whole population and lead to extinction. However, if there are a few populations it may just be that one population that is affected

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14
Q

What are plants mainly threatened by?

A

Biological resource use which includes logging and gathering plants

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15
Q

How many species have been red list assesses as of January 2019? What percentage are classed as threatened and what percentage are classed as data deficient?

A

96,951

55% classed as threatened and 16% as data deficient

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16
Q

What is dark diversity?

A

A set of species that are absent from a site but that could disperse to and establish there, in other words, the absent portion of a habitat-specific species pool (species that should be there but are not)

17
Q

High completeness (I.e. high observed diversity and low dark diversity) within an ecoregion coupled with high irreplaceability and vulnerability indicate what?

A

High conservation priority area

18
Q

How is sampling bias seen in the red list?

A

We know more about animals than plants and more about terrestrial than marine

19
Q

How many species of mammals are there?

A

> 5,000

20
Q

How many species of birds are there?

A

10,426

21
Q

How many species of reptiles are there?

A

10,272

22
Q

How many species of amphibians are there?

A

7,501

23
Q

How many species are there overall?

A

~8.7 mio

24
Q

How many species of insects are there?

A

8,037

25
Q

Give the essential biodiversity variables in conservation

A

. Genetic composition
- allelic diversity
. Species populations
- abundance and distribution
. Species traits
- phenology (e.g. timing of leaf coloration)
. Community composition
- taxonomic diversity (e.g. multitaxa surveys (don’t just look at one species but look at the whole site and what is living there)
. Ecosystem structure
- habitat structure (e.g. remote sensing of forests- drones to measure no. And type of trees in an area)
. Ecosystem function
- nutrient retention (e.g. input of nitrogen)

26
Q

Describe the Eastern Arc mountains hotspot in Tanzania and the issues associated with it

A

The Udzungwa Scarp forest reserve close to nearby Udzungwa Mountains NP and surrounded by eight villages:
. High diversity
. Presence of endangered primates and duiker populations (e.g. endangered Abbott’s duiker and Udzunga Red Colobus)
Threats identified through monitoring between 1998-2008
. Biodiversity depletion higher than in nearby forests
. Increased disturbance e.g. snare hunting, pole-cutting and logging
. Declines in abundance of mammal species (elephants and leopards have already disappeared)

27
Q

What are the possible solutions to deal with the threats to the Eastern Arc mountain biodiversity hotspot in Tanzania?

A

. Law enforcement (logging, hunting)

. Reforestation

28
Q

What were the initial suggested solutions to the issues associated with the Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspot in Tanzania?

A

. Upgrading status to nature reserve
. Improving law enforcement
. Initiating livelihoods programmes to provide alternative protein sources to the local communities
(Evaluating small scale local activities that focus on certain types of income generation)

29
Q

What were the evaluated small scale local activities that focused on certain types of income generation in Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspot in Tanzania?

A
. Beekeeping 
. Dairy goat husbandry 
. Fish farming 
. Fuel efficient resources- reduce logging 
. Rabbit farming 
. Tree planting
30
Q

What is the adaptive management cycle? Give examples

A

Systematic way of thinking about protecting species where we consider everything that we need to think about in that context.
. Might be about an endangered species
. Might not be just about that species, could be increase the adults in that population or may also be about the local community e.g. if they hunt that species, what can be done so they will stop hunting that species

31
Q

Why is the red list over represented?

A

Because we chose the species we think are threatened to sample to see if they are on the red list

32
Q

Explain ‘geographical bias’ when sampling species and where it is seen

A

This is mainly towards well-studied North America, Western Europe and Australia. These are not the areas that are most species rich but are where most samples are from.
So we may not know a lot about an area, so it seems like it’s not species rich but in expert opinion is highly rich e.g. the amazon

33
Q

Give the essential biodiversity variables

A

. Genetic composition- allelic diversity
. Species populations- abundance and distributions
. Species traits- phenology, e.g. timing of leaf colouration
. Community composition- taxonomic diversity, e.g. multitaxa surveys (don’t just look at one species but look at the whole site and what is living there)
. Ecosystem structure- habitat structure, e.g. remote sensing of forests- drones to measure no. and type of trees in an area
. Ecosystem function- nutrient retention, e.g. input of nitrogen

34
Q

What are the different drivers causing forest declines?

A

. The drivers differ in different parts of the world
. Large-scale industrial clearing for timber production and oil palm conservation: SE Asia and Africa
. Large-scale industrial clearing for cattle growth on pastures and soybean production: S America
. Small-scale clearing for timber, charcoal and farming: Africa
. Population growth: Africa
. International trade (coffee, cacao, soy, beef)
(We are losing a lot of habitat but also what we have left is becoming fragmented)