Lecture 6

Question 1

What is an ecological scale? Explain

Answer 1

Is about the level in which we look at something in ecology e.g. do we watch an individual or a group, a group plus their prey. A group plus their prey plus what the prey feed on etc.
So can look at one trophic level of all of the trophic levels

Question 2

What does the ecological scale depend on?

Answer 2

Depends on the question you are trying to answer

Question 3

If you look at a very large spatial scale the distribution of biomes is mostly determined by what?

Answer 3

Temperature and precipitation, is a combination of the two e.g. different temps and precipitation would influence what species of tree grow somewhere

Question 4

The properties of an ecosystem aren’t just defined by the ecosystem itself. What else can they be defined by?

Answer 4

What’s next to the ecosystem. Ecosystem boundaries can be ecosystems of their own right (could be a gradual change or could be a sharp change)

Question 5

What is the extent of spatial scale and ecological processes?

Answer 5

Overall area encompassed by a study (e.g. the total size of a protected area you are studying)

Question 6

What is the grain of spatial scale and ecological processes?

Answer 6

Size of the individual units of observation (e.g. the grid cell size)

Question 7

Why can’t we detect patterns below the grain?

Answer 7

Research gained at small spatial scales are often not representative of larger areas, the large-area averages may be meaningless at smaller scales

Question 8

What do general circulation models stimulate? How do they do this?

Answer 8

The response of the global climate system to rising greenhouse gas concentrations.
Done by:
. Depict climate using a 3D grid over the globe, typically with a horizontal resolution of 250-600km
. Represent physical processes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and land surface

Question 9

What are the issues with general circulation models?

Answer 9

Because of their resolution:
. Miss fine details on vegetation and feedbacks with climate
. Many physical processes, such as those related to clouds, also occur at smaller scales and cannot be properly modelled (averaged over larger scales
These finer details are important for predicting local climate change and its impacts on ecological processes

Question 10

What are general circulation models used to predict?

Answer 10

Species distributional responses to climate change and this is a challenge because ecological studies are usually carried out at magnitudes several times small than these GCM’s

Question 11

What is vegetation climate feedback?

Answer 11

When the climate affects the vegetation which in turn affects the climate and the effects of these feedbacks can be extremely difficult to model and this can lead to large uncertainties in our predications of future climate change impacts

Question 12

What causes uncertainties when making climate change models?

Answer 12

. Uncertainties are introduced if he spatial resolution of the data/ model is coarse relative to the scale of ecological impact assessments
. Measurements made at different spatial scales are not necessarily directly comparable

Question 13

How is climate change predicted to influence crop productivity?

Answer 13

Is predicted to change it, especially in vulnerable regions which will lead to food insecurities in the future

Question 14

What are the implications of scale?

Answer 14

Has strong implications for the sampling design of our ecological studies: it impacts in interpretation of results and on understanding the links between patterns and processes operating at different rates/ scales

Question 15

What do scales profoundly influence?

Answer 15

Our ability to predict responses of biodiversity to change

Question 16

What is scale?

Answer 16

Space, time and ecological understanding

Question 17

What do ecological processes often operate within? Use an example to explain

Answer 17

Nested spacial and temporal scales e.g. if we are going to analyse carbon biomass dynamics in a forest ecosystem at the very smallest spacial and temporal scale you have leaf physiology, if you move it both spacial and temporal then you’ve got whole tree physiology and if you keep moving up these scales until you are looking at the entire forest

Question 18

In the UK we have seen the expansion of species northwards of species distributions. Give an example of where this is seen

Answer 18

In the small skipper butterfly, has been able to colonise more northern areas within the UK because the climate has warmed up and that has opened up more habitats/ more habitats have become suitable for it further north. (This northward shift in species distributions is across almost all taxonomic groups)

Question 19

What does future climate change is likely to include?

Answer 19

Further increase in global average temperatures almost more dry in some regions and increases in the frequency and the severity of extreme droughts and heat waves. It is important to think about forests in the context of climate change because they are really important carbon stores and play a really important role in the carbon cycle. We have documented first mortality due to drought stress and high temperature

Question 20

What is forest growth globally limited by?

Answer 20

Temperature and/ or water and/ or sunlight

Question 21

Give an example of a documented forest mortality due to drought stress and high temperature

Answer 21

A major drought in the Amazon in 2005 caused a widespread damage and die-off of trees. There was more than 700,000 square km of pristine forest that experienced extensive, severe die-off and tree fall and this particularly effected the older, larger, more vulnerable canopy trees that blanket the forest. (Drought-induced Atlas Cedar Die-off in Algeria)

Question 22

Ecosystem responses to climate change will further alter climate- vegetation feedbacks. How is this?

Answer 22

This is because forests affect biogeochemistry and biogeophysics

Question 23

How do forests affect biogeochemistry?

Answer 23

Changes in forest can in turn change local and global climate:
. Forests store 45% of terrestrial carbon
. Forests can sequester large amounts of carbon annually (2.6Pg/ year in 1999) ~33% of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel and land use

Question 24

How do forests affect biogeophysics?

Answer 24

. Low surface albedo (sunlight reflection) contributes to warming through increased solar heating of land. Firsts absorb more sunlight then pastures- the more sunlight is absorbed then the less goes back into the atmosphere and so there is less effect on climate change
. Evapotranspiration cools climate through feedbacks with clouds and precipitation. Forests have much greater evapotranspiration than pastures, particularly during the dry season, this produces a shallow, cool and moist boundary layer. So large scale conservation of forests to pastures actually creates a warm and drier climate

Question 25

What does REDD?

Answer 25

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Question 26

What is REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)?

Answer 26

Is a climate change management solution in which the more you reduce your emissions, the more you get paid. (Was put in place to encourage reforestation and discourage deforestation )

Question 27

What was the population growth forecast Tilman 2001?

Answer 27

The global population at 6 billion people is forecast to increase to 7.5 billion by the year 2020 and to about 9 billion by 2050. Predicted that the population will be at about 11 billion by 2100

Question 28

What was the population growth forecast in 2012?

Answer 28

Population was 7.2 billion people, will increase to between 9.6-12.3 billion in 2100

Question 29

What are the two greatest drivers of global environmental change?

Answer 29

Human population size and per capita consumption (the wealthier a nation becomes the more each of its citizens consumes and therefore the greater the resource demands of the country)

Question 30

What is poverty a major cause of (talking about climate change)?

Answer 30

Environmental degradation (World Bank 1992)

Question 31

What are some important variables in poverty?

Answer 31

Demographic, cultural, and institutional factors

Question 32

What is exogenous poverty?

Answer 32

Poverty caused by external factors e.g. colonisation- so we went to other countries and took their resources and left them in a state of poverty

Question 33

Give 6 relationships between poverty and environmental degradation (causes of environmental degradation)

Answer 33

1. Exogenous poverty
2. Power, wealth, and greed
3. Institutional failure (poor governments)
4. Market failure
5. Environmental degradation causes poverty (if a country has poor resources then they may not be able to life themselves out of poverty)
6. Endogenous poverty

Question 34

What is endogenous poverty?

Answer 34

Poverty that is caused by the population themselves

Question 35

What is meant by a ‘net importer of biodiversity threats’?

Answer 35

Countries where when the food you import that come into your country cause more environmental degradation abroad then is caused within your country from your own production and own exports- so effectively you are exsourcing your environmental damage to other countries

Question 36

What is meant by a ‘net exporters’?

Answer 36

Usually developing countries- where their exports are causing more environmental degradation at home then any other degradation being caused abroad by the resources they are bringing in

Question 37

What are the two proposed management solutions for land demands?

Answer 37

Land sharing vs land sparing

Question 38

What is meant by land sharing?

Answer 38

Conservation ‘farming’/ or wildlife farming. Land is heterogenous.

Question 39

What is meant by land sparing?

Answer 39

Separate PAs from farms and intensify crop production- where biodiversity is completely separate from agriculture and human activity. It considers the landscape to be binary either it’s for biodiversity or it is for agriculture

Question 40

Give an example of land sparing and land sharing

Answer 40

Land sparing: there is a very clear line

Land sharing: as there is wild plants, shrubs and trees shattered throughout the agricultural landscape

Question 41

What is ‘Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation’?

Answer 41

A UK led research programme that provides evidence and tools for decision-makers in developing countries to manage ecosystems sustainably and in a way that contributes to poverty

Question 42

What is the ‘Natural Capital Project’?

Answer 42

A US led research programme to integrate the value nature provides to society into all major decisions to improve the well-being of all people and nature by motivating greater and more targeted natural capital investments

Question 43

Define ecosystems

Answer 43

A level of biological organisation hat includes the interactions between organisms and their non-living (abiotic) environment (Tansley, 1935)