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Convervation Bio > Ch 4 > Flashcards

Ch 4 Flashcards

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1
Q

what is an ecological footprint

A

the environmental impact someone has

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2
Q

how does the footprint vary between the US and other countries?

A

1 US child = 70-200 children in developing countries

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3
Q

what factors affect the impact of a human population?

A

population size
average income
technology use

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4
Q

how do factors relate to a countries ecological footprint

A

the footprint of westernized cities is much larger than the area it occupies due to technology

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5
Q

about how much habitable land has not been altered by humans

A

25%

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6
Q

can habitat destruction be natural

A

yes

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7
Q

what “natural disasters” are affected by human actions

A

volcanic eruptions

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8
Q

about how much forest remains on the planet

A

about 4 billion ha

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9
Q

why is tropical rainforest being lost?

A

political problems
shifted cultivation

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10
Q

political problems affect rainforests because

A

conflicts may break downs established land use practices
commercial interests shift

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11
Q

what is shifted cultivation

A

poor people in developing countries clear and burn forests for agricultural sustainability for 2-3 seasons

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12
Q

how can the construction of a road affect habitat destruction

A

allow access to more area

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13
Q

How may/have changes in political systems and management strategies affect habitat destruction in Brazil?

A

Fires have become more common during dry seasons

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14
Q

How is demand for products in the United States (and other westernized countries) tied to habitat destruction in developing countries?

A

a. Demand for cheap resources
b. Costa rica
i. Demand for cheap beef in developed countries
ii. Converted forest into cattle ranches
iii. Boycott of restaurants that used this beef decreased demand
c. Palm oil

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15
Q

what factors have contributed to record wildfires in the past several years?

A

a. Less rainfall in tropical dry forests than in tropical rainforests
b. More suitable for agriculture and cattle ranching
c. US forest service adopted a policy of aggressive fire control
d. Fires are occurring in new areas that are not yet suited to handle the change

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16
Q

Some areas have increased in forest cover- are all forests equivalent for conservation of biodiversity?

A

No, because a new forest is often monoculture and does not support the old species/biodiversity

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17
Q

How do tropical dry forests differ from tropical rainforests? from grasslands? What economic activities threaten these habitats?

A

a. Tropical dry forests
i. Less rainfall than tropical rainforests
ii. Agriculture and cattle ranching
b. Tropical rainforests
i. More rainfall than tropical dry forests
ii. Fires
c. Grasslands
i. Good for agriculture and ranching
ii. Thick soil layers, not enough to support trees

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18
Q

What is desertification? How are we facilitating this process?

A

a. Seasonally dry climates make man-made deserts
b. Repeated cultivation leads to soil erosion
c. Chronic overgrazing by livestock
d. Soil is lost  desert

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19
Q

What development affects freshwater systems? (surface rivers and wetlands)

A

a. Resources for flood control, drinking water, waste treatment
b. Often altered by development, aquaculture, runoff from urban agriculture or mines

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20
Q

Why are Mangroves important to coastal communities? What threatens these habitats?

A

a. Trap sediment, stabilize coastlines
b. Provide habitat
c. Primary production source
d. Cleared for development, aquaculture, and fuel wood

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21
Q

Why are coral reefs (and the corals themselves) so important in terms of biodiversity?

A

Support ~ 1/3 of all fish species
Global warming leads to bleaching events

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22
Q

Why would the runoff of sediment and nutrients be harmful to these ecosystems?

A

Pollution of excess nutrients increases algae growth and higher sediment loads

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23
Q

What fishing techniques destroy coral reef habitat?

A

Fishing techniques such as cyanide/dynamite lead to overfishing

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24
Q

What is habitat fragmentation?

A

Large continuous block of habitat is reduced and broken up into smaller pieces

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25
What are some of the biggest ways in which fragmentation occurs?
b. Occurs when a habitat is destroyed, roads are built, canals, railroads c. Leads to increase in the amount of area that is edge habitat d. Distance from the center of fragment to edge is reduced
26
What is the general trend for habitat fragmentation- is it becoming more or less common?
a. It is becoming more common
27
How can fragmentation effect the behavior of species?
a. Limits the dispersal and thus limits the colonization of habitats i. Species may not cross open space, predators are often waiting ii. If animals do not cross boundaries, seeds may not either
28
What is a metapopulation?
a. Series of populations in a given area often occurs when a habitat is patchy
29
Why might metapopulations be threatened by fragmentation?
b. Populations are typically small c. Extinctions and recolonizations are common d. Source and sink populations e. Blocks to recolonization can have a devastating effect
30
How fragmented habitat different from the same size plot that is not fragmented?
a. Limit dispersal and thus colonization of habitat b. Limit the foraging ability of animals c. Restrict the ability of organisms to find mates d. Fragmentation of populations
31
How is the edge of a habitat different from the interior? How does the microenvironment change?
a. The conditions (microclimate) experienced at the edge of a habitat will differ from those found at the center b. Temperature changes are more variable c. Increased light intensity d. Increased wind e. Decreased humidity f. Direct rainfall g. Pioneer species (r selected) will quickly invade these exposed areas h. Habitats are less stable, more variability
32
How does fragmentation change the risk of fire in a forest?
a. Lower humidity b. Higher temperature c. Better conditions for a fire d. Fuel available at the edge i. Falling branches from trees due to wind damage
33
How does fragmentation make species more vulnerable to predators and parasites?
a. Increased edge allows greater access to the interior b. Cowbirds, racoons, opossums
34
Why would fragmentation increase the chances wild species catch disease?
a. Increased edge places wildlife closer to domestic animals
35
How does fragmentation affect the species richness of a community?
a. Decrease
36
How does habitat degradation differ from destruction?
a. Structure of habitat not altered but the quality of habitat is affected b. More diffuse factors i. Pesticide use, fertilizers ii. Industrial waste, sewages, oil spills iii. Ozone thinning, acid rain,CO2
37
How and why did DDT affect living organisms? Who figured this out first?
a. Used during WWII to fight mosquitos b. Cheap to make, low acute toxicity to mammals, very persistent/stable c. Widely used, biomagnification, lipid-soluble d. Harmful to wildlife i. Thinning eggshells, abnormal behavior, and developmental problems ii. Interferes with estrogen function and calcium deposition 1. Killed insects, mosquitos quickly evolved resistance, high concentration in aquatic systems e. Harmful to humans i. Aching joints, tremors, depression ii. Concentrate on myelin sheaths, affecting the nervous system iii. Concentration in mother’s milk was high
38
What characteristics should a chemical possess for biomagnification to occur? Why is this an issue for humans?
a. Stored in fat tissue/lipid soluble
39
What are some of the major types of water pollutants?
a. Phosphate b. Nitrogen c. Fertilizer, detergents, septic/wwtp, animal waste, erosion
40
How is Cultural eutrophication different than eutrophication?
a. Eutrophication is naturally occurring b. Cultural eutrophication is due to humans
41
What nutrients are typically limiting in Aquatic (Freshwater) and Marine systems? What are the major sources for these nutrient inputs?
a. Phosphate b. Fertilizer, detergents, septic/wwtp, animal waste, erosion
42
What is a dead zone and how does it form?
a. Industrial and domestic waste b. Algal counts decreased c. Bacteria levels increase, beaches close d. Oxygen levels decrease, native species decline e. Species that could tolerate low oxygen levels thrive
43
What are some major ways that toxic metals enter the water?
a. mining operations b. waste incineration c. leaded gasoline
44
what is a red tide? What nutrients typically play a role? How is this affecting the organisms?
* red tides triggered by nutrient loading * toxic metals such as lead, zinc, mercury are non degradable * toxic effects can cause retardation in humans
45
Why should you be careful about eating fish from the Greatlakes? Why would the size of the fish be a factor?
a. Increased methyl mercury b. Smaller fish greater increase
46
What common chemicals may mimic estrogen?
a. Atrazine, triclosan, pharmaceuticals, bisphenol A
47
How might chemicals similar to estrogem in the water affect wild populations? Why could this be a problem?
b. In frogs/fish i. Feminization of males ii. Delayed sexual maturity iii. Decrease size of male reproductive anatomy iv. Thinner eggs
48
The line 5- pipeline that goes under the Straights of Mackinac is controversial, why are some people concerned about this pipeline?
a. Enbridge pipeline burst in Marshall, MI b. Several gallons of crude oil into Talmadge creek and Kalamazoo river
49
Why is plastic an issue (in the water and on beaches)?
a. Sea turtles eat jelly fish, bags looks like jelly fish
50
How might we remove plastic? Is removing it a long term solution?
b. Stop ocean dumping c. No
51
What causes Photochemical smog?
a. Ozone and other chemicals produced by reaction of chemicals from car emissions with sunlight
52
What are the costs of this air pollution (to humans and wildlife).
b. Respiratory irritant c. Decrease visibility
53
What causes acid precipitation?
b. Due to presence of sulfuric acid (coal burning) and nitric acids (cars) c. Hydrogen sulfide, volcanoes, natural breakdown of organic compounds d. Smelting sulfur compound with metallic minerals into free minerals e. Industrial processes
54
What happens to a lake when it becomes acidified?
f. Acidifies soil, growth and germination may be inhibited g. Limits ability of bacteria and fungi to recycle nutrients h. Increases the solubility of metals, can be toxic to organisms i. Tree needles are oxidized j. Prevents the exchange of nutrients between water and sediment of white moss
55
How can acid precipitation be reversed?
k. add limestone to buffer the acid
56
What causes the thinning of the ozone layer?
a. Chloroflouro carbons (CFCs) used in aerosols, refrigerants b. Ozone layer in stratosphere absorbs shorter wavelengths of UV light from the sun
57
When does the ozone layer thinning happen?
c. 1985- a “hole” in the ozone layer was discovered over antarctica, occurs every year in the late winter
58
What is the outlook for this environmental problem?
e. May recover by 2060
59
What international agreement made an impact on the ozone?
f. Halley Bay Station Antarctica
60
what most likely accounts for recent clearings of tropical forests to support the demand in developed countries
forest is being cleared to increase beef production, to meet the demand in the US
61
it is thought that we have about 4 billion ha of forest left on the planet about ___ of this is tropical rainforest
50%
62
what is the fishing practices thought to damage coral reefs
cyanide fishing
63
what may help forests avoid episodes of catastrophic fire
controlled burns of the forest understory (fuel)
64
the misuse of agricultural land may lead to the formation of wastelands that cannot support productive agriculture or healthy biological communites this process is
desertification
65
the clearing of tropical forests by individuals or families that use the land for subsistence farming for a couple of years, then move to new areas when the soil nutrients are exhausted is called
shifted cultivation
66
what may be true of a forest that has been fragmented
changes in microclimate may extend inward from the edge contact between wild and domestic animals increase increase in edge habitat foraging ability of organisms may be limited
67
what changes in microclimate are likely to result from the creation of new edge habitat by a fragmentation event in tropical forests
trees are exposed to more wind
68
a series of interdependent sub-populations in a given area that are linked by migration can be called a
meta population
69
what biome type is thought to be a threatened habitat because most has been converted to agricultural land and cattle ranches
tropical dry forest
70
what is thought to be a major threat to mangrove communities
development for aquaculture
71
what is necessary for the production of photochemical smog
sunlight
72
what is the largest source of SO2 emissions, contributing to acid precipitation
coal burning power plants
73
what is a currently used strategy to help prevent endocrine disruptors from affecting wildlife
most waste-water treatment plants have technology to remove chemicals adding testosterone mimics to the water to balance the false estrogen signals preventing plastic pollution disposing birth control pills and other pharmaceuticals at drug drop off centers
74
the scientist that brought attention to the harmful affects of pesticides on birds and other wildlife is
rachel carson
75
what best describes a dead zone in a water body
bottom waters are hypoxic
76
what would represent an example of habitat degredation
runoff of pesticides and fertilizers into streams

Convervation Bio (8 decks)

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