Community Ecology Flashcards

Question

What is an example of restoration of water filtration?

Answer 1

Delaware watershed (2000 square miles) brought filtered water to New York City. Water was being polluted, and the choice was to build a 6-8 billion dollar filtration plant or restore and protect the natural filter

Answer 2

``` Highly efficient and valuable Crop filled valleys Forested mountains Streams feeding 19 reservoirs 1.8 billion gallons a day No need for filtration paint ```

Answer 3

Soil, roots and microorganisms break down contaminants (fertilisers, N2 from car exhausts) Aquatic plants absorb up to 50% of nutrients Wetlands continue to filter and trap sediments and heavy metals Reservoirs - sediment sinks to bottom Small doses of chlorine and fluorine are all that’s needed

Answer 4

``` Linking up fragments of habitat Natural regeneration Planting trees between fragments Felling non-natives Reintroducing large mammals ```

Answer 5

Describe them Model them Manipulate them

Answer 6

Invasive species | Nest predator, has driven 10 endemic bird species to the point of extinction

Answer 7

Introduce it in small amounts - better than all at once

Answer 8

One of the top 20 invasive species in the UK Grows well in wetland communities Explosive seed pods Produces 10x more nectar than any UK species Introduced in 1839 Competes with native plants for pollinators - has more nectar so attracts more insects

Answer 9

Experimental plot - removed balsam flower heads every week - allows balsam to still compete directly with native plants but not for pollinators

Answer 10

On average more visits from pollinators if balsam is present (opposite to expectation) However, 80% of pollen on insects was balsam pollen

Answer 11

High conservation status Evolutionary hot houses Badly damage by crops, tourism and alien species Huge scope for restoration

Answer 12

``` Lakes (islands in a sea of land) Mountain tops (high altitude islands in a low altitude island) Habitat fragmentation (islands of habitats) ```

Answer 13

A theory aimed at predicting the number of species that would exist on a newly created island and able to explain the species richness of islands

Answer 14

Islands contain fewer species than comparable pieces of mainland Big islands > species than small islands Small islands > species than distant islands Species-area relationship

Answer 15

1. Habitat diversity: more habitats on continents/large islands than small islands 2. Equilibrium theory (McArthur & Wilson, 1967): the number of species on an island is determined by a balance between immigration and emigration/extinction - more immigration onto closer islands

Answer 16

``` Ancient broadleaf woodland Heathlands Caledonian pine forest Tropical dry rainforest Tropical rain forest ```

Answer 17

1. Reduced area 2. Edge effect - more light, wind and water affected edges of habitat, which can cause the habitat area to decrease further

Answer 18

``` Predators Large species (need large areas to feed) Habitat specialists (fragmentation affects germination time, temp, etc) ```

Answer 19

``` Wildlife corridors (connect habitats to each other) However, they are expensive and there is a lack of research on them until recently ```

Answer 20

1. They will slow rate of extinction | 2. Predators most affected by fragmentation so corridors benefit predators most

Answer 21

An outdoor experimental system that examines the natural environment under controlled conditions

Answer 22

Smallest plots = fastest species loss | Even 100 hectares lost 50% of species in 10 years

Answer 23

Increase in mean global temperature is associated with an average advancement in phenology of life history events e.g. flowers man bloom earlier in the year

Answer 24

4.5 days earlier since 50 years ago

Answer 25

Increased temperature makes pathogens more virulent. 67% of the 110 harlequin frogs are now extinct - temperature now optimum for outbreaks of frog fungus

Community Ecology Flashcards

(51 cards)