E2

Question 1

Why study animal behavior as a component of habitat management?

Answer 1

Behavior provides more in depth insight on ways that habitat is important. It goes a step further than simple correlations using habitat features, allowing us to understand what resources animals are actually using in a habitat and how they are related to reproduction and survival.

Question 2

I listed four components of the study of animal behavior – what are they (give examples)?

Answer 2

Causation: the need for safety and a place to raise young leads to foxes seeking out habitat that contains den locations.
Development: behavior changes with age. A wolf pup may be physically similar to an adult at 6 months but playful behavior is different.
Evolution: behaviors and evolution linked: extreme specialist foraging behavior of pandas a result to special evolved digestion system
Function: Behaviors influence survival and reproduction- lions hunt together and can take down larger prey

Question 3

In gathering behavioral data there are several approaches to sampling. Be able to describe ad libitum sampling, focal animal sampling, and scan sampling.

Answer 3

Ad libitum: records all behaviors that occur over period of time, good for capturing rare events
Two categories of sampling-
Focal animal: observation is limited to 1 animal a period of time
Scan sampling: a group of individuals is observed all at once

Question 4

What are 3 major concerns when sampling behavior?

Answer 4

Independence: multiple groups versus all individuals from single group,
Observer bias-experience training
Sample size requirements

Question 5

What are 3 ways to identify animal diet?

Answer 5

Observations of foragin
capture (regurgitation/scats)
remains(scats, carcasses)

Question 6

In terms of landscape ecology, what are the major kinds of habitat heterogeneity?

Answer 6

Patch, Edges, Fragments, Corridors

Question 7

If actual physical heterogeneity in the environment is high and mobility/perception/size of organism is low, is effective heterogeneity high or low? Why?

Answer 7

High: small organisms with low mobility are likely to experience full effects of temporal and spatial environmental heterogeneity- preventing competitive exclusion. They are unable to move to more favorable conditions with environmental fluctuations and may end up in many different types of patches.

Question 8

Relative to disturbance ecology, what is Type I disturbance?

Answer 8

Widespread with high level of disturbance, volcanoes, hurricane, major fire.

Question 9

How do fire, wind and clearcuts, all major disturbance factors, affect the subsequent abundance of snags vs. logs on the forest floor?

Answer 9

These disturbance events differ in their effects on abundance of snags and logs: Fire=++, Wind=-+, clearcut=–

Question 10

Why did Leopold (1933) write that edges were good for wildlife, but in the 1980s, the general sense of the environmental movement was that edges were bad for wildlife.

Answer 10

Citing hedgerow, forest edge, and woodland-open peat edges as important areas for wildlife but he was mainly focusing on mean game animals only, rabbits, deer, etc/ Today all species are included in the converstion, including those the rely on interior habitat. For many spcies edges may act as sinks and traps/

Question 11

With respect to the size of habitat edges, what is “depth-of-edge influence” and what does it have to do with corridors?

Answer 11

How far does effect of boundary extend (the influence). Abiotic it deals with light, temp, humidity.Ex grass land to forest - grassland hotter dryer, how far does indluence extend into forest. The effectiveness of corridors is influenced by depth of edge influence. If it is not sufficiently wide edge effects can not be escaped.

Question 12

What are the potential abiotic effects of climate change that could affect vegetation and animals? Give a couple of examples.

Answer 12

Increased/decreased: Fire, Precipitation, temps.
-result in increase in forest insect pests- destroying forests/habitat
-As the landscape and conditions change migrants maybe unable to locate new places with needed resources.
Some types of habitat may disappear entirely (high elevation), some may not be able to track changes even if similar habitat moves or is available elsewhere.

Question 13

What abilities of animals increase connectability/colonization capabilities among islands or patches (for potential immigrants)?

Answer 13

Capable of long-distance movements
High productivity
Able to withstand unsuitable conditions between patches

Question 14

Founder species on islands often undergo adaptive radiation. What is this? Give an example of such change.

Answer 14

Adaptive radiation is an example of divergent evolution, occurs when related organisms evolve dissimilar traits, often when facing a new set of niches to exploit. Charles Darwin noted adaptive radiation when he studied a group of finches on the Galapagos Islands. Although a single group of ancestral finches had migrated to the islands several million years ago, more than a dozen species would eventually evolve from the one. Because the birds began to spread out, different ecological niches forced changes on the population. Some finches ended up living on the ground, while others lived in trees or cactuses. Australian honeyeaters and new guinea birds of paradise are other examples.

Question 15

Exotic species introduced on to islands are often successful. Why?

Answer 15

native island biological communities may be poorly adapted to the threat posed by exotic introductions. Often this can mean that no natural predator of an introduced species is present. Or existing species may be naïve to new species or be easy targets (evolved flightlessness)

Question 16

Why are some island species more likely to go extinct than similar species on the mainland?

Answer 16

Smaller islands support smaller populations, and smaller populations are more likely to become extinct.

Question 17

Why aren’t isolation and fragmentation always bad?

Answer 17

Both are natural: they can avoid spread of disease, parasites, and pathogens, maintain relic faunas, and even in the presence of founder effects, there are typically several chances for genetic success.

Question 18

Be able to define the following habitat isolates: Kipukas, Nunataks, Kopjes

Answer 18

forms when lava flows on either side of a hill, ridge, or older lava dome as it moves downslope Nunataks: inuit term: exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within (or at the edge of) an ice field
Kopjes: on african plains, rock outcroppings, some species flora fauna.
All host unique communities of wildlife. An example of a valuable patch

Question 19

What are some differences between isolates in continental landscapes (land islands) and oceanic islands?

Answer 19

– Movements more complex
– Colonization and extinction process more complex
– Small patches may cease to be functional
– More dispersal habitat
– Greater species richness and less faunal relaxation

Question 20

What good are “remnant” habitat patches?

Answer 20

Final bastions- only places remaining, location for studying natural systems
also often harbor higher densities of animals.
reflect on.. what was it like.
• Environmental benchmarks
– Preservation plots
– Sacred groves-giant sequoias
– Learning experiences
• Stepping stones- stop over patches for birds

Question 21

What good are “Matrix” forests (those outside of reserve systems)?

Answer 21

Support populations of some species
• Regulate and afford movement and dispersal of some organisms
• Buffer sensitive areas and reserves
• Maintain integrity of aquatic systems

Question 22

True or false – good monitoring occurs:
Only after management has occurred.
Only during one time of the year.
When individual species requirements are considered.

Answer 22

False, False, TRUE

Question 23

Because there often are lag effects in population responses, monitoring wildlife for early warning signals is a good idea. What should you monitor?

Answer 23

Certain species - Respond quickly to change (not trees, perhaps rapid reproducing species
– Certain population or behavioral parameters - Show up quickly (clutch size)

Question 24

If you monitor certain species, what characteristics should they have?

Answer 24

Short life spans
High reproductive rates
High mortality rates
High habitat specificity (invertebrates?)

Question 25

If you monitor population parameters, which ones could you monitor?

Answer 25

• % breeding • Juvenile sex ratios • Community structure (new species or ratios) – Bird guilds

Question 26

If you monitor behavioral parameters, what could you monitor?

Answer 26

* Foraging activities * Nest-site switching, site fidelity between years * “Divorce” rates (for species long term monogamous)

Question 27

What are some basic objectives of modeling?

Answer 27

• Formalize understanding • Understand factors affecting distribution (and abundance) • Predict future • Identify weaknesses in our understanding • Generate testable hypotheses

Question 28

Relative to modeling wildlife habitat, what is “hindcasting”?

Answer 28

Hindcasting is used to explain historic pattern, less common than forecasing but useful in retrospective and occasionally current studies.

Question 29

What are basic types of predictions that models produce? Give examples.

Answer 29

``` • Deterministic – Point estimates (526 pandas in 50 years) • Statistical – Estimates of error (526 + 112 pandas) • Probabalistic – Likelihood/probability (70% chance) ```

Question 30

What is the difference between accuracy and precision?

Answer 30

accuracy- value correct | Precision- same value every time

Question 31

Be able to describe/give examples of a Habitat Matrix model, an Expert model, a Forest Stand Growth Model, Gap Analysis, a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model, and a Decision Support Model.

Answer 31

separate Qs

Question 32

What are the 5 important steps in model validation that I identified? Explain them.

Answer 32

• Verifying the model – Is the math right? (documentation) • Testing for an audience – Will it be used? (too complex or esoteric?) • Running the model – Does it “work”? (can it use real data?) • Assessing purpose and context – Is its usefulness clear? (how can it be mis-used?) • Testing the output – Does it match the real world? (Type I and Type II errors)

Question 33

True or false? - Most habitat models can be expected to account for less than half of the variation in species’ density or abundance.

Answer 33

TRUE

Question 34

With respect to testing a model, what is cross validation and how can you do it?

Answer 34

Use half of your data for model building and test with the other half – Bootstrapping (replacement) – Jack-knifing (no replacement)

Question 35

How do you test a Matrix model?

Answer 35

``` Go and look! – Presence/absence surveys – Population assessments • Density • Reproduction • Survival ```

Question 36

What is a use-availability design method for evaluating habitat selection?

Answer 36

Proportion of time spent in each habitat vs. relative area of each habitat. - Relative percent use (obs, telemetry..) - Can use Chi-square, electivity, rankings compositional analysis

Question 37

What is a site attribute design method for evaluating habitat selection?

Answer 37

Characteristics of used sites vs. random sites (nest sites, breeding territories, drumming sites) -measure many variables -use multivariate analysis

Question 38

What is a demographic response design method for evaluating habitat selection?

Answer 38

Demographics in different habitats, comparisons among studies or study sites Habitat vs. density Habitat vs. reproduction Habitat vs. survival, piping plover chick survival

Question 39

What are some problems in defining habitats?

Answer 39

What do you pick?- different opinions? How many types capture sufficient variation? Scale? (microhabitat characteristics for Musk Ox) Tundra-1 type-ox perceive differences

Question 40

What is wrong with the assumption that the more a selected resource is available, the more it will be used?

Answer 40

If you know a species like habitat A, lets provide more of it as a benefit. This is flawed. Examples: Roe deer: resting vs. foraging (distance between patches). Two different types of habitat, whether they used a habitat a lot depended on the distance between the two types of habitat. So the connection is too simplistic Ex. Turkeys in agriculture. Looked like they did not spend time in ag areas. Diminishing that is probably good. They really like the edge!, ag is important to create edge.

Question 41

There are both technical and sampling problems in measuring habitat use. Explain 2 of these.

Answer 41

Technique biases: observations made in a biased way- moose, fly over see more moose in open, doesn’t mean they spend a lot of time in the open, you just can’t see them in the trees Sign surveys: deer scat, can quantify sign but what does that reflect? Does it tell you where they feed and sleep. Maybe they poop randomly may be useful, maybe it’s a certain time period afterwards so could be biased. You have to know these details to avoid biases Telemetry: often cannot find badgers, may not get signal when they are underground or if they are too far away, if you cant tell the difference between these two then data may be biased. Sampling biases:Individuality= a single individual or group of individuals may not represent the species. Can be significant source of bias. Single pack of African wild dogs that could take a zebra, but otherwise very rare. Pooled samples:

Question 42

Why is a demographic response design for identifying good habitat a good idea?

Answer 42

Gets at what we are really interested into, connection between demographics and habitat. Just density doesn’t indicate quality. Turnover rates could be a better indicator. How face individuals move through a population through mortality and dispersal. If they don’t leave or die, good indication of quality habitat. Reproduction and survival: density-dependence, confounding effects. Carryover effects, influence of non-habitat variables can influence these demographics.

Question 43

Why are “Testing is never-ending” and “Replication is good” recommendations to keep in mind when estimating importance of habitats?

Answer 43

Testing is never ending: even if we come up with some model for demographic parameters and site selection, no one place at any time is likely to be the same at any other sampling occasion. Also trying to refine and understand influencing factors. Constantly learning new things about how a system changes over time. Replication is good: when we come up with a conclusion from a study, you are publishing a sort of hypothesis. “I might be wrong, and if I am we are obviously discovering something new” Testing updated models and replicating experiments are essential to progress.

Question 44

Explain the experimental approach that Steve DeStefano and his colleagues are taking with respect to the effects of moose and deer browsing at the Quabbin (from the lab reading). Why are these plots placed in recent clearcut areas?

Answer 44

In the spirit of good experimental design DeStefano tried to control for a maximum of variables by making each of the 8 experimental sites as similar as possible. Since they wanted to monitor the differences in the growth of vegetation and to create a universal starting point, starting with cleared plots made the most sense. Recent clearcuts avoided a need to cut forest for the experiement. They target similar forest types: mixed hardwoods and conifers with a component of oaks and pines. They also manipulated the amount of fallen, woody debris to a standard amount. For each site a control plot (no fence), an total enclosed plot, and a 2m high fence enclosure were create, each the same size. Vegetation and animal use was monitored, with veg measures taking place over at least a decade.

Question 45

Be able to explain 4 methods to manage relatively small grasslands for grassland birds (from the lab reading).

Answer 45

Mowing Small Hayfieds (10 - 75 acres): prevent growth of woody vegetation, timing important for nest survival, aug 1. Some birds like 8 year+ old growth. Grazing Small Pastures (10 - 75 acres): Grazing can benefit grassland wildlife by creating a mosaic of grass heights and structure. Many birds respond favorably to limited grazing, including killdeers and meadowlarks. However, intensive grazing leads to a loss of plant diversity and cover for wildlife. Burning Large Grasslands Burning reduces buildup of dead vegetation, adds nutrients to the soil, rejuvenates plant growth, and helps prevent the spread of woody vegetation. Hayfields that develop a thick layer of thatch are usually not used by nesting birds because they cannot effectively run on the ground to escape predators or forage for food. Grassland Restoration: Areas that have been neglected, invaded with woody vegetation, overgrazed, or planted with alfalfa or row crops can be restored into grasslands that will provide wetlands protection habitat for grassland birds

Question 46

a Habitat Matrix model

Answer 46

Within a matrix of habitat factors considers optimal conditions for one or more species. indicates where species likely to be found based on a variety of variables. For example a matrix of ecosystem type, area requirements, and dispersal could be used to identify an ecoprofile for species ranging from a Dormouse to a Red deer.

Question 47

an Expert model,:

Answer 47

putting together knowledge, discussion with others with experience, to predict what will happen in a given system under different conditions

Question 48

a Forest Stand Growth Model:

Answer 48

Model used by foresters? possibly for harvest, that, for example, looks at Basal area over time, may take into account factors such as speices, growing condition, competition, soil, precip all influence.

Question 49

Gap Analysis:

Answer 49

A gis model that overlays multiple data layers to determine where gaps in a desired condition exist. For example, by overlaying distributions for all species in a state, determine where most diverse areas are and then overlay with existing protected areas to determine where gaps exist (where new protected areas might be most effective.)

Question 50

a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model

Answer 50

expert system model, but masquerades in a way as a quantitative model. The model provides a single numerical index value based on combined interactions of different species-habitat relationship. For example, a marine organism may be present in high numbers with increasing cover, moderate salinity, and decreasing predator abundance, so a suitability index of 1 would exist under the peak of each of these individual conditions. A sort of average either weighted or unweighted. Relationship values often based on expert opinion.

Question 51

a Decision Support Model

Answer 51

A are designed to help decision makers make informed decisions by combining empirical data with expert judgement, evaluating uncertainty, and identify important habitat factors using sensitivity testing. A decision tree analysis showing recommendation actions to take for orphaned black bear cubs based on conditional set of conditions is an example.

Question 52

Restoration can include designed efforts to manipulate “filters” to arrive at a desired species composition (pg.94). Give some examples of how managers can modify the effects of filters to allow desired species in and prevent the establishment of undesired species.

Answer 52

abiotic-structures for use use as shelter or water sources. Biotic- controlling exotic species, predator control, and introducing animals. This can include using transport to overcome dispersak barriers.

Question 53

Umbrella:

Answer 53

Species whose conservation confers a protective umbrella to numerous co-occurring species

Question 54

Indicator:

Answer 54

Species whose distribution, abundance, or population dynamics can serve as substitute measures of the status of other species or environmental attributes

Question 55

Keystone:

Answer 55

Species that significantly affects one or more key ecological processes or elements to an extent that greatly exceeds what would be predicted from its abundance or biomass

Question 56

Ecosystem engineer:

Answer 56

Species that, via morphology or behavior, modifies, maintains, and creates habitat for itself and other organisms

Question 57

Flagship:

Answer 57

Charismatic species that serves as a symbol to generate conservation awareness and action

Question 58

Focal species:

Answer 58

Species used, for any reason, to help understand, manage, or conserve ecosystem composition, structure, or function

Question 59

In a proposed restoration area there is a variety of factors that potentially limit the occurrence of species (pg. 142). Know the listed means of mitigating the following: Disturbance caused by human activities; Disease; Size of area; Seasonality; Biotic factors, including predation and competition

Answer 59

Disturbance caused by human activities: Control human access or timing or access, establish buffers around key/sensitive areas Disease: Do not allow animals to concentrate in small areas, consider treatment of the environment or treatment of selected animals Size of area: consider linkages/corridors Seasonality: Artificially establish and maintain water, roosts and other resources Biotic factors, including predation and competition: consider direct control of exotic or sometimes, native animals (cowbirds)

Question 60

What is biological significance (as opposed to statistical significance; pg. 151)?

Answer 60

Biological significance: There is enough difference, or a strong enough relationship exists, to make us believe that it matters biologically, Often authors do not separate biological significance from statistical significance which can lead to very small differences being deemed ecologically important. For example a large sample may reveal a 10% difference in foraging rates between male and females, which would be statistically significant based on a simple statistical test, but that difference may not really matter for survival or reproductive success, making it of little ecological importance.

Question 61

What are four reasons why restoration projects fall into the “suboptimal study design” category (pg.53)?

Answer 61

- Treated (restored) sites are usually selected nonrandomly - Replication of restoration sites is often not possible - Pretreatment data are usually scanty or nonexistent - Control areas are difficult to establish

Question 62

What is a use-availability design method for evaluating habitat selection?

Answer 62

Proportion of time spent in each habitat vs. relative area of each habitat. - Relative percent use (obs, telemetry..) - Can use Chi-square, electivity, rankings compositional analysis

Question 63

What is a site attribute design method for evaluating habitat selection?

Answer 63

Characteristics of used sites vs. random sites (nest sites, breeding territories, drumming sites) -measure many variables -use multivariate analysis

Question 64

What are some problems in defining habitats?

Answer 64

What do you pick?- different opinions? How many types capture sufficient variation? Scale? (microhabitat characteristics for Musk Ox) Tundra-1 type-ox perceive differences

Question 65

What is wrong with the assumption that the more a selected resource is available, the more it will be used?

Answer 65

If you know a species like habitat A, lets provide more of it as a benefit. This is flawed. Examples: Roe deer: resting vs. foraging (distance between patches). Two different types of habitat, whether they used a habitat a lot depended on the distance between the two types of habitat. So the connection is too simplistic Ex. Turkeys in agriculture. Looked like they did not spend time in ag areas. Diminishing that is probably good. They really like the edge!, ag is important to create edge.

Question 66

There are both technical and sampling problems in measuring habitat use. Explain 2 of these.

Answer 66

Technique biases: observations made in a biased way- moose, fly over see more moose in open, doesn’t mean they spend a lot of time in the open, you just can’t see them in the trees Sign surveys: deer scat, can quantify sign but what does that reflect? Does it tell you where they feed and sleep. Maybe they poop randomly may be useful, maybe it’s a certain time period afterwards so could be biased. You have to know these details to avoid biases Telemetry: often cannot find badgers, may not get signal when they are underground or if they are too far away, if you cant tell the difference between these two then data may be biased. Sampling biases:Individuality= a single individual or group of individuals may not represent the species. Can be significant source of bias. Single pack of African wild dogs that could take a zebra, but otherwise very rare. Pooled samples:

Question 67

Why is a demographic response design for identifying good habitat a good idea?

Answer 67

Gets at what we are really interested into, connection between demographics and habitat. Just density doesn’t indicate quality. Turnover rates could be a better indicator. How face individuals move through a population through mortality and dispersal. If they don’t leave or die, good indication of quality habitat. Reproduction and survival: density-dependence, confounding effects. Carryover effects, influence of non-habitat variables can influence these demographics.

Question 68

Why are “Testing is never-ending” and “Replication is good” recommendations to keep in mind when estimating importance of habitats?

Answer 68

Testing is never ending: even if we come up with some model for demographic parameters and site selection, no one place at any time is likely to be the same at any other sampling occasion. Also trying to refine and understand influencing factors. Constantly learning new things about how a system changes over time. Replication is good: when we come up with a conclusion from a study, you are publishing a sort of hypothesis. “I might be wrong, and if I am we are obviously discovering something new” Testing updated models and replicating experiments are essential to progress. variation creates complexity that is never possible to full model.