Bonine and Gerst, ECOL 406R/506R, Fall 2005

Conservation Biology

20 October2005

Suggested Review Topics for Second Mid-TermExam

(75 points on Thursday 27 October 2005).

Please review your readings (including VanDyke text chapters 5-8) and lecture notes for material through 20 October. The global climate change lecture on 25 October will not be on this exam. Your exam will take place in two parts. The first will be a typical individual exam which should take you about 45-50 minutes. The second part will be about 20-25 minutes in groups of four students on a short set of additional questions. See your syllabus for grading details.

27Sept: ~Conservation Biology, Important Paradigms

  1. What is the proposal in the Donlan et al. (2005, Nature) paper we discussed in lecture. Why do you agree or disagree with the proposal?
  2. Describe three factors that contribute to a quality oral presentation. Describe three things that typically detract from an oral presentation.
  3. What are some of the problems faced by small populations?
  4. How do conservation biologists think differently about small vs. declining populations?
  5. What factors are taken into account when determining Effective Population Size?
  6. Do larger or smaller populations have lower equilibrium heterozygosity?
  7. List three of the five threats associated with a loss of genetic diversity.
  8. Define genetic drift.
  9. We discussed four extinction vortexes in lecture. Explain two of them.
  10. In the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium what are p and q? How do you calculate the equilibrium?
  11. Explain what conclusions are typically taken from a reported Fst value (Wright’s Fixation Index)
  12. How do you calculate equilibrium heterozygosity for a population?
  13. Draw a graph that explains the basics of the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography.
  14. Define ‘rescue effect’.

29 Sept: Conservation Genetics Example, Hans-Werner Herrmann

  1. What organism (don’t need to know the latin trinomial) did H-W discuss?
  2. What species concept did he refer to several times?
  3. How would you briefly describe the distribution of the species/subspecies that H-W discussed?
  4. What large-scale ecosystem restoration practice is the Kanab Amber Snail affecting?
  5. How is the ESA involved? Give three examples.
  6. How might the observed geographic distribution of the KAS have come to be?
  7. What is grey literature?
  8. In a general sense, how does the information gleaned from mtDNA differ from that gleaned from SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms in nuclear DNA) or AFLPs (amplified fragment-length polymorphisms in nuclear DNA)?

04 Oct:~Conservation Genetics

  1. In lecture, I discussed Bill Birky’s proposed definition of species that might function for asexual organisms. What was his proposal? Do you agree or disagree and why?
  2. Why do scientists study the MHC of Cheetahs?
  3. What bill hascongressman Pombo (R-CA) recently submitted to the House of Representatives? What effect would the bill’s passage have?
  4. Define metapopulation. Give an example.
  5. Explain source vs. sink populations.
  6. What are the two major threats to lowland leopard frogs around Tucson?
  7. Explain what juggling balls, oranges, and mites all have to do with metapopulations and habitat heterogeneity.
  8. What is the difference between endogenous disturbance and exogenous disturbance? Give an example of each.
  9. Explain the basic differences between older ideas about climax communities and current ideas about shifting mosaics.
  10. Give 5 examples of information generated by conservation genetics that is useful in conservation biology.

06Oct: Rob Robichaux: adaptive radiation and Silversword conservation

  1. What is adaptive radiation? Why does it occur rapidly on islands?
  2. List 3 threats to the Hawaiian silverswords.
  3. Explain “Preparing for Loihi.”
  4. From what continent did the Hawaiian Silversword’s relatives originate?
  5. Robichaux studied regulatory gene evolution in the Silverswords. Why are these genes a good place to focus research attention?
  6. What information can be inferred by studying the ratio of 1) mutations that alter the amino acid composition of a protein to 2) the mutations that are silent (same amino acid coded for by altered/different genes)?
  7. What is monocarpic reproduction?
  8. What do Robichaux and colleagues attempt to do with invasive ungulates in Silversword areas?
  9. What was the problem with the captive propagation program that was undertaken for the Silverswords in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s?
  10. Why won’t the silverswords recover without human intervention even if the invasive grazers are removed?
  11. Robichaux listed three large groups of organisms that are not native to Hawaii. Can you name two of them?
  12. Is the oldest Hawaiian island of Kauai about 500,000 years old, 5 million years old, or 5 billion years old?
  13. Do you think that Hawaii having 40% of the listed ESA species (threatened or endangered) but only 0.2% of the land area realistic ratios of what species are in trouble and where (in the U.S.)?
  14. Why was Robichaux jazzed about the Pizza Hut BioReader program?

11 Oct: Conservation Genetics

  1. Give an example of introgression and define the term.
  2. What are the pros and cons of using molecular vs. morphological characters in taxonomically defining species?
  3. What is a cryptic species?
  4. Give an example of a non-invasive technique for collecting DNA from wild organisms.
  5. Define: (a) ESU and (b) MU. Which is bigger?
  6. How many subspecies of puma are there according to Melanie Culver? How many were there before her work?
  7. Where did the current puma populations in N. America originate? Where did the current S. American puma populations originate? Evolutionarily, when did the puma arise as a species?
  8. How was genetics useful in learning about the answers to the 2 questions above?
  9. When was the most recent time when pumas were absent from N. America? What other species disappeared at the same time in history?
  10. Are microsatellites generally part of DNA that codes for useful proteins?
  11. What is an allele? How many alleles do we each have for a given gene? Is this different than the number of alleles for a given gene across all people in Tucson?
  12. How can genetics inform family structure and relatedness in wild organisms?
  13. Define phylogeography.
  14. How is mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) passed on to subsequent generations?
  15. Describe two likely geographic barriers to gene flow in pumas that are supported by Culver’s data.
  16. How would you describe PVA to an eighth-grader?
  17. Why are population numbers not static over time?
  18. How do marine iguanas demonstrate the conflicting pressures of natural vs. sexual selection?

13 Oct: Kathy Gerst: Invasive Species

  1. Give two examples how invasive species can affect healthy ecosystem functioning.
  2. Are all exotic species invasive? Are all invasive species exotic?
  3. Name two benefits and two drawbacks of biological control.
  4. Approximately how much money is spent to battle invasive species in the US each year?
  5. What are the four ecological impacts of invasive species as listed by Gerst?
  6. Pick two examples of invasive species discussed by Gerst and explain how they have affected their new habitats.
  7. Can you identify a life-history trait that predisposes a species to become invasive? Other predisposing traits?
  8. What are three general characteristics of invaded habitats?
  9. What is the “tens rule” with respect to invasive species?
  10. Give an example of an effective biocontrol effort? A disastrous one?

18Oct: ~PVA, MVP

  1. How did Brown Tree Snakes get to Guam?
  2. What happens as lemming populations fluctuate that makes some folks think they commit suicide?
  3. Define PVA. What inputs do PVA models need to be useful?
  4. Give an example of a dynamic population.
  5. List four things that affect population size.
  6. How is logistic growth different than exponential growth?
  7. Define lambda. How is this different than “r”?
  8. Define the allee effect and give an example.
  9. What is meant by the term “structured population” model?
  10. How are elasticity and sensitivity useful in the study of population dynamics?
  11. What are the “four horsemen of the extinction apocalypse”?
  12. Based on the article on PVA for Florida pumas (Maehr et al.) that I discussed in lecture, what is VORTEX? How and why do population viability estimates differ between earlier and more recent models? How do estimates differ depending on the time scale being considered? From what state were pumas imported to increase the heterozygosity of the florida pumas?
  13. What species did Dr. Pister hold in his hands temporarily? Did he do the right thing? Why or why not?

20Oct: Bill Mannan, Reserve Design

  1. What are two advantages and two disadvantages of corridors?
  2. Explain why one large patch for a reserve is better than three patches that add up to an area equal to that of the large patch? Is this always true?
  3. Define habitat reserve.
  4. How much of the world’s land is protected in some way for wildlife?
  5. Draw the species-area curve. Be sure to label the axes appropriately.
  6. Why does the number of species increase as the area sampled increases?
  7. What does it mean to “soften the matrix” between habitat reserve patches?
  8. What did Dr. Mannan use the Northern Spotted Owl as an example of?
  9. In general terms, explain how the ‘edge-effect’ may be manifest.
  10. What are the implications of ‘disturbance regimes’ and ‘external influences’ on reserve design and management?

Suerte!