ESPM 15 Final

• What are the three hierarchical levels of biodiversity


  - Three hierarchical levels: gene, species, ecosystem
• What are two different ways to quantitatively describe the biodiversity of an ecosystem?


  - Describe diversity: richness and evenness. Richness is total number of species while evenness is the relative abundance of animals of different species
• Dimensions of diversity?


  taxonomic (who), phylogenetic (relatedness), genetic (roles they can play), functional (roles currently playing)
• What are five global geographic factors that affect present day biodiversity distributions?


  - Latitudinal gradient: diversity decreases as you go from equator to poles

  - Peninsula effect: diversity decreases as you go from base to tip of a peninsula

  - Mountain effect: diversity great in mountains than in flat regions

  - Continental drift: time and connectivity (ex: Australia only place with marsupials because it broke off early on)

  - Isolation: islands tend to have a lot of endemic species and be biodiversity hotspots
• Define Gause's Competitive Exclusion Principle. Describe an experiment that provides support for this principle


  Gause's competitive exclusion principle: no two species can coexist indefinitely if they use exactly the same resources. Ex: Paramecium Aurelia vs. caudatum. Grown separately they both thrive. Grown together caudatum decreases to nothing.
• What is the paradox of competition?

  Paradox: we have so many species that use the same resources yet they still thrive
• Be able to name, describe, and provide examples for the five major reasons species are able to coexist using the same resources.


  - Self-inhibition: inhibit themselves more than they inhibit other species. Intraspecific comp> extraspecific comp for both species.

  - Niche-partitioning: species niche partition so they can use the same resources but differently or different parts. Ex: three bird species use the same tree. One uses the top, the other uses the middle, the last uses the bottom. Could partition with temperature change.

  - Trade-offs: choose quantity over quality (superior colonizer) or vice versa (better competitor)

  - Dominance/ tolerance: Habitat is good for both species but the dominant ones push the others into the bad habitat. Ex: serpentine grassland in CA is bad b/c the pH is off so the smaller plants were pushed into that area.

  - Disturbance: Kills individuals, freeing resources and resetting the competitive clock. Using the ex in #1, when a disturbance is added, caudatum is the superior species
• Be able to explain three correlates of diversity.


  Diversity begets diversity, evolutionary dynamics (ex: glacial periods causes isolation which causes speciation), productivity (the amt of biomass produced in a unit time. High productivity= many species
• What is the diversity-stability debate? Be able to provide evidence that supports both competing sides of this debate.


  More stable: monocultures less resilient and resistant than tropical forests against similar outbreaks. Less stable: more species= more interactions= more competition
• Differentiate between a global extinction, ecological extinction, and a local extinction.


  - Global: gone everywhere

  - Local: disappeared in part of its range (extirpated)

  - Ecological: density so low that species can no longer perform its functions although still present
• Where have most species gone extinct historically?

  Most species go extinct on islands
• Researchers have estimated how many species have gone extinct in the last the 300 years and where these extinctions took place. What are some potential problems with these estimates?


  We do not have good data everywhere and there is no way we can know all species everywhere. The estimates are probably underestimates and a lot of species are not accounted for.
• Name and explain six different major causes of modern-day extinctions.


  Habitat destruction and alteration, population growth, pollution, climate change, invasive species, and overuse/ exploitation.
• What is the background rate of extinction?


  Background rate: standard rate, about 1 extinction per million per year.
• What percentage of species needs to go extinct in a short amount of geological time to reach the mass extinction benchmark?


  ¾ of earth's species have to go extinct in a short period of time.
• Insect pollinators are responsible for every third bite of food. How much is this pollination service worth?

  $216 billion
• How does its (bees) role in the hive change over its lifespan? What is this called?


  Called: Temporal polyethism. Days 1-3: Cell cleaning; Days 3-7: nurse bees; weeks 2-3: making wax, managing nectar, controlling hive temp, taking care of queen, guarding; Weeks 4-6: foraging
• What are the main characteristics of the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)?


  Rapid loss of adult bees, no dead bees near hive, food stores untouched, major overwintering losses, shortened queen lifespan.
• What is the most likely cause of CCD?

  Cause: Varroa mite and neonicotinoids
• How do pesticides affect bees? (i.e. acute, chronic, habitat effects).


  Kills, impaired immune, reproduction function, lowered queen survival, increased effects of mites, monocultures, invasive weed management, impaired navigation, impaired hive communications
• What category of pesticide is of greatest concern to bees? Why is it so harmful?


  Neonicotinoids. It has a very low LD50, impairs immune and learning and memory; long half-life of 1-3 years; high exposure due to water solubility and persistence in plants
• What are the different ways bees are exposed to pesticides?


  Direct sprays, treated seed dust, nectar and pollen, water contamination, bee-to-bee transmission of contaminated food and water
• Name and describe three characteristics of salmon species in relation to its lifecycle.


  Born in fresh water, migrate to salt water, then back to fresh water as adults (anadromy); reproduce only once then die→ biomass accumulated in marine and deposited in freshwater→ organisms consume salmon (semelparity); salmon return to natal sites relying on earth's magnetic field for salt water, salinity and temperature gradients for migration, and opens in rivers for freshwater (philopatry)
• Describe why phenotypic diversity matters in maintaining a sustainable salmonid population.

  Environmental variation, trait variation, and variation in population dynamics helps with security and provides stability and sustainability
• What is unique about the Central Valley Pacific salmon?

  4 runs: late-fall, winter, spring, and fall. Winter and spring are protected, fall drop cause unknown
• What is the difference between State Water Project and Central Valley Project?


  State water project: provides drinking water and electricity using dams and aqueducts. Dams cut off access to high-quality spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. Central valley project created for flood control and water storage and consists of dams and reservoirs
• Name and describe the 4 main reasons there are dramatic declines in the Central Valley Pacific Salmon?


  Harvest (take too many), habitat (we degrade due to levees→ In the Delta: levees sever connection between rivers and floodplains, where salmon growth is fast. Bipass allows for reproduction in artificial floodplain), hydroelectric and water operations (block passage to breeding and rearing areas; ex: Central Valley and State Water Proejct), and hatcheries (mitigate through artificial production→ 80% live→ don't know how to navigate waters)
• From an evolutionary perspective, what percent of species that lived are alive today and why?

  1% are alive today.
• What is different about today and the relationship between diversification and extinction?


  Today, extinction is greater than diversification and one species is the cause of most of the extinctions.
• What are the three groups of amphibians?


  Anura (frogs and toads), caudata (salamanders and newts), gymnophiona (caecilians)
• Why should we care about amphibians?


  They provide ecosystem services (both as predators and prey), biomedicines (through skin secretions), enviro-sentinels (indicator species), and aesthetic value
• Describe the current status of amphibians and why they are declining. Why should we be concerned about amphibian decline?


  1/3 are threatened with extinction. Declining due to habitat destruction, overexploitation, invasive species, contaminants, climate change, and infectious disease; It is happening rapidly without known reason
• How does BD kill frogs? Describe the two theories associated with Bd's evolutionary history, which one is believed to be correct, and why.


  Chytrids are ancient fungi, but Bd is the only pathogen of vertebrates. Bd seems to be novel. Bd is a skin infection that affects frogs when they go through metamorphosis and their skin is more permeable. It disrupts amphibian skin functions like osmoregulation and electrolyte transport
• What are scientists doing to try to stop frogs from dying?


  Solutions: captive breeding, antifungal treatments, probiotic treatments, outreach
• What is bioremediation? How is it different from dispersing? What is the advantage of using bioremediation over dispersants to treat oil spills?


  Bioremediation is using organisms to get rid of waste. This is better because it is all natural and does not rely on chemicals. It also produces no waste and does not harm the environment as chemical dispersion does.
• What is a boom and two primary purposes of boom in case of an oil spill?


  Booms contain oil in an enclosed space on the water to be collected by skimmers while also absorbing some of the oil.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of using in-situ burning on a marine oil spill?


  In-situ burning gets rid of 5% of the oil but it also releases pollutants and chemicals into the atmosphere.
• Name two innovations (improvement on older methods) to treat oil spills that have been developed as a result of education from response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


  Using natural material within booms to make them more absorbent and biodegradable. Also, new methods of surveying using smaller planes allow those trying to clean up oil spills to locate exact area so that they can use appropriate measures for cleaning.
• What is a septic tank?


  Waste produced→ septic tank→ solid matter sinks to bottom→ liquid passes to a drain field (PVC with small holes)→ flows into ground and is cleaned by microbes in soil.
• Where are septic tanks most commonly utilized?

  Used in places with large areas of land, like farms.