BSC 3052 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY EXAM 1 QUESTIONS
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
What is conservation biology? - Answers - + Biology
- Ecology, genetics, populations, communities, biogeography, disease
+ Natural
- Technology, engineering, sustainability
+ Social
- Values, ethics, culture, policy, beliefs, government, law
+ Economic
- Profits, incentives, wealth, poverty
_ Concerned with detecting problems
_ Concerned with evaluating problems
- A multidisciplinary science
Conservation Bio Not an Exact Science - Answers - - It is a crisis discipline
- Decisions need to be made quickly and with limited information
Triage - Answers - - Dying anyway: beyond urgency
- Can be saved: absolute urgency
- Will live anyway: relative urgency
- Trying to figure out what situation is most dire in terms of success
- The species or ecosystem you're most drawn to work on is the one which is most critically
endangered but still has hope of survival with immediate intervention
Romantic-transcendental conservation - Answers - - Preservationist ethic
- Muir, Thoreau, Emerson
- Preservation for spiritual value
Resource conservation ethic - Answers - - Sustainable resource production
- Sustainable, "wise" use of resources
- Pinchot
- (Leopold) man as part of complex ecology
Evolutionary-ecologic land ethic - Answers - - Man as part of complex ecology
- Leopold
- Explores how we can make use of these systems to include humans in them - we are part of
the system
Conservation in the 1950's - Answers - - Began to see use of pesticides for agriculture
- Biomagnification occurred with DDT use because it was released in small quantities but its
presence had a far reach as it spread up the food chain
- Jumpstarted the idea for more environmental conscientiousness
Preservation vs. Conservation - Answers - - Preservation: leave it alone
- Conservation: use it wisely
, Ecosystem Services - Answers - - The idea that these are benefits people get from the natural
world
Supporting Services - Answers - - Nutrient cycling
- Soil formation
- Primary production
- Leads to provisioning, regulating, and cultural services
- Those that are going on in the background and don't do things directly for us, but keep the flow
of the ecosystem going and supports our direct services
Provisioning Services - Answers - - Food
- Timber
- Drinking water
- Ecosystems produce things we harvest
- Things that support our instinctive needs
- Many species may be involved in providing these services and maintaining them
Regulating Services - Answers - - Climate regulation
- Food regulation
- Disease regulation
- Water purification
- Not something we are harvesting from the system
- Involves many natural climate, or non-tangible factors
- Ecosystems can control natural processes
Cultural Services - Answers - - Aesthetic
- Spiritual
- Educational
- Recreational
- The way the ecosystem service people try to bring the more romantic or spiritual view to the
framework
- Ecosystems provide non-material benefits
Ecosystem Service Framework - Answers - - Becoming increasingly common
- Very useful but also controversial because encourages thinking about tradeoffs between
services
- Deals poorly with services that cannot be valued or have infinite value (ex. you cannot put a
dollar value on the worth of Yellowstone national park)
Ecosystem Disservice - Answers - - Term does not exist, but logically should
What determines intensity of environmental impacts? - Answers - - I = P x A x T
+ I = environmental impacts
+ A = affluence; how much stuff people have
+ P = population; how many people there are
- Due to improvements in technology, a period of death rates decreased significantly, and birth
rate remained high, creating exponential population growth
+ T = Technology; what people are doing with the stuff they have
- Consumption can be reduced or redirected
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
What is conservation biology? - Answers - + Biology
- Ecology, genetics, populations, communities, biogeography, disease
+ Natural
- Technology, engineering, sustainability
+ Social
- Values, ethics, culture, policy, beliefs, government, law
+ Economic
- Profits, incentives, wealth, poverty
_ Concerned with detecting problems
_ Concerned with evaluating problems
- A multidisciplinary science
Conservation Bio Not an Exact Science - Answers - - It is a crisis discipline
- Decisions need to be made quickly and with limited information
Triage - Answers - - Dying anyway: beyond urgency
- Can be saved: absolute urgency
- Will live anyway: relative urgency
- Trying to figure out what situation is most dire in terms of success
- The species or ecosystem you're most drawn to work on is the one which is most critically
endangered but still has hope of survival with immediate intervention
Romantic-transcendental conservation - Answers - - Preservationist ethic
- Muir, Thoreau, Emerson
- Preservation for spiritual value
Resource conservation ethic - Answers - - Sustainable resource production
- Sustainable, "wise" use of resources
- Pinchot
- (Leopold) man as part of complex ecology
Evolutionary-ecologic land ethic - Answers - - Man as part of complex ecology
- Leopold
- Explores how we can make use of these systems to include humans in them - we are part of
the system
Conservation in the 1950's - Answers - - Began to see use of pesticides for agriculture
- Biomagnification occurred with DDT use because it was released in small quantities but its
presence had a far reach as it spread up the food chain
- Jumpstarted the idea for more environmental conscientiousness
Preservation vs. Conservation - Answers - - Preservation: leave it alone
- Conservation: use it wisely
, Ecosystem Services - Answers - - The idea that these are benefits people get from the natural
world
Supporting Services - Answers - - Nutrient cycling
- Soil formation
- Primary production
- Leads to provisioning, regulating, and cultural services
- Those that are going on in the background and don't do things directly for us, but keep the flow
of the ecosystem going and supports our direct services
Provisioning Services - Answers - - Food
- Timber
- Drinking water
- Ecosystems produce things we harvest
- Things that support our instinctive needs
- Many species may be involved in providing these services and maintaining them
Regulating Services - Answers - - Climate regulation
- Food regulation
- Disease regulation
- Water purification
- Not something we are harvesting from the system
- Involves many natural climate, or non-tangible factors
- Ecosystems can control natural processes
Cultural Services - Answers - - Aesthetic
- Spiritual
- Educational
- Recreational
- The way the ecosystem service people try to bring the more romantic or spiritual view to the
framework
- Ecosystems provide non-material benefits
Ecosystem Service Framework - Answers - - Becoming increasingly common
- Very useful but also controversial because encourages thinking about tradeoffs between
services
- Deals poorly with services that cannot be valued or have infinite value (ex. you cannot put a
dollar value on the worth of Yellowstone national park)
Ecosystem Disservice - Answers - - Term does not exist, but logically should
What determines intensity of environmental impacts? - Answers - - I = P x A x T
+ I = environmental impacts
+ A = affluence; how much stuff people have
+ P = population; how many people there are
- Due to improvements in technology, a period of death rates decreased significantly, and birth
rate remained high, creating exponential population growth
+ T = Technology; what people are doing with the stuff they have
- Consumption can be reduced or redirected
