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| a large flightless bird native to Mauritius; is now extinct due to human introduction of rats to its habitat |
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| once the most abundant bird in North America; went from 5 billion to 0 in five years due to human hunting |
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| classic conservation book on the results of chemical warfare on the environment |
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| theory that states that simplification of ecosystems may ultimately undermine their ability to function at all; controversial theory |
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a species not native to the area in which it lives; can cause extinction of natural species in the area
examples: Argentine fire ant, Zebra mussels, Nutria |
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| turning natural habitats into farms, shopping malls, suburbs, amusement parks, etc.; one of the biggest problems facing most species today |
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| when a habitat becomes unlivable for its native species; single greatest threat to wildlife |
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| when the original, unbroken habitat exists only in fragments; almost as deadly as complete loss of habitat |
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| deforestation (tropic vs. temperate pattern) |
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loss of forest habitat
tropics: large areas cleared at once over a short period of time
temperate: small areas cleared over a long period of time
--> same end result |
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| theory of island biogeography |
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| the equilibrium number of species on an island will be a balance between the opposing forces of immigration and extinction |
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| draw the two graphs demonstrating island biogeography |
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| how well a species is able to travel to far places; ex. birds good, snails bad |
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| species finding its way to a new place by hitching a ride with something else; ex. a squirrel on a log |
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| the pace at which new species arrive on an island; depends on distance from the island to the mainland and dispersal ability of the colonizers |
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| how fast species on an island go extinct; increases as the number of species on the island increases |
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| equilibrium number of species |
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| a balance between the rate of immigration and the rate of extinction |
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| small volcanic island in Dutch East Indies; in 1883 blew apart in volcanic eruption; provided good study for theory of island biogeography and confirmed the model's predictions |
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| birds that winter in Central and South America and spend the rest of the year in North America; rapidly declining species due to fragmentation of habitat |
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| specific subfield of biology that studies the preservation of biodiversity; did not officially become a science until 1980s |
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| species that can be hunted for commercial gain; ex. deer or ducks |
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| species that have no commercial value when hunted |
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| conserving resources that can be exploited for commercial gain; ex. meat, fur, timber, minerals |
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| using resources and wildlife for consumption; the primary concern of traditional resource management |
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| value of wildlife other than consumption; ex. hiking, birdwatching, ecotourism |
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| number of different species in a given area |
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| diversity of species in a local habitat type; ex. local wetland or forest |
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| local biodiversity across several different types of habitats |
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| regional biodiversity over a large area with many types of habitats |
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| total number of genes that are characteristic of a species or group of species |
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| determined by species richness, species evenness, and species dominance |
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| relative abundance of species across different habitats or regions |
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| which species are most abundant in a particular ecosystem |
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| number of trophic levels, number of available niches, and the complexity of the food web |
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| the study of the geographic distribution of species |
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| species that need a minimum amount of space to survive or reproduce |
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| the level of diversity and complexity in a habitat; niches are lost as habitat heterogeneity is lost |
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| interaction between living things; ex. predator/prey, plant/pollinator |
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| when one species becomes extinct after its biotic interaction with another species is disrupted due to extinction of that species |
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algebraic consequence of decreasing area --> smaller circles have more edge relative to interior; shifts balance of biodiversity to edge-favoring species; means increased competition, parasitism, and predation
--> we should try to minimize amount of edge with circular tracts with smooth edges |
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| any space cleared in the interior of a park or preserve; ex. roads, parking lots,buildings; should be avoided |
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| brood parasites that are taking over Louisiana due to increased edge effect |
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| laying eggs in another birds nest to force that bird to raise the young |
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| how far "Bubba" (human) is willing to go into the wilderness; part of edge effect due to Bubba, from obscure roads for loggers |
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| natural areas that can be safely used by plants or animals to move from one habitat fragment to another; should be 100-300 meters wide |
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| view that sees populations as a matrix of scattered but interacting local populations |
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| habitats where species flicker on and off due to immigration and extinction |
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| small populations can be maintained in smaller areas as long as the population can be rescued by immigration from other patches |
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| Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative: a corridor that aims to connect the Yukon wilderness with the southern Rocky Mountains; could ensure survival of the Grizzly bear |
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| minimum viable population: minimum population size needed to maintain genetic viability of a population |
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| ecological disagreement on how many healthy individuals needed for MVP; animal breeders say 50, population genetics models predict 500 |
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| International Species Information System: an online database (studbook) used by zoos to decide which animals to exchange for mating; helps maximize outcrossing and minimize inbreeding |
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| Audubon Center for Research on Endangered Species (West Bank): among the world's leading institutes in the preservation of endangered species |
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| scholar who wrote Essay on the Principle of Population which introduced the theories of the population principle and the struggle for existence |
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| the human population will grow "geometrically" (exponentially) but resources will only increase arithmetically |
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| because population will increase geometrically and resources increase only arithmetically, there will be a growing gap between too many people and too few resources; this will lead to widespread starvation and suffering; Malthus says, "part of divine plan" |
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| British welfare system dating back to Elizabethan times; Malthusian theory reduced welfare with Poor Law Amendment of 1834 |
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| replacement rate: number of offspring left behind by each adult female |
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| species that have an annual breeding season; ex. deer, birds, plants |
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| population growth model that assumes 1) seasonal breeding and 2) no limits to growth and predicts populations will grow geometrically (exponential curve, J-shaped, stepwise); ex. White Ibis in Louisiana |
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| instantaneous growth rate: intrinsic rate of natural increase |
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| population growth model that assumes 1) continuous breeding and 2) no limits to growth and predicts populations will grow exponentially (exponential curve, J-shaped, smooth) |
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| species that have no specific breeding season; ex. humans, bacteria |
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| carrying capacity: limits to growth in a given environment |
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| population growth model that assumes 1) continuous breeding and 2) limits to growth and predicts populations will grow exponentially and then level off at K (exponential curve, S-shaped, smooth); ex. humans |
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| too many people, not enough resources; biggest problem humankind faces today |
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| lifestyle in early human history; led to low birth rates --> very steady population levels |
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| how long the average human lives; has increased exponentially with technological progress |
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| the global sum of all ecosystems; massive human population growth will have tremendously devastating effect on the biosphere |
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| number of children a female has over her lifetime; <2 in developed countries; >2 in LDCs |
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| the shift from high birth rate and high death rate to low birth rate and low death rate; critical stage in a nation's growth that usually marks the change to industrial society |
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| age structure of a population |
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| number of individuals in each age class; major problem in LDCs --> 37% of population under 15 |
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| net population growth: how much a population grows in a year |
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| zero net population growth: parents replace themselves with no extra children; the longer it takes to reach zero NPG, the more devastating it is to Earth and the human population |
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1994 UN Conference on Population and Development: a milestone toward global population control in which almost* all nations reached an agreement on international population control
*not US |
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| represents the net effect we have as individuals, or as a species, on local and global systems; we have a very large footprint --> we use resources and damage the environment out of all proportion to our actual numbers |
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| slash and burn to created fields |
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| soil that is ruined and cannot be used for agriculture; causes: deforestation, overgrazing, overcultivation; led to the collapse of Mayan civilization |
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| animals that feed on detritus (dead and decaying matter); soil ecology depends on detritivores to recycle nutrients back to the soil |
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| leftover small organic particles in the soil; forms the very top layer of soil, the "O horizon" |
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| the physical characteristics of the soil; ex. particle size, pore spaces, how the grains clump together, etc. |
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| specific layers in the soil which differ from the layers above and below it |
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| all the layers visible when you take a section through the soil (the sequence of layers) |
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| layer of soil made up of humus; top layer |
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| the level below the O horizon; aka the topsoil; contains some humus |
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| A horizon; level just below the humus (O horizon) |
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| layer under A horizon; lighter; very little humus |
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| layer under E horizon; aka subsoil; leached materials accumulate in B horizon --> give it red or yellow color |
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| B horizon; layer under E horizon |
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| lowest soil layer; under B horizon; basic mineral soil with no organic matter (parent material) |
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| OAEBC: Only Arkansas Exudes Beautiful Car rides. |
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| organic matter in soil; the starting point in the formation of new soil; can form through volcanic deposition, glacial deposition, or natural weathering of rock |
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| farming that does not churn up the topsoil, exposing it to direct erosion; relies on special plowing disks to turn topsoil back under |
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| healthy soils turned into sterile soils; caused by deforestation, overgrazing, and overcultivation |
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| an increase in soil salinity; caused by irrigated agriculture; another cause of soil degredation |
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| phenomenon in the 1930s where most of the American Midwest dried up and blew away |
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| rows of trees planted to block wind and slow down erosion; federal effort undertaken after the Dust Bowl to restore the land |
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| method of plowing that helped hold remaining topsoil in place; federal effort undertaken to restore the land after the Dust Bowl |
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| traditional fishing grounds |
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| destruction of property that belongs to everyone by a handful of greedy individuals who over-exploit and destroy it |
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| large-scale commercial fishing fleets |
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| a method of fishing that uses huge weighted nets that scrape up the bottom of the sea, totally destroying the fragile marine ecology |
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| land that cattle graze on |
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| land on which crops are grown to feed cattle e.g. corn, hay, etc. |
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| land on which food is grown to feed people; 3 most important crops: rice, wheat, and corn |
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| crop harvest per number of people; in excess in developed countries; struggling in LDCs |
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| technological innovation that revolutionized global agriculture; due to Norman Borlaug's dwarf hybrid strain of wheat |
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| how far offshore a country claims its domain |
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| a country's offshore domain, in which only that country has the right to fish; 200 miles offshore |
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| hybrid strain of a plant that enables it to grow closer to the ground so that more of its energy is invested in the head of the plant, not the stalk; leads to huge gains in production of a crop |
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| amount of production of fixed carbon in photosynthesis (carbon incorporated into glucose molecules) |
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| per capita area of grain harvest |
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| how much grain we are harvesting per person; consistent downward trend in all nations |
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| condition that results from an unbalanced diet; especially high in LDCs; 2-edged sword: children lose their health and countries lose future productivity --> vicious cycle of poverty, starvation, and ignorance |
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| crops grown for fuel e.g. soybeans and types of corn |
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| crops not necessary for human survival e.g. cotton, coffee |
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| watering land to make it suitable for farming; more and more farmland needs heavy irrigation |
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| top level of underground water pools; dropping rapidly all over the world due to increase in farming |
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| underground sources of water; quickly becoming drained to irrigate farmland |
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| the time an aquifer needs to recharge; can't keep pace with how quickly we are using them |
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| the amount of water it would take to fill an acre of land to one foot deep |
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| more efficient system of irrigation that drips just the right amount of water on each plant |
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