Bio 261 Final

Front 1

Connel - Slayter models of succession

Back 1

1)Facilitation: linear seral stages; each stage allows the next to form (shrub -> aspen -> lodgpole) ending in climax.
2)Tolerance: No set order, but eventually most tolerant species are established as climax
3)Inhibition: Random who returns and whoever gets there first prevents others from colonizing. Stages last until that each stage dies.

Front 2

Types of Succession

Back 2

-Primary: From nothing (ie glacial retreat or volcanic eruption) and must create soil
-Secondary: Comes from something (fire or abandoned farmland), have soil and probably a seed bank

Front 3

Community

Back 3

A group of interacting species that occur together in the time and space. (Puddle to a coral reef)

Front 4

Community Characteristics

Back 4

-Species diversity
-Relative abundance
-Dominance
-Succession
-Spatial scale variation (local v global)

Front 5

Difference b/t Ecosystem and Community

Back 5

Ecosystem includes the abiotic factors influencing the community.

Front 6

Ex of succession in Glacier Bay

Back 6

Have all models: Early its facilitation to provide soil, alder inhibits and spruce is most tolerant

Over time changes to environment:
1)Incr in soil depth, N content, organic matter
2)Decrease is soil pH
3)Increase in moisture

Front 7

Ex of Succession

Back 7

1)Glacier Bay: Primary, Facilitation by pioneer mosses, alder inhibits, and spruce is most tolerant.
2)Sand Dunes: primary, facilitation b/c need grass to start, tolerance b/c conditions determine end community. (wet=prairie or maple swamp, dry=oaks, wet/nutrient rich=hemlock forest)
3)Old-Field: Secondary, facilitation up to large trees then cycle w/in climax. (Inhibition b/c different species combinations change community).
4)Mt. St. Helens: Both primary (where lava and pumice) and secondary (blowdown /scorch zones), lupin facilitated by N-fixing.

Front 8

Climax Community

Back 8

A stable end point that experiences little change unless hit with intense disturbance.

Front 9

4 types of climax communities

Back 9

1)Monoclimax: Each set of environmental conditions gets one endpoint.
2)Gradient Pattern: Variation of climax along a gradient
3)Shifting-Mosaic: Always little pockets of disturbance (eg tree fall)
4)Cyclic pattern: Climax rotates between a few different species w/ minor disturbance.

Front 10

Species diversity and ways to calculate?

Back 10

Species richness (#) and species evenness (distribution)
1)Shannon index: H = -∑(pi*ln(pi))
2)Simpson index: D = 1 - ∑(pi)^2 (D ranges from 0 to 1-(1/s))

where pi = proportion of a species # ind of species / # total individuals
s = # of species

larger H or D = greater diversity

Front 11

Calculating equitability

Back 11

== H/Hmax
where H is the Shannon index

H mas is if have perfectly even distribution, so each species is the same proportion of the total number of individuals. (therefore max diversity)

Front 12

Species richness

Back 12

Number of species within a set. How many are there compared to individuals of other species.

Front 13

General Conclusions from Succession

Back 13

1)Late successional community is different from the early one. (Different life histories in particular)
2)Most communities have a typical late stage (climax)
3)Must understand succession to manage communities

Front 14

Levels of species diversity and why impt?

Back 14

-Gamma: diversity at regional level
-Beta: Change in diversity as one moves from one community to another. (called turnover)
-Alpha: Species diversity at local/community level

Important b/c diversity can very tremendously based on the area measured.
--plotting local (alpha) against regional (gamma) on x axis tells which is relatively more important-- m=1 means equal, m<1, but sloping up means regional processes dominate, m<1 and levels off means local processes dominate

Front 15

MacArthur and Wilson's model predictions

Back 15

1)Larger the island = greater the # of species
2)Equilibrium # maintained by turnover
3)Immigration decr w/ distance from mainland
4)Smaller the island the higher the extinction rate

•Draw graph of extinction and immigration based on distance and size p381

Front 16

MacArthur and Wilson's model strengths and weaknesses

Back 16

•Strengths:
--Simple so good for baseline comparisons
--Stimulated many studies

•Weaknesses
--Ignores abiotic factors of island
--All species counted as equal
--Ignores evolution
--No species interaction considered
--Ignores migrants and non-reproducing species

Front 17

Implications of biogeography for reserve design

Back 17

1)Area should be circular to reduce edge effects
2)Area should be larger to reduce edge effects
3)Areas should be connected by corridors
4)Avoid fragmentation (ex: road affect)
5)Corea area w/ buffer
--Neutral on SLOSS debate (single large or several small)

--Lovejoy did a big study = found need large area

Front 18

Explanations of global species diversity?

Back 18

1)Continental Drift: Continents separated and evolution diverged (vicariance)
2)Abiotic factors:
---Greater divergence in larger homogenous areas (larger pops)
---Greater divergence w/ longer evolutionary time (no glaciers)
---Greater divergence when warmer, wetter, more nutrients (more NPP)

3)Biotic:
---Other organisms create homogenous landscape (trees)
---Less human development
---Greater div w/ more competition and predation

Front 19

Global patterns of species distribution

Back 19

1)More species in tropics and temperate
2)More species w/ more varied terrain (W over E US)

Front 20

Why concerned abt species extinction in tropical ecosystems?

Back 20

1)>2/3 of world's species
2)inherent value
3)aesthetic value
4)Pharmaceuticals
5)Timber
6)Climate Services

Front 21

Factors influencing species diversity at local scale? (Out of regional pool)

Back 21

-Determined by what species of regional pool live in the local community:
1)Can disperse there?
2)Can survive abiotic factors?
3)Can interact successfully? (coexist)
--Coexist by partitioning resources (warbler tree space) or by using resources in different ratios (diatom experiment)

Front 22

Processes that promote coexistence?

Back 22

1)Variable conditions (why so many plankton survive in lakes)
2)Intermediate disturbance (algae on boulder)
3)Competition (dynamic equil model is comp w/ disturbance, get highest div w/ both low)
4)Predation (Menge-Sutherland model = add predation to dyn equil)
5)Variable recruitment after disturbance (Lottery Model) -- different species win each time have a minor/intermediate distrubance

Front 23

Disturbance

Back 23

An abiotic event that kills/damages some individuals and thereby creates opportunities for other individuals.

Front 24

Hysteresis

Back 24

Community is changed to a different stable state and won't go back to original.

Front 25

Measuring and types of disturbance?

Back 25

-Intensity (amount of damage /death) and frequency

-Transient or persistent change
--Persistent if change stable state

Front 26

Relationship b/t diversity and stability

Back 26

Greater species richness is the greater the community stability (tendency to remain in same structure and function) to a point.
--curve up to right then lvls off p403

Front 27

Hypothesis about diversity and function (why positively correlated)

Back 27

•Graphs: p404
1)Complementarity: Each species has an equal affect on function
2)Redundancy: At a threshold incr species richness no longer increases function
3)Drive and passenger: Certain driver species have a larger effect when added
4)Driver and passenger w/ overlap: Adds a threshold

Front 28

Measures of recovery from disturbance

Back 28

Resistance: How stable a community is (ex higher in forests)
Resilience: Time to recover (ex higher in prairie)

Front 29

Primary production (measures and descriptions)

Back 29

•Organisms to introduce E to the food web by fixing carbon (photosynthesis or chemsynthesis)
•Descriptions:
1)GPP = total E produced (AKA productivity)
2)NPP = E left after respiration (AKA biomass in mass/area)
3)Efficiency (NPP/GPP) ranges 30-85%

•Measure in mass of carbon/unit area/yr
1)Harvest method: collect biomass at end of growing season
-----via dimensional analysis where cut down a few and use a ratio for rest of biomass
2)chlorophyll count
3)CO2 flux in closed system
4)Eddy covariance: ∆ in CO2 in and above canopy at night&day
5)Radioactive CO2 isotopes-- particularly in aquatic systems
6)Light/dark bottle method: Final O2 in light vs dark tells GPP, final vs initial in light tells NPP, final vs initial in dark tells resp
7)Remote sensing
•NPP peaks awhile after disturbance

Front 30

Shoot: Root ratio of tundra and forest

Back 30

1:2 = tundra
1:0.5= forest
1:0.2 = rain forest

Front 31

Nutrient Limits to PP

Back 31

Aquatic: N or ratio of N:P (increases in areas of upwelling)
Terrestrial: N and P limits; also incr w/ annual precipitation so water limits; incr w/ mean annual temp

Front 32

Bioaccumulation / Biomagnification

Back 32

-Bioaccu: increase in concentration in PP as pollutant is absorbed and stored in fatty tissue
-Biomag: increase in [pol] as go up food chain

Front 33

Relative comparisons of ecosystems (NPP, species div, PP structure)

Back 33

Look at sheet from 1st unit

Front 34

Trophic cascades and examples

Back 34

•Series of opposite reaction as move along a food web

1)Bottom-up: Control by abundance of lower lvl (ie limited resource)
2)Top-down: Wolves in yellowstone or sharks in reefs decr meso predators which increases herbivors and decr PP

Front 35

Why ∆ in NPP efficiency?

Back 35

With warmer climate more E used in respiration so decr efficiency. Higher in temperate

Front 36

Ectotherm and endotherm assimilation and net production efficiency?

Back 36

•Assimilation = metabolizable E in system (w/o fecal and urinary waste)
•Prod eff = finally used to grow / reproduce (w/o respiration)

Assimilation eff: (assimilation/ingestion) - high in endotherms
Production eff: (net production/ assimilation) - high in ectotherms 9-50% and low in endotherms 1-3%

Front 37

NPP by aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

Back 37

54% aquatic and 46% terrestrial

Front 38

Relative NPP consumed in different ecosystems? (Efficiency)

Back 38

13% in terrestrial
35% in aquatic -> phytoplankton are easier to consume and digest; C:nutrient ratio is closer to that of herbivore

Front 39

trophic efficiency

Back 39

•E @ a trophic lvl / E @ one lvl lower

-Ranges fron 2-20%

Front 40

Biomass/number pyramids vs. E pyramids

Back 40

-E is always a broad base and decreasing as one goes up the pyramid
-Biomass is normal on land and inverted in ocean, b/c plankton are eaten so fast that they never accumulate

Front 41

Sources of E in an ecosystem

Back 41

Autochtononous: E from w/in eco
Allochthonous: E from outside eco (detritus into stream)

Front 42

Factors determining # of trophic lvls and some examples of #?

Back 42

1)Size -> bigger = more niches and more lvls
2)Efficiency --> less energy lost = more available for upper lvls
3)Frequency of disturbance
4)Total amount of E available


•Ocean ~ 7lvls
•Coastal marine ~5
•Grassland ~4
•Tropic forest ~3lvls

Front 43

Why does most NPP go to detritus?

Back 43

1)Parts of producers are hard to digest / low nutrition / hard to reach
2)Predation keeps herbivore #'s down
3)2˚ Compound make producer poisonous

Front 44

4 Basic Nutrient Cycles

Back 44

1)Carbon (Global gaseous)
---Photosynthesis binds CO2 in sugars
---Respiration rel CO2
---Carbon sinks: fossil fuels, oceans, soil

2)Nitrogen (Global gaseous)
--Cyanobacteria and lightening fix N2 to NH3/NH4+
--Nitrification by bacteria turns NH4+ to NO3-
--Ammonification releases NH4+ from detritus
--Plants uptake NO3- and NH4+ and denitrify to N2

3)Phosphorus (Local sedimentary)
--Weathering introduces new P
--marine sediments are a sink
--cycles b/t organism and soil

4)Sulfur (Local sedimentary)
--Weathering and volcanoes release new S
--decomposition releases back into soil
--ocean aerosol sprays introd to atmosphere

Front 45

Interactions among trophic lvls

Back 45

-Direct (predation) or indirect (competition or cascades)
-Strong or weak

Front 46

Human effects on 4 key nutrient cycles?

Back 46

1)Deforestation
-Increased run-off of C,N, and P
-Red Carbon sink in forests
2)Agriculture
-Fertilizer introduces extra N and P
-Crops replace forest and sink less C
-Aminals release greenhouse gasses (CO2)
3)Industry
-mining and buring of fossil fuels released S into atmosphere (incr by 160%)
-Burning fossil fuels releases CO2 into atmosphere
4)Urbanization
-Autoexhaust releases CO2 and P
-None point source pollution increases N and P (lawns/sewage)

Front 47

Residence times in diff ecosystems?

Back 47

-100-400 yrs in boreal forest vs 0.4 to 2yrs in tropics.

Front 48

Availability of N at succession stages?

Back 48

-lots of nut lost after disturbance
-intermediate stage has lowest lvl lost
-N limits when young
-P limits in older ecosystems

Front 49

What did Hubbard Brook show us?

Back 49

-in intact ecosystem nut in/out is small compared to amnt stored in biomass
-nut loss ∆ed with average stream flow, but no net loss in long run
-disturbance tends to help recycle nutrient (rodents or fire)
-Introd. species can ∆ nutrient availability

Front 50

Nutrient cycling?

Back 50

•Decompostion makes the N and P from detritus available. In steps:
1)Fragmentation: Litter into smaller pieces w/ higher SA:V
2)Mineralization: Bact. and fungi convert organic macromolecules to soluble nutrients

Front 51

Limiting nutrients in different ecosystems?

Back 51

Usually N or P though water can.

Front 52

Soil properties influencing availability of nutrients?

Back 52

-All formed from parent rock w/ varying amounts of nutrients
-Leaching creates soil layers.
-Texture: sand>silt>clay
-Clays have weak neg charge and therefore hold K,Ca,Mg = cation exchange capacity

Front 53

Sources of nutrients

Back 53

-Nutrients originate from weathering, decomposition, and the atmosphere.
-Decomp faster where warmer and wetter so more nut available in soil

Front 54

Conservation Biology and characteristics

Back 54

Applied science of maintaining biological diversity. Different b/c attempts to make recommendations.
1)Crisis discipline
2)Multidisciplinary
3)Studies dynamic systems
4)Mission oriented
5)Uses evolutionary scale
6)Long-term vigilance

Front 55

Goals of Conservation bio

Back 55

1)Document Biodiversity
2)Investigate Human impact
3)Prevent extinction
4)maintain/restore communities

Front 56

# species on earth?

Back 56

-1.6million described
-estimate of 3-30million species

Front 57

Main conservation biology organizations?

Back 57

Society for Conservation Biology - 1985
Nature Conservancy - 1951
Ecological Society - 1915 - Publishes Ecology

Front 58

Famous extinctions

Back 58

1)Dodo in 1680
2)Passenger Pigeon - 1914

Front 59

What species groups are most endangered/ threatened?

Back 59

Lichens, Fungi, amphibians, and plants were most threatened w/ 70-100% of those species evaluated being imperiled.

Front 60

Primary Threats to biodiversity?

Back 60

1)Habitat loss
2)Invasive species
3)Overexploitation
4)Disease
5)Climate change
6)Pollution

Front 61

What info need to know to know what to protect?

Back 61

Rate of biodiversity decrease.
-Use Al Gentry's Rapid Assessment Program where count all stems in a series of transects.
---W/ this can compare ecosystems
Genetic Diversity
-The lower it is in a population the more susceptible to genetic drift.
PVA's = population viability analysis
--Demographic models that predict the future status of a species

Front 62

Bird and mammal extinction rate

Back 62

Background: 1/200yrs
Current: 1/1yr = 200x background rate

Front 63

Pos and neg of ex situ conservation?

Back 63

When move species to a zoo to preserve.
-Ex: Black footed ferret, condor

Pos: can save species on verge of extinction, incr publicity
Neg: Costs a lot and takes lots of logistical work, can change behavior, can expose to disease

Front 64

Types of Conservation species?

Back 64

1)Surrogates species: Protecting that one serves to protect a general area and therefore many other species (red-cockaded woodpecker)
2)Flagship species = charismatic animals that garner public support (panda)
3)Umbrella species = Selected so its habitat can serve as an umbrella to protect other species w/ similar habitats, more targeted than just surrogate (Grizzly or other species w/ large area requirements)

Front 65

Adaptive management?

Back 65

A data based management system with clear goals, in which the managers are constantly studying, adapting their techniques.

Front 66

Seven forms of rarity?

Back 66

1-restricted geographic range
2-narrow habitat tolerance
3-small local pop
4-Rest range and narr habitat tolerance
5-rest range and small pop
6-Narrow tolerance and small pop
7-All three

Front 67

Landscape ecology?

Back 67

Study of relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes over ranges of scale

Front 68

Important features of habitat fragments?

Back 68

1)Shape: more circular the better, b/c has less edge
2)Size: anything less than 30a is all edge

Front 69

Controversial vs. well-documented aspects of global climate change?

Back 69

Well known:
1-CO2 is increasing
2-Temperature has increased

Controversial:
1-range of future increase will be 2-4˚C
2-Amount of range shifts and extinction that will occur

Front 70

Why is repair of ozone considered a success story?

Back 70

•Volatile C compounds like CFC's were banned w/ Montreal Protocol in 1987 and now the hole is shrinking.

Front 71

Environmental affects of agriculture?

Back 71

1)Expansion: incr in greenhouse gasses, decr in C storage, and reduction of biodiversity
2)Intensification: Increase in water use and runoff

Front 72

Strategies to sustainably increase food production?

Back 72

1)Continue to research types resistant to herbivores and pathogens, w/ resistance to abiotic stress, and w/ increased nutrient content
2)Change eating habits to more poultry and vegetarian
3)Increase productivity via closing the yield gap and not expanding range (what's left is marginal)

Front 73

What affects decomposition rate?

Back 73

1)Temperature
2)Moisture content
3)Lignin content

Front 74

Interpreting variance to mean ratio?

Back 74

1 = randomly spaced
<1 = even spacing
>1 = clumping

•That is mean density/ variance of mean density

Front 75

Abiotic factors to determine health of a community?

Back 75

1)Direct effects
--Temperatrue
--pH
--wind
2)Resources
--Light
--soil moisture (other water measures)
--nutrient (soil organic content, nitrates, phosphates, oxygen in water)

Front 76

Why study phenology?

Back 76

Study of the timing of life cycle events. Useful for agriculture, climate research, and resource management.