Wildlife Conservation Exam 2

Front 1

What are the basic reasons for counting wildlife? Know a good example of each.

Back 1

Are there too few? (Ex: Are there too many? Are there enough? Is the population in good or bad shape?

Front 2

If somebody asks you to count some species, what 2 questions are the first ones you should ask them?

Back 2

1. How important is the information? How precise do I have to be?
2. How much will it cost?

Front 3

What are the differences between a census, a population estimate, or a population index?

Back 3

Census- a complete count of all the animals in a population
Population Estimate- an estimate of the number of animals in a population
Population Index- determines if the population is decreasing, increasing, or staying the same.

Front 4

Know the basics calculations of a mark-recapture population estimate.

Back 4

Number of individuals in the population at sampling= total number of animals captured in the 2nd sample * the number of individuals marked in the first sample/ (divided by) number of marked individuals in the 2nd sample (recaptures)
N= C*M
R

Front 5

Know the assumptions needed for mark-recapture estimates.

Back 5

1. Equal catchability among animals
2. Marks not lost
3. Closed population (no immigration or emigration)
4. Marking doesn’t affect catchability

Front 6

Know the differences between inactive and active direct indices? What can go wrong in relying on such indices for population estimation?

Back 6

Direct= scats, tracks, etc. (passive); bait stations, trapping surveys, howling (attractive/reactive)
Indirect= something reasonable- “habitat” ex: ungulate biomass

Front 7

Why does the indirect index of using ungulate biomass to predict wolf density work so well?

Back 7

There is a direct correlation between number of ungulate biomass and wolf population.

Front 8

Know examples of the different kinds of biotic diversity

Back 8

1. Ecosystem Diversity (diversity of ecosystems in a region)
2. Community Diversity (diversity of communities within an ecosystem)
3. Species Diversity (diversity of species within a community)
4. Genetic Diversity (diversity of genes within a species or population)

Front 9

What are the 2 general types of information genetics can provide for conservation?

Back 9

1. It provides an understanding of evolutionary processes
2. It identifies levels of genetic diversity.

Front 10

What kinds of genetic samples have been and can be collected?

Back 10

Organs, blood, hair, scats

Front 11

Know the specific examples given for how conservation genetics can be used among species, within species, and among individuals.

Back 11

Among Species- How are species related?
Among Species- What species is it?
Within Species- Geographical history
Within Species- Population bottleneck
Within Species- Species or subspecies?
Among Individuals- Who’s breeding with whom?
Among Individuals- How far do offspring disperse?
Among Individuals- How many animals are there?

Front 12

Know what a red panda, bananaquit, Darwin’s fox, and prairie chicken are.

Back 12

Red Panda (Lesser Panda)- Most closely related to the raccoon, but split a long while back
Bananaquit- Group of birds within the Caribbean in which some islands’ birds are more closely related than others.
Darwin’s Fox- A species of fox that was once thought to be a sub-species of grey foxes
Prairie Chicken- A species of bird whose numbers were almost wiped out due to inbreeding; people hunted too many of the males, causing a lack of genetic diversity

Front 13

Why might inbreeding be bad?

Back 13

-Physical defects
-More likelihood that recessive (and sometimes bad) traits will be passed on to the next generation
-Lack of genetic diversity to respond to changes in the environment and/or disease or parasitism

Front 14

How can the effects of inbreeding be managed?

Back 14

-Add new individuals into the population
-Ex: Florida panthers had little genetic diversity so they added some from South America
-Breed individuals in captivity

Front 15

Know the definitions of and be able to explain the following terms: Competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, sympatric species, allopatric species, competitive exclusion principle, character displacement, interference competition, exploitation competition.

Back 15

Competition= (-/-) several species interested in the same prey and hunt the same way, each species would do better if the other one wasn’t there
Predation= (+/-) one species benefits, the other animal dies
Parasitism= (+/-) one species benefits and the other species is harmed
Mutualism= (+/+) both species benefit from the interaction
Commensalism= (+/0)= one species benefits and the other is not affected very much
Sympatric Species= distributions overlap
Allopatric Species= distributions don’t overlap
Character Displacement= two species act similar when their distribution doesn’t overlap, however, when their distributions overlap, the species act differently

Front 16

Are “ground squirrels” living throughout West Texas sympatric or allopatric species? Why?

Back 16

Ground squirrels (Black-tailed Prairie dogs, rock squirrels, and Mexican ground squirrels) living throughout west Texas are sympatric because their distributions. However, they are also allopatric because they live in different microhabitats. Black-tailed prairie dogs live in short-grass prairies. Rock squirrels live in rocky areas. Mexican ground squirrels live in brushy or grassy areas. They avoid competition by living in different areas within the habitat.

Front 17

What is a major way in which 3 species of finches have come to live sympatrically in the Galapagos Islands?

Back 17

The three species have developed differential eating habits. There are finches with small depth beaks. There are also ones with medium-depth beaks. They have smaller beaks when on an island by themselves. Their beaks can get larger when on an island with just smaller-beaked animals. They have medium-depth beaks when on an island with both small and medium-depth beaked animals. There is a third species that has large beaks.

Front 18

What were the 3 behavioral ways presented in class by which ungulates avoid competition?

Back 18

1. Selection of different types of food within the same habitat (mule deer mostly eat shrubs, pronghorn mostly eat herbs, bison mostly eat grasses)
2. Occupations of different areas during the same season
3. Use different vertical levels of vegetation (ex: giraffe)

Front 19

How is it that even though East African jackals are less closely related to each other than are species of foxes in Patagonia, they are morphological similar whereas the foxes are very different?

Back 19

Jackals evolved by changing their behavior. This did not change their morphology very significantly. The two species look similar but are less closely related because they evolved apart farther back.
Zorro’s are more closely related to each other but look differently because the zorros changed their morphology to reduce competition.

Front 20

Know the definition of intraguild predation.

Back 20

Intraguild predation is when predators within the same area kill smaller predators. For example, it is when coyotes kill foxes.

Front 21

What 3 species were studied in the meso-carnivore guild in the Santa Monica Mountains?

Back 21

Gray foxes, coyotes, and bobcats

Front 22

In the study presented, how were carnivore distribution, activity patterns, food habits, and mortalities documented?

Back 22

Carnivore distribution= gray foxes spent for of their time in brushy areas, bobcats and coyotes in open areas
Activity Patterns= gray foxes were mostly nocturnal, bobcats and coyotes diurnal
Food Habits= Bobcats ate mostly rabbits and rodents; gray foxes at a lot of everything, and coyotes ate a lot of rodents and other
Mortalities= all the gray foxes that were found were killed by coyotes

Front 23

How do diet, cover type use, and activity differ among the 3 species studied?

Back 23

Gray Foxes live in brushy areas and are active at night to avoid predation from other predators. Bobcats and coyotes live in similar areas but eat different things.

Front 24

How do foxes deal with competition and thus ensure their continued survival?

Back 24

They are active at night. They live in brushy areas.

Front 25

What are the conservation implications of the study?

Back 25

Fox population growth, although limited by intraguild predation, is similar to other canids. The population is not expected to become out of control.

Front 26

How widespread (and where) are grasslands on the land surface of the earth?

Back 26

Grassland has historically been widespread throughout the earth. There are large grasslands in central North America, South America, Africa (almost everywhere but the Sahara desert), central Eurasia, and most of Australia.

Front 27

What determines where grasslands occur?

Back 27

Seasonal precipitation and temperature

Front 28

Why are the great migrations of ungulates often associated with grasslands?

Back 28

-Wildebeest and Thompson’s Gazelles

Front 29

How does fire affect grassland ecology?

Back 29

-Maintains grasses by removing a little growth and burns out competitors
-Increases the nutrient content of grass (if at the right time or year-need rainfall for productivity)

Front 30

How do wildlife species (i.e., the examples given) interact with grasslands?

Back 30

-Prairie dogs, bison, and black-footed ferrets: huge herds of bison “mow” the grass so that prairie dogs can eat the grass while still being able to look out for predators. Prairie dogs need the bison to mow the grass so that they can survive, and black-footed ferrets need prairie dogs to survive so they can eat them.
-Serengeti (Zebra, Thompson’s Gazelle, Wildebeest): Zebras (hind-gut fermenters) usually go through an area first and eat big, course material that nobody else would want to eat. Once the big, course material is out of the way, wildebeest come through and eat all the grass. After the wildebeest are gone, Thompson’s gazelles come through and eat the small grass and little sprouts in between grasses.

Front 31

What happens to grasslands when they are overgrazed? Why?

Back 31

When grasslands are overgrazed, there is less ground cover and increased soil erosion. This may lead to desertification. There can also be an invasion of shrubs and brush lands.

Front 32

How do livestock and grassland wildlife compete or avoid competition?

Back 32

A lot of livestock and wildlife eat different kinds of plants in the grassland. For example, bison and bighorn sheep eat mostly grass; deer and pronghorn eat forb, shrubs, and trees. It is true for cattle (mostly grasses), sheep (mostly forbs), and goats (mostly shrubs and trees).

Front 33

In what ways can you manage for wildlife on grazing lands?

Back 33

1. Change the fencing (ex: higher the fences and keep the lowest fence non-barbed so that pronghorns can go underneath)
2. Rotational grazing (do not graze until there is no grass left)