BI102

General Biology

Spring 2012

Dr. Brian K. Penney

Goulet 2320

603 641-7149

bpenney@anselm.edu

Brian K. Penney 's web page

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1. Describe the goals and two major methods of conservation.

   Conservation is the attempt to protect natural areas and wild species.

   Studies of endangered or threatened species generally take either:

   • the small-population approach (maintain a minimum population size for genetic variability) or
   • the declining-population approach (proactively diagnose and protect species before decline), especially identifying critical habitat factors.

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2. Describe the science of landscape ecology and its role in protecting species

   Landscape ecology studies the spatial structure and dynamics of ecosystem groups and is applied to conserve species

   • Many species of conservation interest (e.g. keystone predators, wolves, etc.) range across several ecosystems within a landscape throughout all or parts of their lifecycles. Therefore, conservation efforts that do not address all of those ecosystems and their relationships will likely fail.
   • Increased fragmentation augments the damage of habitat loss for many populations by
     • subdividing populations and thereby increasing inbreeding depression, genetic drift and local extinction
     • increasing habitat edges, which have different characteristics and species.
   • corridors between habitats can strongly influence population viability.
   • gap analysis can diagnose crucial areas for preservation.
   • Zoned reserves include areas of no human disturbance, surrounded by buffer zones with mixed uses with some emphasis on conservation\

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3. Describe the goals and methods of restoration ecology.

   Restoration is the developing science of returning degraded habitats to a functional state.

   • Restoration goals can include returning an ecosystem to a historical state, or providing a new, functional ecosystem based on current use.
   • Bioremediation is the use of living organisms to detoxify polluted systems.
   • Augmentation is the use of living organisms to increase certain ecosystem process to hasten recovery of a habitat.

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4. Describe sustainable development and provide at least one example.

   An important goal is sustainable development, a strategy that optimizes agricultural and technological production while maintaining the prosperity of the surrounding ecosystem.

Copyright 2007-2012, Brian K. Penney

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