Anita Cerpovicz BIO 3450 September 18, 2020

Exam 1 – Conservation Biology (Biol 3450)

Fall 2020
Instructions:

 All work should be your own. You are not to discuss the exam with other students.
 Answers to the questions can come from out of your head (like Athena sprung from
the head of Zeus!), but you may use other sources, including the readings, textbook,
etc.
 You must cite any sources you use, using appropriate citations in the text and a Works
Cited at the end. But don’t make this into a research paper. Most of the structure
should be pretty accessible in your mind.
 Use concrete examples wherever possible.
 You should NOT quote extensively from any source. I want to see your thoughts and
how you integrate these questions in your own mind.
 There are several statements/questions associated with some of the questions. You can
integrate those in any way you wish. In other words, you don’t have to address them
one by one.
 There is no required length for the answers, but these are discussion questions, so
please create a discussion. These are not questions that can be answered in a few
words or 3 or 4 sentences. Two of the questions (‘Bigger’) require more extended
answers than the others (‘Smaller’). No answers to any single question should be
longer than 2 pages.

Your exam must be submitted as a Word document (docx), preferably just using this file and
expanding it with your answers. You may type it in another format, but you must convert it to
a Word file for submission. Please single space your document.

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Bigger questions:

1. Using the concept of biodiversity broadly, discuss the spatial patterns of biodiversity
and the major factors that determine these patterns from the level of communities to the
biosphere. Much of conservation is focused on preserving biodiversity. Give two
examples of ways in which biodiversity has been used as a conservation tool. What are
the advantages and problems with this focus on biodiversity?
Biodiversity is a general term to symbolize the richness and diversity of life that we
have on our planet (Pullin, 2002, p. 6). Biodiversity can be measured on many different
levels, or special patterns. Community biodiversity is usually measured by the number of
different species that live in that specific community. These species usually live in close
proximity to one another.
Ecosystems deal with the living and nonliving parts of the environment. Biodiversity
here is measured by the variety of living of different species living in this area. Species here
are generally more spaced out and have a higher rate of biodiversity than a community.
The biosphere has the highest rate of biological diversity and covers the most area. The
biosphere includes all of the levels of life below it, including communities and ecosystems. As
a result, if anything in the lower levels gets out of place, or has a problem, it will travel up
through the ranks and end up affecting the biosphere.
There are many different factors that affect biodiversity. The main factors include
habitat loss, introduced species, overharvesting, and global change (Urry et al., 2017). A
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majority of habitat loss is due to human interference and as a result, “human alteration of
habitat is the single greatest threat to biodiversity throughout the biosphere (Urry et al.,
2017).” Humans’ need for more space to live and raise livestock and grow crops is being felt
all the way up the biosphere and as a result, species are dying off at alarming rates and
losing their biodiversity because there aren’t many of their own kind left to mate with and
create a large pool of biodiversity.
Introduced species are destroying native biodiversity because they are killing off
many of the native species. The introduced species are bringing diseases and competition
that native species just aren’t used to, and they aren’t able to adapt fast enough to fight back.
Overharvesting occurs when something, usually humans, kill organisms faster than they are
able to reproduce. This results in a rapid depletion of organisms which can either drive them
to extinction or close to it. This rapid depletion of organisms results in loss of biodiversity
because there just aren’t as many organisms in the mating pool. Global change, or climate
change, is a major threat to global biodiversity.
Climate change is altering landscapes and climates all over the world, and as a
result, many species just aren’t able to adapt to these changes quickly enough and are dying
off. Therefore, there are fewer species alive on the planet, and many species are threatened
or endangered. This means that the genetic pool for each species isn’t as diverse due to a
smaller overall population size.
There are three main levels of biodiversity: genetic, species, and ecosystem (Urry et
al., 2017). Genetic diversity deals with the genetic variation within, and between,
populations. Species diversity deals with the amount of variation of species within an
ecosystem or the biosphere as a whole. Ecosystem diversity deals with the variation of
ecosystems in the biosphere and the interactions that occur between them.
Biodiversity has often been used as a conservation tool. An example of this would be
relocating certain members of a species from an area where there is an abundance of the
species to an area where there are very low numbers of the species. This provides the
organisms that are in lower numbers to have a larger mating pool which increases their
biodiversity since they now have a larger gene pool to work with. This was done with puma’s
in Florida. Female Texas pumas were relocated to Florida where they were able to mate
with the males of the smaller population and give birth to new pumas and help raise Florida
puma levels and provide them with a larger mating pool in order to increase biodiversity.
Another example of biodiversity being used as a conservation tool would be arranged
mating. This means that within a species, a female might be mated with a male that is known
to have the specific genes needed for successful survival or vice versa. This enables
conservationists to help raise population numbers within a species so that the organisms
have the most successful chance of survival and reproducing. As a result, population
numbers will increase and raise biodiversity levels.
Some advantages of this focus on biodiversity would include being able to increase
species’ population levels while increasing their biodiversity levels. This enables species to
have the greatest chance of survival and reproduction. However, by only focusing on this
part of biodiversity, conservationists would end up missing other very important problems
that can’t necessarily be fixed by this one focus of biodiversity. Conservationists need to be
able to see the bigger picture and not focus just on one thing in particular, but on the
broader scope of things.

2. Why is fragmentation a recurring theme in conservation? What are the major drivers
and consequences of fragmentation?
Fragmentation is a recurring theme in conservation because it’s such a major
problem that is occurring at large rates. Fragmentation occurs largely due to habitat
Anita Cerpovicz BIO 3450 September 18, 2020

destruction caused primarily by humans. As humans continue to build and expand across
land, they destroy more and more habitats. This results in little areas between human
developments called fragments. Unfortunately, these fragments are also starting to
disappear. As a result, fragmentation is a recurring theme in conservation. If the fragments
are the only places where certain species live, then conservationists need to be able to keep
those fragments and help those species to survive.
One of the main causes of fragmentation is habitat loss. Humans are a major
contributor to this problem, but so is climate change, which is altering environments and
destroying ecosystems.
Fragmentation is causing many species to be threatened or endangered. This is
because these species are being limited to living in a very small area that isn’t able to
support large populations. This smaller population size results in less biodiversity within the
species and will ultimately lead to extinction if help doesn’t come. There are certain species
that only live in these fragmented areas, and if these fragmented areas are destroyed whether
because of humans, or mother nature, that species will die out and become extinct. Not only
do people need to try their best to reduce fragmentation by reducing the rate of habitat
destruction, but they also need to preserve the fragments that are already there in order to
protect the vulnerable species living there.

Smaller questions:

3. How is conservation biology fundamentally different from other branches of biology,

such as physiology or cell biology? How is it similar to the science of medicine? What
are the major scientific and humanistic threads that came together to establish modern
conservation biology as a field?
Conservation biology is fundamentally different from other branches of biology
because it’s a more hands-on field of study that requires knowledge of not just the past, but
creativity and ingenuity to move into the future. This is a field of study that is rapidly
evolving and isn’t something that can necessarily be done in a lab under typical lab
conditions such as in cell biology or physiology. This is a more theoretical field of study that
incorporates all the different scientific fields into it.
This is similar to the field of medicine however, because medicine also incorporates
all the different scientific fields into it. The field of medicine is a highly hands-on field that is
always evolving and requires creativity and ingenuity to be successful and move into the
future.
For modern conservation biology to be established as a field there are major
scientific and humanistic threads that needed to come together. There need to be people who
care and want to do something to help, and at the same time, there needs to be a connection
between scientific advancement and conservation. Scientific advances need to be occurring
because for conservation to work into the future, there needs to be a way in which it’s able to
keep up with this rapidly evolving technological world. There needs to be people who are
willing to work, and learn, new technology and incorporate it into their conservation
practices.
An example of this would include things such as tracking collars. Before satellite
tracking collars, conservationists had a hard time keeping track of species’ numbers and
figuring out the daily routines, and habits, of many organisms. Thanks to the technology
joining up with conservation, conservationists today are able to track organisms pretty easily
which helps them determine where these organisms go and how they live. This important
information enables conservationists to make better choices on how to save and protect
species.
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Also, another important thread that comes together to establish conservation biology
would be medicine. An example of this would be something where there is a certain species
that is quickly dying off due to disease. By incorporating the field of medicine in with
conservation, scientists are able to possibly come up with a treatment plan to help the
organisms better fight off the disease, so their survival rates are at strong and healthy levels
again. Modern conservation biology is made up of so many intricate parts and really brings
together many different scientific and technological fields.

4. Within conservation biology there is a tension between scholars that might be

described as representative of ‘preservationist’ and ‘new conservation’ schools. What is
the source of this tension? What are the roots of these perspectives in the history of
conservation? How do you weigh the arguments of these perspectives?
Preservationists are concerned with making sure that there are places where wildlife
are able to live without having to worry about humans interfering with their lives (Hunter,
Jr. & Gibbs, 2000, p. 5). Conservationists are concerned with making sure that we use our
natural resources and the services that nature provides sensibly and carefully so that they
are around for future generations (Hunter, Jr. & Gibbs, 2000, p. 4). This tension is between
people who think that nature should be left untouched and those that think it’s okay to use
nature’s services as long as we use them wisely and sparingly. As a result, the term
“preservationist” often has a bad connotation along with it.
The establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 was seen as the beginning of
preservation (Hunter, Jr. & Gibbs, 2000, p. 9). However, the Society for Conservation
Biology was formed in 1986. These two different viewpoints are not really all that different
and have many of the same goals in mind. But because of the negative connotation of
“preservationist,” there is a slight tension between the two.
I agree more with the conservation side of things rather than the preservation side of
things. I do believe that we need to preserve the land in order to stop massive extinctions, but
at the same time, I feel that there needs to be a balance between humans and nature. Nature
provides essential services and opportunities for us, but we need to be able to balance how
much we take versus the survival of nature and the species living within it.

5. Choose any ecosystem service, describe its service value (i.e., what does the service
do?) and its economic value. What are the problems inherent in placing an economic
value on something like an ecosystem service?
An example of an ecosystem service would be pollination. This is a necessary service
that is essential to the survival of life as we know it on Earth. Pollination is essential to plant
reproduction. There are many ways that a plant is able to be pollinated, including by the
wind, but the major way that pollination occurs is through animals. Animals, vertebrate and
invertebrate, “are involved in pollinating over 90% of flowering plant species and 95% of
food crops (Sodhi and Ehrlich, 2010, p. 60).” According to the lecture notes, the economic
value of pollination is roughly $0.2 trillion.
There are many problems with placing an economic value on an ecosystem service.
By placing a value on something like this, it makes it seem like the service only has a
monetary value. Because of this, people would only think about the money side of the service
instead of thinking about the big picture. This would include thinking about what the service
provides as a whole and what would happen if the service was to be lost.
Another problem that placing an economic value on a service has is that it degrades
the true importance of the actual service. This is because when a service has a monetary
value, people only see it through eyes of money and don’t realize the true importance of it
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until it’s scarce. This is a dangerous way of thinking because by the time people realize that
there’s a problem with the ecosystem service, it may be too late, because all they could think
about was the monetary value. Since the monetary value didn’t go down, people assume
there isn’t a problem when really there is, but all people could see was the money side of it.

References:
1. Hunter, Jr., M. L., & Gibbs, J. P. (2007). Fundamentals of conservation biology
(3rd ed., p. 5). Blackwell Publishing. https://books.google.com/books?
id=8YhpzXKOJF8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=
0#v=onepage&q&f=false
2. Pullin, A. S. (2002). Conservation Biology. Cambridge University Press. Sodhi,
N. S., & Ehrlich, P. R. (2010). Conservation biology for All. Oxford
University Press.
3. Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V., & Reece, J. B.
(2017). Campbell Biology (11th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.