Ecology Conservation and Restoration Ecology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept describes the idea that restored or conserved ecosystems provide benefits to people?
- Biodiversity hotspots
- Ecosystem services (Correct answer)
- Ecological resilience
- Trophic cascades
Correct answer: Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to humans, including clean water, pollination, and climate regulation.
Question 2: The 'source-sink' dynamic in metapopulation ecology means that:
- Habitats act as both water sources and nutrient sinks
- High-quality habitats produce emigrants that sustain populations in poor-quality habitats (Correct answer)
- Species move from sinks to sources during seasonal migration
- Population size is determined by predator-prey cycles
Correct answer: High-quality habitats produce emigrants that sustain populations in poor-quality habitats
In source-sink dynamics, source habitats have net positive population growth and supply individuals to sink habitats where mortality exceeds reproduction.
Question 3: What is 'assisted migration' in a climate change context?
- Moving wildlife corridors northward
- Deliberately relocating species to habitats that will be suitable under future climate conditions (Correct answer)
- Training animals to migrate along new routes
- Building underpasses for wildlife displaced by warming
Correct answer: Deliberately relocating species to habitats that will be suitable under future climate conditions
Assisted migration (also called assisted colonization) moves species to areas projected to become climatically suitable, preempting local extinction.
Question 4: Which metric is commonly used to assess the integrity of a restored wetland?
- Net primary productivity only
- Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) (Correct answer)
- Shannon diversity index alone
- Leaf area index
Correct answer: Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
The Index of Biotic Integrity uses assemblage of native species (often fish or macroinvertebrates) to assess how closely a site approaches a reference condition.
Question 5: What is the main purpose of a seed bank in conservation?
- Providing food security by storing crop seeds
- Preserving genetic diversity of wild and cultivated plant species against extinction (Correct answer)
- Producing seeds for commercial reforestation projects
- Supplying seeds for invasive species control
Correct answer: Preserving genetic diversity of wild and cultivated plant species against extinction
Conservation seed banks store seeds from wild and domesticated plant species at low temperature and humidity to preserve genetic diversity against future extinction.
Question 6: Which of the following best defines 'rewilding' in modern conservation?
- Removing all human management from any ecosystem
- Restoring self-sustaining ecosystems by reintroducing missing species and natural processes (Correct answer)
- Replanting native grasses on agricultural land
- Establishing strict no-entry nature reserves
Correct answer: Restoring self-sustaining ecosystems by reintroducing missing species and natural processes
Rewilding focuses on restoring ecological processes and trophic interactions, often by reintroducing keystone species, to allow ecosystems to self-regulate.
Question 7: What does the term 'defaunation' describe in conservation ecology?
- Removal of invasive plant species from an ecosystem
- The loss of animal species and populations from ecosystems due to human activity (Correct answer)
- A natural die-off of insects during drought
- Hunting of predators by ranchers
Correct answer: The loss of animal species and populations from ecosystems due to human activity
Defaunation refers to the human-caused depletion of animal diversity and abundance, which cascades through food webs and ecosystem functions.
Ecology Conservation and Restoration Ecology 3
Which concept describes the idea that restored or conserved ecosystems provide benefits to people?