Wildlife Ecology & Management Flashcards
7 cards from real ESA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Wildlife Ecology & Management flashcards as text
Which population estimation method involves capturing, marking, releasing, and then recapturing individuals to estimate total population size?
Answer: Mark-recapture (Lincoln-Petersen)
The Lincoln-Petersen mark-recapture method uses the ratio of marked individuals in a second sample to estimate total population size.
The concept of 'carrying capacity' (K) in wildlife ecology refers to:
Answer: The maximum sustainable population size an environment can support
Carrying capacity (K) is the maximum population size that an environment can sustainably support given available resources.
Which type of wildlife corridor is designed to connect large, isolated habitat patches to reduce the effects of habitat fragmentation?
Answer: Landscape linkage
Landscape linkages are wildlife corridors designed to connect fragmented habitat patches, allowing species movement and gene flow between populations.
Home range analysis in wildlife ecology is BEST described as:
Answer: The area within which an animal carries out its normal activities
Home range is defined as the area traversed by an individual during its normal daily activities, excluding unusual movements such as dispersal.
In the context of wildlife management, 'maximum sustained yield' (MSY) is the harvest level that:
Answer: Produces the greatest harvest while keeping the population stable
MSY is the largest harvest that can be taken continuously without causing long-term population decline, typically occurring at approximately K/2.
Radio telemetry studies in wildlife ecology primarily provide data on:
Answer: Individual movement patterns, home range, and habitat use
Radio telemetry allows researchers to track individual animals over time, yielding data on movement, home range, habitat selection, and behavior.
The 'source-sink' model of wildlife population dynamics describes a situation where:
Answer: High-quality habitats export surplus individuals to low-quality habitats that cannot sustain themselves
In source-sink dynamics, source habitats produce surplus individuals that disperse to sink habitats, where mortality exceeds reproduction and populations would decline without immigration.