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Chapter 55 Study Guide: Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology
How to use this study guide: Look over the entire study guide—read each question to prepare you for reading
the chapter. Read the chapter carefully and thoroughly. Make sure to look at all of the figures and pictures
and read their captions. Then…answer the questions posed below.
The Biodiversity Crisis
1. Distinguish between conservation biology and restoration biology.
2. Give a brief overview of how the human activities are altering the biosphere (be specific to trophic
structure, energy cycling, chemical cycling, and land disturbance, etc…)
Human activities threaten Earth’s biodiversity
3. Extinction is a natural process—it has been happening for years! So why should we be concerned?
4. Compare the three main levels of diversity.
a. What are some of the stats?
5.
Explain why it is too narrow to define the biodiversity crisis as simple a loss of species.
6. Why should we care about the loss of biodiversity?
i. What are some of the costs and benefits?
ii. Describe Ecosystem Services!
7. Describe the four main threats to biodiversity and how each one damages diversity.
Population conservation focuses on population size, genetic diversity, and critical habitat
8. Some conservation biologists approach their work with a small-population approach. Why are small
populations more susceptible to extinction? (STUDY Figure 55.9!!!)
9. Using the case study of “The Greater Prairie Chicken” & “Analysis of the Grizzly Bear”-relate the
“extinction vortex” to minimum viable population, population viability analysis, and effective population
size.
10. Other conservation biologists take a “declining population approach.” What does this focus on? How
does it differ from the “small population approach?”
11. How are population analyzed in the “declining population approach?”
12. Using the case study-“Decline of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker”, detail how the scientists works
through the study.
13. What kinds of conflicting demands need to be taken into account when studying and trying to find
answers for conservation biology?
Landscape and regional conservation aim to sustain entire biotas
14. The biodiversity of a landscape is largely determined by the structure of the landscape. Describe how
the following contribute to the diversity and species distribution in a biome.
a. Fragmentation and edges
b. corridors
15. What is a biodiversity hot spot?
16. How do zoned reserves provide economic incentives for long-term protection of protected areas?
17. How can corridors connecting habitat fragments help protect endangered populations? How might
such corridors harm populations?
Restoration ecology attempts to restore degraded ecosystems to a more natural state
18. How do bioremediation and biological augmentation differ?
Sustainable development seeks to improve the human condition while conserving biodiversity
19. What is meant by the term “sustainable development?”
20. How might biophilia influence environmental ethics?
Putting it in practice!
21. Making decision to preserve communities requires an understanding and integration of many factors.
Assume you work for the U.S. government and you manage a large national forest. You are told that to
maintain the economy in the area, the government has agreed to allow foresters to remove half a
million acres of trees from a million-acre parcel. This parcel is almost square.
You have asked your staff to do an analysis of two possible methods for implementing the plan:
Proposal I: Split the million acres in half and allow the foresters to harvest the trees on one of the halves.
Proposal II: Divide the million-acre tract into 50 parcels (of 10,000 acres each) and allow the foresters to
cut half the trees in each parcel.
In the chart below, list some of the ecological advantages and disadvantages of each proposal.
Proposal I
Proposal II
Advantages
Disadvantages
Advantages
Disadvantages
22. The characteristics of various animal species are described next. Which of the forest-cutting proposal
would be more likely to ensure the continued success of each animal species? Explain your answers.
a. C. arnivora is a secondary and occasionally a tertiary consumer or carnivore. Behaviorally, it
roams over about 20 square miles of “home range” in search of food—for example, rabbits
(herbivores) and foxes (carnivores).
b. R. odentia is a small rodent-like herbivore that exists in small numbers in the forest. Its
preferred food and habitat are found along the edges of the forest and are composed primarily
of herbaceous (non-woody) annual plants that produce tender shoots in the spring and plentiful
seeds later in the year.
c. P. redatoria is a predatory bird that feeds on small rodents and occasionally on snakes and
other reptiles. It can range over large distances looking for food. It nests in hollows that form
naturally in a particular species of tree. These hollows are not found in trees less than 20 years
of age but are common in trees 40 years and older.
23. Conservation biologists have debated extensively which is better; many small reserves or a few large
ones. What factors should be considered in making judgments about the size and location of reserves?
24. Given your answers to questions 21-23, which of the proposal for removing half a million acres from the
national forest would you recommend? Explain your answer.