Problem 1: Why would you use a species diversity index, such as Shannon's or Simpson's index, instead of simply species richness to characterize the biodiversity of an area?
Problem 2: Which of the threats to biodiversity presented in lecture and your text is generally considered the biggest threat? Why?
Problem 3: Define ecosystem service and give an example.
Problem 4: List three ways invasive species can negatively impact biodiversity.
Problem 5: Describe two instrumental values that a conservation biologist might use to argue against the destruction of biodiversity.
Problem 6: What is the evidence of human induced climate change? What would a skeptic say about this evidence?
Problem 7: What is an extinction vortex? What is stochasticity and how are the two related?
Problem 8: Describe the differences between habitat degradation and fragmentation.
Problem 9: It has been hypothesized that with 50% habitat loss you will lose 10% of species. With 90% habitat loss you will lose 50% of species. How did conservation biologists estimate this number? There are some major assumptions of this approach to estimating species lost due to habitat loss. List and describe three. What other factors associated with habitat loss can result in this approach providing an incorrect estimate
Problem 10: Demonstrate your ability to apply information by choosing a single threatened population and location and describing it briefly. Then use the table to name three distinct anthropogenic threats that appear to be causing this population to decline. For each threat, describe one process by which that threat would affect population size (1 pt per pair). Next, imagine you are the conservation biologist who used field data to infer this process from a pattern between exactly two variables that did NOT include a count of individuals (2 pts per box). Finally, choose one of the processes and describe a field experiment that could determine if there is likely a causal relationship between that process and the pattern you associated with it using the field data