An Introduction to Conservation Biology
TEXTBOOK REFERENCE: Author: Primack & Sher, Title: An Introduction to Conservation Biology, Edition: 1st, Publisher: Sinaur Associates, ISBN: 9781605354736
1. What are the 3 goals of conservation biology? See attached Chapter 1 part 1.
2. Consider a public land management organization and a private conservation organization that you might be familiar with. Learn more about these organizations through their publications and website.
a. What public land management organization did you chose?
b. Do you think the guiding philosophy of the public land management organization is closest to the resource conservation ethic, preservation ethic, or land ethic? Why?
c. What factors allow them to be successful or limit their effectiveness?
d. What private conservation organization did you chose?
e. Do you think the guiding philosophy of the private conservation organization is closest to the resource conservation ethic, preservation ethic, or land ethic? Why?
f. What factors allow them to be successful or limit their effectiveness?
3. Consider the “key players” in conservation biology discussed in Chapter 1. Who do you most relate to and why ? See attached, Chapter 1 part 1..
4. Do a biodiversity survey. Recommend walking around the block where you live.
5.
a. List all the species of plants, animals and insects you can identify.
b. How can you learn to identify more?
c. Now go back to the same area and see how many more plants, animals and insects you can identify. List them below.
d. Why is it important to be able to identify species in the wild?
6. Differentiate between a population, a community and an ecosystem.
7. Community composition is organized into tropic levels. Design a simple food chain that might be found in a particular ecosystem and provide an example below of a species that might be found at each tropic level. Be specific! Don’t just say “plant” but give an example of a particular species of plant.
a. What type of ecosystem did you choose?
b. Primary producers:
c. Primary consumers:
d. Secondary consumers:
e. Tertiary consumers:
f. Where might you find an omnivore in the food chain you just created? What about a decomposer? Why is creating a food web a better solution?
8. Consider a keystone species. You cannot choose the wolf or beaver since these species were discussed in class.
a. What keystone species did you choose?
b. Describe its role in the environment where it lives.
c. What do you think would happen to the ecosystem if this species were removed?
9. Explain externalities in terms of economics. How do environmental economics and/or ecological economics account for externalities?
10. Research a large development project on the island of Oahu and learn all you can about it. This can be a water diversion project, office park, shopping mall, highway, or housing development .
a. What development project did you chose and where is it located?
b. Consider the externalities of this project in terms of how it will affect biological diversity, economic prosperity, and human health. List them below
11. Check out the 2018 EPI results
a. What country had the highest EPI ranking? The lowest?
b. How did the US rank? How can the US improve its rank?
12. Choose a type of ecosystem and provide an example below for each type of value obtained from that ecosystem. You can refer to Figure 3.15 in your text book for examples, but you may not evaluate a tropical wetland ecosystem. See attached Chapter 3 part 3.
a. What type of ecosystem did you choose?
b. Direct use value:
c. Indirect use value:
d. Option value:
e. Existence value:
13. Give an example of a charismatic megafauna.
14. What environmental ethics principle do you most agree with and why?
15. There are 7 major threats to biodiversity listed in Figure 4.1 of your text book that are the result of human activity. Pick ONE of these threats and answer the questions below. See attached Chapter 4 part 1.
a. What threat did you choose?
b. Why does this particular threat lead to the loss of biodiversity?
c. How are humans the cause of this threat?
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