BIOAO2 Module 3 - Ecology

DATE LECTURE TOPIC TEXT CHAPTER Tues. Mar. 12 - Lecture 1 Biology of Animal Behaviour 1 39 Thurs. Mar. 14 Lecture 2 Biology of Animal Behaviour 2 39 Fri. Mar. 15 Lecture 3 Population Ecology 1 44 Tues. Mar. 19 Lecture 4 Population Ecology 2 44 Thurs. Mar. 21 Lecture 5 Population Interactions 45 Fri. Mar. 22 Lecture 6 Community Ecology 45 Tues. Mar. 26 - Lecture 7 Tree of Life Fungi 23 Thurs. Mar. 28 - Lecture 8 Ecosystem Ecology 1 46 Fri. Mar. 29 Good Friday no lecture Tues. Apr. 2 Lecture 9 Human Impacts on Bio Systems 1 48 Thurs. Apr. 4 - Lecture 10 Human Impacts on Bio Systems 2 48 Fri. Apr. 5 Lecture 11 Tree of Life Conservation Bio and the Importance of Biodiversity 47
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Igenome: A Journey From Microbes to Genes Laboratory-based experiential learning opportunity Date: Mon August 26 to Fri August 30, 2013 Prerequisite: BIOA01H and BIOA02H Cost: Free Enrolment: Maximum 24 students For more information and the Application form: Igenome advertisement and application.docx Deadline to apply: July 2, 2013 Ecology from the Ground Up Field research experience at the Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill Date: Mon August 19 to Thu August 22, 2013 Cost: $100 to cover transportation, housing and meals Enrolment: Maximum 18 students For more information and the Application form: Ecology_Ground_Up.docx Deadline to apply: June 1, 2013

Or see the Department of Biological Sciences home page for more info
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BIO A02 Final Exam

Thursday, April 18, 2013, 2:00-5:00pm (see blackboard for room allocations)
- there will 50 multiple choice questions based on Module 3 (topics covered in lectures, please use the textbook as a reference, but topics that were not covered in lecture will not be on the final exam)
-there will also be between 15-20 multiple choice synthesis questions covering tree of life (eg. phylogenetic pathways, or evolutionary pathways showing the evolution of different animals though their form and function) & overall biological principles as they apply across organisms (such as adaptation, natural selection, etc)
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Dogs
Domestication appears to have been based, in part, on their social behaviour, including ability to communicate with people

Experiments show that dogs are better at reading communication signals from people than other animals, such as chimps or wolves (interspecific communication appears to have been strongly selected for during the domestication of dogs)
Among first animals to have been domesticated, perhaps by 15000 years B.P. (presumable to aid in hunting) Genetic behavioural and morphological evidence indicates that dogs originated from wolves and that there was probably more than one domestication event
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Atlantic Salmon
Farmed fish are larger and more aggressive than wild stock, and they mature later
Intensive fishing reduced natural stocks in some areas to brink of extinction Aquaculture operations in Nova Scotia produced 35 000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon in 2006

Aquaculture can have negative impacts Escaped fish thought to interbreed with local species, threatening their genetic survival 5
Fig. 42.1

Pearls
People cultivate many species that have not been domesticated because there is no evidence of selective breeding Examples are mushrooms, ostriches (for meat, hide, feathers and eggs), crocodiles (ranched for hides and meat), molluscs (mainly for pearls)

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Fig. 48.21

Lecture 11

Tree of Life Conservation Bio and the Importance of Biodiversity

(Textbook chapter 47)
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Extinction
A species is extinct when there are no living representatives known on Earth Conservation organizations: A species is extinct when it has not been seen or recorded for 50 years

Background extinction rate: Expect species to disappear at some low rate (suggested that on average 10% of species go extinct every million years)

Altberosaurus
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Fig. 47.2

Mass Extinctions
Permian most severe More than 85% of species alive at time disappeared coincided with a major glaciation and a decline in sea level

At end of Cretaceous: Half of species on Earth, including most dinosaurs, disappeared believed to have been caused by an asteroid impact Dust clouds blocked sunlight for photosynthesis Chain reaction of extinctions began with microscopic organisms and finished with dinosaurs (as well as many birds and mammals) Dinosaurs disappeared about 65.5 mya Dinosaurs had begun their decline 8 million years earlier and persisted for another 40 000 years after impact This extinction took place over tens of thousands of years and some organisms survived (eg.ginko trees, horseshoe crabs)
Sixth mass extinction, potentially largest of all, occurring now as result of human degradation of environment

The Impact of Humans

Know most about extinctions resulting from human activities Records relatively recent and accessible

Vulnerable Species Species (particularly flightless birds) confined to islands often have small populations and are unaccustomed to introduced terrestrial predators (such as cats and dogs), this makes them vulnerable to extinction when human populations settle and expand Example: Dodo birds on the Island of Mauritius were hunted for food by both humans and introduced predators As a consequence of the extinction of the dodo, is the extinction of the Mauritian calvaria tree that evolved along with the dodo and required the dodo to pass the seed through the digestive tract as a requirement for germination

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Fig. 47.5

Introduced and Invasive Species

Humans cause extinction through hunting and by introduction of other species

Moving species from one part of the world to another can have serious impacts t the invaders , once arrived and established, may outcompete resident species and wipe out species and ecosystems Arrival of zebra mussels in Great Lakes is the main reason for decline of now endangered eastern pond mussels
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Fig. 47.8

Demise of the Black Rhinoceros Poaching

By 1987, populations in wild were reduced to 3,500 Today, only a few individuals survive in protected areas in Africa In less than 30 years, the species was almost exterminated in wild In 1960, black rhinos were one of big five on list of big game to shoot as trophies (estimated 60 000 in the wild in 1960) Other big five African lion African elephant Cape buffalo leopard 12
Fig. 47.11

Dramatic Reductions of Barndoor Skates By-catch

Nontarget species often caught in nets: are by-catch Victims of by-catch include other species of fish as well as sea turtles and marine mammals Removing species from ecosystems or depleting their numbers can also affect many other species in the ecosystem
Fig. 47.15 Fig. 47.14

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Conservation Development
First step Development and adoption of objective, databased criteria for assessing risk posed to different species Process developed on several fronts around the world

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Trademark of panda demonstrates how associating a cause with an icon can be very successful
1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (also known as World Wildlife Fund); "WWF" and "living planet" are WWF Registered Trademarks. 14

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)

Like IUCN, recognizes six categories for assessing species at risk: Extinct: A wildlife species that no longer exists

Extirpated: A species no longer existing in one location in the wild but occurring elsewhere
Endangered: A species facing imminent extirpation or extinction Threatened: A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed Special concern: A species that may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats Data deficient: When available information is insufficient either to resolve a wildlife species eligibility of assessment or to permit an assessment of its risk of extinction 15

Empathy for All Species

Humans can have great empathy for their fellows

We need to extend this concern to other species with whom we share the planet

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Fig. 47.25