Conservation Biology Take Home – Fall 2009
This exam is open notes, open google, and open mind! Email or talk to Peter or
Johnny if you have questions about the questions (the first four questions are
form Johnny, the last four are from Peter) and email the exam to Johnny or Peter
or drop if off at the front desk at the Garden.
Johnny’s email: jrandall@email.unc.edu
Peter’s email: peter.white@unc.edu
J Randall questions
1. The ex situ conservation of rare plant species is time consuming, must be
carried out in a careful and ecologically responsible manner, and can be the last
chance for some critically endangered species. Provide a “balance sheet” (with
accompanying explanation where necessary) comparing the benefits versus
liabilities of ex situ plant conservation practices?
2. How are botanical gardens, compared to other conservation organizations
(such as The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Natural Heritage Programs, etc.),
uniquely suited as institutions of biodiversity conservation?
3. Is endangered plant reintroduction really worth the cost, effort, and risk of
failure, or should conservation biologists concentrate their efforts on more
tangible projects like land purchase and management, ex situ conservation, or
other less risky activities?
4. Many natural areas are managed by people who work to remove invasive
species, rehabilitate degraded lands with native plant introductions, and attempt
to return past disturbances such as fire. Should these management practices
that require huge resources be continued, or should these ecosystems be left to
undergo ecological succession based on our current (and future) environmental
conditions without human interference?
P White Questions
5. In the context of habitat fragmentation: What is extinction debt? Contrast
deterministic and random losses that are predicted to occur after fragmentation.
6. Contrast the inclusive (the Reed Noss definition and its relatives) and narrow
definitions of biological diversity and explain why many government agencies and
conservation groups prefer the inclusive definition.
7. How are data from “land bridge islands” used to “test” the Theory of Island
Biogeography? What does the theory predict about newly made islands that
were once part of some larger whole?
8. The two components of “scale”, grain and extent, are said to maximize
different properties of biological diversity…explain the SLOSS debate in this
context and why we need both Large and Many nature preserves.