Unit 1: Summary Notes for Ecology, Conservation and Evolution

IB Biology – Higher Level Topic 5 and Option G

Campbell Text References:

Chapter 50: Introduction to Ecology and Biosphere

Chapter 52: Population Ecology
Chapter 53: Community Ecology
Chapter 54: Ecosystems
Chapter 55: Conservation Biology
Chapter 1: Taxonomy, Evolution and Natural Selection

Chapter 50 – Introduction to Ecology and Biosphere

Vocabulary:

• Habitat: the environment in which a species normally lives or the location of a living
organism.
• Ecology: The Scientific Study of the Interactions between organisms and the
environment
• Abiotic: Non-living (ex. Temp, light, water, nutrients)
• Biotic: Living organisms (called biota)
• Population: A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic
area.
• Population ecology: Concentrates mainly on factors that affect how many individuals of
a particular species live in an area.
• Community: Consists of all the organisms of all the species that inhabit a particular
area; it is an assemblage of populations of many different species.
• Community ecology: Deals with the whole array of interacting species in a community.
This area of research focuses on how interactions such as predation, competition, and
disease, as well as abiotic factors such as disturbance, affect community structure and
organization.
 • Ecosystem: Consists of all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of
species that exist in a certain area. An ecosystem—a lake, for example—may contain
many different communities.
• Ecosystem ecology: The emphasis is on energy flow and chemical cycling among the
various biotic and abiotic components.
• Biome: Any of the world’s major ecosystems, classified according to the predominant
vegetation and characterized by by adaptations of organisms to that environment
• Biosphere: The global ecosystem—the sum of all the planet′s ecosystems. This
broadest area of ecology includes the entire portion of Earth inhabited by life: the
atmosphere to an altitude of several kilometers, the land down to and including water–
bearing rocks at least 3 kilometers below–ground, lakes and streams, caves, and the
oceans to a depth of several kilometers. An example of research at the biosphere level is
the analysis of how changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration may affect Earth′s climate
and, in turn, all life.

Activity: Science, technology, and society: DDT

DISCUSS how the science of ecology can help in the process of making difficult and
complicated decisions such as whether or not to use DDT.

Relationship between Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ecology and evolutionary biology are closely related sciences. Darwin′s extensive observations
of the distribution of organisms and their adaptation to specific environments led him to propose
that environmental factors interacting with variation within populations could cause evolutionary
change. Today, we have ample evidence that events that occur in the framework of ecological
time (minutes, months, and years) translate into effects over the longer scale of evolutionary time
(decades, centuries, millennia, and longer). For instance, hawks feeding on field mice have an
immediate impact on the prey population by killing certain individuals, thereby reducing
population size (an ecological effect) and altering the gene pool (an evolutionary effect). One
long–term evolutionary effect of this predator–prey interaction may be selection for mice with
fur coloration that camouflages the animal
The Figure Below is a good summary of the different factors that can limit the geographic
distribution of a particular species

Concept Check 50.1: How can an event that occurs on the ecological time scale affect
events that occur on an evolutionary time scale?

Precautionary Principle
Although our ecological information is always incomplete, we cannot abstain from making
decisions about environmental issues until all the answers are known. But given what we do
know about the interconnectedness of the biosphere, it is probably wise to follow the
precautionary principle, which can be expressed simply as “An ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure.” Aldo Leopold, the famous wildlife conservationist, expressed the precautionary
principle well when he wrote, “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution to intelligent t

**An example of the Precautionary Principle is Global Warming. (ie. Even though we don’t
know all the mechanisms by which humans increase the rate of global warming, the negative
consequences of it should lead us to take action to reduce our production of greenhouse gases.

Flowchart of factors limiting geographic distribution of a species.

CD Activity 50.2: Adaptations to Biotic and Abiotic factors

CD Investigation 50.2: How do abiotic factors affect distribution of organisms

Describe which plant species’ at Wissahickon Creek Park were restricted to the floodplane
and which were restricted to the hilltop and which seemed to range between both extremes.
Outline some of the abiotic factors that produce these differences in distribution.

Explain why stiltgrass is a potentially damaging plant in the Wissahickon Creek

Ecossystem. Include an assessment of its potential impact on animal populations.

Explain how abiotic factors such as fertilizer chemical pollutants (nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium) can affect the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Wissahickon
Creek. (Hint: Eutrophicaton)
Summary of the World’s Biomes
 Biome
Moisture Temperature Vegetation

ample rainfall jungle, trees

Tropical Rainforest very hot
very humid and vines
wet season
Tropical Savanna very hot tall grasses
dry season
evenly divided deciduous
warm season
Deciduous Forest throughout the trees, oak,
cold season
year maple
great daily sage brush,
Desert inadequate
range cactus
Subarctic Taiga cold winter evergreen
adequate
cool summer trees, spruce
lichens,
Polar Tundra adequate perpetual cold
mosses

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 50 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS
A.S. 5.1.1, 5.2.4, 5.2.5, G.1.1, G.1.2, G.2.9, G.2.10, G.2.11, G.3.8

Chapter 52- Population Ecology

Vocabulary
• Species: a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
• Density: Number of individuals per unit area or volume. Ex. White Oak trees per
square kilometer in Potter County Pennsylvania or E.coli bacteria per milliliter in a
testtube
• Demography: The study of the rise and fall of population sizes over time
• Natality: Rate of Birth (# of individuals in a given period of time –usually a year)
• Mortality Rate of Death (# of individuals in a given period of time –usually a year)
• Immigration: The movement of individuals into a population
• Emmigration: The movement of individuals out of a population
• Carrying Capacity: The maximum population size that can be supported by the available
resources, symbolized by K.
• Exponential Growth: The geometric (larger the quantity gets, the faster it grows)
increase of a population as it grows in an ideal, unlimited environment
• Sigmoid (Logistic Growth): A model describing population growth that levels off as
population size approaches carrying capacity
 • Life History: The series of events from birth through reproduction and death
• r-Strategy Growth: The concept that in certain (r-selected) populations, a high
reproductive rate is the chief determinant of life history and survival
• K-Strategy Growth: The concept that in certain (K-selected) populations, life history is
centered around producing relatively few offspring that have a good chance of survival

Methods for Estimating Populations Sizes

1) For Animals (mostly)-------Mark-Recapture Method (Lincoln Index)

Population size = n1 x n2
n3
n1 = number of individuals initially caught, marked and released
n2 = total number of individuals caught in the second sample
n3 = number of marked individuals in the second sample

2) For Plants (mostly) -----Quadrat Transect method

Key Aspects of Quadrat Method

• Transects are distributed evenly across the site (for full coverage so you don’t miss any
“pockets” of a plant species.
• Each Quadrat is spaced evenly along the transects (for same reason as above)
• The percent area of each plant species is estimated within each quadrat which is
1 meter 2 in size.
• All the quadrat percentages are added up for each plant species
• Each of these total species percentages is divided by the total quadrat percentages to get
the relative percentage of each plant species. As shown below

Survivorship Curves:
Type I: Low death rates during early and middle life, then high death rates in later life
Type II Constant death rate over life of the organism
Type III: High death rates during early life, then declining death rates in later years

Life history traits are products of natural selection

Natural selection favors traits that improve an organism′s chances of survival and
reproductive success. In every species, there are trade–offs between survival and traits such
as frequency of reproduction, the number of offspring produced (the number of seeds
produced by plants and litter or clutch size for animals), and investment in parental care. The
traits that affect an organism′s schedule of reproduction and survival (from birth through
reproduction to death) make up its life history. Life histories entail three basic variables:
when reproduction begins (the age at first reproduction or age at maturity), how often the
organism reproduces, and how many offspring are produced during each reproductive
episode.

Keep in mind that, with the important exception of humans, organisms do not choose
consciously when to reproduce or how many offspring to have. Life history traits are the
products of evolution through natural selection.

Population Dynamics

To understand why populations increase and decrease, we must understand the definition of
some terms like mortality, natality, immigration and emigration. We must also understand
that these terms are usually expressed as a rate over a specified time interval – usually one
year.

Mortality rate = number deaths per year in a species in a specified area

Natality rate = number of births per year in a species in a specified area
*Immigration rate = number of individual of the species entering a specified area
*Emmigration rate = number of individuals of a species leaving a specified area

* unlike mortality and natality which are cumulative, these factors are measure at the end
of the year or some other specific time.

To Calculate the Yearly Change in Population

Change in population size = births/yr – deaths/yr + immigration - emmigration

Now: Imagine that on January 1, 2005 we had a population of 1000 monitor lizards on the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. During the course of the year, the following data is confirm:
• 103 births
• 85 deaths
• 15 immigrants (as of Dec 31, 2005)
• 8 emmigrants (as of Dec 31, 2005)

Using the equation above and the original population size, calculate the population size
on January 1, 2006 (one year later) Show your work

Often however, due to the difficulty in measuring immigration and emigration, we assume
them to offset one another and deal only with mortality and natality. When we do this, these
rates are expresses as Per Capita Rates of Increase. For Example:

If there are 34 births per year in a population of 1000 individuals, the annual per capita
natality rate is 34/1000 or 0.034
If there are 16 deaths per year in the same population of 1000, the annual per capita mortality
rate is 16/1000 or 0.016

Now for a specific example using different numbers

• Annual Per Capita Natality Rate = 0.18

• Annual Per Capita Mortality Rate = 0.10
• Population Size = 450

What is the population at the end of the year? (Show your Work)

Sigmoid and Exponential Population growth

 Populations cannot grow forever because limiting factors slow and eventually stop
population growth. Populations typically follow a growth curve with three phases:
exponential phase, transitional phase and plateau phase.

Population growth is the result of the interaction of four factors: natality, mortality,
immigration and emigration

Carrying capacity
"K" is the carrying capacity, or the maximum stable population any environment
can support. This is determined by the available resources.

Two different “Life History Stategies”

K-species and r-species

K-species are characterised by a low reproductive rate, large investment in offspring,

long lives and large size.

r-species are characterised by a high reproductive rate, little or no investment in

offspring, short lives and small size.
The growth curve for K-species flattens out as the carrying capacity ("K") of the
environment is reached. This is because population growth is density-dependent.

The growth curve for r-species shoots through the carrying capacity ('boom') and then
falls below it ('bust') once there are more organisms than the environment can support.
This is because population growth is determined more by the reproductive rate ("r")
than population density.

What are the environmental conditons that favor either r-stategists or K-strategists?

Predictable Envionment- K-strategies favored

Unstable Environment - r-strategis favored

Why are K strategies favored in a predicable env. And r strategies favored in

an unpredictable environment??

Are humans a K-species or an r-species?

In traditional societies, high birth rates have always been balanced by high infant
mortality. Now that modern medicine has sharply reduced mortality, the high natality
has created a 'boom' in the world human population. The question is: will the human
population exceed the carrying capacity of the planet, with a subsequent 'bust' phase?

http://www.unfpa.org/index.htm

Website for Populus Population Computer Model

www.cbs.umn.edu/populus/
Commercial Fishing and Fish Populations

Some methods used to estimate the size of commercial fish stocks

• Catch-Mark-Release (Lincoln Index) clip a fin to mark
• Sonar methods (possibly the ships would run transects across the ocean-then they would
multiply this number by the area they didn’t cover)
• Gill nets (nets are set in areas known to be inhabited by certain species. The net has a
certain cross-sectional area and is laid out for a certain time period. The number of fish
caught should be proportional to the total population.

Maximum Sustainable Yield: The maximum number of fish that can be caught by commercial
fishing fleets per year and still sustain a relatively large population. In other words, if you
exceed the maximum sustainable yield of a certain species, the population would “crash” and
become locally rare or possibly even extinct. (ex. Chilean Sea Bass became very rare after they
became popular in restaurants-this led to increased fishing pressure (because they became more
valuable) and their maximum sustainable yield was exceeded.

Another example is the fate of the North Atlantic bluefin tuna . Until the past few decades, this
big tuna was considered a sport fish of little commercial value—just a few cents per pound for
cat food. Then, in the 1980s, wholesalers began airfreighting fresh, iced bluefin to Japan for
sushi and sashimi. In that market, the fish now brings up to $100 per pound . With that kind of
demand, it took just ten years to reduce the North American bluefin population to less than 20%
of its 1980 size. The collapse of the northern cod fishery off Newfoundland in the 1990s is a
more recent example of how it is possible to overharvest what was formerly a very common
species.

International Measures that would promote the conservation of fish

• International agreements on quotas (maximum # caught) for specific species
• Increased scientific research on the life histories of fish species
• Increased efforts to monitor the populations of specific fish species

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 52 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

A.S. 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, 5.3.4, G.1.3, G.1.4, G.5.1, G.5.2, G.5.3, G.5.4, G.5.5, G.5.6
Chapter 53 – Community Ecology

Vocabulary

• Habitat : A particular environment, the typical location of a particular species. Habitat

is a place = an organism's 'address'
• Ecological niche: The totality of an organism's relationships with all the biotic and
abiotic factors which make up the organism's habitat.
• Interspecific Competition: When two species compete for a resource, the result is
detrimental to both species (−/−) such as when two different species compete for a
particular resource that is in short supply ex1 When bison and grasshoppers compete for
grass on the Great Plains ex2: When a red oak seedling and a white ash seedling
compete for sunlight
• Competitive exclusion: . Strong competition can lead to the local elimination of one of the
two competing species, a process called competitive exclusion
• Symbiosis: is a special type of interaction, where one organism lives on or in another
• Biomass: The total mass of all individuals in a population
• Biodiversity: The number of different species in a given geographical area

Concept 53.1 Interspecific Interactions

Ecological niche is an idea = an organism's 'profession'

Actual descriptions of ecological niches are always approximations, since the list of
abiotic and biotic factors is necessarily incomplete.

An ecological niche can be thought of as existing in a multi-dimensional ecological

conceptual 'space', in which all possible 'professions' can be located.

For example, to see how the ecological niche of a squirrel fits into this ecological
conceptual 'space', we could reduce ecological space to just three dimensions:
temperature, food size and branch density. The niche occupied by a squirrel is then
defined by the upper and lower limits on each of these three axes.

The result is a cube, the volume of ecological space which corresponds to the
'profession' of the squirrel.
 The volume of ecological space occupied by any species may overlap with that
occupied by some other species (niche overlap).

Fundamental niche: The niche potentially occupied by that species

Realized niche: The niche it actually occupies in a particular environment.

• Competition, co-existence and niche specialization

Different species in the same habitat are in competition for at least some of the
resources of that habitat.

Two
species in
co- co- co- Not
different
existence existence existence Possible*
habitats=no
competition

* 'No two species can occupy the same niche'

Where only some of the resources are competed for, species can co-exist in the same
habitat. Increasing specialization limits niche overlap by exploiting different food
supplies, and by separation in time (night-hunters or day-hunters) or space (ground-
living or tree-iving).

Interspecific Interactions

Species 1 Species 2 Example

Red Squirrels and
Competition - - Gray Squirrels for
acorns
Herbivory - + Clover/Rabbits
White tailed
Predation - +
deer/Mt. Lion
Symbiosis Host Symbiont
Cattle egrets
(birds) feeding on
Commensalism 0 +
insects flushed by
moving cattle
Lichen (green
algae and fungi)
Fungi provide
algae with
Mutualism + + environment for
growth and algae
provide carbon
compounds
through photosyn.
Parasitism + Tapeworm/human

0 No Affect, either negative or positive

+ Positive Affec

- Negative affect
 Coevolution

Reciprocal evolutionary adaptations of two interacting species. A change in one species acts as a
selective force on another species, whose adaptation in turn acts as a selective force on the first
species. This linkage of adaptations requires that genetic change in one of the interacting
populations of the two species be tied to genetic change in the other population. An example of
this might be how specific butterflies have evolved alongside the specific flowers that they help
to pollinate

Concept Check 53.1: According to the competitive exclusion principle, what outcome is
expected when two species compete for a resource? Why?

• Predator-prey relationships
The interaction between primary and secondary consumers, and between secondary
and tertiary consumers, comes under the special category of predator-prey
relationships.

The inter-relationship between two animals where one animal, the prey, is food for the
other, the predator. The size of the first population depends upon the number of
predators; the size of the second population depends on the availability of the prey. Both
populations are locked into a cycle of mutually dependent population fluctuations.

• Food Chain
A food chain is the simplest way of conceptualising the movement of matter and energy
from organism to organism.

diatoms > copepods > 'krill' > whales

Diatoms are phytoplankton. Copepods and 'krill' are zooplankton. Plankton are small
creatures in the sea which swim without direction (kinesis).

Diatoms are microscopic one-celled algae. They are the producers in the food chain.
Sometimes called 'the grass of the sea'.
 Copepods are small crustaceans which feed on the phytoplankton (i.e. they are
herbivores).

'Krill' are a mix of larger crustaceans which feed on the copepods. Plankton-feeding
whales feed on 'krill' by straining the water with special modified mouthparts.

• Food Web
A food web is a more realistic conceptualisation, as it recognises that a predator may
have more than one prey, and prey may have more than one predator.
 Biodiversity

Biodiversity: Generally speaking, higher biodiversity in a given ecosystem is a good

thing because it leads to more stable food webs.

Why?

Biodiversity in an ecosystem can be estimated using the Simpson’s Diversity Index

Simpson’s Diversity Index = 1-D

where

D = Sum of n(n-1) (the greater the #, the

N(N-1) greater the sample
diversity)

Where n = Total # of organisms of a particular species

N = Total # of organisms of all species

Concept 53.2: Food Web Activity

Disturbance Influences Species Diversity and Composition

A disturbance is an event, such as a storm, fire, flood, drought, overgrazing, or human

activity, that changes a community, removes organisms from it, and alters resource
availability.

After Disturbance, plant and animal communities gradually re-colonize the disturbed area

When this process begins in a virtually lifeless area where soil has not yet formed, such as on a
new volcanic island or on the rubble (moraine) left behind by a retreating glacier, it is called
primary succession. Often the only life–forms initially present are autotrophic prokaryotes.
Lichens and mosses, which grow from windblown spores, are commonly the first macroscopic
photosynthesizers to colonize such areas. Soil develops gradually, as rocks weather and organic
matter accumulates from the decomposed remains of the early colonizers. Once soil is present,
the lichens and mosses are usually overgrown by grasses, shrubs, and trees that sprout from
seeds blown in from nearby areas or carried in by animals. Eventually, an area is colonized by
plants that become the community′s prevalent form of vegetation. Producing such a community
through primary succession may take hundreds or thousands of years.
 Concept 53.3 Succession

Secondary succession occurs when an existing community has been cleared by some
disturbance that leaves the soil intact, as in Yellowstone following the 1988 fires (see Figure
53.22). Often the area begins to return to something like its original state. For instance, in a
forested area that has been cleared for farming and later abandoned, the earliest plants to
recolonize are often herbaceous species that grow from windblown or animal–borne seeds. If the
area has not been burned or heavily grazed, woody shrubs may in time replace most of the
herbaceous species, and forest trees may eventually replace most of the shrubs.

Concept Check 53.3

How do primary and secondary succession differ?

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 53 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

5.1.4, 5.1.5, 5.1.6, 5.1.7, 5.1.8, 5.1.9, 5.1.10, G.1.5, G.1.6, G.1.7, G.1.8, G.1.9, G.1.10, G.2.6,
G.2.7, G.2.8, G.3.1, G.3.2, G.3.3

Chapter 54 – Ecosystems

Vocabulary
• Ecosystem: All organisms (species) living in a community as well as the abiotic factors
they interact with. (As you might imagine, this can get complicated!!!!)
• Autotrophs. Most autotrophs make food by photosynthesis, a few by chemosynthesis.
• Heterotrophs.: Heterotrophs cannot make their own food, so they have to feed on other
organisms, either autotrophs or each other.
• Trophic Level: Producers, consumers, and decomposers
• Herbivores: primary consumers, feed directly on producers
• Carnivores: secondary, tertiary consumers which feed on herbivores or each other
• Top Carnivores: animals that eat other animals, but no other animals eat them (top of the
food chain
• Omnivores: animals which eat both plants and other animals, e.g. humans
• Detritivores: animals which feed on the dead remains of other organisms

There are Two major concepts involved with Ecosystems

1. Energy Flow (Continual Supply to Earth’s Ecosystems from Sun)
2. Chemical Cycling (Finite Supply – What we have is What we Have!!!)
• Trophic Levels (Producers, consumers & decomposers)

Producers Consumers Decomposers

Top
e.g. green Herbivores Carnivores Detritivores
Carnivores
plants, e.g. bacteria & fungi
phytoplankton e.g. sheep, e.g. e.g. tigers, e.g. dung
zooplankton wolves sharks beetles

An ecosystem must always include producers and decomposers in order to be self-

sustaining. Most ecosystems have consumers, but an ecosystem can be self-sustaining
without them.

• Energy flow
The ultimate source of energy for almost all organisms is the sun. As organisms eat each
other the energy passes up the food chain.

Each population of organisms corresponds to a certain amount of energy. Energy is

recorded as

kJ m¯2 yr ¯1
The transfer of energy between trophic levels can be represented as a pyramid of
energy, in which the width of each block represents the energy.

The transfer of energy from one organism to another in a food chain is only 10% - 20%
efficient. This explains why the blocks in a pyramid of energy get smaller as they go up.
*Net Primary Production = Gross Primary Production – Respiration (of Producers)
Where: Gross Primary Production (KiloJoules/m2/yr) is all the solar energy plants convert to
chemical energy through photosynthesis and Respiration is the energy used by the plants to carry
on their life process (that is unavailable to 1st order consumers)
Therefore, the Net Primary Production is the bottom of the energy pyr

Pyramids of Production Concept 54.3

Note: A Biomass Pyramid would be very similar in shape the Energy Pyramid because
the Energy represented in the Energy Pyramid is really locked up in the bodies of all the animals
represented at each trophic level. Therefore, these two pyramids are, in a sense, reflections of
each other.

Biological Magnification.

One tangible consequence of the biomass pyramid is called biological magnification and occurs
because the biomass at any given trophic level is produced from a much larger biomass ingested
from the level below. In addition to ingesting the larger biomass, these animals are also
ingesting any contaminants that are contained in that food. This leads to toxins becoming more
concentrated in successively higher trophic levels of a food web. Thus, top–level carnivores
tend to be the organisms most severely affected by toxic compounds in the environment.

This occurs because many toxins cannot be degraded (broken down) by microorganisms and
consequently persist in the environment for years or even decades.. For example, mercury, a by–
product of plastic production and coal–fired power generation, has been routinely expelled into
rivers and the sea.. Bacteria in the bottom mud convert the waste to methyl mercury, an
extremely toxic soluble compound that accumulates in the tissues of organisms as you move up
the food chain/biomass pyramid, including humans who consume fish from the contaminated
waters.

Activity: Science, technology, and society: DDT

Why are there limits to Food chain Length based on the Concept of Energy Flow through
the Ecosystem described above?

How does this explain why there are relatively few top-level carnivores in any given
ecosystem”

• Recycling of inorganic elements

 An ecosytem must have decomposers, because otherwise the inorganic materials
(carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus etc.) would be trapped inside the bodies of dead
organisms for ever. Eventually there would be no inorganic materials available for the
producers to use and the ecosystem would fail.

The result of the activity of decomposers is that inorganic materials get recycled. e.g. the
carbon cycle

Website about Carbon Cycle

http://mvhs.shodor.org/coresims/carboncycle/index.php

Carbon Cycle Concept 54.4

 2 Problems: The Human Population is disrupting chemical processes
throughout the Biosphere. Examples of this are increased combustion of
greenhouse gases and depletion of the earth’s ozone layer/
1) Increased Global Warming Gases from Human Combustion (coal, oil, gas)

First, you need to understand that the Greenhouse Effect is a Good Thing!!!
Without it, our world would be a frozen wasteland!!!

However, since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO2,, Methane, and
Nitrogen Oxide in the atmosphere has been increasing as a result of the combustion of
fossil fuels and the burning of enormous quantities of wood removed by deforestation.
This has increased the natural Greenhouse Effect to Produce a rapid and dangerous rise
in global temperature In 1958, a monitoring station began taking very accurate
measurements on Hawaii′s Mauna Loa peak, where the air is free from the variable
short–term effects that occur near large urban areas. The result are shown below and
indicate a steadily increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the world’s atmosphere.

375
370
365
360

CO 2 355
concentration 350
/ ppm
345
335
330
325
320
1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000
Negative Outcomes of Rapid Global Warming
• Negative impact on plant and animal populations such as the Polar Bear and
Caribou
• Increased range of human diseases caused by pathogens which formerly restricted
to tropical climates establishing in cooler temperate climates
• Increased ocean levels, causing inundation of coastal communities

Question to Answer: Based on the Carbon Cycle Diagram, what effect will the
following activities have on atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels
• Combustion of Fossil Fuels
• Deforestation
• Increased rates of decomposition
• Planting more trees
2) Depletion of Atmospheric Ozone: Read pages 1205-1206

The basic deals is this: Ozone (O3) is formed when one atom of oxygen is added to
atmospheric oxygen (O2) The role of Ozone is to filter Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation from
sunlight. Without this filtering, living things would be exposed to lethal doses of radiation and
life would not be possible. Chloroflourocarbons (CFC’s) from aerosol cans, refrigeration
chemicals etc. released in the atmosphere can destroy the Ozone layer and reduce the filtering
capacity of the atmosphere. Since world governments have decreased or eliminated production
of CFC’s, there are signes that the ozone layer is replenishing itself. Yeah!!!

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 54 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

5.1.3, 5.1.9, 5.1.10, 5.1.11, 5.1.12, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.5, 5.2.6, G.2.1, G.2.2, G.2.3,
G.2.4, G.2.5, G.3.9, G.3.10, G.3.11

Chapter 55- Conservation Biology

Vocabulary
• Restoration Ecology: a branch of biology that applies ecological principles in an effort to
return degraded (damaged) ecosystems to conditions as similar as possible to their
natural, predegraded state
• Introduced/Invasive Species: Species that humans move, either intentionally or
accidentally, from the species’ native locations to new geographic locations.

Introduced/Invasive Species
Invasive species outcompete “native” species because their populations are not limited as much
(think carrying capacity and sigmoid population growth) by predation or the impacts of disease.
They left their natural predators or diseases back in their old ecosystem!! This could explain the
high biomass that invasive species can attain in environments lacking their natural predators and
pathogens.

Three examples of Invasive species and their impact on local ecosystems

• Stiltgrass: outcompetes native plants upon which native animals depend.\
• Ducth Elm disease Fungus: Has killed almost all American Elm trees
• Gypsy Moth: Has killed many forest trees throughout the eastern U.S.

Biological Control of Invasive species: One example of this is the use of a small insect called
the purple loostrife weevil that has been used to some success in contolling the spread of the
purple loostrife plant in the eastern U.S.
Active Role of Management Techniques in Conservation:
1) Installing fence at Wissahickon Creek to keep out the deer and allow native species to
grow
2) Pulling out stiltgrass or other invasive plant to allow native species to grow

Indicator Species: Some species in an ecosystem are more sensitive to environmental changes
and are therefore used to “indicate” changes. An example of this is the caddis fly from our
Wissahickon Creek Benthic Macroinvertebrate sampling. These aquatic insects are “Very
Sensitive” to pollution.

Species Extinction

About 20% of the known freshwater fishes in the world have either become extinct during
historical times or are seriously threatened. One of the largest rapid extinction events yet
recorded is the ongoing loss of freshwater fishes in East Africa′s Lake Victoria. About 200 of the
more than 500 species of cichlids in the lake have been lost, mainly as a result of the introduction
of a nonnative predator species, the Nile perch, in the 1960s. Anothr example is the hunting of
the Passenger pidgeon to extinction in the 19th century.

Endangered species can be protected in two ways

1) In-situ Conservation of Endangered Species- Preserving large terrestrial (land) or aquatic

reserves (tracts of land) from being developed or otherwise damaged. This basically protects the
organisms habitat for future generations. This is the most effective way of protecting endangered
species

Large Nature Reserves Better:

Generally, large nature reserves are better than small ones and promost biodiversity better than
small reserves because they contain “interior” habitat as well as “edge” habitat. Different
animals are adapted to edge vs. interior habitat, so having both available will mean that the
habitat will be acceptable to a larger range of species.

Habitat “Corridors” are good

These are strips of habitat that connect tracts of land that are separated from each other. Many
times, they are riparian (river) corridors which allow the passage of animals from one large tract
of habitat to another and thereby increase the amount of habitat available to them.

2) Ex.-situ Conservation on Endangered Species: Captive breeding of animals in zoos,

keeping rare plants in botanical gardens. This method is not as effective but still can play a role
in being a source of animals and plants to reintroduce to the nature preserves described above

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 55 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

• G.3.4, G.3.5, G.3.6, G.4.1, G.4.2, G.4.3, G.4.4, G.4.5, G.4.6

Chapter 1- Classification and Evolution through Natural Selection

Vocablulary
• Taxonomy: The branch of biology concerned with the naming and classifying of the
diverse forms of life.
• Binomial Nomenclature: The identification of a species using its Genus (capitalized)
and species (lower case). Always written in italics. Example: Red Oak is Quercus
rubra. And White Oak is Quercus alba
• Dichotamous Key: a method of identifying a species using a series of Yes/no decisions.
After successfully answering these, the species is identified.
• Evolution: All the changes that have transformed life on earth from its earliest
beginnings to the diversity that characterizes it today
• Natural Selection: The mechanism (method) by which evolution occurs. It involves
differential success in the reproduction of different phenotypes resulting from the
interaction of organisms with their environment. Evolution occurs when natural selection
causes changes in the relative frequency of alleles in the gene pool
• Allele: Alternative versions of a gene that produce distinguishable phenotypic traits.
New alleles are produce by the genetic mutation of specific nucleotide sequences during
DNA copying at cell division.
• Gene Pool: The total aggregate of genes in a population at any given time

Classification (Taxonomy)
Levels of Biological Organization

Biosphere>>Ecosystems>>Communities>>Populations>>Organisms>>Organs>>Organ
Systems>>Tissues>>Cells>>Organelles>>Molecules>>Atoms

Do CD Activity: Levels of Life Card Game

Concept Check Question

1. For each biological level in Figure 1.3, write a sentence that includes the next “lower”
level. Example: “A community consists of populations of the various species inhabiting a
specific area.”

5 Basic Kingdoms of Living Things

Multicellular Unicellular Prokaryote Eukaryote Photosynthesis

Plantae Yes No No Yes Yes (573)
Animalia Yes No No Yes No (626)
Protoctista Some colonial* mostly No Yes some (549)
Fungi Most a few No Yes No (608)
Prokaryotae No Yes Yes No some (537)

*Ex. Volvox page 568

 At the kingdom level, these above characteristics are used to separate living groups, but at
lower taxonomic levels (phyla, class, order, family, genus) some of the characteristics used
to separate groups are:
• Morphology What they look like
• Reproduction How they reproduce
• Energy/Food How they obtain or process it

****However, the “best” way to separate groups is according to their genetics, because this is
the most reliable measure of how closely 2 groups are related

Classifying life. The taxonomic scheme classifies species into groups that are then combined
into even broader groups. Species that are very closely related, such as polar bears and brown
bears, are placed in the same genus, genera (plural) are grouped into families, and so on. This
example classifies the species Ursus americanus, the American black bear.

Cilia structure illustrates the evolutionary relationship among all living

Review Page 15 The cilia of paramecium are indistinguishable from human cilia in the
human windpipe. Once a structure was “developed” through evolution, it was used in many
different ways!!!!

An example from two different kingdoms for each level

Use Pneumonic Device for Taxonomic Groups
King Phillip Can Operate For Good Spines

Remember, the example from class. You can live in the same Kingdom (country) but not
live in the same state (phyla). However, if you live in the same genus (street), you automatically
live in the same Neighborhood!!!!

Major Plant Phyla:

Bryophyta: (moss, liverworts, hornworts) Low to the ground, No Vascular System, No Seeds
Filicinophyta: (Ferns, club mosses, Horsetails) Vascular System, No Seeds
Coniferophyta (Pines, Spruce, Fir) Evergreen Foliage, Vascular System, “Naked” Seeds
Angiospermophyta (Decidious Plants) Decidious Foliage, Vascular System, Covered Seeds/

Major Animal Phyla

Porifera: (Sponges)
Cnidaria (Jellyfish, Corals)
Platyhelminthes (Flatworms)
Annelida (Round Worms)
Mollusca (Clams, Muscles) Hard Shell Covering
Arthropoda (Insects, Crustaceans) Segmented Body, Jointed legs, Exoskeleton

Do CD Activity: Classification Schemes

Evolution through Natural Selection

Key Elements of Natural Selection
It works at the intraspecies level (within a species). A few key elements are necessary for
evolution to occur through natural selection

1. Variation within the species is necessary (caused by genetic mutations and meiosis)

Why this is important: There have to be differences (sometimes undetectable or at the

cellular level) which give one member of a species a slight advantage over its fellow species
member)

2. There has to be overproduction and a struggle for existence

Why this is important: The variation between individuals would be unimportant and would
not lead to individual “advantages” if there were enough “resources” to go around. Ie. There
have to be “winners and losers” in evolution.

3. Some members (the “winners” of the species have to survive and reproduce at a higher
rate. Over years and years, the phenotypic traits (and their underlying genes) that led to
their success will become more common in the “gene pool.

The Effects of Natural Selection on Populations

The pressures of natural selection can affect the distribution of phenotypes in a population in
several ways.

Stabilizing Selection

Natural selection often works to weed out individuals at both extremes of a range of phenotypes
resulting in the reproductive success of those near the mean. In such cases, the result is to
maintain the status quo.
It is not always easy to see why both extremes should be handicapped; perhaps sexual selection
or liability to predation is at work. In any case, stabilizing selection is common. In humans, for
example, the incidence of infant mortality is higher for very heavy as well as for very light
babies.

Directional Selection

A population may find itself in circumstances where individuals occupying one extreme in the
range of phenotypes are favored over the others.

Since 1973, Peter and Rosemary Grant — aided by a succession of colleagues — have studied
Darwin's finches in the Galapagos Islands.

Investigation: Concept 1.4 How do environmental changes affect a

population

Website about Evolution

http://nsm1.nsm.iup.edu/rgendron/EvolutionOnTheWeb.shtml

Which type of species is most vulnerable to environmental changes in an ecosystem

(wheter human-caused or otherwise), species that are highly adapted to a specific niche (called
ecological specialists) or species which have a broad range of acceptable ecological conditions
(called ecological generalists)??

BY THE END OF CHAPTER 1 YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE

FOLLOWING IB ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

A.S. 5.4 (all assessment statements) and A.S. 5.5 (all assessment statements)