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Please read: E.O.Wilson ExcerptFri: Dillard ChapterMon: Song of the Dodo Excerpt

Fri 23 January 2009, 4th class meeting

Environmental Biology (ECOL 206)University of Arizona, spring 2009

Kevin Bonine, Ph.D.Tuan Cao, Graduate TAMary Jane Epps, Graduate TA

- Biogeography- Biodiversity

Evolution & Ecology • Evidence • Energy • Ethics & Equality • Economics

Current Events Assignment 1st one due Today 9am-See Syllabus for Details-See Rubric on Course Website

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Questions 2 (23 Jan 2009)

• Define Adiabatic Cooling.• Why does Mt Lemmon get more rain than Tucson?• Why is the west coast of Washington quite wet and

the eastern part a high desert?• Differentiate between habitat & niche.• Explain why there are seasons.• Why might you find a species in its realized niche and

not its fundamental niche?• How does resource partitioning facilitate species

coexistence. How are these related to the above question?

• How do interference and exploitation competition differ?

• Define Biological Evolution.

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Annie Dillard 1974Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

What is Fecundity?

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Biogeography

Study of the geographic distribution of species.

What is dispersal?

What is vicariance?

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Biogeographic Realms

Holarctic

Gondwana

(Pangaea)

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Island Biogeography

Quiz:

Name, Date, Lab Day

1. How do continental and oceanic islands differ? (3 points)

2. Do frogs disperse well to islands, why or why not? (3 points)

3. Which has more endemic species, Madagascar or Bali? (2 points)

4. What two factors seem to determine how many species are on islands? (2 points)

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Bali

Madagascar

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Island BiogeographyQuammen Excerpt from Song of the Dodo (p.52-55)

LyellWallaceDarwin

MacArthurWilson

Frogs vs. Birds

Oceanic vs. Continental

Size, Age, Distance

dispersal

succession

~equilibrium

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What is Endemism?

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Tarbuck and Lutgens 1999

Dispersal

Vicariance

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- Plate tectonics- Climate (glaciation, drought)- Sea level

Islands, especially Continental, affected by:

Connectivity

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VanDyke 2003

Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography

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What is Adaptive Radiation?

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http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/mockingbird.html

Adaptive Radiation

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Pough et al. 2004

Galapagos

Humboldt Current

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Daphne Major, Peter and Rosemary Grant, Princeton

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http

://w

ww.r

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du/~

rhrs

bi/G

alap

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Page

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inch

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Darwin’s Finches

Galapagos, Ecuador

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Fernandina

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HolarcticGondwana

Pangaea

Laurasia

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Alfred Wegener, winter 1912-1913

Crustal Plates moving 1-12 cm / year

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Plate Tectonics – not fully accepted until 1960s

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25Campbell 1993

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Pough et al. 2004

Wallace’s Line

Weber’s LineSulawesi

Sunda shelf Sahul Shelf

Alfred Russel Wallace(1823 - 1913)

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Pough et al. 2004

Dispersal Ability

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Dispersal Ability (Isolation by Distance)

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BiodiversityBiological Diversity =

variation of life at all levels of biological organization

1. genetic diversity - diversity of genes within a species.

2. species diversity - diversity of species in an ecosystem.

3. ecosystem diversity - diversity of ecosystems. Diversity of habitat in a given unit area.

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Biodiversity (Biological Diversity)

“structural and functional variety of life forms at genetic, population, community, and ecosystem levels”

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31Miller 2003

Evolution of Life on Earth

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Sarcosuchus imperator, ('flesh crocodile emperor') was a super-crocodile that lived in Africa some 100 million years ago. It was up to 12 metres in length, as long as a bus, and weighed 8 metric tonnes.

Sarcosuchus was not a dinosaur, although it lived in the same era. In fact, it is not even a direct ancestor of modern crocodiles and alligators ... crocodiles and dinosaurs had a common ancestor some 250 million years ago, but soon diverged into two separate groups. The giant Sarcosuchus imperator appeared about 110 million years ago, but died out. Today's 23 species of crocodiles and alligators took a separate path.

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Miller 2003Major Extinction Events

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Miller 2003

Adaptive Radiation

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What is biodiversity?

Primack 2006, Fig 3.6

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Scientific AmericanNovember 2001

~12-14 milliontotal species(50-90% intropical forests)

~1.7 identified

most

least

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How many species on earth?

Primack 2006, Fig 3.6

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Primack 2006

Research Focus?

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Biodiversity

1. Genetic(nat. sel.)

2. Species

3. Ecologicalforests, deserts, lakes, wetlands, reefs etc.

4. Functionalenergy flownutrient cyclingetc.

Fig 2-13 Miller 2003