Environmental Science > QUESTIONS & ANSWERS > Coastline Community CollegeECOLOGY ECOL100M01 Study Guide Assignment (All)

Coastline Community CollegeECOLOGY ECOL100M01 Study Guide Assignment

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Part 1 – Wildebeest of the Serengeti 1. Where is the Serengeti? 2. Who is narrating at the opening of the video? Why was he in the Serengeti? What is his profession now? 3. What is unique about the Serengeti in the narrator’s (Tony’s) words? What types of habitats does he describe there? 4. What is an ecosystem? 5. What is a population? 6. What problem is described at the beginning of this film? Why is it a problem? 7. How did they collect data to investigate this problem? 8. What additional information did Tony and his research team identify as a key component of this issue? 9. How did the population of wildebeest change by 1977? What happened after this peak? 10. What is a migration? 11. What research questions does Simon (Tony’s graduate student) ask? 12. Where do wildebeest’s fit in the pyramid description of the Serengeti ecosystem? What are the other components of this pyramid? Be specific in terms of the roles of each organism in the ecosystem. 13. What things does Simon explain limit wildebeest population growth? Include the terms “bottom-up” and “top-down” regulation. 14. How did Simon collect data to investigate his research questions? What specifically did they measure? Why did they select this variable to measure? 15. Summarize the results and the conclusions drawn. How do they explain these trends (ie/ what regulates wildebeest population growth? What data supports this hypothesis?) 16. Explain how the wildebeest population was able to grow exponentially from 1961 until 1977. 17. What is the term used to describe the maximum population that can be supported in an ecosystem? What is that number for the Serengeti? 18. What did the team discover when they looked at other species in the Serengeti? Specifically, what differences did they find based on the general size of the animal? 19. Which animals were classified as small versus large? What do these kinds of animals eat? 20. The researchers next wondered why there were so many wildebeests compared to other herbivore species. What two hypotheses did they propose to explain this pattern? 21. How do the researchers collect data to analyze their hypotheses? 22. What did their data show? 23. What environmental variable played a driving role in these patterns? 24. How does migration promote survival in large grazing animals (herbivores)? Discuss the relationship between migration route and timing, food sources, and reproduction. 25. What changes occurred in the Serengeti ecosystem when the wildebeest population reached carrying capacity? Include the changes that occurred in vegetation, food supply for herbivores, and animal populations. 26. What is a keystone species? 27. Why are wildebeests considered keystone species? Part 2 – Wolves of Yellowstone National Park 1. Are wolves’ keystone species? What happened when wolves were removed from the park? 2. What role did humans play in the population dynamics of Yellowstone National Park? Include both negative and positive effect of human intervention with Yellowstone National Park populations. 3. List the positive effects of the reintroduction of wolves on populations in YNP? Include the positive effects that resulted for humans. 4. Compare the trophic cascades you saw in the Serengeti and YNP videos. 5. Compare the role of humans in both Case Studies.

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