BIOL 1108- Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 42 pages long!)
Document Summary
It is estimated that 5-10 million species inhabit the earth, approximately 25% of which are beetles: species are unevenly distributed across the globe, with more species in the tropics than near the poles. Habitat loss, overexploitation, non-native species, and climate change are all contributing to the modern extinction crisis: the field of conservation biology studies ways of preserving biodiversity and halting the extinction crisis. There are both practical and values-based reasons driving this branch of science. These differences are thought to come from greater habitat diversity and more rescue effects on the mainland. Island biogeography has greatly influenced how conservation biologists address reserve design, although its practical impact has been limited: corridors have the potential to improve migration between patches and to increase species richness. Over time, natural selection and drift cause them to diverge evolutionarily until they are distinct, reproductively isolated species. Frequently, introduced species outcompete some native species: latitudinal gradients are perhaps the best-known biogeographical pattern.
