Conservation Biology - Bi8370
Spring 2021


                                          EXAMINATION #2

In your answers I would like you to summarize the various scientific viewpoints surrounding these
questions, and then justify why you have chosen your particular answer.  As you construct your
answers, please make use of the published literature and any other resources you can find to
justify your positions.  Cite works (when appropriate) and don’t limit yourself to just the papers
from class!  The point here is to let me know that you understand the range of scientific opinion
and that you can provide a reasoned justification for your perspective.


Please return your answers to me by 18:00 on Monday June 14.  100 total points from both tests are
required to pass the class.  If you choose to resubmit the first exam it is also due by this time


A. Shorter Answer – one to two paragraphs maximum!  (10 points each):

(1) Several Small or Single Large Reserves? Should they be connected by corridors?  Or is it not
the right question at all?


(2) What processes correlate with reserve boundaries and which ones do not?  What can reserve
managers do to maintain the processes which correlate with boundaries and how can they deal with
those that do not?


(3) Is there an appropriate role for ex situ conservation and species reintroduction in
conservation biology?  When, why, how or not at all?


(4) Is there an appropriate role for community restoration in conservation biology?  When, why, how
or not at all?


(5) Is there an appropriate role for game management in conservation biology?  When, why, how or
not at all?


(6) Describe the history of an invasive species that has escaped into a natural landscape that you
know.  Is it negatively impacting biodiversity? Can it be removed without harming the ecosystem?
If not, how can its impact be minimized?


B. Longer Answer – one to two pages maximum! (20 points each):


(7) On the first day of class I drew an analogy between Conservation Biology and Medicine.  Please
read the following essay regarding scientific mistakes and how one lead to the COVID pandemic being
much worse than it could have been:
https://www.wired.com/story/the-teeny-tiny-scientific-screwup-that-helped-covid-kill.  Now use this
as an analogy for conservation biology:  from all our class readings, describe a teeny-tiny (or not
so teeny-tiny) scientific screwup that has lead conservation biologists to make biodiversity losses
greater than they should be.  What can be done to address this specific problem?  And how can
conservation biology be done smarter to make such mistakes less frequent in the future?


 (8) What should be done with the Mountain Goats in Olympic National Park?  Should they be
considered an exotic species?  How do we deal with the apparent ethical conflict between the rights
of individual goats vs. those of biodiversity protection?  Remember to relate your answer back to
your personal conservation ethic (and to remind me what that ethic is).