Question 1. Discuss the shifting-mosaic climax community in terms of changing climate: does the shifting-mosaic model provide a gradual successional change, or do communities undergo wholesale replacement?
Question 2.How does primary productivity shift in a climax forest under the shifting-mosaic model? What happens to productivity in canopy openings, when compared to stable climax stands?
Question 3.Read Baguette and Schtickzelle 2006. Discuss the difference between density dependent and density independent factors. In the case of the butterflies, how might each impact dispersion? Discuss the potential impacts that both factors might have on different age classes
Baguette, M., and N. Schtickzelle. 2006. Negative relationship between distance and demography in butterfly metapopulations. Ecological Society of America. 87, 648-654
Question 4.You are assigned the task of designing a reserve system in California to protect as many species of endangered annual plants and mammals as possible. Discuss strategies for either several small reserve areas or one large reserve of the equivalent total area.
Assume that one of the carnivores of interest is the mountain lion (Felisconcolor). In California, a ballot initiative in the early 1990s ended hunting of mountain lions, and their populations are now increasing. Does this change your views regarding the type of reserve?
Question 5:This is one of the classic papers on ecosystem dynamics, examining an isolated coral atoll in the Pacific by Odum and Odum (1955).
Odum, HT, and EP Odum. 1955. Trophic Structure and Productivity of a Windward Coral Reef Community on Eniwetok Atoll. Ecological Monographs, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul., 1955), pp. 291-320
What is meant by primary productivity? Gross primary productivity? Net primary productivity? How does the primary productivity of coral reefs compare with that of other ecosystems? Explain the relationship between Carnivores (C), Herbivores (H), and Producers.
