BIO 222 Final Exam
How did the Carmel River get restored?
$84 mill CRRDR project, remove of the dam and reroute
How long is California's shoreline?
1,000 miles
What was California's population in 1950?
10 million
How many MPAs are in California's MPA network?
124
What is the MPA Collaborative Network?
14 networks working together
How many square miles encompass the Central Coast Bioregion?
15,000 square miles, 9% of CA's area
How many endemic species does a region need to have in order to qualify as a biodiversity hotspot?
1500 endemic species
When was hydraulic mining banned in California?
1884
When was the Migratory Bird Treaty passed?
1918
When was the last Grizzly killed in California?
1922 (1912 in the region)
When was the Colorado River Aqueduct built? For what purpose?
1941, to supply supplemental water to Socal
When was the Marine Mammal Protection Act passed?
1972
Did you know that we had a UNESCO Biosphere site in our state? When was dedicated? What does it include?
1983, Central Coast ranges
What percent of California's total land area are deserts?
25%
What is the National Estuary Program?
28, programs to protect and restore estuarine communities
Globally, how many places in the world have been designated as hotspots?
34 hotspots
What are mycorrhizae? What is a mycelium?
A mutual symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. A root like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread like hyphae.
What is phytoremediation?
A plant based approach, involves the use of plants to extract and remove elemental pollutants or lower their bioavailability in the soil.
What is the Pacific Fisher and what makes it so interesting?
A small carnivore with quick reflexes and excellent climbing skills. Only predator to have a specialized killing technique for Porcupines, very rare.
Cloudseeding
A type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation, disperse substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei
Name one species of plant that can tolerate saturated soils.
Arroyo willow and red alder
What are the Human-Ecosystem Services that this community provides?
Bees, private land, livestock
What did you learn about fire ecology and the Highway 41 fire?
Burning- low intensity burns. Largest and most destructive in the region, 1994, 48,500 acres, 51 residences.
Coniferous Forest
COLD- Cone trees- spruce, fir hemlock. South Arctic. Freezing snow. Not many plants- moose red fox snowshoe rabbit.
Where does the water go?
Central Valley, South Bay Area and Socal
What are serpentine soil and what makes them unique?
Contain large concentrations of heavy metals and a deficiency of the more common plant nutrients. Specific plants- sedges, manzanita, leather oak, sergeant cypress.
What are the components of a model biosphere reserve? What is the importance of each component?
Core areas, buffer zones, transition areas. Conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity. Economic development that is socio-culturally and environmentally sustainable. Logistic support, underpinning development through research, monitoring, education and training.
What is creosote bush? Where does it occur?
Desert plant, efficient use of its limited resources.
What 'flavors' of protection are there?
Different levels- some take none, some take a bit, etc.
What are water banks?
Diverting floodwaters or other surface water into an aquifer where it can be stored until it is needed later.
How is coastal sage scrub defined?
Drought tolerant, dominated by deciduous shrubs rather than evergreen species. Fog- shoreline marine climate.
Who were the MacMillan brothers and what did they do?
Eben and Ian, owned a 640 acre ranch on the east side of the Central Coast Bioregion. Observed and studied the environmental complexity of their local ecosystem. CA Condor
What two significant estuaries exist in this bioregion?
Elkhorn Slough and Morro Bay Estuary
Deserts
Every content, little to no water, hot and dry, cold, little vegetation, cacti.
How does the film describe the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta?
Expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California
What are the challenges associated with managing fire in the wildland-urban interface?
Exposure of ignitable homes to the flames and firebrands of uncontrollable, extreme wildfires.
What is the entire range of the California floristic province (Where does it occur)?
Extends from Santa Barbara to Northern Baja CA
What is a flyway? What are the four major flyways in the US?
Flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between breeding grounds and overwintering quarters. Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific.
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Four seasons. Deer, bear, birds.
What species of redwood occurs in the Central Coast Bioregion?
Giant Coast Redwood
What major historic event occurred in California in 1849?
Gold Rush
Carmel River- what other plant communities are common in the bioregion?
Grasslands
Groundwater overdraft
Groundwater use exceeds the amount of recharge into an aquifer, decline in groundwater level.
What did you learn about Desert tortoises and threats to tortoises
Habitat loss and many threats, most elusive inhabitants of desert, 95% live underground
What life event happened to David Milarch that seemed to spur his passion?
He had a near death experience.
Grasslands
Hot and dry, develop food. So little rain- not many trees.
All-American Canal provides water to what major agricultural centers?
Imperial and Coachella Valleys
What are vernal pools and how do they influence biodiversity?
In grasslands- soils laden with silt and clay form a semi-impervious hardpan that inhibits drainage.
Know the definitions of the intertidal, subtidal and pelagic zones
Intertidal- area below the shore zone covered by water at high tide, uncovered at low tide. Subtidal- low tide line to a water depth of roughly 250 feet. Pelagic- final and deepest nearshore marine community.
What do most freshwater creek fish eat?
Invertebrates, insects
What does anadromous mean?
It returns from the ocean to its natal stream to spawn.
What famous California writer was good friends with Doc Ricketts?
John Steinbeck
Where does the CA State Water Project store water?
Lake Oroville, CA Aqueduct
What is a Biosphere? Why were biosphere reserves established?
Living organisms and non living, to protect
What controversy occurred over the building of Hetch Hetchy Dam?
Make a water resource available or preserve a wilderness.
What is MPA an abbreviation for?
Marine Protection Act
How is the climate described in the Central Coast bioregion?
Mediterranean- cool, rainy winters with occasional snowfall on the higher peaks and warm to cool rainless summers.
How was Badwater Basin formed?
Millions of years of slow sediment deposits, violent periods of volcanisms and tectonic shifting.
What are hub trees? How do they help their offspring?
Mother trees- more seasoned trees in a forest. Pass on water and nutrients.
What major historic periods define California's natural history?
Native California Period (14k to 1769) Colonial Period (1769 to 1848) American Period (1848 to Present)
How do bats help vineyards?
Natural predators of agricultural pests
Have you been to the largest West Coast elephant seal rookery? Where is it?
No, near San Simeon
What native tribe (s) is/are most closely associated with San Luis Obispo?
Northern areas- Coastanoan-Ohlone and Esselen. South- Salinan and Chumash.
What is the name of the dam built on the Tuolumne River that supplies water to San Francisco?
O'Shaughnessy Dam
What is the most extensive vegetation community in this bioregion?
Oak woodland
What makes the Suisun Marsh so unique?
Occurrence of many diverse habitats in close proximity to each other, rare and endangered plant and animal species
Where do redwoods occur? In what parts of the world? What is the extent of their range? How much old-growth redwood habitat has been cut down?
On the coast from Central CA through Southern Oregon. 95% cut down.
What does endemic mean?
Only found in one area
What are the 4 focal points of MPAs?
Outreach and Education, Research and Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, and Policy and Permitting
The Los Angeles Aqueduct connected water from where, diverting it to Los Angeles?
Owens River
What are the major rivers in the Central Coast bioregion?
Pajaro, San Benito, Salinas, Santa Ynez, and Nacimiento rivers
How do you define a stream corridor - what are the components? How does a healthy riparian area support biodiversity?
Physical and biological content of the watercourse and its associated riparian community.
What causes Sudden Oak Death (SOD)?
Phytophthora ramorum- a pathogen from Asia
What is David Milarch and his son doing, and why? What is their goal?
Planting redwoods, to carbon capture. Expand range to suitable habitat
What abiotic factors determine the Central Coast regions major watersheds?
Precipitation and topography
What role do man-made reservoirs have in wildlife conservation?
Preexisting habitats have been eliminated and ecological linkages to surrounding environments disturbed. Nonetheless, these water bodies have created novel freshwater ecosystems occupied by both native and exotic species.
Desalination
Process of removing salts or other minerals and contaminants from sea water
Tropical Rain Forest
RAIN. Rainforest, warm, huge biodiversity, lots of trees.
What are desert pupfish?
Rare species of bony fish, pools, marshes streams and springs.
What is the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary?
Sanctuary from 7 miles north of GGB to halfway down coast to Cambria. 6,100 miles soured. Serengeti of the Sea
Why has the eelgrass declined in Morro Bay?
Sediment buildup
Explain basal sprouts
Shoots that grow from buds on the base of a tree or shrub.
Where is Elkhorn Slough?
Stretches 7 miles inland from Monterey Bay.
What are the concerns over climate change and how it may affect the Sierra Nevada?
Temperature increase, zones would change and animals don't know how to adapt, all upwards.
What is water marketing?
Temporary or long term transfer of water or the right to use it from one user to another
John Muir was the founder of what environmental organization?
The Sierra Club
What is assisted migration?
The act of moving plants or animals to a different habitat.
Subsidence
The gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land.
What factors influence the width of the shore zone?
Tidal action and topography
What is the foundational reason for California's biodiversity?
Unique geography (soils) climate, geology, history and size
How long do Redwoods live? How tall do they get? How fast do they grow?
Up to 2,000 years old. 200 to 240 feet high, 3 to 10 feet per year.
What are the names of the most common oak species? What makes them unique?
Valley oak (largest, lobed leaves, twisted branches), blue oak (drought tolerant), coast live oak (waxy leaves, coastline), and canyon live oak (shrub or large tree).
In the late 1700s, the very first aqueduct in CA was built by Spanish missionaries in what we now call...?
Ventura
Recreational fisherman Kit Mann compares MPAs to a savings account -- why?
We are able to build up these species so we can use them when we want to.
What land forms define the Central Coast Bioregion?
West by the Pacific Ocean, East by the San Joaquin Valley, Carrizo Plains, and the interior Transverse Ranges.
What are the subregions of the Mojave Desert?
Western and Easternsee
What is an estuary?
Where freshwater from rivers encounters and mixes with saltwater from the ocean
What did you learn about California's State Lichen?
Yellowish green, hanging from trees, high humidity, not a plant, fungus dominant, deciduous, on trees with fewer leaves, concealment and nourishment, sensitive to sulfur dioxide and other air pollutants
Is there science to show whether MPAs have been effective at preserving biodiversity? What does Rick Rosenthal's experience reveal?
Yes, very effective
Describe the mutualistic relationship between yucca and moth (pollinator)
Yucca plant only pollinated by one species of yucca moth, yucca moths use yucca flowers as a safe space to lay their eggs.
