THIS PAPER MUST NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALL. DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SCIENCES Autumn Semester

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1 APS 308 THIS PAPER MUST NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALL DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SCIENCES Autumn Semester ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION IN PLANTS Answer ONE question only. Write the appropriate question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples, and diagrams where 1. What structural features are required for the operation of C4 photosynthesis in plants? Discuss the physiological adaptations and the molecular mechanisms that might underlie these anatomical changes. 2. How do plants recognize and distinguish between beneficial microbes, pathogenic microbes and herbivorous insects? 3. Plants respond to exogenous signals that modulate the endogenous program of development, leading to modified form and function of the plant. Provide an overview of our understanding of how such exogenous triggers modulate developmental mechanisms. What limits to the extent to which plants can respond to these signals? END OF QUESTION PAPER APS308

2 APS313 GLOBAL CHANGE Answer ONE question only. Write the question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples and diagrams where 1. Explain how the evolution of microbial metabolism changed atmospheric composition on geological timescales and, conversely, how changes in the atmosphere drove microbial evolution. Critically evaluate the evidence in each case. 2. Discuss the two-way interactions between global change and agriculture, considering the past, present and future. Do past interactions provide any lessons for the future? 3. James Hansen has called for a new target in CO 2 levels in the atmosphere of 350ppm. This is substantially lower than that proposed by the IPCC of 450ppm. Why has Hansen suggested a lower target and is his suggestion feasible? APS313

3 APS325 LIFE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS Answer ONE question only. Write the question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples and diagrams where 1. You have been asked to survey the microbial life growing in an abandoned chemical works. Describe an experimental program to examine microbial community structure and function within the site. Your answer should consider the sorts of organisms that might be present, how this information might help the owners clean up the site and the limitations of the approaches that you recommend. 2. How can organisms obtain energy to drive photosynthesis in the absence of light? 3. Cold habitats exist throughout the world. How have organisms evolved to cope with extremely cold environments? APS325

4 APS 327 DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SCIENCES Autumn Semester HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Answer ONE question only. Write the appropriate question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples, and diagrams where 1) Imagine you are having a dinner party and could invite one or more leading behavioural ecology figures who would they be and what would you discuss? 2) What makes a child become a scientist? Is it likely that what makes a child become a scientist differs between boys and girls? 3) In the journal Science (16 November 2012, 338: 885-6) Lehoux & Foster wrote this: If you want to know how science is carried out, then one way or another you are going to have to look at the history of science. It s the history that shows us how sciences work in action. Discuss. END OF QUESTION PAPER APS 327

5 APS332 ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Answer ONE essay question only. Write the question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include specific examples, facts and evidence drawn from the course and from other sources. 1. Can we achieve sustainable energy supplies that replace our current fossil-fuel dependency? 2. Increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations to over 350 ppm is a crime against future generations of humanity. Discuss. 3. What are the challenges to achieving sustainable food supplies to meet demands of future human populations? APS332

6 APS 342 DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SCIENCES Autumn Semester EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY Answer ONE question only. Write the appropriate question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples, and diagrams where 1) Discuss the concept of R 0 and how it is used in evolutionary ecology. Using examples from across the course, illustrate when R 0 is maximised by evolution and when it is not. 2) Compare and contrast how intraspecific and interspecific variation can be used to explore the evolution of life-history strategies. What methods are used in each case, what are their strengths and weaknesses and what do they tell us? Illustrate your answer with examples from across the course. 3) Many ecological processes are thought to be important in shaping evolution within and across species. Discuss this statement paying particular attention to how our understanding of evolution is influenced by ecological factors. Illustrate your answer with examples from across the course. END OF QUESTION PAPER APS342

7 APS 346 DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SCIENCES Autumn Semester SUSTAINABLE AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS Answer ONE question only. Write the appropriate question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples, and diagrams where 1. What is sustainable agriculture and how might it be achieved? 2. What are the challenges to attaining global food security? 3. Humans are consuming the ecosphere s wealth faster than the ecosphere can renew itself (Rees 2003). Discuss in relation to the unsustainability of current agricultural practices. END OF QUESTION PAPER APS346

8 APS347 CONFLICT AND COOPERATION Answer ONE question only. Write the question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples and diagrams where 1. Write an essay discussing the advantages and disadvantages of theoretical, comparative, observational and experimental approaches to studying animal behaviour. You should focus your answer on one particular aspect of animal behaviour relating to cooperation and/or conflict. 2. Males are in control of the reproductive process. Discuss. 3. considering its position for four decades as the dominant paradigm in the theoretical study of [sociality], the production of inclusive fitness theory must be considered meagre. Nowak et al. (2010) Nature 466: Write an essay outlining the principles of inclusive fitness theory (IFT) and discussing the view expressed by Nowak et al. (2010) that empirical evidence in support of IFT is meagre. APS347

9 APS348 THE ECOLOGY OF LANDSCAPES You should answer TWO questions in total: ONE question from SECTION A and ONE (the only) question from SECTION B. Both answers should be in the same answer book. SECTION A contributes 70% of the marks for the whole paper. SECTION B contributes 30% of the marks for the whole paper. Your answers should include named examples and diagrams where SECTION A Answer ONE question from this section. This section contributes 70% of the marks for the whole paper. 1. Outline the different ways in which connectivity at the landscape scale may be defined. What evidence is there for the ecological importance of connectivity between patches? 2. Outline the different types of metrics that can be used for describing the structural characteristics of landscapes. Discuss the use, and strengths and weaknesses, of analyses based on metrics of landscape structure (Landscape Pattern Analysis) for understanding patterns of species diversity and occurrence. 3. Is taking account of landscape-scale processes likely to improve the effectiveness of environmental management when compared with more traditional community ecology approaches? What are the key challenges in taking account of such landscape-scale effects in management? APS348 TURN OVER

10 SECTION B Answer the single question in this section. This question contributes 30% of the marks for the whole paper. You have been asked to identify potential areas in which nature conservation interests may be impacted by the route of the proposed new high speed railway line (HS2) in the UK. Suggest the different data sets (or other information) you might want to make use of, and the procedures you would use, in a GIS to conduct an initial assessment of this problem. (NB. You should describe the appropriate types of operations in the GIS, with correct terminology as far as possible, but you should not try and describe the specifics (buttons, tools, menus etc) for doing this in ArcGIS.) APS348

11 APS349 CONSERVATION ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT Answer ONE question only. Write the question number on the front of the blue answer book. Your answers should include named examples and diagrams where 1. Will we still be eating fish in 2050? Describe the past and current threats to marine fish populations and options for their sustainable management. 2. Selective-logging will continue as the prominent tropical forest disturbance. Critically evaluate the impacts of selectively logging for biodiversity, carbon and forest cover AND discuss mechanisms and their cost-effectiveness for improving the sustainability of logging to determine whether logged forests have high value for conservation. 3. A developing country includes protected areas, towns and cities and agricultural land. It has a growing population and needs to provide more housing and produce more food. In order to minimise negative impacts on the region s biodiversity describe and justify your approach to agricultural AND urban development in the context of the land sparing and land sharing debate. APS349