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Instructions for Exploring the Conservation Biology Practice Exercises
This chapter of the Second Edition of Conservation Biology concludes with a Practice Exercise, which provides students the opportunity to learn and apply research skills and concepts related to the chapter content.
Chapter 6 Practice Exercise: Ecosystem Services
Learning how to quantify ecosystem services is becoming an increasingly important tool for setting priorities in conservation. In this practice exercise, you will watch tutorial videos and complete spreadsheet exercises that teach you how to quantify the services of pollinators and describe how those services can be used to set priorities for conservation. NOTE: The spreadsheets in this Practice Exercise are saved as “macro-enabled” files (with an .xlsm suffix). When you open such files, you may receive a security warning stating that “Macros have been disabled.” If you receive this warning, you will need to click on the “Enable Content” button to use the spreadsheet. This will allow the spreadsheet to run the macro built into the spreadsheet.
1. Begin with the Videos
Each Practice Exercise begins with videos from author James D. Murdoch that 1) introduce the Practice Exercise and concepts involved; 2) explore and explain the concepts in depth; and 3) demonstrate tools used in the practical study of those concepts.
For each Chapter Practice Exercise, the student should watch these videos first!
Chapter 6 – Video topics: ecosystem services
Unlike previous chapters, this video focuses on a case study that involves quantifying a “pollination” ecosystem service. The case study is based on a paper published in Ecological Applications and focuses on the role of wild bees in pollinating coffee farms in Costa Rica. The case study presents a landscape composed of different land cover types, then estimates the distribution of active pollinators across the landscape, and finally the income generated by coffee farms from those active pollinators. The study also calculates the marginal value of landscape changes to prioritize conservation actions that would maximize the ecosystem service.
- Pollination service
- Marginal value
Download this spreadsheet, and use it as you follow along with the videos.
You can check your work using this completed spreadsheet.
2. Examine the Questions
Each Practice Exercise features a series of questions, which guide students through key questions and concepts.
Some questions may ask you to utilize different parts of the spreadsheet you used in the videos. They also provide a space to upload completed spreadsheets and to record any other responses or information requested.