Link to ASU

Keystone Species  -

Interview with ASU School of Life Sciences Professor Andrew Smith.

Podcast content summary and time log for Volume 6 of Ask-a-Biologist.

 


Keywords and topics that are found in this program: conservation, biologist, rainforest, food web, keystone species, Red List, extinction,  pikas, prairie dogs, wolves. Ask-a-Biologist web page profile on Andrew Smith.


Topic Time
Journey to Tibetan Plateau (China) in the field with Andrew Smith 00:30
What is a conservation biologist? 01:53
Biodiversity 03:03
Rainforest - deforestation 03:15
Rainforest - plants and medicine 03:44
What got you interested in pikas? 04:15
Description of pikas. 04:28
How many types of pikas are there? 04:45
Learning about the pikas in China. 06:03
How often have you traveled to China? 06:48
How many years have you been studying pikas in China? 07:20
The story behind the pikas on the  Tibetan Plateau - about the research. 07:37
Listen to some of the songs and calls that pikas make. 08:57
How many sounds do pikas make? 09:36
What kind of equipment do you use? Basic skills. 12:09
What got you started in biology? The spark. 13:43
What's a keystone? (AAB - Keystone Web Page) 14:29
What's a keystone species and how are pikas a keystone species? 15:15
Prairie dogs of North America 16:43
Why do people consider pikas a pest? 17:21
Why Dr. Smith considers pikas a keystone species. 18:02
Pikas and plants 20:48
What are some other keystone species? 22:32
Wolves in Yellowstone National Park 23:04
Everything is related to everything else (food web) 23:31
What is the Red List? 24:19
What are the three critical threatened categories for animals and plants? 24:42
What percentage of mammals are threatened with extinction? 25:24
Were you always going to be a conservation biologist? 26:19
If your were not a biologist, what would you be? 27:21
Advise for young scientists. 28:34
How is your ability to speak Chinese coming? 29:23

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