11.8

Question 1

What is conservation?

Answer 1

• conversation is the name given to the careful management of the environment and of natural resources
• By conserving a natural habitat in an area, organism as chance of survival is maintained, allowing them to reproduce. As a consequence species and genetic diversity can be safeguarded.
• allows education

Question 2

What is in situ conservation?

Answer 2

• takes place inside an organisms natural habitat
• Maintains the genetic biodiversity of a species but also the evolutionary adaptations which allow a species to continually adapt to its environmental changes
• It also allows them to interact with other species therefore preserving interdependent relationships
• Cheaper
• Larger populations can be protected

Question 3

What are examples of in situ conservation?

Answer 3

• active management is required which include:
• Controlled gazing- allowing five stock to graze land for a certain period of time to allow a species to recover
• Restricting human access- preventing people from visiting aa beach during seal reproductive season or providing an alternative path to prevent plants being trampled on
• Controlled poaching- creating defences to prevent human access, issuing fines or more drastic measures such as removing rhino horns
• Feeding animals to ensure they reproduce.
• Removing invasive species that are not native to a land
• Reintroducing a species that previously went extinct or are low in numbers
• Halting succession- succession is a natural process in which early colonising species are replaced over time until a stable mature population is achieved

What are marine conservational zones? (In situ conservation zones)

• preserve species rich areas like marine environments which have been negatively affected by non sustainable fishing such as coral reefs
• They don’t prevent fisherman from visiting the area entirely
• They create areas of refuge to allow populations to build up

Question 4

What is ex situ conservation?

Answer 4

• involves the removal of organisms from their natural habitat, allows they survival of a species
• Predation and hunting can be managed more easily

What are botanic gardens?

• plant species can be grown in botanical gardens
• Actively managed to provide them with the best resources to grow including provision of soil nutrients, watering and removal of pests

What are seed banks?

• seed bank is an example of a gene bank, a store of genetic material
• Seeds are carefully stored, so that new plants can be grown in the future
• Better than storing grown plants since they are easier to be stored/transported
• Have to be dried and stored at temperatures of -20 degrees celsius, by slowing down the ability for them to germinate
• This allows them them to remain viable for many centuries
• Provides back up against extinction by storing seeds for future reintroduction in the future/research/breeding/for genetic engineering

Question 5

What are captive breeding programmes?

Answer 5

What are captive breeding programmes?

• produce offspring of a species in a human controlled environment, then they are gradually introduced back into natural habitat
• Create a stable, healthy population of a species
• Provides animals with shelter, an abundant supply of nutritious food, absence of predators and veterinary treatment
• Suitable breeding partners can be provided
• To maintain genetic diversity in a captive population can be difficult, as such problems related to inbreeding can occur. Mating can therefore be arranged to ensure genetic diversity can be maximised such as techniques like artificial insemination, embryo transfer and long term cryogenic storage of embryos

Question 6

Why might some organisms may not be suitable for release after being born in captivity?

Answer 6

• Disease- loss of resistance to disease in captive bred populations
• Behaviour- domesticated animals may have innate behaviour, but most is learnt or copied via experience. Animals who have been caged may not know how to look for food.
• Genetic races- the genetic makeup of the captive population may become so different from the original population that the 2 populations cannot interbreed
• Habitat- if the natural habitat is not restored, captive populations cannot be introduced and can lead to tension and fighting if resources are limited

Question 7

What are the conservation agreements?

Answer 7

• ICUN publish red list which detail the current conservation status of endangered animals, so countries can work together to conserve these species
• CITES agreement designed to increase international cooperation in regulating trade in wild animal and plant species, making it illegal to trade products from endangered species and killing and raise awareness of threats to biodiversity
• CITES is difficult to police and monitor
• The Rio convention (CBD) resulted in agreements such as developing natural strategies in sustainable development and maintaining biodiversity by giving guidance to governments
• Way of maintaining biodiversity and educating others
• Made conserving biodiversity everyone’s responsibility
• Stabilise greenhouse gas emissions within the atmosphere
• Offsetting CO2 by planting trees- trees take too long, same tree grown limits biodiversity, practically difficulty.

What is the countryside stewardship scheme?

• Offered government payments to farmers to enhance and conserve the English landscape- such as giving up land that would’ve been used to grow crops is instead used to maintain natural habitats/biodiversity
• This included:
• Sustaining the beauty and diversity of the landscape
• Improving, extending and creating wildlife habitats
• Restoring neglected land and conserving archaeological and historic features
• Improving opportunities for countryside enjoyment

What are the limitations?

• dependent on the income of the government paying farmers and what they’re willing to spend the money on
• Not effective as how much land impacts biodiversity, targets small amount of people