3. 3. 4 - ex-situ and in-situ conservation Flashcards
what is conservation?
refers to maintaining and protecting a living and changing environment
what are the two main ways of conserving animals and plants?
ex-situ conservation
in-situ conservation
what is ex-situ conservation?
the conservation of components of biological diversity (living organisms) outside their natural habitats
- better if it takes place in the country the threatened species originates
- usually done if there is no time to conserve their habitat
- complementary approach to in-situ conservation
what is in-situ conservation?
the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats, and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings
- for a species to be conserved it needs a long-term habitat
give some examples of ex-situ conservation of plants.
- Botanic gardens (zoo for planta)
- Millenium Seed Bank
what are the two main aims of the Millenium Seed Bank
- to collect and conserve the seeds of the entire UK native flora by the year 2000
- to conserve seeds of an additional 10% of the flora of the whole world by 2010
how are seeds prepared to be stored?
- seeds are removed from the fruit and cleaned
- screened using x-rays to make sure they contain fully developed embryos
- they are then dried and put into jars
- these are stored at between -20 and -40
(many will survive and become capable of germinating for up to 200 years)
what are the positives of ex-situ conservation?
- can be collected without damaging the natural population (plants make huge numbers of seeds)
- generally, they are very small –> large numbers of them can be stored cheaply in a small space
- they contain all the genetic material of the plant –> record of the genetic make-up of the species
what is an alternative to seed banks?
field gene banks
- used for the 20% of seeds that need to be conserved differently
- they are grown where they are found naturally
- but they take up a lot of room
- and take a lot of work
how are animals conserved using ex-situ conservation?
- zoos
- wildlife parks
- they are bred there in an attempt to save the species and then reintroduce them into the wild
- reintroduction does not always work (more successful in national parks)
what are the issues with captive breeding and reintroduction?
- not enough space/sufficient resources in zoos/parks for all endangered species
- difficult to provide the right conditions for breeding
- reintroduction into the wild will be unsuccessful unless the original reason they needed to be conserved is removed
- the animals may have great problems with adjusting to an unsupported life in the wild
- when the population is small –> gene pool is reduced –> serious problems (zoos can swap sperm to obtain maximum genetic variation)
- reintroduction programmes –> expensive and time consuming –> they may fail
what is cross-species cloning?
cloning of animals using closely related species as surrogate mothers
- another method of saving endangered species
what are examples of in-situ conservation?
national parks
name some international examples of national parks.
- The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Australia)
- Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda)
- Serengeti National Park (Tanzania)
- Semuliki National Park (Uganda)
- Everglades (USA)
what are some other strategies of in-situ conservation outside of national parks?
- habitat restoration and recovery
- strategies for the sustainable use and management of biological resources
- managed recovery programmes for threatened/ endangered species
help to manage threats from alien species and over-exploitation of resources
+ the preservation of traditional knowledge and practices
