3.2.4: Conserving biodiversity

Question 1

Strategies to conserve biodiversity range from

Answer 1

total protection (scientific reserves) to schemes which integrate economic development into conservation

Question 2

Example of total protection

Answer 2

Surtsey

Question 3

Surtsey

Location

Answer 3

A volcanic island near Iceland, approx. 32km from its coast

Question 4

Surtsey

formation

Answer 4

formed by volcanic eruptions along the mid-atlantic ridge that took place from 1963-1967

Question 5

Surtsey

ecosystem characteristics

Answer 5

vegetation succession has occured here

ongoing ecological processes

Question 6

Surtsey

total protection measures

Answer 6

IUCN category 1a strict nature reserve

globally important ‘natural laboratory’

Question 7

Example of economic development integrated into conservation

Answer 7

Brazil, ‘the extractive idea’

Question 8

Brazil, ‘the extractive idea’

Answer 8

ALto Jurua reserve
conserve forests and extract their resources
lower rates of deforestation
involves land clearing, community management keeps this to a minimum

Question 9

Conservation issues

4

Answer 9

1. Which areas and which species to conserve
2. The design of areas
3. In-situ or ex-situ approaches
4. Legislation and financing of programmes

Question 10

Types of conservation due to location

2

Answer 10

eco-region approach

hotspots

Question 11

Eco-region approach

conservation

Answer 11

A location which is a particular representation of a particular ecosystem type

Question 12

Hotspots

conservation

Answer 12

Places where the greatest number of species are under imminent threat

Question 13

Hotspots occupy …% of land surface?

Answer 13

2.3%

Question 14

Endemic species

Answer 14

Plants or animals found in one particular area or region and nowhere else on Earth

Question 15

Hotspots

characteristics

Answer 15

Very high biodiversity which is under threat from human activity
contain large amounts of endemic species

Question 16

Problems with conservation of hotspots

Answer 16

too large, too broad approach

heavy focus on endemic species - rainforests, what about other regions under threat?

Question 17

Eco-regions

characteristics

Answer 17

Focussed no small scale conservation

Question 18

Example of an eco-region survey

140 Indo-pacific eco-regions

Answer 18

In an analysis of 140 Indo-pacific eco regions in 2004, those with the highest proportion of endemics are islands and mountain tops

Question 19

Are eco-regions a good approach?

Answer 19

smaller areas are easier to protect

fairly new approach, still a work in progress

Question 20

In-situ conservation approach

Answer 20

Conservation involves maintaining organisms in their wild state in existing locations.

Question 21

Ex-situ conservation approach

Answer 21

Conservation involves moving species and managing them in captivity.

Question 22

Ex-situ conservation approach

issue

Answer 22

costly

Question 23

In-situ vs/+ ex-situ

example of the Iberian lynx

Answer 23

In Spain and Portugal

combined approaches led to the IUCN revising the status of them from critically endangered to endangered in 2015

Question 24

IUCN

stands for

Answer 24

International union for conservation of nature

Question 25

Expense issue with conservation

Answer 25

Can’t be left to individual countries.
In general HICs have a higher proportion of protected areas than LICs but also have higher conservation costs per km2 due to high land prices.

Question 26

Mini casestudy: Eco-tourism in Ecuador

Answer 26

• family-run rainforest farm
• developed to become a sustainable destination
• still a full time farm with bananas, sigar, coffee, cattle and horses outputs
• buildings made from sustainable resources, bamboo
• holidays include tours into the forest, camping, use of existing paths, small groups, non-invasive tourism

Question 27

Method for sustainable management of rainforests

8

Answer 27

1. logging and replanting
2. education
3. international agreements
4. debt reduction, some countries relieved of debt if they protect rainforests
5. afforestation
6. rubber tapping
7. shifting cultivation
8. agroforestry

Question 28

Agroforestry

Answer 28

Simultaneously growing trees and crops, prevents soil erosion

Question 29

Shifting cultivation

Answer 29

Farmers move on after 2-3 years to allow recovery

Question 30

Method for sustainable management of coral reefs

8

Answer 30

1. clear zones
2. limits on fishing
3. water quality improvement
4. reef safe products
5. companies using the reef pay charges
6. promotion of ecotourism
7. sustainable use plans
8. coral nursery

Question 31

The Andros Barrier Reef

Answer 31

In the Bahamas,
national parks set up
world’s third largest coral reef
example of good conservation

Question 32

East Anglian Fens

Answer 32

more than 99% of them drained in historic times,

remaining areas have some of the highest biodiversity in the British Isles

Question 33

Method of conservation of wetlands

Answer 33

Acquire farmland and restore it to habitat to create a fenland mosaic which is made of seasonally wet grassland, woodland, reeds and open water

Question 34

Fen

Answer 34

type of wetland, with peat, with a steady source of ground water.

Question 35

Benefits of conservation of wetlands

3

Answer 35

+hydrological cycle benefits, flooding control
+carbon sinks
+increase in biodiversity

Question 36

Potential issue with conservation of wetlands

Answer 36

food security worries