A4.2 - conservation of biodiversity

Question 1

anthropogenic

Answer 1

originating in human activity

Question 2

extant

Answer 2

not extinct

Question 3

germ plasm

Answer 3

seeds or tissues that are useful in crop breeding, research and conservation efforts

Question 4

biodiversity

Answer 4

variety of life in all of its forms, levels and combinations

Question 5

ecosystem diversity

Answer 5

number of types of ecosystems in a given location

Question 6

species diversity

Answer 6

variety of life within an ecosystem

Question 7

species richness

Answer 7

number of species in a given area

Question 8

species evenness

Answer 8

how similar in number the population of species are

Question 9

genetic diversity

Answer 9

variety in the gene pool of a population

Question 10

gene pool

Answer 10

set of all genes and alleles in a population or species

Question 11

how are current and past levels of biodiversity different?

Answer 11

• fossils show that there are more species alive on Earth today than any time in the past - explained by the evolutionary theory where speciation occurs in certain conditions
• number of species alive today is lower than a few hundred years ago
• figures used for analyses are based on estimates as millions of species are yet to be discovered and the fossil record is incomplete

Question 12

how can evidence be verifiable?

Answer 12

• comes from a peer-reviewed source
• comes from a published source
• methodology has to be checked

Question 13

how is human population growth causing the biodiversity crisis?

Answer 13

hunting - removal of organisms
over-exploitation of sustainable resources - removal of organisms
urbanisation - loss of habitats
deforestation - replacement with monoculture leaves soil infertile
pollution - biomagnification and climate change
global transport - spread of pests, disease and invasive species

Question 14

what is an example of the loss of terrestial megafauna?

Answer 14

North Island giant moas - New Zealand
- 3m in height with no wings
- herbivores who swallowed stones to grind plants and extract nutrients
- hunted to extinction within 100 years of the arrival of the Polynesians

Question 15

what is an example of a loss of marine species?

Answer 15

Caribbean monk seals - Gulf of Mexico
- European colonists killed the seals to eat, provide oil for lamps and to be taken as scientific specimens

Question 16

what is an example of a loss of UK species?

Answer 16

Great Auk - North Atlantic
- 80cm in height and flightless birds with small wings
- eggs were harvested and killed for meat and skins

Question 17

what are examples of anthropogenic ecosystem loss?

Answer 17

• loss of diptercarp forest in South-east Asia - deforestation means that only 500 species are found as the trees provide hardwood and clear-cutting (cheap) is used, leading to complete destruction of the local ecosystem as well as land being cleared for agricultural uses like palm oil
• loss of ferns in England - 99.7% of fens have been destroyed and are important as they are wetland ecosystems on peat-land soils that are carbon sinks and reduce the risk of flooding, but have been drained for agricultural land

Question 18

what are the pros and cons of citizen-science for assessing biodiversity?

Answer 18

pros - large scale, widespread, local knowledge
cons - lacks validity and accuracy

Question 19

what is simpson’s reciprocal index?

Answer 19

measure combining both species evenness and species richness
D = ΣN(N-1) / Σn(n-1)
N - total number of organisms of all species found
n - number of organisms for each species
- higher value = more diversity

Question 20

in situ conservation of species

Answer 20

approaches that occur in the natural habitat

Question 21

ex situ conservation

Answer 21

approaches that occur in artificial environments

Question 22

what are the pros and cons of in situ conservation?

Answer 22

pros - organisms remain in own habitat so have access to all resources, maintains genetic diversity, protects interactions with the community, stabilising food webs and chains
cons - hard to monitor populations, harder to conserve, invasive species pose a risk, illegal exploitation of species

Question 23

what are the pros and cons of ex situ conservation?

Answer 23

pros - research opportunities, raises awareness, focused protection of endangered species
cons - smaller number of species can be managed, high cost, hard to collect germ plasm, ethical considerations

Question 24

what are the pros and cons of large in situ conservation sites?

Answer 24

pros - conserves a larger number of habitats and more resources for long-term survival
cons - easier for poachers to go undetected

Question 25

what are the pros and cons of small in situ conservation sites?

Answer 25

pros - increased biodiversity due to arrival of new species and more ecological niches
cons - organisms exposed to more abiotic factors or predators

Question 26

what are 3 examples of in situ approaches to conservation of biodiversity?

Answer 26

management of nature reserves - actively maintaining current ecosystems such as cleaning pollution and restrictions on poaching
reclamation of degraded ecosystems - returning a damaged ecosystem to it’s prior state by re-introduction of species
rewilding of degraded species - restores wilderness regions with minimal management

Question 27

what are 2 examples of ex situ approaches to conservation of biodiversity?

Answer 27

zoos and botanic gardens - living store of animal and plant tissue for scientific research
seeds or tissue banks - storing germ plasm to help future generations or to be used in captive breeding programmes

Question 28

EDGE programme

Answer 28

global conservation initiative to focus specifically on threatened species that represent a significant amount of unique evolutionary history

Question 29

ED score

Answer 29

evolutionarily distinct score - number of closely related species

Question 30

GE score

Answer 30

globally endangered score - IUCN Red List Categories

Question 31

what is the relationship between the GE and ED scores and the need for conservation?

Answer 31

the higher the combined score, the higher the priority of the species for conservation
- achieved through raising awareness with governments and projects linked to EDGE