A4.2 - conservation of biodiversity (1l)

Question 1

what are the 2 categories of conservation approaches?

Answer 1

• in situ conservation of biodiversity are approaches that occur in the natural habitat
• ex situ conservation are approaches that occur in artificial environments

Question 2

what are the pros and cons of in situ conservation?

Answer 2

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 3

what are the pros and cons of ex situ conservation?

Answer 3

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 4

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

Answer 4

pros - conserves a larger number of habitats and more resources for long-term survival

cons - easier for poachers to go undetected

Question 5

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

Answer 5

pros - increased biodiversity due to arrival of new species and more ecological niches

cons - organisms exposed to more abiotic factors or predators

Question 6

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

Answer 6

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 7

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

Answer 7

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

captive breeding programmes in zoos - living stores of animal material for the production of animals for reintroduction into the wild

Question 8

what is the EDGE programme?

Answer 8

the EDGE of existence programme is “the only global conservation initiative to focus specifically on threatened species that represent a significant amount of unique evolutionary history”.

Question 9

what is the ED score?

Answer 9

the evolutionarily distinct score (ED) comes from the number of closely related species
- having a significant amount of unique evolutionary history means there are few closely related species and the species are “often extremely unusual in the way they look, live and behave, as well as in their genetic make-up”

Question 10

what is the GE score?

Answer 10

the globally endangered score (GE) comes from the IUCN Red List Categories

Question 11

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

Answer 11

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

Question 12

why are several approaches needed for conservation?

Answer 12

• no single approach by itself is sufficient
• different species require different measures