Biodiversity 2

Question 1

Conservation definition

Answer 1

Conservation is the name given to the preservation and careful maangement of the environment and of natural resources - conserving an area ensures animal’s survival, and allowing them to reproduce

Question 2

Two main categories of conservation

Answer 2

Two main categories of conservation:
-In situ conservation
-Ex situ conservation

Question 3

In situ conservation

Answer 3

In situ conservation = within the natural habitat
-Maintains both genetic diversity as well as the evolutionary adaptations that enable a species to adapt contually to changing environmental conditions
-by allowing the endangered species to interact with other species, it also preserves the inderdependant relationships present in a habitat

Question 4

Ex situ conservation

Answer 4

Ex situ conservation = out of the natural habitat
-Involves the removal of organisms out of their natural habitat
-Normally used in addition to in situ measures, ensuring the survival of a spceies

Question 5

Difference between being extinct and being extinct in the wild

Answer 5

-Extinct: no organisms of the species exist anywhere in the world
-Extinct in the wild: organisms of the species only exist in captivity

Question 6

Endangered definition

Answer 6

Endangered - a species that is in danger of extinction

Question 7

Vulnerable species definition

Answer 7

Vulnerable = a species that is considered likely to become endangered in the near future

Question 8

Sustainable development definition

Answer 8

Sustainable development: economic development that meets the needs of people today, without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Question 9

Active management techniques for in situ conservation

Answer 9

Active management techniques for in situ conservation:
-Controlled grazing (only allowing livestock to graze a particular area of land for a certain period of time to allow species time to recover)
-Restricting human access
-Controlling poaching (defences + fines to prevent this eg removal of rhino hornes)
-Reintroduction of species (adding species to areas that have become locally extinct)
-Feeding animals (helps to ensure more organisms survive to reproductive age)
-Culling or removal of invasive species
-Halting succession

Question 10

Why is halting sucession used as an active management techqnique for in situ conservation?

Answer 10

Halting succession:
-Succession (a natural process in which early colonising species are replaced over time until a stable mature population is achieved) 0> halting this maintains habitats for future generations eg stops heaths becoming woodlands

Question 11

Marine conservation zones/Marine reserves

Question 12

Botanic gardens as an example of ex situ conservation

Answer 12

Botanic gardens:
-For maintaining plant species -> actively managed to provide them with the best resources to grow eg soil nutrients and watering

Question 13

Seed banks as an example of ex situ conservation

Answer 13

Seed banks:
-Example of a gene bank (stores genetic material) -> seeds carefully stored so that new plants may be grown in the future
-Dried and stored at temperatures of -20 to maintain their viability, by slowing down the rate at which they germinate
-Dont work for all plants, some die when dried and frozen, sadly this is the case for tropical rainforest trees

Question 14

Captive breeding as an example of ex situ conservation

Answer 14

Captive breeding:
Captive breeding programmes produce offspring of species in a human-controlled environment -> often run by zoos and aquatic centres -> gradually reintroduces the species back into its natural habitat

Question 15

Why is it difficult to maintain genetic diversity within a captive breeding programme? How cna this be overcome?

Answer 15

It is difficult to maintain genetic diversity within a captive breeding programme because only a small number of breeding partneres are available, and so problems related to inbreeding can occur
-This can be overcome by an maintaining an international catalogue that details genealogcal data of individuals

Question 16

Why may organisms born in captivity not be suitable to be released in the wild?

Answer 16

Organisms born in captivity may not be suitable to be released into the wild because:
-Disease (may be a loss of resistance to local disease in captive-bred populations)
-Behaviour (behaviour mostly is innate and not learnt from experience in the wild)
-Genetic races (genetic makeup of captive animals can become so different from the original population that the two populations cannot interbreed)
-Habitat (natural habitats may need to be restored first)

Question 17

Conservation agreements

Answer 17

To conserve biodiversity sucessfully, local + internaitonal cooperation is recquired to ensure habitats and individual species are preserved

Question 18

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Answer 18

IUCN:
-Assists in securing agreements between nations
-At least once a year, the IUCN publishes the red list which details the current conservation status of threatened animals
-Involved in the establishment of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - this treaty regulates the international trade of wild plants and animal species +their products - more than 35,000 species are protected by this treaty

Question 19

Why should cross border protections be offered in conservation agreements?

Answer 19

Animals do not respect a country’s boundaries, therefore to increase the change of species survival, cross border protections should be offered

Question 20

Conventions of international trade in endangered species (CITES)

Answer 20

Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - this treaty regulates the international trade of wild plants and animal species +their products - more than 35,000 species are protected by this treaty

Question 21

The Rio Convention

Answer 21

The rio convention:
-1992, a historic meeting of 172 nations was held in Rio de Janeiro, which became known as the earth summit, resulted in some new agreements between nations in the Rio Convention:
~The convention of biological diversity (CBD) recquires countries to develop national strategies for sustainable development
~The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) is an agreement betwene nationals to take steps to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
-The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) aims to prevent the transformation of fertile land into desert and reduce the effects of drought through programmes of international cooperation

Question 22

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Answer 22

Countryside stewardship scheme:
-Set up at a local level in England
-Operated in 1991-2014
-Offered governmental payments to farmer and other land managers to enhance and conserve the english landscape
-General aim was to make conservation a part of normal farming and land management practise
-Specific aims: sustaining the beauty and diversity of the landscape, improving extending and creating wildlife habitats, restoring neglected land and conserving acheological and historical features, improving opportunities for countryside enjoymeny
-Scheme is replaced by the Environmental Stewardship Scheme