conservation

Question 1

reasons to maintain biodiversity

Answer 1

• moral and ethical: humans have a responsibility to reduce their impact on the planet and other species
• ecological: biodiversity increases stability of ecosystems
• environmental: water cycle, nutrient cycle and absorption of CO2
• economic: organisms contribute to medicine, ecotourism, science and tech
• aesthetics: pleasure from visual effects
• agricultural: genetically diverse wild species can rescue crops from catastrophes

Question 2

national and marine parks

Answer 2

• conserve entire ecosystem
• legislation to provide protection
• limiting human activities
• removing alien species
• raising awareness/ecotourism
  issues:
• not all countries have the resources or will to provide a good level of protection
• some ecosystems/populations are already too damaged
• fur and feathers syndrome

Question 3

zoos and captive breeding programs

Answer 3

• protection when habitat is destroyed
• allows research
• breeding and reintroduction programs
• raises awareness and education
  issues:
• some organisms do not breed well in captivity
• reintroduction is often unsuccessful
• low genetic diversity
• not all can provide adequate habitats
  botanic gardens: cutting and collected seeds from wild to establish a population of the endangered species in captivity: methods of tissue culturing and cloning

Question 4

seed bank

Answer 4

• drying and storing seed in T controlled
• from different sites to maintain gene pool
• grow: fresh after time
• many organisations send seeds for safekeeping
• some can’T be frozen: grown or tissue sample

Question 5

frozen zoos

Answer 5

• store genetic material of endangered species (eggs, sperm, tissue) at low temp for long
• different samples to maintain gene pool
• -196 C
• small space for relatively lot genetic material
• future: breed, reintroduce species through IVF and GE

Question 6

reasons for extinction: climate change

Answer 6

• CO2, greenhouse effect, increase in mean global T
• sea levels rising
• ocean T and acidity rising
• ice caps melting
• changed habitats
• loss of aesthetic, biodiversity and opportunities

Question 7

reasons for extinction: competition

Answer 7

• limited supply of resources
• intra/interspecific
• reduces population size
• competition with humans: taken away water, food, habitat
• invasive species: non native species often have no natural competitors, predators or pathogens to help limit population growth: massively increase in number and use up resources

Question 8

reasons for extinction: hunting

Answer 8

• past: survival, some underdeveloped countries
• most come from domesticated livestock or fishing: disrupts marine ecosystems
• for sport: rarer, more vulnerable
• fur, ivory tusks, skin

Question 9

reasons for extinction: degradation and loss of habitat

Answer 9

• deforestation, draining wetlands, polluting water, soil and air
• species are adapted to survive within their specific habitat
• reduced area: search and compete for remaining

Question 10

assisted reproduction

Answer 10

• humans able to monitor health
• expensive, sometimes individuals refuse to mate

Question 11

IVF

Answer 11

• natural mating, control over fertilisation
• outside of female body egg fertilised
• needle inserted: egg extracted: culture medium
• male semen mixed with eggs
• several zygotes form: develop into embryos: placed in culture for days
• embryo transferred to mother/female

Question 12

embryo transfer

Answer 12

• avoid risk of pregnancy in vulnerable female
• fertilised egg-zygote-embryo
• from uterus to a surrogate female
• develops to full term and offspring is born
  1. mating/IVF/AI
  2. remove embryo
  3. check and select healthy
  4. may freeze for later use
  5. implant in surrogate female uterus
  6. hormone treatment

Question 13

surrogacy

Answer 13

• pregnant with another female’s embryo
• require hormone treatment: uterus is right
• natural/artificial insemination/IVF
• can be same of diff species
• closely related for compatibility of uterus

Question 14

role of IUCN

Answer 14

• International Union for Conservation of Nature
• global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it
• assessing conservation status: red list
• to conserve biodiversity and habitats
• educate/awareness
• influence government policy

Question 15

CITES

Answer 15

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
• global agreement to control trade of endangered species and associated products
• appendix 1/2/3