Conservation

Question 1

What is the primary threat to most species and habitats?

Answer 1

Human activity

Question 2

What are three examples of human activity destroying habitats?

Answer 2

1) land development
2) introduction of alien species
3) Pollution

Question 3

What does in situ conservation mean?

Answer 3

On site - protecting ecosystems and maintaining fragile habitats

Question 4

What does ex situ conservation mean?

Answer 4

Off site - e.g. zoos and seedbanks

Question 5

Zoos are perfect for what type of programme?

Answer 5

Captive breeding programmes

Question 6

What are the three main aims of captive breeding programmes?

Answer 6

1) Increasing the number of the species
2) Maintaining genetic diversity within the captive population
3) Reintroducing animals into the wild (if possible)

Question 7

What is genetic drift?

Answer 7

In a small population some of the alleles may not get passed on to offspring purely by chance, this leads to a reduction in genetic variation

Question 8

Inbreeding causes the frequency of ? genotypes to rise with the loss of ?

Answer 8

Homozygous, heterozygotes

Question 9

What does inbreeding result in?

Answer 9

The inheritance of recessive alleles from both parents

Question 10

What do many recessive alleles have?

Answer 10

Harmful effects, which results in inbreeding depression

Question 11

What does inbreeding cause offspring to be?

Answer 11

Less fit, may be smaller and not live as long, females may produce fewer eggs

Question 12

Which type in/ex situ is most effective?

Answer 12

In situ

Question 13

What is a studbook?

Answer 13

The studbook for an individual species shows the history and location of all the captive animals of that species in the places which are co-operating in an overall breeding plan

Question 14

What must conservation scientists ensure?

Answer 14

Genes from all the founder members of the population are represented in the subsequent generations

Question 15

Individuals who breed poorly in captivity must be…?

Answer 15

Encouraged to breed

Question 16

Individuals who are good breeders must be…?

Answer 16

Limited in their breeding success

Question 17

What are the two scientific techniques that help support studbooks?

Answer 17

1) Cytogenetics - looking at chromosome structure

2) Molecular biology - studying the nature of the genes themselves

Question 18

Why are scientific techniques also important alongside studbooks?

Answer 18

Studbook data may be incomplete as zoos in the past didn’t keep records as carefully as they do now. They can also reveal whether some individuals are more closely related than is desirable for breeding purposes

Question 19

Reintroduction can only work if?

Answer 19

The animals habitat is still intact

Question 20

What must some species need to learn before they have the ability to survive in the wild?

Answer 20

New skills e.g. hunting

Question 21

How can plants be conserved in situ?

Answer 21

By protecting and managing habitats

Question 22

How can plants be conserved ex situ?

Answer 22

Seed banks and botanic gardens

Question 23

What does the millennium seed bank do?

Answer 23

Conserve seed samples from threatened species of plants, seeds are collected around the world and sent to the seed bank

Question 24

How many species are already banked?

Answer 24

10,000 species

Question 25

Why are seeds collected?

Answer 25

Because most plants produce large numbers of seeds, so collecting small samples is unlikely to damage a population, most seeds are small and easy to store, they can also survive in a desiccated state for many years

Question 26

Why is the millennium seed bank focusing on plants living in the drylands?

Answer 26

Because these are some of the most threatened species and they are more likley to be useful to humans

Question 27

What happens to the seeds before they are stored?

Answer 27

They are removed from the fruit, identified, cleaned and dried

Question 28

What temperature are the seeds stored at?

Answer 28

-20 degrees celcius

Question 29

What happens to the seeds after they have been stored for a month?

Answer 29

A sample is taken out and germinated on agar plates to ensure the seeds survive in the storage conditions

Question 30

How often is germination tested?

Answer 30

Every 10 years

Question 31

What happens if germination falls below 75%?

Answer 31

The seeds will be grown to collect a new seed sample which is then placed back into storage