Conservation Flashcards
What is the primary threat to most species and habitats?
Human activity
What are three examples of human activity destroying habitats?
1) land development
2) introduction of alien species
3) Pollution
What does in situ conservation mean?
On site - protecting ecosystems and maintaining fragile habitats
What does ex situ conservation mean?
Off site - e.g. zoos and seedbanks
Zoos are perfect for what type of programme?
Captive breeding programmes
What are the three main aims of captive breeding programmes?
1) Increasing the number of the species
2) Maintaining genetic diversity within the captive population
3) Reintroducing animals into the wild (if possible)
What is genetic drift?
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
Inbreeding causes the frequency of ? genotypes to rise with the loss of ?
Homozygous, heterozygotes
What does inbreeding result in?
The inheritance of recessive alleles from both parents
What do many recessive alleles have?
Harmful effects, which results in inbreeding depression
What does inbreeding cause offspring to be?
Less fit, may be smaller and not live as long, females may produce fewer eggs
Which type in/ex situ is most effective?
In situ
What is a studbook?
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
What must conservation scientists ensure?
Genes from all the founder members of the population are represented in the subsequent generations
Individuals who breed poorly in captivity must be…?
Encouraged to breed
Individuals who are good breeders must be…?
Limited in their breeding success
What are the two scientific techniques that help support studbooks?
1) Cytogenetics - looking at chromosome structure
2) Molecular biology - studying the nature of the genes themselves
Why are scientific techniques also important alongside studbooks?
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
Reintroduction can only work if?
The animals habitat is still intact
What must some species need to learn before they have the ability to survive in the wild?
New skills e.g. hunting
How can plants be conserved in situ?
By protecting and managing habitats
How can plants be conserved ex situ?
Seed banks and botanic gardens
What does the millennium seed bank do?
Conserve seed samples from threatened species of plants, seeds are collected around the world and sent to the seed bank
How many species are already banked?
10,000 species
