Conservation And Prioritization

Question 1

Conservation is partly politics partly science why is that so ?

Answer 1

This is because the political part is deciding what the goal is and the scientific part is determining how best to reach it.

Question 2

What is protection often motivated by ?

Answer 2

Ecosystems services (it generates $125 trillion , which is more than swedens gdp)

Question 3

What are functionally extinct species

Answer 3

These are species that may have been super common before and vital to ecosystem services but are super rare now .

Question 4

What are some interesting facts to note about population growth?

Answer 4

Large areas are good sources for resources .
Large populations have a lot of limitations eg. Resources.
Relative growth rate reduces with increasing population until it eventually gets to zero (that would be its carrying capacity).
Relative population size is highest in smaller populations.
Absolute population size is highest in intermediate populations.
Maximum sustainable Yield is where population growth rate is the highest.
Maximum economic yield is at the highest population size because its is expensive to harvest resources and so the more people the better.
However regulations are not put inplace yield will reduce from over exploitation while fishing costs increase.

Question 5

One strategy to regulate resource use.

Answer 5

Creation refugee areas where resources cannot be harvested . This is mostly used for marine resources but can also be used for fast moving resources.

Question 6

State some facts about sustainable use :

Answer 6

Sustainable use maybe economically beneficial for fast growing resources.
Sustainable use maybe desirable in the long run but immediate need outweighs long term plans.

Question 7

Uses or arguments for biodiversity conservation

Answer 7

1. Conserving biodiversity can increase tourism which in turn increases income which can contribute significantly to GDP. Eg. 17%of Tanzania,s GDP comes from torusim.
2. Some farming problems such as persistent pests and the inability for a strain of species to adapt to the changing climate can be solved by crossbreeding with wild relatives.
3. Some wild crops have medicinal purposes. There have been a lot of medicines produced but there is also alot of plants that are yet to be studied for their medicinal purpose. ( although the con here might be that sometimes may species have the same properties and so preserving all of them becomes a challenge.

Question 8

True or false:
Sometimes some species extinction is highly welcome.

Answer 8

This statement is true , and example of this maybe the small pox

Question 9

Why does conservation require sustainable development ?

Answer 9

This is mainly because people only begin to care about sustainability when all other needs have been met .

Question 10

What are the UN’s two goals on conservation?

Answer 10

Goal 15 Life on land
Goal 16 Life below water .

Question 11

How does the fulfilment of other SDG’s unrelated to conservation help with conservation?

Answer 11

1. Some species are threatened because of superstition and and quality education can remove these threats.
   2.Global warming and pollution are contributors to biodiversity loss and if addressed can help with conservation efforts.

Question 12

True or False :
Efficient conservation efforts require efficient law enforcement therefore having political stability is beneficial to conservation.

Answer 12

True

Question 13

Name the three conservation strategies.

Answer 13

1. Global actions
2. Species or organism specific actions
3. Site specific actions.

Question 14

Under Conservation strategies what can you say about CITES.

Answer 14

CITES stands for convent on international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna.
This is a multinational agreement that aims to protect endangered wild species from over exploitation due to trade. This agreement prevent these species from being traded for commercial purposes and only being traded under strict regulations.

Question 15

What are the Measures for reducing invasive species ?

Answer 15

1. Many areas regulate the transport of living organisms.
2. Many areas have areas whervboots and shoes are cleaned before entering into another .
   These prevent the introduction of invasive species into ecosystems.

Question 16

What can you say about ExSitu Conservation.

Answer 16

This is a type of conservation that involves the the breeding of an endangered species in captivity often with the aim of reintroducing them back into the wild after successful breeding.
This is usually not a good option but often the best one. This is because this type of conservation only involves taken only the endangered species out of the ecosystem and by doing this it may cause an imbalance and disruptions in food chains.

Question 17

State and define the criteria for prioritisation for conservation

Answer 17

1. Carbon storage : species are prioritised on their ecosystem functions , specifically carbon storage function.
2. Diversity : areas are prioritised information conservation based on how species rich that particular area is .
3. Endemicity : this is when areas are prioritised based on their uniqueness . There are two types :
   a. Weighted endemism : when species are weighed based on their distribution. The smaller the distribution the higher it is weighted.
   b. Phylogenetic endemism : where specifies are on how evolutionary unique they are and also how distributed they are. Here the weight is higher if the species lack closely related organisms and have smaller distribution.
4. Endangerment: when species are classified based on how threatened they are.
5. Prioritisation by price : areas vary by price and areas with higher priced areas tend to be highly prioritised.

Question 18

Why would you choose to conserve many small areas ?

Answer 18

1. Protecting small areas will mean parks or protected space willl cover numerous habitats which will cause the conservation of numerous diverse species.
2. Smaller parks promote redundancy and resilience in the ecosystem. If there is a disease ; disaster or human interference in one park , the others can act as refuge for affected species ensuring ecosystem resilience.
3. Smaller parks usually span across multiple habitats and may have slightly different climates this may help species adapt ,itch more easily to changing environment or climate change.
4. Smaller parks are easier and less costly to manage.
5. Small parks which usually span across multiple habitats will need the local community Involvement . This will lead better conservation efforts as people tend to better conserve something that has been put in their care.

Question 19

Why would you choose to have one large park?

Answer 19

1. Bigger areas may be more suited for bigger species , or species who need larger spaces to breed , hunt and feed.
2. Bigger areas have reduced edge effect as compared to smaller areas.
3. Larger parks often attract tourists and increases income earned from tourism.
4. Higher diversity .

Question 20

What are some activities to be done after conservation areas have been set.

Answer 20

After conservation areas have been designated management of these area must be prioritised and done well enough.
Poaching and illegal logging must be monitored as poaching is still high in conservation areas.

Question 21

Land sharing vs land sparing

Answer 21

Land sharing is where intensive agricultural systems were mixed with biodiversity conservation areas on the same land. The con about this was that biodiversity was incredibly low.

Land sparing this when agricultural intensive land was separated from biodiversity conservation areas. Sometime locals did not have access to conservation areas which cause a lack of interest in preserving areas.