Conservation ex situ 4.2.8 Flashcards
What is the role of zoos?
They play an important role in conservation through captive breeding programmes and conducting research that benefits endangered species
What are 3 aims of captive breeding programmes?
- Increasing the number of individuals of the species if numbers are very low
- Maintaining genetic diversity within the captive population
- Reintroduce animals into the wild if possible
Where are captive breeding programmes often managed?
In zoos/aquatic centres
What modern technologies can preserve large amounts of genetic material?
Freezing sperm, eggs or embryos
How is genetic variation lost?
- Genetic drift - change in frequency of alleles over time
- In small populations some of the alleles may not get passed on to the offspring purely by chance - leading to a reduction in genetic variation
What is inbreeding depression?
- Inbreeding causes the frequency of homozygous recessive genotypes to rise
- Many recessive alleles are harmful so offspring are less fit
What are studbooks?
They show the history and location of all the captive animals of the species in the breeding population.
They use cytogenetic information (study of chromosomes)
What are 4 advantages of ex situ conservation?
- Protection from predation and poaching
- Genetic diversity can be measured and monitored
- Education
- Research!
Name 3 disadvantages of ex situ conservation
- Limited genetic diversity
- Exposure to disease
- Expensive
What are seed banks?
- They store a representative seed sample from every known plant species
- Seeds stored until theyre needed
Why save seeds?
Plants are essential for animal survival - as theyre producers in food chains
- The genetic material of these species would be lost forever should they go extinct.
Why are seeds stored rather than living plants?
- Less space needed
- Easier to store
- More cost effective
