Unit 3- Conservation Flashcards
What ethical reasons are there for for conserving biodiversity?
- spiritual enrichment
- cognitive development
- reflection
- recreation
- aesthetic experiences (SCRRA)
What economic reasons are there for conserving biodiversity?
The ecosystem provides many services for us:
Purification of water and air
Waste decomposition
Stabilising atmosphere and climate
Nutrient cycle
Provides genetic diversity for the production of crops and medicines
What is in situ conservation?
The conservation of whole natural ecosystems ecosystems and the various species they contain
Give an example of in situ conservation
National parks
What is the aim of sustainable development?
Supplying the population with everything they need while also minimising the effects on wildlife and the ecosystem
Advantages of in-situ conservation
- when a habitat is conserved the whole community is also conserved
- large numbers of animals and plants can be conserved
- young animals learn natural skills
- reserves are safe environments to reintroduce animals from captivity
- popular tourist destinations
Disadvantages of in-situ
- expensive to maintain an protect such large areas of land
- commercial and political interest often conflict with conservation, eg loggers
- tourist income can be limited as parks are expensive
What is ex situ conservation?
Conserving a species away from their natural habitat
Give 3 examples of ex-situ conservation
Zoos
Seed banks
Gene banks
Why do thy store seeds rather than plants in seed banks?
- less space required
- most plants produce large numbers of seeds, so collecting samples won’t damage a population
- easy to store as they are dormant
- it is cost effective
How do seed banks store seeds?
- dried out and cryogenically at -40 degrees
What concerns do we have about keeping animals in zoos?
- behave unnaturally
- most species are not in danger and are only there for publicity
- animals may be kept in poor conditions
- exhibition may reduce wild populations
What are zoos main roles in conservation? (3)
- education
- scientific research
- captive breeding programs
What scientific insight do zoos provide?
- research into the spread of diseases
- research into behaviour of animals
- research into techniques to improve breeding
What is the point of captive breeding programs?
- increase numbers of a population to reduce risk of extinction
- release animals into the wild
- maintain genetic diversity
How do can zoos sometimes reduce the genetic diversity, and why is this bad?
Some species only have small numbers so inbreed, reducing genetic diversity increasing the risk of harmful genetic conditions
How do zoos maintain genetic diversity amongst the animals?
- do not allow organisms to repeatedly breed with the same partner
- select partners using in vitro fertilisation or inter zoo swapping
- keep records of individuals and their breeding history in stud books
How do are seed banks operated?
- seed banks collect from a number of individual plants, to ensure genetic diversity is high
- seeds are x rayed to check for fully formed embryos, only viable seeds are stored
- seeds dried to remove water, increasing storage time
- seeds stored cryogenically to increase storage time
- some seeds are periodically germinated to check viability
Explain the advantage of selecting seeds of different sizes for long term storage:
- a large gene pool should be maintained to increase chance of future survival
- different sized seeds are likely do have different alleles
- variety means there is less chance of them all being susceptible to the same disease
Advantages of ex situ
- endangered species can be protected
- well managed breeding programs can maintain genetic diversity
- animals in zoos have longer life expectancy
- zoos are cheaper and fundraise a lot of money
Disadvantages of ex situ
- Only a small number of animals can be conserved
- zoo environment can be small and unnatural for large animals, so interact differently
- young animals do not learn natural skills eg hunting
What’s the difference between conservation and preservation?
Conservation is the wise use of resources and preservation is never using the resources
