Zoos and seed banks

Question 1

What is the purpose of zoos

Answer 1

scientific research, captive breeding programmes, reintroduction into the wild and education

Question 2

What is a studbook?

Question 3

What is biodiversity?

Answer 3

Biodiversity is the amount of species in an environment and the amount of individuals in those species

Question 4

What is species richness?

Answer 4

The amount of different species in an environment

Question 5

What is species evenness?

Answer 5

Species evenness is the amount of individuals there are in each species in an environment

Question 6

What is endemism?

Answer 6

when the species in the environment originate from the environment and not from a different environment

Question 7

What is a niche, give examples

Answer 7

a niche is how an animal exploits their environment. For example, the armoured ground cricket sometimes eats the chicks of birds that fall from their nests in the trees, which is a selection pressure that could be an incentive for the chicks to learn how to fly to avoid being eaten by armoured ground cricket

Question 8

what is the human threat?

Answer 8

overexploitation , introduction of alien species, pollution, land development - habitat destruction, fragmentation & degradation

Question 9

what is in situ conservation?

Answer 9

on site conservation

Question 10

what is ex situ conservation?

Answer 10

off site (e.g. zoos and seed banks) conservation

Question 11

why are breeding programmes useful?

Answer 11

needed to research behaviours & needs so could breed them successfully, increase number of individuals in the species, maintain genetic diversity in captive population, reintroduction to the wild

Question 12

what is genetic drift?

Answer 12

in small populations, some alleles are not passed on through chance

Question 13

what is an inbreeding depression?

Answer 13

inbreeding leads to accumulation of homozygous recessive (often harmful) in offspring

Question 14

what are methods used for conservation?

Answer 14

reintroductions of captive-bred species, translocation of groups to safer areas, studies of them in the wild, local education and training, habitat protection and restoration

Question 15

what are advantages of reintroduction programmes?

Answer 15

increase numbers in wild and so conserve species, help other species that rely on them for food or habitat, and the restoration of lost habitats

Question 16

what are the disadvantages of reintroduction programmes?

Answer 16

bring new diseases, may not behave as if they had been raised in the wild: finding food and a mate, more susceptible to predators, not accepted by wild members of the species

Question 17

what is the millennium seed bank?

Answer 17

aims to collect 10% of the world’s seeds by 2010, and they have a criteria for potentially saved seeds: economic (are they profitable), endangered (are they an endangered species?), and endemic (are they specifically from the area). the seeds are also used for research in habitat restoration and the reintroduction of species

Question 18

are there other ways of preserving plant species?

Answer 18

yes. In 2006, the Starfruit was critically endangered due to habitat loss caused by cattle trampling and fluctuating water levels, but with the help of the local community and seedlings from the MSB, the Starfruit population began to rejuvenate

Question 19

What are some advantages of the MSB?

Answer 19

Storing the seeds is cheaper than storing the plants themselves, you can store a large number of seeds in a smaller space due to their size, there is less work required to preserve the seeds than the plants. The seeds can be stored anywhere that is cool enough, and are less susceptible to disease, vandalism and natural disasters