4.1.2 Biodiversity – In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation

Question 1

What are the two aims of in situ and ex situ conservation?

Answer 1

Maintain biodiversity and allow an endangered species to survive.

Question 2

What is in situ conservation?

Answer 2

Carrying out active management to maintain the biodiversity in the natural environment.

Question 2

Give 4 reasons why conflict can arise between a wildlife reserve and the local population if a wildlife reserve is set up without consideration of the local people?

Answer 2

• Tourists feeding protected animals
• Littering
• Illegal timber and plant harvesting
• continued poaching for food
• Protected animals destroying crops

Question 3

What is the main example of in situ conservation?

Answer 3

Wildlife reserves.

Question 4

List 3 advantages of in situ conservation sites

Answer 4

• Facilitates scientific research.
• Allow the ecological integrity of the area to be maintained and restored.
• Maintains the biodiversity of the area and is a reflective example of an ecosystem.
• Plants and animals conserved in natural environment.

Question 5

List 3 disadvantages of in situ conservation.

Answer 5

• The factors that caused the species to go endangered may still be present
• Population may have already lost most of its genetic diversity
• Area may act as a honeypot for poachers and ecotourists- inadvertently cause disturbance
• Endangered habitats may be fragmented and too small for populations ensured survival.

Question 6

What does the term ex situ conservation mean?

Answer 6

Conservation outside the normal habitat of the species.

Question 7

Give 3 examples of ex situ conservation of a species.

Answer 7

Seed banks
Botanic gardens
Zoos

Question 8

Give 3 advantages of ex situ conservation.

Answer 8

• Organisms are protected from predators and poaching
• Conservation sites can be used for education
• The health of the organisms can be measured and medical assistance given if needed.

Question 9

Give 3 disadvantages of ex situ conservation.

Answer 9

• Limited genetic diversity in captive population
• nutritional issues can be difficult to manage
• may be hard to achieve and expensive to get the correct living conditions of the organisms
• when animals are reintroduced into the wild, there can be issues with acceptance by the existing wild members of their species

Question 10

Give 3 reasons why the conservation of plants ex situ is easier than that of animals (using botanic gardens).

Answer 10

• Most plants have a dormant stage (seed)
• Seeds produced in large numbers
• Seeds can be collected without causing damage to the ecosystem
• Can be bred asexually, captive bred individuals can easily be replanted in the wild.

Question 11

List 3 problems that could arise from the conservation of plants using the method of botanic gardens.

Answer 11

• Plants bred asexually will be genetically identical- reducing diversity,
• Collecting seeds will cause some disturbance
• Conclusions made from a small sample may not be valid for a whole species
• Funding for the garden can be difficult- public tend to not see plant conservation to the same level of importance as animals.

Question 12

Explain what a seed bank is.

Answer 12

A collection of seed samples used to conserve plants.

Question 13

What is the aim of seed banks?

Answer 13

To store a representative sample of seeds from every known plant species. Including the rarest, most useful and threatened species.

Question 14

State 2 things that seed in seed banks can be used for, aside from simply storage.

Answer 14

• Providing seeds for good crops and building materials for rural communities
• Disease resistant crops for agriculture
• Reclamation and reproduction of endangered habitats