B2g

Question 1

What factors need to fall below a critical level before a species is considered at risk of extinction?

Answer 1

-number of habitats: it’s hard for organisms to find food and shelter if there isn’t enough suitable habitats to support them
-number of individuals: having only a few individuals of a species left makes it hard to find a mate. It also means there won’t be much genetic variation in the population
-genetic variation: this is the number of different alleles in a population.
If genetic variation is low, then a species is less likely to be able to adapt to changes in the environment or survive the appearance of a new disease

Question 2

How can you evaluate how successful a conservation program is?

Answer 2

• genetic variation: the species being conserved should have enough genetic variation to survive the appearance of new diseases and to cope with environmental change
• viability of populations: they must contain both male and females of reproductive age. The population should be large enough to prevent related individuals having to breed together–inbreeding reduces genetic variation
• available habitats: there should be plenty of suitable habitats to live in. The right type of habitat is necessary for conserving specialist
• interaction between species: species should interact with each other as they would in their nature environment (e.g. predators should hunt prey)

Question 3

What are conversation programs?

Answer 3

• a program designed to help save endangered plants and animals
• they involve things like, protecting habitats, creating artificial environments and captive breeding

Question 4

How do conservation programs benefit wildlife and humans?

Answer 4

• protects the human food supply
• provides future medicine that could be wasted through deforestation
• ensuring minimal damage to food chains, conserving one species may help other survive

Question 5

What is sustainable development?

Answer 5

-providing the needs for today’s increasing population without harming the environment

Question 6

What is being done to promote sustainable development?

Answer 6

• fishing quotas introduced to prevent some types of fish, such as cod, from becoming extinct in certain areas
• laws insist that logging companies plant new trees to replace the once they’ve felled

Question 7

What happens as the human population gets bigger?

Answer 7

• more food needed
• more energy needed
• more waste produced

Question 8

Why are whales used for endangered?

Answer 8

• whales have commercial value, dead or alive
• tourists attractions
• whale meat and oil can be used, and cosmetics can be made from the waxy substance in their intestines

Question 9

How has whaling been fought?

Answer 9

• the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has struggled to get nations to agree to restrict whaling.
• in 1982, member nations declared a stop to whaling, excluding Norway which still catches whales
• taking a small number of whales for scientific resource is allowed and is carried out by Japan, Iceland and Faroe Islands
• it is hard to check countries are sticking to the agreement, and even if anyone is caught the IWC doesn’t have the authority to enforce any punishment, so a lot of illegal whaling happens

Question 10

What are the views of keeping whales in captivity?

Answer 10

• captive breeding programs allow whales to be bred in number and released back into the wild
• not much space in captivity,
• sometimes used for entertaining people
• whales loose there freedom and whales are happier in the wild
• captive whales raise awareness to them and their problems
• research on captive whales can help us understand their needs better to help conservation