topic 16: conservation biology

Question 1

extinction vortex

Question 2

effective population size (Ne)

Answer 2

size of an ideal mating population that shows same level of heterozygosity as population of interest

Question 3

justify the importance of protecting biodiversity (6 reasons)

Answer 3

• human population relies on biodiversity and natural resources
• wild species used for food, fuel, fibre, medicine, spices, materials etc.
• natural function of biological communities provides valuable services to humans (water purification, maintaining soils, pollination, recovery from natural disasters)

-strong emotional, cultural, and spiritual connections with nature

-moral obligation, species are entitled to life: rich genetic heritage from complex evolutionary history