7: GENETICS - CONSERVATION

Question 1

What is conservation?

Answer 1

the protection and management of species and habitats (ecosystems) in a sustainable way

Question 2

What does sustainable mean?

Answer 2

enough resources are taken to meet the needs of people today without reducing the ability of people in the future to meet their own needs

Question 3

What are some methods of conservation?

Answer 3

• management of succession
• seed banks
• captive breeding
• fishing quotas
• protected areas

Question 4

Describe how management of succession is used as a method of conservation and any benefits and drawbacks

Answer 4

• preventing succession preserves an ecosystem in its current stage of succession
• avoid climax community that would result in loss of certain habitat and loss of some plants and animals
• requires lots of human input to maintain
• cost
• time consuming

Question 5

Describe how seed banks are used as a method of conservation and any benefits and drawbacks

Answer 5

• a store of seeds from lots of diff plant species
• act as a backup for conservation of plant species in the wild
• large no. of species can be conserved in a fairly small space and can be stored anywhere in the world for long periods of time as long as its cool and dry
• however the seeds have to be regularly tested to see if they’re still viable which can be expensive and time consuming

Question 6

Describe how captive breeding are used as a method of conservation and any benefits and drawbacks

Answer 6

• involves breeding endangered animals in controlled environments
• animals bred in captivity can be reintroduced into the wild increasing their no.s in the wild which can help to conserve their no.s
• reintroducing animals into the wild can cause problems (eg: new diseases can be brought to habitats)
• ethical concerns

Question 7

Describe how fishing quotas are used as a method of conservation and any benefits and drawbacks

Answer 7

• limits to the amount of certain fish species that fishermen are allowed to catch
• can be unpopular with fishermen as they limit potential income
• there can also be problems with ships returning dead fish that they caught so they don’t exceed their quota which is wasteful and doesn’t contribute to conservation of fish populations

Question 8

Describe how protected areas are used as a method of conservation and any benefits and drawbacks

Answer 8

• protect habitats and species in them by restricting urban and industrial development and farming
• conflict between the need to conserve the habitats and the need to allow people to visit and use them (eg: national parks)