• Aesthetic• Ethical• Educational• Economic• Recreational• Ecological

What is conservation?

• Protecting the environment from human activities

• Preventing animals and plants from extinction

• Creating new habitats• Managing natural resources and

ecosystems• Keeping the balance of nature• Preserving the natural environment

• Aesthetic• Ethical• Educational• Economic• Recreational• Ecological

What is conservation?

• Attain sustainable yields whilst maintaining environmental quality

• Maximum biodiversity of genetic resources

• Minimal pollution• Optimum aesthetic appeal.

• Aesthetic• Ethical• Educational• Economic• Recreational• Ecological

What is involved?• Preservation

– not losing habitats or species– e.g establishing reserves

• Management– maintaining the balance

– removal of alien species– restriction of human interference– deflected succession

• Reclamation• repairing previous damage• returning land / water to a more valuable state

• Habitat creation• Producing entirely new ecosystems

• Aesthetic• Ethical• Educational• Economic• Recreational• Ecological

Reasons for conservation

Aesthetic

Jacques Lake, Canada

• Aesthete– ‘Pleasure seeker’

• Natural environment is great source of pleasure

• To enjoy it we must conserve it!

Ethical

• Right to live– Are all organisms equal?– Subjective– Bacteria that cause diseases?

• Different cultures have different views– sacred animals

• Extinction is often natural– Fossil records

• Responsibility to maintain diversity?

Educational• Fieldwork in

‘outdoor classrooms’

Economic• Wildlife and

landscapes can provide income:– Visitors

spend money– Wildlife

watching holidays

– Activity holidays

Recreational

Food

• 250, 000 known plant species– Only 30 used for food on large scale

• Monocultures more susceptible to pests and disease

• Wild varieties may possess natural genetic resistance– Seed banks as biological insurance

• Most wild relatives of food crops are in the tropics– Under most threat!

Medicines

• Rainforests worth more alive than dead!• 47 major drugs from tropical plants

– Codeine– Quinine

• Animals also play a role in medical research– Cytology– physiology

• Indigenous knowledge may be invaluable– We need to learn from them

Genetics

• Wild populations face many threats:– Abiotic conditions– Disease

• Survival of the fittest– Genetic superiority/resistance

• Breeding has reduced the gene pool– Less tolerant

• Chances for:– Cross breeding– Genetic engineering

Industrial Products

• Timber• Paper• Fuel• Gums• Dyes• Oils

Ecological

• Plants– Plants help regulate;

• Atmosphere• Water cycle• Nutrient cycles• Soil structure

• Form the basis of food chains

Ecological

• Species interdependence– Food webs– Habitats– Pollination– Nutrient cycles– Seed dispersal

• What if we manipulate these?– Intentionally

• Cane toads in Australia

– Unintentionally• Brown Tree Snake in Guam

Ecological

• Indicator species:– Lichens and SO2 pollution

– Used to identify and control harmful human activities

– Involves studying the natural environment

Need for conservation

• Some factors may affect individual species directly

• Others may be threatened by loss of habitat

• Extinction• Endangered

Hunting and Collecting

Persecution

• Deliberate eradication

• Damage:– Crops– Landscape– Livestock– People– Property

• Birds of Prey in UK

Accidental Harm from Human Activities

• Fishing by-catch– Whales– Dolphins

• Farm harvesting– Mammals– Ground dwelling birds– Invertebrates

• Roadkill– Pheasants– Mammals

Introduced Species

• ‘Alien species’• Moved around world

– Boats– Aircraft

• Accidental or deliberate• May have no effect• May cause endangerments or extinctions

– Predators– Competitors– Disease

Grey Squirrel

Brown Tree Snake

American Mink

Cane Toad

Habitat Change

• Each species is adapted to a particular environment

• More competitive species may be able to survive change

• These will be the ones that are better adapted to the new environment

Habitat Destruction

• Deforestation– logging

• Expansion of farmland– Food crops– Cash crops

• Urbanisation• Mineral extraction

– Quarrying– Mining

• Flooding by reservoirs– Water supply– HEP

Pollution

Climate Change