natsc1 - conservation

7/25/2019 Natsc1 - Conservation

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CONSERVATION


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In situ Ex situ

In situ:

! Conservation of species in their naturalhabitat

! E.g. natural parks, nature reserves

Ex situ:

! Conserving species in isolation of their

natural habitat! E.g. zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks


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In situconservation

Setting up wild lifereserves is not just amatter of building afence around an area

and letting it grow wild

Without grazing animalsheathlands which containa number of rare specieswill revert to woodland


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Nature reserves and national parks

! First the area that is suitable for thecreation of a reserve has to be identifiedand delimited

!

This requires surveys to collect data onkey species

! Property may have to be expropriated

! A legal framework may need to be set up

to control human activities in the area andin its immediate surroundings

! Policing the area may also be necessary


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Les Ecrins National Park, France

Park

Park

Bufferzone


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Nature reserves and national parks

! If part of the area hasbeen degraded due to badland use it may needrestoring

!

Alien species that havepenetrated the area mayneed excluding oreliminating

! Constant management willbe needed to maintain thehabitat of the speciesbeing conserved

! This may mean arrestingnatural succession


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The advantages of in situconservation

! The species will have allthe resources that it isadapted too

! The species will

continue to evolve intheir environment

! The species have morespace

! Bigger breedingpopulations can be kept

! It is cheaper to keep anorganism in its naturalhabitat

Wordpress.com


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However there are problems

! It is difficult to controlillegal exploitation(e.g. poaching)

! The environment mayneed restoring andalien species aredifficult to control

Sciencemuseum.org


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Ex situconservationCaptive breeding!

The Hawaiian goose waspractically extinct in thewild

!

12 birds were taken intocaptivity

! A population of 9000was released back intothe wild

!

The experiment failedbecause the original

cause rats had not beeneliminated.

! The rats eat the eggsand the nestlings of thegeese

State Symbols USA


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Pere David

s deer success or failure?

! Pere Davids deer was anative species of China

! In 1865 18 were takeninto zoologicalcollections

! Meanwhile it becameextinct in the wild

! By 1981 there were 994individuals scatteredthrough zoologicalcollections America Zoo


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Ex situconservation

! Captive breeding of endangered species isa last resort

! These species have already reached the

point where their populations would notrecover in the wild

! It works well for species that are easilybred in captivitybut more specialised

animals are difficult to keep (aye aye)! Isolated in captivity they do not evolve

with their environment


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Zoos: The land of the living dead?! They have a very small gene pool in which to mix

their genes! Inbreedingis a serious problem! Zoos and parks try to solve this by exchanging

specimensor by artificial insemination where itis possible!In vitrofertilisationand fostering by a closely

related species has even been tried(Indian Guar large species of cattle - cloned)

!

Even if it is possible to restore a population incaptivity the natural habitat may havedisappearedin the wild

! Species that rely on this much help are oftenconsidered to be the living dead


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Botanical gardens

! Botanical gardens show the same problems ascaptive breeding of animals

! Originally the role of botanical gardens waseconomic, pharmaceutical and aesthetic

! There range of species collected was limited

! The distribution of botanical gardens reflects thedistribution of colonial powers

!

Most are found in Europe and North America! But plant diversity is greatest in the tropics


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Seed banks

! Seeds can be maintained for decades or evencenturies if the conditions are controlled

!


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The doomsday vault - Spitzbergen

Bergen Nat Acc of ArtsBBC


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International agencies! CITES

(The Convention inInternational Trade inEndangered Species)

! Set up in 1988 to control and

encourage the sustainableexploitationof species

! The CITES conferencesdetermine the status of aspecies and whether or not its

exploitation requiresregulation

! Species are placed intodifferent appendicesdepending on their status

CITES


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CITES Appendices

! Appendix 1:Total ban on exploitation

! Appendix 2:Limited exploitation subjectto quotas

! Appendix 3:Species requiring protectionin certain states only

! Species are reassessed every 2 years


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WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature

formerly World Wildlife Fund)

! Set up in 1961 as a non-governmentalorganisation

!

Raises fundsforconservation! Lobbies parliamentsfor

conservation! Runs education

programmes! Provides adviceto

government conservationagencies

! Raises awarenesson

conservation issues WWF

natsc1 - conservation

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