Reasons for Conservation: Extended
- There are numerous reasons why conservation programmes are important
- Maintaining or increasing biodiversity
- Which allows ecosystems to remain stable
- Reducing extinction
- Helps to retain iconic species and maintain biodiversity
- Protecting vulnerable ecosystems which would have been quickly lost to human activity
- Maintaining ecosystem functions
- Nutrient cycling eg. carbon cycling to hold back climate change
- Resource provision, such as
- Food - making sure we have enough for the population
- Drugs - having access to plants for plant-based remedies
- Fuel - for improtant activities such as cooking
- Genes - so the gene pool remains wide and variety exists in all species
- Maintaining or increasing biodiversity
Conservation Techniques: Extended
- Certain conservation techniques can be used to maintain biodiversity
- Examples include
- Artificial insemination (AI) in captive breeding programmes
- This allows large numbers of offspring to be produced without the need for conventional sexual intercourse between males and females
- In vitro fertilisation (IVF) in captive breeding programmes
- This allows gametes with known alleles to be used in ensuring the next generation remains biodiverse
- Artificial insemination (AI) in captive breeding programmes
Risks to a species
- If its population size decreases, a species will experience reduced genetic variation
- This renders the species more susceptible to environmental change
- The species is less resilient and has a greater risk of extinction
