Ecology: Objective 4

Objectives
• Discuss how ecosystems function as dynamic systems
• Define the terms competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism,
and parasitism.
• Explain the concept of biodiversity
• Those intrinsic ecological functions through which
an ecosystem becomes self-regulating, self-sustaining, and capable
of recovery from external forces (for example, amaging storm events).
• These intrinsic processes may cause continual change in biotic
composition and structure at specific localities.
• Collectively, these changes represent internal flux, rather than
substantive and permanent alteration of the ecosystem regionally.
• Competition: A symbiotic relationship between or among living things that
compete for a limited resources, such as food, space, shelter, mate, ecological
status
• Predation: A form of symbiotic relationship between two organisms of
unlike species in which one of them acts as predator that captures and feeds on
the other organism that serves as the prey.
• Mutualism: is a form of symbiosis that is characterized by both species
benefiting from the association.
•
• Commensalism: A form of symbiosis between two organisms of
different species in which one of them benefits from the association
whereas the other is largely unaffected or not significantly harmed or
benefiting from the relationship.
• Parasitism: A form of symbiosis in which
one organism (called parasite) benefits at the expense of
another organism usually of different species (called host);
the association may also lead to the injury of the host
Biodiversity is also known as biological diversity.
Biodiversity is the variety of all species on our planet.
• Biodiversity is the sum of all the different species of animals, plants,
fungi and microbial organisms living on Earth and the variety of
habitats in which they live.
• Scientists estimate that more than 10 million different species inhabit
Earth.
• Biodiversity underlies everything from food production to medical
research.
• Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals on a daily
basis.
• Many people around the world still depend on wild species for some
or all of their food, shelter and clothing.
• All our domesticated plants and animals came from wild living
ancestral species.
• In addition, almost 40 percent of the pharmaceuticals used in the
United States either are based on or are synthesized from natural
compounds found in plants, animals or microorganisms.
• The array of living organisms found in a particular environment
combined with the physical and environmental factors that affect
them is an ecosystem.
• Healthy ecosystems are vital to life; they regulate many of the
chemical and climatic systems that make available clean air, clean
water and plentiful oxygen.
• Forests, for example, regulate the amount of carbon dioxide in the air,
produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis and control rainfall
and soil erosion.
• Ecosystems, in turn, depend on the continued health and vitality of
the individual organisms that compose them.
• Removing just one species from an ecosystem can prevent the
ecosystem from operating optimally.
• Perhaps the greatest value of biodiversity is yet unknown.
• Scientists have discovered and named only 1.75 million species —
fewer than 20 percent of those estimated to exist.
• Of those identified, only a fraction has been examined for potential
medicinal, agricultural or industrial value.
• Much of Earth’s great biodiversity rapidly is disappearing, even before
we know what is missing.
• Most biologists agree that life on Earth now is faced with the most
severe extinction episode since the event that drove the dinosaurs to
extinction 65 million years ago.
• Species of plants, animals, fungi and microscopic organisms such as
bacteria are being lost at alarming rates.
• Because of this, scientists around the world are focusing their
research on cataloging and studying global biodiversity in an effort to
better understand it and slow the rate of loss.
• As a result, the majority of current biodiversity research concentrates
on preserving biodiversity and assessing environmental quality and
change.
BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY
• Biodiversity plays an important role in the way ecosystems function
and in the services they provide.
• The following is a list of some of the benefits, or services, of
biodiversity:
• Provisioning services such as food, clean water, timber, fiber and genetic
resources
• Regulating services such as climate, floods, disease, water quality and
pollination
• Cultural services such as recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits
• Supporting services such as soil formation and nutrient cycling
TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
• Biodiversity includes three main types:
• diversity within species (genetic diversity),
• between species (species diversity)
• ecosystems (ecosystem diversity).
Genetic Diversity
• Every species on Earth is related to every other species through
genetic connections.
• The more closely related any two species are, the more genetic
information they will share, and the more similar they will appear.
• An organism’s closest relatives are members of its own species, or
organisms with which it has the potential to mate and produce
offspring.
• Members of a species share genes, the bits of biochemical information
that determine, in part, how the animals look, behave and live.
• One eastern gray squirrel, for example, shares the vast majority of its
genes with other eastern gray squirrels, whether they live in the same
area or are separated by thousands of miles.
• Members of a species also share complex mating behaviors that
enable them to recognize each other as potential mates.
• For virtually every species there is a similar and closely related species
in an adjacent habitat.
• Western, instead of eastern, gray squirrels are found west of the
Rocky Mountains.
• Although western gray squirrels are more similar to than different
from their eastern counterparts, these animals do not share a
common mating behavior with eastern gray squirrels.
• Even when brought into close proximity, eastern and western gray
squirrels do not mate — so they constitute two distinct species.
• Each species also has other, more remotely related species with which
it shares a more general set of characteristics.
• Gray squirrels, chipmunks, marmots and prairie dogs all belong to the
squirrel family because they share a number of features, such as
tooth number and shape and details of skull and muscle anatomy.
• All of these animals are rodents, a large group of more distantly related
animals who share similar, chisel-like incisor teeth that grow continuously.
• All rodents are related to a broader group, mammals.
• Mammals have hair, raise their young on milk and have three bones in the
middle ear.
• All mammals, in turn, are more distantly related to other animals with
backbones, or vertebrates.
• All these organisms are animals but share a common cell structure
with plants, fungi and some microbes.
• Finally, all living organisms share a common molecule, ribonucleic acid
(RNA), and most also have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
• While all species have descended from a single, common ancestor,
species diverge and develop their own peculiar attributes with time,
thus making their own contribution to biodiversity.
Species Diversity
• Species diversity is the variety of species within a habitat or a region.
• Species are the basic units of biological classification and thus the normal
measure of biological diversity.
• Species richness is the term that describes the number of different species
in a given area.
• The world total is estimated at five to 10 million species, though only 1.75
million have been named scientifically so far.
• Some habitats, such as rainforests and coral reefs, have many species.
• For example, tropical North and South America has about 85,000
flowering plant species, tropical and subtropical Asia has more than
50,000 and tropical and subtropical Africa has about 35,000.
• By contrast, all of Europe has 11,300 vascular plants.
• Yet other areas, such as salt flats or a polluted stream, have fewer
species.
• Species are grouped together into families according to shared
characteristics.
Ecological Diversity
• Ecological diversity is the intricate network of different species present in
local
ecosystems and the dynamic interplay between them.
• An ecosystem consists of organisms from many different species living together in
a region and their connections through the flow of energy, nutrients and matter.
• Those connections occur as the organisms of different species interact with one
another.
• The ultimate source of energy in almost every ecosystem is the sun.
• The sun’s radiant energy is converted to chemical energy by plants.
• That energy flows through the systems when animals eat the plants
and then are eaten, in turn, by other animals.
• Fungi derive energy by decomposing organisms, which releases
nutrients back into the soil.
• Thus, an ecosystem is a collection of living components (microbes,
plants, animals and fungi) and non-living components (climate and
chemicals) that are connected by energy flow.
• Measuring ecological diversity is difficult because each of Earth’s
ecosystems merges into the ecosystems around it.
• It is often said that variety is a spice of life.
• No intelligent investor confines his money to one or two shares.
• No one can sit stably and comfortably on a chair with two legs, noone
remains fully healthy on a restricted diet.
• These facts are obvious, but the larger analogy that a varied base is
vital for human existence fails to achieve recognition.
• The variety of living things around us is one of the greatest wonders
of life on earth.
• This is the reason why our ancestors were able to survive without
industries, without the latest technologies, without the guns, without
the bulldozers and so forth.
• This clearly shows that the human race has been dependent on the
natural world ever since its existence on this planet.
• Most of our country’s greatest wealth is contained in natural forests,
plains, mountains, wetlands and marine habitats.
• These biological resources are the physical manifestation of the
globe’s biological diversity, which simply stated is the variety and
variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in
which they occur.
• Effective systems of management can ensure that biological resources
not only survive, but in fact increase while they are being used, thus
providing the foundation for sustainable development and for stable
national economies.
• But instead of conserving the rich resources of forest, wetland, and
sea, current processes of development in the country are depleting
many biological resources at such a rate that they are rendered
essentially non-renewable.
• Conservation of living natural resources - plants, animals and microorganisms,
and the non-living elements of the environment on which
they depend - is crucial for sustainable development.
• Species and their genetic materials promise to play an expanding role
in development, and a powerful economic rationale is emerging to
bolster the ethical, aesthetic, and scientific cases for preserving them.
• The genetic variability and germ-plasm material of species make
contributions to agriculture, medicine, and industry worth many billion
of dollars per year.
• If nations can ensure the survival of species, the world can look forward
to new drugs and medicines, and new raw material for industry.
• Equally important are the vital life processes carried out by nature,
including stabilization of climate, protection of watersheds and soil,
preservation of nurseries and breeding grounds, and so on.
• Conserving these processes cannot be divorced from conserving the
individual species within natural ecosystems.
• Species and natural ecosystems make many important contributions to
human welfare.
• Yet these very important resources are seldom being used in ways that
will be able to meet the growing pressures of future high demands for
both goods and services that depend upon these natural resources.
• Many ecosystems that are rich biologically and promising in material
benefits are severely threatened.
• Vast stocks of biological diversity are in danger of disappearing just as
science is learning how to exploit genetic variability through the
advances of genetic engineering
Direct values
• Biological resources, therefore, are valuable.
• There are direct and indirect values of these resources.
• The direct values include the consumptive use and productive use
values.
• The consumptive use value is the value placed on nature’s products
that are consumed directly, without passing through a market.
• When direct consumption involves recreation, as in sport fishing and
game viewing, the consumptive use value is the whole recreational
experience.
• The productive use value, on the other hand, refers to products which
are commercially harvested or used.
• Productive use of resources such as timber, fish, medicinal plants,
honey, construction materials, mushrooms, fruits and so forth have a
major impact on the national economy.
Indirect values
• Indirect values, which deal primarily with the functions of ecosystems,
are not normally reflected in national economic systems but they far
outweigh direct values.
• These values tend to reflect the value of biological diversity to society
at large rather than to individuals or corporate entities.
• Direct values often derive from indirect values, because plants and
animals are supported by the services provided by their environments.
• Species without consumptive or productive use may play a very
important role in the ecosystem, supporting species that are valued
for their consumptive and productive use.
• For example high densities of birds in a certain area may limit the
abundance of pests which would otherwise destroy crops; the birds
themselves require a natural forest for nesting.
• The indirect values include non-consumptive use value, option value and
existence value.
• The non-consumptive use value are those which deal with nature’s functions
and services.
• These include photosynthetic fixation of solar energy and thereby providing
the support system for other species, maintaining water cycles, regulating
climate, production and protection of soil, absorption and breakdown of
pollutants, recreational, easthetic, socio-cultural , scientific, educational,
spiritual , and historical values of natural environments.
• The recreational value is very significant in tourism.
• People from all parts of the world want to experience a different and
variety of animals and plants and therefore for the tourism sector to
improve it is necessary that our biological diversity is maintained or
improved.
• Since the future is uncertain and extinction is forever, society should
prepare for unpredictable events, both biological and socio-economic.
• The best preparation in the context of wild life use is to have a safety
net of diversity- maintaining as many gene pools as possible especially
within the species that are economically significant or are likely to be.
• Option value, therefore is a means of assigning a value to risk aversion
and in the face of uncertainty.
• Many people also attach value to the existence of a species or habitat
that they have no intention of ever visiting or using; they might hope
that their descendants (or future generations in general) may derive
some benefit from the existence of these species, or may just find
satisfaction that the mountains hold water, plants and animals, the
rivers hold fish and the soil supports plant growth.
• As a basis for applying economic incentives and calculating marginal
opportunity costs , it is necessary to estimate the economic
contribution that biological resources make to the national economy.
• This requires:
• ensuring that national accounting system makes explicit the tradeoffs and
value judgements regarding impacts on biological resources that may not be
measured in monetary terms.;
• conducting research on methodologies for assessing the cross-sectoral
impacts- positive and negative- of resource utilization;
• collection of information on the physical properties of resources in specific
environments and for specific uses;
• developing methodologies for assigning values to non-marketed biological
resources, appropriate to the needs of the country and;
• estimating the economic productivity of various ecosystems with various
types of inputs.
• It is the government’s responsibility to consider the concept of
marginal opportunity cost in development planning, as a means of
assessing the true costs of allowing the depletion of biological
resources to continue and seeking alternative paths toward
sustainable development.
• The sustainable levels of biological resources, including fish, timber,
wildlife, medicinal plants, and other goods and services, should be
estimated and demands upon benefits planned within those limits.
• This should be reflected in the prices of forest products and other
biological resources.
• The review and formulation of all national policies which have a direct or
indirect bearing upon biological resources must therefore:
• estimate the relevant benefits which biological resources can produce;
• treat biological resources as capital resources and invest accordingly in
preventing their depletion.
• ensure that the objectives of sustainable utilization are met; and
• address the basic needs of the local people who depend on biological resources
for their continued prosperity.
• Living things do not exist independently of each other, or the nonliving
environment.
• They depend on one another n a variety of ways; think , for example ,
of a food chain.
• Together with the non-living parts of our environment (e.g. soil,
water, air), living things form essential life-support systems .
• The pool of life is therefore much more than the sum of its parts.
• Every species has the right to exist, and our role as custodians of the
planet is to ensure their survival.
• About 4% of the total area of Swaziland is protected and this is below
the internationally recommended minimum of 10%.
• There is therefore a need for more protected areas.
• The value of biodiversity is the value of everything there is. It would,
therefore, be easy to say that the value of biological diversity is the
summed value of all the GNPs of all the countries from the past the
future.
• We know that, because our very lives and our economies have been
and still are dependent on biological diversity.
• It is indisputable that it is not only the environmentalist, the scientist,
the game ranger, or the nature reserve owner who has the
responsibility of conserving biological diversity but it is every living
human being.
Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Stability
• Climate change and other human-driven (anthropogenic)
environmental changes will continue to cause biodiversity loss in the
coming decades (Sala et al. 2000), in addition to the high rates of
species extinctions already occurring worldwide (Stork 2010).
• Biodiversity is a term that can be used to describe biological diversity
at a variety of different scales, but in this context we will focus on the
description of species diversity.
• Species play essential roles in ecosystems, so local and global species
losses could threaten the stability of the ecosystem services on which
humans depend (McCann 2000).
• For example, plant species harness the energy of the sun to fix carbon
through photosynthesis, and this essential biological process provides
the base of the food chain for myriad animal consumers.
• At the ecosystem level, the total growth of all plant species is termed
primary production, and — as we'll see in this article — communities
composed of different numbers and combinations of plant species
can have very different rates of primary production.
• This fundamental metric of ecosystem function has relevance for
global food supply and for rates of climate change because primary
production reflects the rate at which carbon dioxide (a greenhouse
gas) is removed from the atmosphere.
• There is currently great concern about the stability of both natural
and human-managed ecosystems, particularly given the myriad global
changes already occurring.
• Stability can be defined in several ways, but the most intuitive
definition of a stable system is one having low variability (i.e., little
deviation from its average state) despite shifting environmental
conditions.
• This is often termed the resistance of a system.
• Resilience is a somewhat different aspect of stability indicating the
ability of an ecosystem to return to its original state following a
disturbance or other perturbation.
Species Identity, Functional
traits, and Resource-Use
• Species diversity has two primary components:
• species richness (the number of species in a local community)
• species composition (the identity of the species present in a community).

• While most research on the relationship between ecosystem diversity

and stability has focused on species richness, it is variation in species
composition that provides the mechanistic basis to explain the
relationship between species richness and ecosystem functioning.
• Species differ from one another in their resource use, environmental
tolerances, and interactions with other species, such that species
composition has a major influence on ecosystem functioning and
stability.
• traits, and species that share similar suites of traits are often
categorized together into functional groups.
• The traits that characterize the ecological function of a species are
termed functional.
• When species from different functional groups occur together, they
can exhibit complementary resource-use, meaning that they use
different resources or use the same resources at different times.
• For example, two animal predators may consume different prey items, so
they are less likely to compete with one another, allowing higher total
biomass of predators in the system.
• In the case of plants, all species may utilize the same suite of resources
(space, light, water, soil nutrients, etc.) but at different times during the
growing season — for example, early- and late-season grasses in prairies.
Increasing species diversity can influence ecosystem functions — such as
productivity — by increasing the likelihood that species will use
complementary resources and can also increase the likelihood that a
particularly productive or efficient species is present in the community.
• For example, high plant diversity can lead to increased ecosystem
productivity by more completely, and/or efficiently, exploiting soil
resources (e.g., nutrients, water).
• While primary production is the ecosystem function most referred to
in this article, other ecosystem functions, such as decomposition and
nutrient turnover, are also influenced by species diversity and
particular species traits.
Diversity-Stability Theory
• Theoretical models suggest that there could be multiple relationships
between diversity and stability, depending on how we define stability
(reviewed by Ives & Carpenter 2007).
• Stability can be defined at the ecosystem level — for example, a
rancher might be interested in the ability of a grassland ecosystem to
maintain primary production for cattle forage across several years
that may vary in their average temperature and precipitation.
• Figure 1 shows how having multiple species present in a plant
community can stabilize ecosystem processes if species vary in their
responses to environmental fluctuations such that an increased
abundance of one species can compensate for the decreased
abundance of another.
• Biologically diverse communities are also more likely to contain species
that confer resilience to that ecosystem because as a community
accumulates species, there is a higher chance of any one of them having
traits that enable them to adapt to a changing environment.
• Such species could buffer the system against the loss of other species.
Scientists have proposed the insurance hypothesis to explain this
phenomenon (Yachi & Loreau 1999).
• In this situation, species identity — and particular species traits — are
the driving force stabilizing the system rather than species richness
per se (see Figure 2).
Figure 1: Conceptual diagram showing how increasing
diversity can stabilize ecosystem functioning
• In contrast, if stability is defined at the species level, then more
diverse assemblages can actually have lower species-level stability.
• This is because there is a limit to the number of individuals that can
be packed into a particular community, such that as the number of
species in the community goes up, the average population sizes of the
species in the community goes down.
• For example, in Figure 2, each of the simple communities can only
contain three individuals, so as the number of species in the
community goes up, the probability of having a large number of
individuals of any given species goes down.
• The smaller the population size of a particular species, the more likely
it is to go extinct locally, due to random — stochastic — fluctuations,
so at higher species richness levels there should be a greater risk of
local extinctions.
• Thus, if stability is defined in terms of maintaining specific populations
or species in a community, then increasing diversity in randomly
assembled communities should confer a greater chance of
destabilizing the system.
Figure 2: Conceptual model illustrating the
insurance hypothesis
• Simple communities are represented by a box; in this case, these
communities are so small that they can only contain 3 individuals. For
example, this could be the case for a small pocket of soil on a rocky
hillslope.
• There are 3 potential species that can colonize these communities —
blue, dark green, and light green — and for the sake of this example
let’s assume that the blue species has traits that allow it to survive
prolonged drought.
• Looking at all possible combinations of communities containing 1, 2 or
3 species, we see that, as the number of species goes up, the
probability of containing the blue species also goes up.
• Thus, if hillslopes in this region were to experience a prolonged
drought, the more diverse communities would be more likely to
maintain primary productivity, because of the increased probability of
having the blue species present.
Conservation
• The main questions
• Why are species becoming endangered?
• Why should we conserve species?
• How we can protect endangered species and maintain
diversity?
Why are species becoming endangered?
• Extinctions have always occurred for a variety of reasons.
• As the environment changes species will need to adapt or they
will become less fit and may disappear.
• The sabre tooth tiger has evolved and become extinct several
times independently of humans.
• The fossil record is rich in species that are long gone.
• However the rate of extinction has increased dramatically
in recent history.
• At least 784 recorded extinctions since 1500
• Other undiscovered species are likely to be disappearing
without ever being recorded
Population Growth
• Pollution (linked with climate change)
• Habitat destruction e.g. rainforests needed for land and resources

• Agriculture
• Farming. Introduction of monoculture, land clearance
• Hunting e.g. Over-fishing, English wolf(1486) hunted to stop it killing livestock

• Climate change
•
•
•
•

This is likely to be linked with human activity.

Causes loss of habitat
Changing environmental conditions eg water.
Spread of diseases to other regions.
Convention on Biological Diversity
• Rio Earth Summit (1992)
• Signed by over 150 world leaders with the aim of promoting
sustainable development.
• Their aims concentrate on cooperation between governments eg. IVF
breeding programmes . Sharing of seed banks
• Countries must try to develop ex situ and in situ conservation strategies.
• Environmental Impact Assessments must be carried out prior to major
developments
Why Preserve Biodiversity?
“The giant panda deserves to become extinct”

• What do you think about this statement?

Reasons for Conservation
• Economic
• Reducing soil depletion by monoculture

• Ecological
• Maintaining a genetic resource eg for medicinal uses

• Aesthetic
• Protecting landscapes/species that are admired
Conservation can be In situ or Ex
Situ
• What do these terms mean?
In Situ Strategies
• This aims to reduce the causes of extinction so that biodiversity is maintained.
• Laws to minimise activities that lead to problems. These can be difficult to
enforce.
• Designate protected areas.
•
•
•
•

National Parks e.g. Lake District

National Nature Reserves
Local Nature Reserves
SSSI

• These can be protected, managed, studied, repaired, but can be unpopular with
the people who live there.
• Suggest some advantages of in situ conservation as a means of
preserving biodiversity.
In Situ Conservation
• The Benefits

• A Healthy Natural Environment. (Balanced Ecosystem, Biologically diverse /

Biodiversity)
• Sustainable use of the Natural Environment. (Link to the Rio Earth Summit)
Reducing the causes of extinction.
• Leads to a more secure environmental future which can be enjoyed.
• Conservation in the natural environment which provides all species resource
requirements, and should take into account of the needs of the indigenous
people.
• Species are natural & well adapted to habitat & should feed and breed
successfully. No special provisions need to be made.
• Legislation is not always needed to establish Conservation Areas for the
prevention of unacceptable species or habitat loss.
Human Activity in Conservation Reserves –Conflicts
•

Historically reserve creation without consideration of the local people has

caused conflict for the following reasons
•

Protected Reserve animals ‘escaping’ to raid crops (e.g. Primates often raid farms
for maize, mangoes & sugar cane).

Continued hunting / poaching of protected animals for food, sport, research.

Illegal harvesting of timber & other plant products.

Tourists feeding protected animals, leaving litter, etc.

EX SITU CONSERVATION
• Conserving an endangered species by activities
undertaken outside its normal environment i.e. in
captive surroundings.
EXAMPLES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Rare breeds centres.

Zoological gardens.
Wildlife parks
Sperm banks
Cells in tissue culture.
Frozen embryos.
Crops in cultivation.
Botanic gardens.
Seed banks.
ANIMAL CONSERVATION / BREEDING
PROGRAMMES
Advantages

Disadvantages

• Prevents imminent extinction of

endangered species

Failure to breed

• Can increase the population size

quickly

Lack of space limits number of

individuals involved so this reduces
genetic diversity leading to less
variation

• Potential to repopulate areas by

reintroduction programmes
• Filter out genetic defects and poor
genes.
• Opportunity for research
• Possible to store gametes for the
future and use for IVF

Reintroduction programmes don't

always succeed because they fail to
adapt or may not be accepted into a
wild community
Repopulation
• It is possible to rebuild biodiversity through reintroductions.
• Examples of successfully recreated wildlife habitats;


UK reed beds -Bittern & Otter increases.

Conifer clearance- wildlife habitat recovery.

Grazing land reversion to traditional meadow grassland.

Phinda Reserve, South Africa, livestock clearance & natural fauna reintroduction;
(1990-1992;
1,000+ wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, other ungulates) (1992; 13 lions, 17 cheetah).
Yellowstone National Park- Wolves reintroduced (Deer eaten, willow shoots grow,
beaver make
dams, lakes form, improved irrigation, forests grew).
SPERM BANKS
• Modern techniques make the freezing of genetic material in sperm or eggs
possible.

• From The Times November 7, 2006:

Sperm bank to save rare breeds from extinction
• A plan to save 100 of Britain’s 130 native breeds of farm animal from extinction
was announced
yesterday.
• Sperm and egg banks are to be created to save cattle, sheep, horses, goats,
poultry and pigs from the
growing specialisation of farming in which high-yield breeds dominate the food
chain.
• A database will be established that will list every breed, the number of animals
and where they are kept.
• The move is not only about the historic importance of keeping traditional breeds
with their genetic
diversity, but also because of the enormous contribution these animals make to the
national economy.
Frozen Noah's Ark Singapore Zoological Gardens
• Some experts estimate that one animal species is wiped off the face of the Earth
every
hour.
• With the ravages of pollution, shrinking habitats and the ever-expanding human
population, the situation is likely to get worse.
• Zoos are turning to cryogenics in their efforts to stockpile genetic material and
preserve a Noah's Ark for future generations.
• Noah's Ark provides a bank of animal sperm and tissue samples of its captive
wildlife.
• Ultimate aim of cloning exotic animals.
• Provide a safety net against extinction (i.e. using more common species as
surrogate mothers to endangered ones). (E.g. with the common long-tailed
macaque, which would be implanted with the embryo of other highly-endangered
macaque species).
• Combat infertility in animals.
• Recreate animals which died prematurely.
• Techniques that have been used to impregnate Singapore zoo animals.
• Frozen sperm can be used in assisted reproduction techniques, such as artificial
insemination, in-vitro fertilisation and intro-cytoplasmic sperm injection
(ICSI).which is when a single sperm is fused with an egg, and the embryo is
implanted in the animal.
PLANT CONSERVATION / BREEDING
PROGRAMMES
• ADVANTAGES
• As part of their life cycle, most plants naturally have a dormant stage - the
seed.
• Seeds are produced in large numbers and can be collected from the wild without
disturbing the ecosystem
or damaging the wild population.
• Seeds can be stored and germinated in protected surroundings.
• Plants can often be bred asexually.
• Botanical gardens can increase individual numbers quickly, providing ample supply
for research.
• Captive-bred plants can be replanted in the wild.
PLANT CONSERVATION / BREEDING
PROGRAMMES
• DISADVANTAGES
• Any collection of wild seeds will cause some disturbance.
• Collected samples may not hold a representative selection of genetic diversity.
• Seeds collected from the same species from another area will be genetically
different and may not
succeed in a different area.
• Seeds stored for a length of time may not be viable.
• Plants bred asexually will be genetically identical - reducing genetic diversity
further.
• Conclusions from research on a small sample may not be valid for a whole species.
Seed Banks
• The Kew Millennium Seed Bank Project aims to store a representative sample of
seeds from every
known species of plant, including the rarest, most useful and most threatened
species.
• Seed banks contain seeds that can remain viable for many years.
• They are being stored but also being used to provide benefits to humanity:
• food and building materials for rural communities
• disease-resistant crops for agriculture
• habitat reclamation and repopulation
‘Norway’s ark’-seed vault
• Set up by the global crop diversity trust march 2008.
• Funded from norway.
• Nations across the globe are contributing seeds of local crops.
• Located in longyearbyen, spitsbergen, norway.
• Cold storage vault carved into rock beneath the arctic permafrost.
• Store up to 3 million seeds.
‘Norway’s ark’-seeds stored
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Alfalfa
Barley
Bean
Beet
Bluegrass
Brassica
Carrot
Chickpea
Clover
Lentil
Milk vetch
Oat
Orchard grass
Pea
Rice
Ryegrass
Sainfoin
Sweet corn
Sunflower
Wheat
Interesting watch
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WXIzkw20E