Conservation

What are the values of What are the values of wildlifewildlife

• Plants and animals that have not Plants and animals that have not been domesticated are called been domesticated are called wildlife.wildlife.– Domestication is being under control of Domestication is being under control of

humans.humans.

• There are five basic values of wildlifeThere are five basic values of wildlife

Five Basic Values of WildlifeFive Basic Values of Wildlife

• Aesthetic value—the pleasure of Aesthetic value—the pleasure of enjoying wildlife’s beauty.enjoying wildlife’s beauty.

• Scientific value—studying and research Scientific value—studying and research of wildlife for their use in medications, of wildlife for their use in medications, integrated pest management, etc…integrated pest management, etc…

• Ecological Value—the interaction of Ecological Value—the interaction of wildlife in naturewildlife in nature

Five Basic Values of WildlifeFive Basic Values of Wildlife

• Commercial—using wildlife to earn Commercial—using wildlife to earn moneymoney

• Game Value—the enjoyment value Game Value—the enjoyment value gained through hunting and fishinggained through hunting and fishing

In situ Ex situ

In situ:• Conservation of species in their natural

habitat• E.g. natural parks, nature reservesEx situ:• Conserving species in isolation of their

natural habitat• E.g. zoos, botanical gardens, seed

banks© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

In situ conservation Setting up wild life reserves is not just a matter of building a fence around an area and letting it grow “wild”

Without grazing animals heathlands which contain a number of rare species will revert to woodland

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Nature reserves and national parks

• First the area that is suitable for the creation of a reserve has to be identified and boundaries set.

• This requires surveys to collect data on key species

• Property may have to be seized from owners

• A legal framework may need to be set up to control human activities in the area and in it’s immediate surroundings

• Policing the area may also be necessary© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Cairngorms National Park

Nature reserves and national parks

• If part of the area has been degraded due to bad land use it may need restoring

• Alien species that have penetrated the area may need excluding or eliminating

• Constant management will be needed to maintain the habitat of the species being conserved

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

• This may mean stopping natural succession (process of ecosystems changing and developing over time).

The advantages of in situ conservation

• The species will have all the resources that it is adapted to

• The species will continue to evolve in their environment

• The species have more space

• Bigger breeding populations can be kept

• It is cheaper to keep an organism in its natural habitat

Wordpress.com

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

However there are problems

• It is difficult to control illegal exploitation (e.g. poaching)

• The environment may need restoring and alien species are difficult to control

Sciencemuseum.org

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Ex situ conservation

• Captive breeding of endangered species is a last resort

• These species have already reached the point where their populations would not recover in the wild

• It works well for species that are easily bred in captivity but more specialised animals are difficult to keep (aye aye)

• Isolated in captivity they do not evolve with their environment

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Ex situ conservation Captive breeding

• The Hawaiian goose was practically extinct in the wild

• 12 birds were taken into captivity

• A population of 9000 was released back into the wild

• The experiment failed because the original cause rats had not been eliminated.

• The rats eat the eggs and the nestlings of the geese

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

State Symbols USA

Pere David’s deer success or failure?

• Pere David’s deer was a native species of China

• In 1865 18 were taken into zoological collections

• Meanwhile it became extinct in the wild

• By 1981 there were 994 individuals scattered through zoological collections

America Zoo

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

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

their genes• Inbreeding is a serious problem• Zoos and parks try to solve this by exchanging

specimens or by artificial insemination where it is possible

• In vitro fertilisation and 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 in captivity the natural habitat may have disappeared in the wild

• Species that rely on this much help are often considered to be “the living dead”

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Botanical gardens

• Botanical gardens show the same problems as captive breeding of animals

• Originally the role of botanical gardens was economic, pharmaceutical and aesthetic

• The range of species collected was limited• The plant distribution in botanical gardens

reflects the distribution of colonial powers• Most are found in Europe and North America• But plant diversity is greatest in the tropics

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Seed banks• Seeds can be maintained for decades or even

centuries if the conditions are controlled• <5% humidity and –20°C• Not all species are suited to this treatment• Seeds need to be regularly germinated to renew

stock or the seeds will eventually loose their viability

• Seed banks are at risk from power failure, natural disasters and war

• Duplicate stocks can be maintained• Seeds kept in seed banks do not evolve with

changes in the environment

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

The doomsday vault - Spitzbergen

Bergen Nat Acc of ArtsBBC

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature formerly World Wildlife

Fund)

• Set up in 1961 as a non-governmental organisation

• Raises funds for conservation

• Lobbies parliaments for conservation

• Runs education programmes

• Provides advice to government conservation agencies

• Raises awareness on conservation issues WWF

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

Some of Scotland's endangered species

4. FRESHWATER PEARL MUSSEL: Provided parts of the Scottish and British Crown jewels, and were once found in almost every river in Scotland. Numbers have declined to just 61 breeding sites because of pollution and illegal fishing.

1. GREAT YELLOW BUMBLE BEE: Once common across Britain, this species is now restricted to the flower-rich, extensively-grazed grasslands of the far west and north of Scotland. This type of grassland has largely disappeared elsewhere as farming has become more intensive.

2. RED SQUIRREL: An estimated 75 per cent of Britain’s remaining 160,000 red squirrels are in Scotland, but they are increasingly under threat from the more aggressive grey. Greys also carry a virus, harmless to them, but fatal to red squirrels: nine cases of this have been found in Scotland.

3. WATER VOLE: The water vole has suffered one of the most dramatic population declines of any Scottish mammal, mainly because it is an easy prey for American mink, although pollution and habitat loss – often caused by drainage schemes – are also factors.

8. CAPERCAILLIE: Scotland’s largest game bird, whose numbers have fallen significantly from about 20,000 to 1,900 in the past 30 years. Scant breeding success, deer-fence strikes and poor-quality habitat are given as reasons. A GBP 5 million project began in 2002 to treble numbers by 2010.

5. SCOTTISH WILDCAT: Once common, now restricted to northern Scotland. Population unconfirmed, but estimated at 3,500. Under threat from disease and hybridisation with feral/domestic cats. Action is needed before only genetic testing could distinguish wild from domestic.

6. CORN BUNTING: Increasingly rare in Scotland, restricted to a few small areas in the east of the country and the Western Isles. SNH say that the decline in other areas could be partly, but not entirely, owing to the increase in autumn-sown cereals and reduction of winter stubble.

7. BLACK GROUSE: Almost all the UK population breeds in Scotland, but the most recent survey in 2004 indicates that this bird is still in steep decline because of loss of habitat, absence of predator control, deer fencing and what SNH call “inappropriate management”.

11. WOOLLY WILLOW: Rarest of mountain willows, now found only in a few inaccessible locations. Scrub with willows like this is an important above-the-treeline feature in mountain systems, but has been almost eliminated in Britain by grazing.

9. WHITE TAILED EAGLE: These birds were extinct in Scotland, but are now a tourist attraction in areas such as Mull and the west coast, following a reintroduction programme from 1975 to 1985, when 82 young birds were brought from Norway and released on Rum. Once widespread throughout north and west Britain, with at least 100 nests occupied in the early-19th century, shooting and poisoning wiped them out. The last pair was shot in Skye in 1916; the last surviving bird was killed in Shetland two years later.

10. VENDACE: The rarest freshwater fish in the UK, it became extinct in Scotland more than 40 years ago. But two lochs were re- stocked, apparently successfully, from Cumbria in the 1990s. However, further assessment is needed and nutrient enrichment of freshwater is a major threat.

15. SMALL COW-WHEAT: A small, yellow-flowered annual that grows from seed each year. Once found on more than 200 sites in Britain and Ireland, now restricted to only 22 – of which 19 are in Scotland. Tree planting, grazing and fertiliser use are thought to be responsible for the decline

12. LESSER BUTTERFLY ORCHID: Still found over a wide range of grassland and moorland habitats, but since 1964 it has disappeared from one third of Scottish areas surveyed, with more intensive upland grazing and more intensive lowland farming given as the main reasons.

13. CORNCRAKES: were on the brink of extinction in Scotland a decade ago, but 1,100 were recorded last year, the highest number in 27 years of monitoring, thanks to the combined efforts of the RSPB, SNH

14. EUROPEAN BEAVER: Not so much conservation on the schedule here, more re-introduction for a species that became extinct in Scotland four centuries ago. Seen as a valuable addition because it creates wildlife habitats such as coppiced woodland, dead wood, ponds and wetlands.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth and 2010 was declared the International Year of Biodiversity.

Your class has been asked to decide where £100,000 of Scottish Government funds should be used to preserve Biodiversity.

You have a choice of 4 organisms. Your task is, to work in a group, to decide which of the 4 organisms will get the funding.

You have to make and give a presentation of your case to your class.

2010 year of Biodiversity

• http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/

• http://www.biodiversityislife.net/

• http://www.arkive.org/

• http://www.unep.org/iyb/

Potato

• http://www.potato2008.org/en/potato/biodiversity.html (this is brilliant and leads you to almost everything else)

• http://www.eu-sol.net/public/biodiversity/potatoes

• http://animal.discovery.com/tv/animal-armageddon/top-10/modern-mass-extinction/loss-of-biodiversity.html

The Eastern or Mountain Bongo

• http://www.mountainbongo.org/

• http://www.tusk.org/mountain-bongo-surveillance-project.asp

• http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals/individuals/EasternBongo.html

• http://mountainbongo.org/reports/J.Veasey.pdf

Scottish wildcat

http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk/

http://www.highlandtiger.com/

http://www.ypte.org.uk/animal/cat-wild-/61

Bananas

http://www.bananalink.org.uk/

http://bananas.bioversityinternational.org/index.php

http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/technology.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9152-a-future-with-no-bananas.html

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