A4.2 - Conservation of Biodiversity

What is biodiversity?

The variety of life (ecosystem, species, genetic) that exists in a specific area

Why is biodiversity important?

The more biodiverse an ecosystem is, the more stable and resistant to change it is, which is better for its resilience

What is extinction?

It is when the species of an animal no longer exists. This can be due to a range of factors such as habitat degradation, natural disaster, disease or predation

What are the two types of extinction?

Phyletic - when a species over time evolves into something else

Abrupt - no descendants are left over and something sudden occurs which causes the species to be extinct

What is mass extinction?

When a high number of species dies out in a short period of time

What is anthropogenic extinction?

Extinction of species which have been caused by human activities, such as hunting, habitat destruction, global warming

What mainly causes ecosystem loss?

Anthropogenic factors, which can lead to ecosystem loss, and thus reduced biodiversity. These include agriculture, fishing, infrastructure, mining, tourism/economic, exploitation, climate change etc.

Name examples of ecosystem loss due to anthropogenic factors

• The loss of forest ecosystem due to deforestation

• Coral bleaching in reefs, where corals are under stress due to pollution and global warming, which causes corals to reject the colourful algae and become transparent, revealing their white skeleton. After a while, corals begin to die

How can evidence for a biodiversity crisis be gathered?

Monitoring the population size of a species (is it growing? Declining?)

Monitoring the range and diversity of species in an ecosystem

Finding the extent of degradation in an ecosystem

Finding the area occupied by an ecosystem

Finding the number of threatened species, who are on the brink of becoming extinct

What is In situ and Ex situ conservation of biodiversity?

In situ - conserving biodiversity within their natural habitat

Ex situ - conserving biodiversity outside their natural habitat (in a zoo or laboratory)

What is the EDGE of existence programme?

Because the biodiversity crisis is so large, EDGE targets their conservation efforts to the species that need it most, by identifying which are in most need of aid and are most threatened.