Conservation Biology Chapter 8

Flashcards on Establishing New Populations and Ex Situ Conservation strategies

Conservation Translocations

Transport and release of existing captive-bred or wild-collected individuals.

Reintroduction

Releasing captive-bred or wild-collected individuals at an ecologically suitable site within their historical range where the species no longer occurs.

Reinforcement

Releasing individuals to an existing population to increase its size and/or gene pool to adjust age or sex structures.

Introduction (Assisted Colonization)

Moving captive-bred or wild-collected animals or plants to areas suitable for the species outside their historical range.

Soft Release

A release method that requests special care and assistance immediately after release to increase survival prospects, typically used for captive-bred animals.

Hard Release

A release method that is a release without assistance such as food supplementation, typically used for wild-caught animals.

Head-Starting

A special method where animals are raised in captivity during their vulnerable young stages and then released into the wild, as seen for young sea turtles.

Ex Situ Conservation

Maintaining individuals in artificial conditions under human supervision to prevent species from going extinct.

In Situ Conservation

The preservation of biological communities and populations

Genome Resource Banking (GRB)

A method that zoos use to to overcome breeding issues and promote successful reproduction of genetically appropriate mates.

Arboretum

A specialized botanical garden focusing on trees and other woody plants.

Seed Banks

Provide a crucial backup to their Botanical gardens to living collections.

De-extinction/Revival

The process of bringing an extinct species back.

Back-breeding

Relatives of extinct species may be hybridized or selected for specific traits to bring back extinct species.

Cloning

The nucleus of an intact cell from an extinct species is taken and inserted into an egg of a living, close relative to bring back extinct species.

Genomic Reconstruction

Using a molecular tool CRISPR. It is theoretically possible to take genes from an extinct species and insert them into the genome of a living relative to bring back extinct species.

PlantSearch database

A database by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) to support collecting activity and identification of important species that are underrepresented or absent from collections of living plants.