Conservation importance - The living environment

Adhesion

The tendency of molecules to stick together. Biomimetic designs based on gecko lizard toe pads and lotus leaves have been used to make high- and low adhesion surfaces for industry and construction.

Aspirin

A painkiller originally extracted from willow bark and now manufactured synthetically.

AZT

An anti-retroviral drug used to treat HIV that was originally isolated from a tropical marine sponge

Biogeochemical cycle

A series of linked processes which use and re-use elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and sulfur, as they move between biotic and abiotic reservoirs. Many key processes are driven by living organisms.

Biomimetics

The study of living organisms so the knowledge gained can be applied to engineering or other technological developments.

Centre of diversity

A geographical region with a high plant biodiversity, especially of the wild relatives of crop species.

Crop wild relatives (CWRs)

These are wild plant varieties or species that are closely related to domesticated crops. They may contain genetic characteristics that can be used in crop breeding programmes.

Ecosystem services

How living organisms influence the conditions on Earth in a way that is beneficial to humans e.g. changing the composition of the atmosphere, influencing the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, maintaining soils and acting as pollinators.

Genetic resources

Using organisms as a resource of genetic characteristics that can be used in breeding programmes to improve crop varieties e.g. disease resistance, salt tolerance, drought resistance etc.

Pest control species

Using living organisms, usually predators or pathogens to control pest species in agriculture.

Transpiration

The loss of water vapour from the leaves of plants. This process is crucial in maintaining the hydrological cycle. This process removes water moving down through the soil by percolation therefore reducing leeching and surface run-off

Vavilov Centre

An area of the world, identified by the Russian zoologist Nikolai Vavilov, where crop plants were first domesticated and where wild varieties are still found

Interspecies relationships

All species rely on others as a source of energy or to provide ecological services such as pollination, seed dispersal, and habitat provision.

Gene pool

The total number of different alleles present in the population of a species. Large gene pools indicate high genetic diversity in healthy populations. Small gene pools may indicate populations that have crashed and might be in danger of extinction.

Genetic diversity

Genetic diversity is a measure of how large the gene pool of a species is. Low genetic diversity can be the result of inbreeding of small wild populations, or deliberate breeding programmes used to produce crop varieties. Low genetic diversity is often linked to increased risk of extinction as species are less able to adapt to environmental change.

Pollination

Part of sexual reproduction in plants. Pollen is dispersed from flower to flower ensuring fertilization and seed production. Can be carried out by wind, birds and animals. Plants have evolved to attract particular pollinators, and if they become rare then sexual reproduction might not occur reducing genetic diversity.

Seed dispersal

Part of sexual reproduction in plants. Seeds are dispersed away from the parent plant in order to reduce competition for resources. It occurs by wind, birds, or animals and is a key process in colonisation and succession in habitats.