Reasons for Conservation (Cambridge O Level Biology)

• There are numerous reasons why conservation programmes are important
  • Maintaining or increasing biodiversity
    • Which allows ecosystems to remain stable
  • Reducing extinction
    • Helps to retain iconic species and maintain biodiversity
  • Protecting vulnerable ecosystems which would have been quickly lost to human activity
  • Maintaining ecosystem functions
    • Nutrient cycling eg. carbon cycling to hold back climate change
    • Resource provision, such as
      • Food - making sure we have enough for the population
      • Drugs - having access to plants for plant-based remedies
      • Fuel - for important activities such as cooking
      • Genes - so the gene pool remains wide and variety exists in all species

• Certain conservation techniques can be used to maintain biodiversity
• Examples include
  • Artificial insemination (AI) in captive breeding programmes
    • This allows large numbers of offspring to be produced without the need for conventional sexual intercourse between males and females 
  • In vitro fertilisation (IVF) in captive breeding programmes
    
    • This allows gametes with known alleles to be used in ensuring the next generation remains biodiverse

Risks to a species

• If its population size decreases, a species will experience reduced genetic variation
• This renders the species more susceptible to environmental change
• The species is less resilient and has a greater risk of extinction