In situ and ex situ conservation

In situ and ex situ conservation

• 1.
  COLLEGE OF FISHREYSCIENCE JABALPUR Subject- ECOLOGY Topic- In situ and Ex situ conservation
• 2.
  In situ:  Conservationof species in their natural habitat  E.g. natural parks, nature reserves Ex situ:  Conserving species in isolation of their natural habitat  E.g. zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks
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  Setting up wildlife 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
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   First thearea that is suitable for the creation of a reserve has to be identified and delimited  This requires surveys to collect data on key species  Property may have to be expropriated  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
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  ParkPark Buffer zone © 2016 PaulBilliet ODWS
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   If partof 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  This may mean arresting natural succession
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   The specieswill have all the resources that it is adapted too  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
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   It isdifficult to control illegal exploitation (e.g. poaching)  The environment may need restoring and alien species are difficult to control Sciencemuseum.org © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
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   The Hawaiiangoose 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 State Symbols USA © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS
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   Captive breedingof 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
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   They havea 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”
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   Botanical gardensshow the same problems as captive breeding of animals  Originally the role of botanical gardens was economic, pharmaceutical and aesthetic  There range of species collected was limited  The distribution of botanical gardens reflects the distribution of colonial powers  Most are found in Europe and North America  But plant diversity is greatest in the tropics
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   Seeds canbe 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
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