An ecosystem is defined as all the living things (biotic

components) together with all the non-living things

(abiotic components) in an area. These biotic and abiotic
components interact with each other.
 Ecosystem structure

q The living things in an ecosystem can be described at a

number of differentlevels.

q Populationsare made up of all the individuals of the

same species in an area.

Examples of populationsinclude ;

Ø All the frogs in a pond

Ø All the drongos in a forest
Ø All the elephants in a national park.
Communities - are made up of all the species
characteristicof a particular ecosystem.
Examples include all the different species

• animal in the Arctic tundra [The animal communities]

• all the plants in the Arctic tundra [the plant communities]
 KEY TERMS

Ecosystem:all the living things (biotic components) together with all the non-living
things (abiotic components) in an area

Biotic: living components of the environment that may affectother living things.

Abiotic: non-living components of the environment that may affectliving things.

Population:all the organisms of one species living in a defined area.

Community: a group of populations of differentspecies that live together in an area

and interact with each other.
Ø Living things are found in a habitat within the ecosystem.

Ø A habitat is the place where the population of an organism lives, finds food and
reproduces.

Ø Within its habitat, the population of an organism has a particular role in terms of
its interactions with other species and its effect on the environment. This is called its
niche.

ØThe fact that there are so many niches to fill in the ecosystems of the world is the
reason why there are so many species.

Ø For example, all plantsmake food from sunlight. However, plants that can make food in
a desert climate are very different from those that do the same thing on the floor of a
rainforest, which aredifferentagainfrom those that do it in the canopy of the same
forest.

Øan ecosystem consists of communities of living things that live in single-species

populations in particularhabitats where they perform particular functions within their
niche.
 Abiotic factors
Habitats and niches include non-living or abiotic factorstoo. These affect living things
and are affectedbythem.

The major abiotic factors are ;

1. Temperature

q Temperatureisusuallyexpressedas degreescentigrade(°C).
q Living things have a range of temperatures within which they can survive.

For example, species of flatworms from the genus Planaria are distributed in mountain
streams according to how hot or cold the water is.
One planarian species lives high up in the mountains where the water is
colder, and another lives lower down where the water is warmer.
 2. HUMIDITY
q Humidity is a measure of how damp the air is: how much water vapour it holds.
q It is usually expressed asrelative humidity (RH).
q RH expresses the humidity as apercentage ofthe amount of water vapour the air
could hold if fully saturated.
q This can range from 0% in dry desert environments to100% in humid rainforests.
Some living things simply cannot survive in dry air, for example many species of fungi.

3. LIGHT
q Light is measured in various ways and expressedas lumens.
q It is essential for photosynthesis and therefore nearlyall living things depend on it.

With no light there will be no food.

q However, some plants are adapted to living in low light levelsand can support a
community of animals.
 4. Water

q Wateris essential for all life. It is a raw material for photosynthesisand a medium for
chemical reactions.
q However, living things can survive without water in liquid form. For example, some
beetles that live in storedproducts like flour only use the water they make themselves
during respiration.

q Plants obtain water from the soil and the water content of soil can be a very

important factor in determiningexactly where a plant species lives.

q For example, cacti areadapted tosurvive in soil with very little water.

q Those plants that live in soil that is saturated with water (waterlogged), such as

rushes and rice, have roots that are adapted to function in low oxygen conditions.
 5. Oxygen

q The oxygen level is nearly always about 20% of the gas in air, the rest of the gas in

air is mainly nitrogen.

q However, theabsolute quantity decreases as altitudeincreases. Atthe top of a

high mountain, there is much less oxygen thanat sea-level.

q In water, the amount of oxygen is usually expressedas parts per million (ppm).

q Oxygen is not very soluble in water so all aquatic organismshave special

adaptations to get enough,for examplegills in fish.

q Plants with their roots in waterlogged soilhave adaptations to get oxygen to the
roots.

qFor example, rushes have a spongy stem that allows oxygen to move down from
the air to the roots.
 6. Salinity
Ø Salinity,how salty something is, is measured as parts per million (ppm) or parts per

thousand (ppt) of salt, or as a concentration(forexample milligrams- litre).

Ø This is mainly a factor that affectsaquatic animals. All marine species live in water that

has 35 ppt of salt, whereas in fresh water there is none.

Ø Waterwith a salinity that is less than 35 ppt, but more than zero,is referredto as
brackish water.
Ø In some cases, the water in soil is saline, for example in salt marshes. Plants that live in

saline water are adapted in various ways,

Ø For example mangroves secrete the excess salt from their leaves. Salty soil can arise as a
result of poor irrigation practices and this can be a serious problem for farmers trying to
grow crops.
 7. PH

q pH is a measure of how acid or alkaline water,oran aqueous solution, is.

q It is expressed as a numberwithout units on the pH scale .

q The pH of the sea is relatively stable but pH can vary a lot in fresh water.
q Decomposing leaves, for example, add humic acid to the water,reducing the pH to less

than 7.

q The pH of soil water isa very important factor for plants. Some plants are acid loving,

requiring a soil with an acidic water content. Other plants cannot survive in the acidic

soils at all.
 KEY TERMS

Habitat: the place within an ecosystem

where an organism lives.

Niche: the role of a species within the

ecosystem.

Brackish water: water that is salty but not as

salty as seawater
 Ecosystem processes
Ø A key feature of the way in which the living world works is that organisms interact

with each other.

Ø The best way to see this is in a diagram called a food chain.
Ø Green plants make food in a process called photosynthesis and are called

producers.
Ø Animals, called herbivores, eat the plants and animals called carnivores eat the
herbivores.
Ø Both these kinds of animals are called consumers, one consuming (-eating) plants
and the other consuming animals.
Ø A plant- eating consumer is a primary consumer and animal-eating
one is a secondary consumer.
Ø If an animal eats an animal that itself eats an animal, it is called a tertiary
consumer.
q If the animal (or other organism, for example fungi) consumes dead bodies of plants or
animals it is called a decomposer.

qThis simple relationship can be shown in a food chain.

qproducers -› herbivores (primary consumers) › 1st carnivores (secondary consumers,
predators)-› 2nd carnivores (tertiary consumers, also predators)

q In a garden there might be plants with leaves that, when they fall to the ground, are

eaten by earthworms. In turn the earthworm is eaten by a bird, which could be eaten by a
snake.
leaves -»earthworm -› bird -»> snake

qHowever,the leaf might also be eaten by a slug or a woodlouse, the worm by a fox or a
shrew,and the bird by a fox as well. If you put all of these relationships, and more,
into a diagram you will have a much more accurate picture of real life. Such a diagram is
called a food web.
•Any change in one part of the food web can cause changes in any other part. So, if
the weather is poor and plants do not grow so well, everything will be affected.

•If snake numbers fall because they are killed by humans, this could lead to an
increase in the numbers of birds, which might then eat more earthworms, causing
their numbers to fall. It is often impossible to predict what one change in one part of
a food web might lead to elsewhere.

•In a lake, millions of tiny microscopic plants are being fed on by thousands of tiny
animals. In turn, these are eaten by hundreds of small fish, which in their turn are
•eaten by dozens of large fish.
• Standing by the side of the lake might be a few herons and egrets, eating the big
fish. This information can be represented in a diagram called a pyramid of numbers .
The pyramid shape reflects the loss of energy at each trophic (feeding) level.
(refersto the different levels or steps in the energy pathway)
PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
Food chain:a diagram showing the relationship between a single producer and
primary, secondary and tertiaryconsumers.

Photosynthesis: the process by which plants orplant-like organismsmake

glucose in the form of carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water using energy
from sunlight.

Producers: organisms within an ecosystem that can carry out photosynthesis.

Herbivore: another name for primary consumer

Carnivore: another name for secondary and tertiary consumers

Primary consumers: organisms within an ecosystemthat derive their food

from producers.
Secondary consumers: organisms within an ecosystem
that derive their food from primary consumers

Tertiary consumers: organisms within an ecosystem

that derive their food from secondary consumers

Decomposers: organisms within an ecosystemthat derive

their food from the bodies of dead organisms

Food web:a diagram showing the relationship between all

(or most) of the producers, primary,secondary and tertiary
consumers in an ecosystem
 Photosynthesis
Plants trap energy in the form of light from the Sun in a process called
photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a complicated process but can be
summarized as if it was a single-step chemical reaction:

Light
chlorophyll.
carbon dioxide + water---------------------- glucose + oxygen

qGlucose is a sugar used by plants in the

process of respiration to release energy, and
is also converted by the plant to make other
substances it needs, such as starch, cellulose,
proteins and many more.
q Some of these substances are very important for humans as medicines.
Other elements (minerals) from the soil, such as nitrogen are needed to form
some of the substances, such as proteins, but in every case, chemical energy
remains stored in the substance.

q Plants obtain the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through pores
in their leaves (stomata). They obtain the water from the soil through their
roots.

q A green pigment in the leaves called chlorophyll absorbs the light. The light
energy is used to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen.

q The hydrogen is added to carbon dioxide to make glucose. The oxygen not
used in respiration is given off to the atmosphere.
§ Living things need a range of resources from the environment, including other living
things and non-living components like water and oxygen.
§ Many more young are produced than will survive, so there is often competition for the
resources.
§ Those individuals that are least well adapted to the current conditions will die earlier or
fail to reproduce.

• When one animal eats another it is called a predator.

• Examples of familiar predatorsinclude tigers and lions.
• However,thereare also many predators in the insect world and in the sea.
• Many beetles eat earthworms and insect larvae, and marine predatorsrange from
small fish to the great white shark.
 POLLINATION
qThe male gametes (sex cells) of many animals (including hu

aqueous (watery) environment to the female gamete (egg cell

qHowever,floweringplants do not reproduce like this. The male sex cells are found in a

structure called a pollen grain, made in the anther.

qThe pollen grain Is either blown about by the wind (as in many grasses and trees)
Or carried by insects, bees, birds and mammals.
qThe anther is in the flower,which attractsthe animals with bright colours, scent and the
production of nectar.
q The pollen grain lands on the stigma of another flower and sends out a tube. This tube
grows down to where the female gamete (egg) is.
q Here, the egg is fertilizedand from this an embryo in a seed, egg, develops. This
embryo can grow into a new plant.
 KEY TERMS
: a diagram that represents the numbers of organisms at each
feeding (trophic) level in an ecosystem by a horizontal bar whose length is proportional to
the numbers at that level

: a feeding level within a food chain or web

: the green pigment in plants that traps light energy

the process by which living things release energy from food to carry out the
processes of life, such as movement

: the structure in plants that contains the male sex cell, it is carried to the
female organ by pollination
What is an Ecological Pyramid?
An ecological pyramid is a graphical representationof the relationship between the
differentliving organisms at different trophic levels.
It shows the feeding relationship of an organism.

1. Pyramid of Numbers
In this type of ecological pyramid, the number of organisms in each trophic level is
considered as a level in the pyramid. The pyramid of numbers is usually upright except
for some situations like that of the detritus food chain, where many organisms feed on
one dead plant or animal.

What is the 10% law?

The 10% law was given by Raymond Lindeman. This law states that when energy is
transferredfromone trophic level to the other,only 10% energy from the organic
matteris passed on.
2.Pyramid of Biomass
In this particular type of ecological pyramid, each level takes into account the amount
of biomass produced by each trophic level. The pyramid of biomass is also upright
except for that observed in oceans where large numbers of zooplanktons depend on a
relatively smaller number of phytoplanktons.

biomass, the weight or total quantity of living organisms of

one animal or plant species (species biomass) or of all the species in
a community (community biomass), commonly referredto a unit area or volume
of habitat.
3.Pyramid of Energy

Pyramid of energy is the only type of ecological pyramid, which is always upright as
the energy flow in a food chain is alwaysunidirectional. Also, with every increasing
trophic level, some energy is lost into the environment.
 Energy flows and nutrient cycles
When a consumer eats a plant it gets two things:
Ø Chemical energy from the starch, simple sugars and other compounds.
Ø Various materials, such as nitrogen, that are alsopresent in these substances.

Consumers use some of the chemical energy for their own life processes, converting it into
heat.

This heat is given off to the environment and lost to living things. However,the
minerals are not lost because, when consumers die, their bodies break down.
The minerals in the dead bodies are released and become available again to living things.

It is important to know this difference:energy flowsthrough ecosystems but minerals cycle

round ecosystems.
q How much of the energy in a plant is available to a consumer?

Ø The plant needs some energy for its own life processes. It gets this energy not from

the light it traps but from the chemical energy it has stored.
Ø Plants store light energy as chemical energy in the sugars and other substances they

make.
Ø A plant gets the energy that it needs for its own life processes from a process called

respiration.

The overall equation for respirationis:

Glucose + oxygen -------------- carbon dioxide + water + (energy)

Note that in the equation, energy is placed in bracketsbecause it is not a substance.

Ø Glucose and oxygen are used up during respiration and water and carbon dioxide are

produced as waste products.

Ø The energy is used for the processes the plant needs (for example transporting food and

making proteins) and given off to the environment as heat.

Ø Only the energy that is left in the material a plant does not use is available to a consumer.
This is about 10% of the energy that was fixed from sunlight by the plant.

ØThis energy flow can be shown in a simple diagram, as in Figure 9.5a. The same
relationship occurs at the next trophic level, shown in Figure 9.5b. Together,thetwoparts of
Figure 9.5 form a pyramid of energy .
PYRAMID OF ENERGY
q So, after just two steps the amount of energy available to a consumer is 10% of 10%

of that available from the Sun, which is only 1%.

q After three steps it is only 0.1%. This explains why food chains never have more than

four,or sometimes five, links: there is just not enough energy left to support another

trophic level.

q The quantity of energy present in each level, and flowing between them, is

measured in kilojoules (kJ).

 Mineral cycles
At the same time as a consumer is obtaining energy from the level below,it is acquiring
the minerals that it needs. These include carbon, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus and
nitrogen, among many others.All cycles have the same basic patternin living things.

General diagram of mineral cycles.

For carbon, the reservoir is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Fixation is by

photosynthesis.Carbon is found within living things in carbohydrates, proteins, fats
and other chemicals. Carbon is removed from living things by respiration, which returns
the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
ØRespirationoccurs in all living things, including microorganismsthat break down dead

organisms.

ØWhen microorganismsbreak down dead organisms, the process is called decayor

decomposition.

ØCarbon dioxide is also returned to the atmosphere by burning (combustion).

ØThis is important in relation to the removal of forest, when much of the forestmaterial

that is cut down is burnt.

Decomposition.
 Estimating biodiversity
in ecosystems
• Biodiversity refers to all the species within an ecosystem
as well as all the variation within a species (genetic
diversity) and the many different ecosystems in an area.

• Before biodiversity can be properly managed it needs to

be measured.

• The populations of individual organisms and numbers of

different species can be huge. For this reason, scientists
use sampling methods to count a subset of the whole: it
is assumed that the subset reflects the whole population
size or species diversity.
• It is assumed that the subset reflects the whole population
size or species diversity.

• There are two main groups of methods for sampling and

measuring biodiversity. One group uses techniques for
sampling organisms that do not move about (sedentary
organisms) example: plants and animals such as barnacles
and limpets on a seashore.

• The second group uses techniques for sampling non-

sedentary organisms, which usually involve some sort of trap
to catch the organisms.

KEY TERM

Quadrat: a frame of known area used to sample

organisms that do not move, such as plants
 Sampling sedentary organisms
: quadrats and transects
• When an area of land has to be surveyed, it is usually
necessary to sample it. If the subject of the survey is plant
species, the sampling can be done with a quadrat.
• A quadrat is a frame of known area that can be placed
over part of the site to be sampled. The plants enclosed
within the quadrat can then be counted.
• The most common of way of estimating plant numbers is to
use an estimate of cover, for example using a simple scale
such as ACFOR. This provides a qualitative estimate:

A= abundant
C= common
F= frequent
O= occasional
R= rare.
• One way to use a gridded quadrat is to count the number
of squares that the plant appears in and take the total to
be the percentage cover.

In the example in Figure 9.9,

this would give 11% for B and 14% for A. You can then say
that the percentage cover of C is 100 - (11 + 14) = 75%.

• Another method is to count each square in which the

plant occupies more than half. This gives 7% for B and
9% for A, so C is 87%. These numbers do not add up to
100 because of the rounding effect.
 Placing the quadrat
• If two areas are to be compared, the quadrat should be placed
randomly in each, which is called random sampling.

• If the aim is to see how the species change along a gradient in

the environment, the quadrat should be placed along a line called
a transect, which is systematic sampling.

• An example of an environmental gradient is the change in light

intensity from the shade of a woodland into an open field.
• In the case of systematic sampling, the quadrat is placed along
the transect line at either regular or irregular intervals.

• When carrying out random sampling, the best method is to lay out
a gird in each of the areas to be sampled. The position of the
quadrats is then determined using random coordinates from a set
of random number tables or by throwing dice.
 KEY TERMS
• Random sampling: a sampling method in which the
sampling device is placed using random number tables
or the roll of dice

• Transect: a sampling method in which sampling devices

are laid out along a line already placed across an area.

• Systematic sampling: a sampling method in which the

sampling device is placed along a line or some other pre
-determined pattern, the most common pattern being the
line of a transect

• Pooter: a device for retrieving small animals from

devices such as nets and pitfall traps
 Mobile organisms: pitfall traps
and pooters
• For organisms that move, a variety of trapping methods are used
to estimate biodiversity as well as population size.

• One very common device, used for small animals moving about
on the ground, is the pitfall trap

• A pitfall trap consists of a jar sunk up to its rim in the soil. The top
may or may not be covered, depending on the predicted likelihood
of rainfall, and the trap should be inspected and emptied regularly.

• Other techniques for sampling small animals, such as insects in

short vegetation or on trees, often involve catching them in a net
of some kind. The animals will often then need to be transported
back to a laboratory for careful identification.
• The pooter is simple piece of equipment for
getting the animals out of the net and into a
specimen container .

• For larger animals, such as small mammals like

mice and voles, other kinds of traps can be
used. For very large animals, such as zebras
and wildebeest, counting is used, often from
an aero plane.
 When to use random or systematic
sampling
• When designing an ecological investigation, scientists
have to decide whether the quadrats or traps should be
positioned in a systematic or random fashion.
• As a general rule, if the investigation is looking at how
distribution changes over an environmental gradient,
systematic sampling will be used.
• to compare areas, then random sampling using a grid
is the most suitable method.
• For example, to compare the insect populations between
an area grazed by animals and an area that is not
grazed, pitfall traps could be set out randomly in both
areas using a grid and random number tables
• a habitat is the place where the population of an
organism lives, finds food and reproduces. Therefore,
the loss of a habitat means the loss of those species that
live, find food and reproduce within it.

• Habitat loss is the single most important cause of

species extinction.

KEY TERM
• Extinction: the process by which a species or other
named group ceases to exist on the Earth or in a named
area
 Causes of habitat loss

• There are three major causes of

habitat loss and, therefore, species
extinction

1. The drainage of wetlands

2. Intensive agricultural practices
3. Deforestation
 The drainage of wetlands
• Some wetlands are found inland and some are
coastal, and the total area is hard to estimate.
• The area of wetlands is difficult to estimate because of
their scattered distribution.
• However, there are some major wetland areas, such
as the Pantanal in Brazil (140 000 km2), the Llanos of
Venezuela and Colombia (about 500 000 km2) and the
Pearl and Yangtze river deltas in China (650000 km2
between them).

• Wetlands have traditionally been regarded as

wasteland and therefore relatively worthless. However,
it is now realized that they have a variety of benefits,
including the provision of a range of environmental
services.
The environmentalservices of wetlands include
• shoreline protection,
• maintenance of water quality
• flood control
• Recharging of aquifers and biological
productivity.
• Provide habitats and are a source of a variety
of products such as fish, wildfowl, fuel and
fibres.
• Unfortunately, the current global area of wetlands is half what it
was in 1900. There are many causes of wetland loss, including:

1. drainage for agriculture, forestry and mosquito control

2. dredging for flood protection
3. use for disposal of waste created by road construction
4. discharge of pollutants
5. peat removal
6. removal of groundwater

• Wetland is drained for a variety of reasons, including the

provision of tourism facilities and agricultural land.

§ Many diseases are water related and one way of reducing or

eliminating these is to drain the water in which the causative
organism or its vector lives. This is an especially important
way to control the spread of malaria.
 Intensive agricultural practices
• The main reason for the drainage of wetlands is to provide
land for agriculture
• Agriculture poses the greatest threat to species survival
because it results in so much habitat loss. It is estimated
that the threat of extinction to 63% of vertebrates comes
from agricultural practices.
• In south-east Asia it is estimated that more than 80% of
bird species have been lost as a result of clearing native
forest for the production of palm oil.
• Other aspects of intensive agriculture, including the use of
pesticides and fertilizers, can have far-reaching effects on
habitats.
• The agrochemicals used are soluble in water and can be
carried away from the farms where they are applied.
 Deforestation
• The most obvious cause of habitat loss is deforestation.
• In many parts of the world, at a wide range of
altitudes, forest forms the climax community.In these
areas trees form a continuous cover and provide
habitats for a wide range of tree- and ground-dwelling
species.
• In temperateregions these species are mainly birds but
squirrels and various reptiles are also found.
• In the tropics and subtropics of both Africa and South
America, primates are adapted to living in forested
habitats. These areas are also home to a huge variety
of tree-dwelling birds.
• The most biodiversity habitats on Earth are thought to be
in the tropical rainforests of South America and Central
Africa. In these regions, hundreds of thousands, or
possibly millions of species exist. Loss of this habitat,
or just its fragmentation, is likely to lead to the loss of
very many species.

KEY TERM
• Climax community: the stable community characteristic
of an area that persists as long as the climate does not
change
• The impact of habitat loss is mainly the loss of species within
it.
Loss of biodiversity and genetic depletion
• At around 10 000 years ago, some human populations
learned to plant seeds. At first the plants grown from these
seeds would have given an unpredictable and often small
yield. Quite unintentionally, those plants that gave a good
yield would be selected for the next generation. This was an
early form of selective breeding

• Modern crop plants, such as wheat, rice and maize, are

therefore the product of 10 000 years of this artificial
selection. The process has been hugely beneficial in
providing food for a growing population of humans.
• There are worries now, however, that modern strains of
crop plants may not be able to adapt to changes in the
future, such as those anticipated as a result of climate
change.

• The characteristics of wild varieties of modern crop

plants may prove useful in the future.

• The loss of species containing potentially useful genes is

called genetic depletion.

• habitat destruction reduces genetic diversity and may

even lead to species becoming extinct, when the genetic
loss becomes irretrievable.
• Deforestationis a major cause of habitat loss.
• The most obvious cause of deforestationis the
need for the wood itself.
• Wood is a remarkable material and has been
used by humans for thousands of years. It can be
used for building and furniture making, but also
for papermaking, and is source of energy when
burnt.
• Another reason for deforestationis to clear land
for farming, roads and settlements.
• Habitat loss
• Soil erosion and desertification
• Climate change
• Loss of biodiversity and genetic depletion
Greenhouse gas: a gas that stops energy in the
form of heat from being lost from the
atmosphere
 The need for
sustainable management of forests
• a huge genetic resource as well as a source of
food, medicine and raw materials for industry.
• perform a variety of ecosystemservices.
• involved in the carbon and water cycles and
help to prevent soil erosion.
• Carbon sinks and carbon stores
• Ecotourism
 KEY TERMS
• Ecotourism: tourism in which the participants travel to
see the natural world, ideally in a sustainable way
• Carbon sink: a vegetatedarea where the intakeof
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in photosynthesis
exceedsits output from respiration,so the net flow of
carbon is from the atmosphere into plants
• Carbon store: a mature vegetatedarea where the
intakeof carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by
photosynthesisequals its output from respiration,so
the mature plants store carbon
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 Strategies for conserving the
biodiversity and genetic resources of
natural ecosystems
1. Sustainable harvesting of wild plant and
animal species, sustainable forestry and
agroforestry.
Ø fisheries, forestry and medicinal plants.
Ø In forestry-Eg:practice of selective logging.
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Ø Agroforestry-This is a land management
system in which crops are grown around
trees.
Ø Alley cropping- Perennial, preferably
leguminous, trees or shrubs are grown with an
arable crop.
Ø The trees are pruned and the prunings used to
improve the soil and provide minerals to the
crop.
2. National parks, wildlife and ecological
reserves and corridors
Ø The world's first national park was
designated in 1872 in the USA. Yellowstone
Park
Ø The largest national park in the world is the
and National Park covering 972 001 km2
Ø Wildlife corridors are areas of land that link
large reserves or other wildlife areas.
3. Extractive reserves
Ø Extractive reserves attempt to find a
balance between destroying the forest for
short-term benefit and stopping all
economic activity,which can have an
impact on local people.
4. World biosphere reserves
Ø Strike a balance between conservation while at the
same time meeting peoples' needs.
Ø The bufferzone-an area where more research is
carried out, together with education and tourism.
Ø The transition (or multiple-use) zone-where local
communities and conservationorganizationswork
together to manage the area for the benefit of the
people who live there.
Ø Recognizedinternationallyvia the United Nations
EducationalScientific and Cultural
Organization(UNESCO)
 5. Seed banks, zoos and captive breeding

• Seed banks-Seeds are stored rather than living

plants because less space is required.
• Zoos-providing education about the illegal
trade in animals and products and the need to
maintain biodiversity.
scientific research on the control of diseases,
animal behavior and techniques to improve
breeding success.
 Captive breeding
• It’s the process of capturing ,
breeding, rising and sometimes
reproducing a wild
species(threatened or endangered) in
controlled environment outside their
natural habitats under the care of
wildlife biologists and other experts.
• Captive-breeding programmes-releasing
captive-bredanimals into the wild.
o organisms are not allowed to breed repeatedly
with the same partner
o in-vitro fertilizationand inter-zooswapping of
individuals
o all zoos use a database called a studbook to
record the breeding history of individuals in
captivity.
6. Sustainable tourism and ecotourism
• If tourism is managed in a sustainable way to
prevent damage to habitats and provide what
people want, it is called sustainable tourism.
• Ecotourism is a form of sustainable tourism
that is guided by environmentalprinciples.