Chapter 18

Classification,
biodiversity and
conservation
Biology F.6
Objectives – Classification
Objectives – Biodiversity
Objectives – Biodiversity
Objectives – Conservation
Objectives – Conservation
 The species concept
• Which species concept is most useful depends
on circumstance and available data.
• Biological species concept
o A group of organisms with similar morphology and
physiology, which can breed together to produce
fertile offspring and are reproductively isolated from
other species.
• Morphological species concept
o A population of individuals that share many physical
features that distinguish them from other species.
• Ecological species concept
o A population of individuals that share same features
and living in the same area at the same time.
 Binomial system
• The first name is the genus ( or generic) name.
• Species that show many similarities and are closely related
are classified together in the same genus.
• The second name is the specific epithet or trivial name.
• Species name = genus name followed by the specific epithet
 Hierarchical classification
• Taxonomy is the study and practice of classification, which
involves placing organisms in a series of taxonomic units,
or taxa (singular: taxon).
• In biological classification, these taxa form a hierarchy.
• Each kind of organism is assigned to its own species, and
similar species are grouped into a genus (plural: genera),
genera into a class, classes into a phylum and phyla into a
kingdom. The domain is at the top taxonomic rank in the
hierarchical classification system.
• Dear King Philip Came Over For Great Spaghetti
 Three domains
• Prokaryotes were discovered living in extreme
environments, such as hot springs and hydrothermal vents
where temperature often exceed 100ºC.
• Strain 121 is a hyperthermophile that can reproduce even at
121ºC.
• These extremophiles were not like typical bacteria.
• They were found to share features with both typical
bacteria and eukaryotes.
• Domain had to be introduced to reflect the differences
between these extremophiles and typical bacteria.
• The prokaryotes are divided between the domains
Bacteria and Archaea and all the eukaryotes are placed
into the domain Eukarya.
 Archaea
• Many Archaea live in extreme environments such
as hot springs, around deep volcanic vents in the
oceans and in lakes where there is a very high
conc. of salt.
• Some produces methane, cannot survive where
there is oxygen and have many unusual enzymes.
• In several ways, the Archaea appear to have more
in common with the Eukarya than with Bacteria.
• It is though that Bacteria and Archaea separated
from each other very early in the evolution of life.
• The Archaea and Eukarya probably diverged later.
 Domain Bacteria
• Size varies from the size between that of the largest
virus and the smallest of single celled eukaryote.
1. Cells with no nucleus
2. Unicellular but may occur in chains or clusters.
3. Circular naked DNA but no histone proteins associated
with it.
4. Plasmids are often present.
5. No membrane-bound organelles (mitochondria, ER,
chloroplasts)
6. Ribosomes (70S) are smaller than in eukaryotic cells
7. Cell wall are present and made up of peptidoglycan (not
cellulose or chitin).
8. Cells divide by binary fission, not by mitosis.
9. Small in size : 0.5 – 5.0 µm in length.
 Domain Archaea
• They are prokaryotic. They have similar size of bacteria.
Many inhabit extreme environments.
1. Cells with no membrane-bound organelles.
2. Circular DNA with histone proteins associated with it.
3. Plasmids are often present.
4. The promoter region of the DNA and RNA polymerase is more
similar to those of eukaryotic cells than those of bacterial cells.
5. 70S ribosomes is different from bacterial ribosomes and small
subunit has features similar to those in eukaryotic ribosomes.
6. The base sequence of rRNA and the ribosomal proteins are
more like those in eukaryotes.
7. Genes and protein synthesis are more similar to eukaryotes.
8. Cell wall always present but no peptidoglycan.
9. Cells divide by binary fission, not by mitosis.
10. Usually exist as single cells or small groups of cells.
11. Membrane lipids are unique.
• In archaea cell
membrane, glycerol
is attached by highly
resistant ether
bonds to branched
chains called alkyl
chains.
 Proteins
similar to
histones
Type of RNA polymerase
 Domain Eukarya
1. Cells with a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
2. Unicellular, colonial and multicellular organisms..
3. DNA is arranged as linear chromosomes with histone
proteins.
4. Ribosomes (80S) are larger than in prokaryotes.
Chloroplasts and mitochondria have 70S ribosomes.
5. Chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA is circular.
6. Not all possess cell wall, but where they do it contains no
peptidoglycan. Cellulose in plant cells and photosynthetic
protoctists, and chitin in most fungi.
7. Cell division is by mitosis.
8. Many different ways of reproducing – asexually and
sexually.
 Kingdoms
• The eukarya domain is divided into 4 kingdoms.
• Kingdom Protoctista
• Kingdom Fungi
• Kingdom Plantae
• Kingdom Animalia
 Kingdom Protoctista
• It is made up of a very diverse range of eukaryotic
organisms, which includes those that are often called
protozoans and algae, such as seaweeds.
• Any eukaryote that is not a fungus, plant or animal is
classified as a protoctist.
 Kingdom Fungi (Eukaryotic)
• Moulds, yeasts, mushrooms and toadstools.
• No chlorophyll so they are all heterotrophic, absorbing their
food, either as saprophytes (decomposers) or as parasites
(living in or on other organisms).
• There is vast range in size.
• Cell walls usually made of chitin but never cellulose.
• Some are unicellular but most are made up of thread-like
hyphae that collectively form a mycelium.
• Large fungi such as mushrooms produce large compacted
masses of hyphae known as fruiting bodies to release
spores for reproduction.
• Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen.
• They reproduce sexually (by fusion hyphae) and/or
asexually by means of (budding, fragmentation) or spores
that lack a flagellum.
 Kingdom Plantae
• They are all multicellular photosynthetic organisms.
• They have complex bodies that are found highly
branched both above and below ground.
• Size ranges from mm to 100m.
• Liverworts, mosses, ferns, coniferous trees and flowering
plants.
• Multicellular eukaryotes with cells differentiated to form
tissues and organs.
• Few types of specialized cells.
• Some possess chlorophyll and other pigments and feed
autotrophically by photosynthesis.
• Cell walls are present and made of cellulose.
• Carbohydrate is stored as starch.
• Cells have large, often permanent vacuoles for support.
• Cells may have flagella like male gametes in ferns.
Non-vascular Vascular with no seed Vascular with seed
 Kingdom Animalia
• Nervous system is unique to the animal kingdom.
• They are all heterotrophic with many ways to obtain food.
• Multicellular eukaryotes with many different types of
specialized cells (to form tissues and organs).
• Cells do not have chlorophyll and so feed heterotrophically.
• Cells do not have cell walls.
• Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen.
• Cell vacuoles are small and temporary.
• Communication is by the nervous system.
• Have fibres that can contract so that they are able to move
from one location to another or have the ability to move
parts of their body.
• Cells sometimes have cilia and flagella.
 Viruses
• Viruses are microorganisms whose structure is only visible
with electron microscopes.
• It is made up of a nucleic acid molecule (DNA or RNA)
(single or double-stranded) surrounded by a protective
protein coat called capsid made up of separate protein
molecules, each of which is called a capsomere.
• Some viruses have an additional covering called an
envelope which is the cell membrane of the host cell.
 Viruses
• Viruses are acellular – don’t have a cellular structure.
• When they are free in the environment, they are infectious
but no metabolism.
• They infect cells, make use of the biochemical machinery of
the host cell to copy their nucleic acids and to make their
proteins by using energy from the host cell’s respiration.
• Often leading to the destruction of the host cells.
HIV replication
 Classification of viruses
• The taxonomic system for classifying viruses is based on the
type of nucleic acid they contain (DNA or RNA) and
whether the nucleic acid is single-stranded or double-
stranded.
• In viruses, both DNA and RNA can be either single-stranded
or double-stranded.
 Baltimore classification FYI
• The Baltimore classification of viruses is based on the
mechanism of mRNA production. Viruses must
generate mRNAs from their genomes to produce
proteins and replicate themselves, but different
mechanisms are used to achieve this in each virus
family.
• Viral genomes may be single-stranded (ss) or double-
stranded (ds), RNA or DNA, and may or may not
use reverse transcriptase (RT). In addition, ssRNA
viruses RNA may be either sense (+) or antisense (−).
b The type of nucleic acid, DNA or RNA and
whether the nucleic acids are single-stranded or
double-stranded.
considered as living
organism or not?
• A species is a group of
organisms with similar
morphological,
physiological, biochemical
and behavioural features,
which can interbreed to
produce fertile offspring.
• Every species is given a
scientific name using the
binomial system.

• Community includes all

• Species share their living space
with others to form living organisms of all
communities like that in a species living in the same
forest. They interact with each ecosystem at the particular
other and with the environment. time.
 Ecosystems
• An ecosystems is a relatively self-contained,
interacting community of organisms, and the biotic
and abiotic factors (environment) in which they live
and with which they interact.
• A forest ecosystem includes not only the community of
organisms, but also the soil, the dead leaves that form
leaf litter, water in the rain and in streams, the air, the
rocks and all the physical and chemical factors which
influence organisms.
• Organisms in one ecosystem interact with those from
others. E.g. migration of birds for food and to breed.
• Some ecosystems are very complex such as tropical
rainforests and coral reefs, and others very simple
such as a sandy desert.
 Habitat and niche
• A habitat describes the place where a species lives within
an ecosystem.
• A niche is the role of an organism in an ecosystem.
• It describes where the organism lives, how it obtains
energy, how it interacts with both its physical environment
and with other species.
• In Australia, the niche for large herbivorous mammals is
filled by kangaroos.
• On the savannah of Africa, there are zebra, antelope,
wildebeest, elephants and many more filling large herbivore
niches.
• It is impossible to provide complete description of the
niche of any organism, because there are so many ways in
which one organism interacts with other components of
the ecosystem.
18.1 distinguish between the terms
ecosystem and niche
 Biodiversity
• Biodiversity can be defined as the degree of variation of life
forms in an ecosystem. This is usually taken to include
diversity at three levels:
o The number and range of ecosystems or habitats
o The number of different species in the ecosystem and
their relative abundance (species diversity)
o The genetic variation within each species (genetic
diversity)
• Some areas of the world have very high biodiversity.
These areas have many endemic species – only found in
these areas and nowhere else.
 Species diversity
• The number of species in a community is species richness.
• Species diversity takes species richness into account, but
also includes a measure of the evenness of the
abundance of the different species.
• The more species there are, and the more evenly the
number of organisms are distributed among the different
species, the greater the species diversity. Coral reefs
• Ecosystems with high species diversity tend to be more
stable than ones with limited diversity: they are more able
to resist changes.
• The tropics are important centres for biodiversity possibly
because living conditions are not too extreme, high light
intensity all year round and birds and mammals do not
need to expend energy keeping warm.
• 1500 species of birds in central America but 300 in
northwest territories of Canada.
 Species diversity

• The two ecosystems have the same species

richness but ecosystem 1 has higher
diversity as its species evenness is greater
than ecosystem 2.
 Genetic diversity
• It refers to genetic variation of a species.
• It is the diversity of alleles within the genes in the genome
of a single species.
• Genetic diversity within a species can be assessed by
finding out what proportion of genes have different
alleles and how many alleles there are per gene.
• The genetic diversity within each population is important
in providing populations with the ability to adapt to
changes in biotic and abiotic factors.
• Biotic: competition with other species, evading new
predators, resisting new strains of disease.
• Abiotic: changes in temperature, salinity,
humidity and rainfall.
 Assessing species diversity
• The first task when assessing species diversity is to identify
and catalogue the types of organism and build a species
list.
• Dichotomous key is the most common key to identify the
organisms.
• At first, do a timed search throughout the area you are
studying to see how many species you can collect and
identify.
• If you cannot identify, take photographs of them and name
them as species A, B and so on.
• A pooter is a simple apparatus to collect small animals such
as beetles.
• In species diversity there are two points that
need to be found and they are distribution and
abundance.
 Sampling
• The ideal way is to find, identify and count every
single organism that lives in an ecosystem.
• It is only rarely possible unless the area is very
small or the species are very large.
• Instead, we take samples from the area we are
interested in, and use these to estimate the total
numbers in the area.
• Sampling can be random or systematic.
• If an area looks reasonably uniform, or if there is
no clear pattern to the way species are
distributed, random sampling is the best to use.
 quadrats
• A quadrat is a square frame that marks off an area
of ground, or water, where you can identify the
different species present and/or take a
measurement of their abundance.
• Samples must be taken randomly to avoid any
bias.
• The usual way is to mark out an area with
measuring tapes and use a random number
generator to give you the coordinates of
sampling points.
 quadrats
• The results can be used to calculate species frequency
and species density.
• Species frequency is a measure of the chance of a
particular species being found within any one quadrat.
• For example, if you placed your quadrat 50 times, and found
daisy plants in 22 of your samples, then the species
frequency for daisies is

• Species density is a measure of how many individuals

there are per unit area – for example, per square metre.
• The number of individuals that you have counted is
divided by the total area of all your quadrats.
 quadrats
• How do you decide how many grass plants there are in a
quadrat that you have placed on a lawn?
• You can estimate the percentage cover of the species
within your quadrat.
• You can use a 100cm x 100cm quadrat with wires running
across to divide the quadrat into 100 smaller squares.
• You then decide approximately what percentage of the
area inside the quadrat is occupied by each species.
 quadrats
• An alternative to estimating percentage cover of
each species is to use an abundance scale, the
Braun-Blanquet scale for number and plant cover.
 animals
• Small mammals can be caught in live animal traps.
• Insects and other invertebrates can be captured by
sweep netting.
• Pond nets are used for sampling aquatic organisms.
• Mark-release-recapture technique is a good way to
estimating the population size of mobile organisms.
1. First as many individuals as possible are caught and
counted. Each is marked in a way not adversely affect
them and released to where they are caught.
2. When enough time has elapsed for the mixing to take
place (may be 1 day to 2 weeks), another large sample
is captured.
3. The number of marked and unmarked individuals is then
counted and calculate a population size estimate.
4. Repeat the steps above and get the mean.
technique
 Simpson’s Index of Diversity
• Species diversity of an area can be calculated by using
Simpson’s Index of Diversity, D.

• Values of D range from 0 to 1.

• A value near 0 represents a very low species diversity.
• A value near 1 represents a very high species diversity.
Simpson’s Index of Diversity
 Diversity
• You do not need to identify all of the organisms present
to the level of species.
• You do not need to find their scientific names. But beware
some species have many phenotypic forms.
• The higher the number we get for D, the greater the
diversity.
• It depends on the number of different species there are,
and also the abundance of each of those species.
• Comparisons using this diversity index should be on a ‘like
for like’ basis, so the communities should be similar and
the organisms chosen should be similar.
• Should not be used to compare the diversity of fish in a lake
with moths in a forest.
 Systematic sampling
• When you want to investigate how species are distributed
in an area where the physical conditions change such as
altitude, soil moisture content, soil type, soil pH, exposure or
light intensity, a transect is used.
• Randomly select a starting point in the area and lay out a
measuring tape in a straight line to the area.
• Then sample the organisms that are present along the line
by recording those that touch the line at set distances – for
example, every two metres.
• The line transect will give you qualitative data.
 Systematic sampling
• Belt transect technique can also be used by placing a
quadrat at regular intervals along the line and recording
the abundance of each species within the quadrat.
• Data from a line transect can be shown as a drawing.
• Data from a belt transect can be plotted as a set of bar
charts or as a kite diagram.
 Display data on species abundance
• The data collected can be displayed by drawing
kite diagram.
• The distribution and abundance of seaweeds and
molluscs on a rocky shore are investigated by
placing a quadrat every 20 m.
• Students began sampling at 20m below mean sea
level and worked their way up the shore.
• They used two different scales for assessing the
abundance of seaweeds and molluscs.
• 5 indicates the highest level of abundance and 1
the lowest.
Display data on species abundance
Display data on species abundance
 Correlation
• While doing random sampling or carrying out a belt transect,
you may want to see if there is an association between two
plant species which always seem to occur together.
• You may want to know if there is any relationship between
the distribution and abundance of a species and an
abiotic factor.
• You can plot scatter graphs and make a judgement by
eye or you can calculate a correlation coefficient (r) to
assess the strength of any correlation.
 Meaning of correlation coefficient
• The strongest correlation is when all the points lie on a
straight line – there is a linear correlation.
• This is a correlation coefficient of 1.
• If a variable A increases so does variable B, the relationship
is a positive correlation.
• If as variable A increases, variable B decreases then the
relationship is a negative correlation.
• A correlation coefficient of 0 means there is no correlation.
• The correlation does not mean that changes in one variable
cause changes in the other variable.
• A correlation coefficient is used to determine whether there
is indeed a linear relationship and also to find out the
strength of that relationship.
 Spearman’s rank correlation
• If the data collected are in an abundance scale or the data
may not be normally distributed.
• It might be possible that a graph of the results shows the
data is correlated but not in a linear fashion.
• Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient can be
calculated.
• An ecologist was studying the composition of vegetation on
moorland following a reclamation scheme.
• Two species appeared to be growing together.
• He assessed the abundance of these two species by
recording the percentage cover in 11 quadrats.
Spearman’s rank correlation
• The first task is to make a null
hypothesis that there is no
correlation between the
percentage cover of the two
species
• The next step is to draw a
scatter graph to see if it looks
as if there is a correlation.
• Then the value of rs can be
calculated.
 Spearman’s rank correlation
• The value of rs is 0.930.
• It is very close to +1, so we can conclude that there
is a positive correlation between the two species
and that the strength of the association is very
high.
• We can reject the null hypothesis and accept the
alternative hypothesis that there is a correlation
between the abundance of the two species on this
reclaimed moorland.
 correlation
• Rank each set of data.
correlation

rs = 1−
( ( 6 × 12)
3
(10 − 10) )
rs= 0.93 (2 dec. places)
 correlation
• The closer the correlation coefficient to 1, the
more likely it is that there is a genuine
correlation between two sets of data.
• Notice that, the smaller the number of readings
we have taken, the larger our value of rs needs
to be in order to say that there is a significant
correlation.
• Remember that showing there is a correlation
between two variables does not indicate a
causal relationship. There could well be other
variables that are causing both of their
numbers to vary.
 correlation
• For our data, we have 10 quadrats, so n=10.
• The critical value is 0.65.
• Our value is much greater than this, so we can
accept that there is a significant correlation
between the numbers of species R and the
numbers of species S.
 Pearson’s linear correlation
• If there might be a linear correlation between data of two
quantitative continuous variables and the data within
each variable show a normal distribution, Pearson’s
linear correlation coefficient can be used.
• First step is to check if the relationship between the two
continuous variables appears to be linear by drawing a
scatter graph.
• Check if the data are normally distributed - The data do
not appear to be skewed in any one direction and there are
no obvious outliers.
• The coefficient should only be calculated if the relationship is
linear.
• The nearer the scatter of points is to a straight line, the
higher the strength of association between the variables.
 Example of Pearson’s linear correlation
• A student wanted to see if there is a correlation between the
size of the trees and the size of cracks on pine trees in a
plantation.
• She measured the circumference of each tree as a measure
of their overall size. She also measured the width of the
cracks in the bark.
• She investigated this by selecting 12 trees at random and
measuring the circumference of each trunk and the width of
three cracks on the bark at head height.
Example of Pearson’s linear correlation
• She plotted these results on
scatter graph and found
that they look as if there
might be a linear correlation.
• She then calculate
Pearson’s linear
correlation coefficient.
• The correlation coefficient is
r = 0.79.
Pearson’s linear correlation
reference)
 Pearson’s linear correlation
• The value of r is 0.79 which is known as the
correlation coefficient.
• This value should always be between -1 and
+1.

• Here, we have a value of r that lies quite close

to 1.
• We can say that there is a positive, linear
correlation between the circumference of
the tree trunk and the width of crack.
 Extinctions
• Humans are the main cause of species extinction.
• Loss of habitats: draining wetlands, cutting down rainforests,
polluting the air, water and soil.
• Hunting: for food or sport.
• Climate change: global warming will cause increases in sea
level, in ocean temperature and in ocean acidity. They are
causing damage to coral reefs.
• The effects of invasive alien species on native species,
especially endemics.
• Competition between different species for habitat, water or
food supplies.
 Reasons for maintaining biodiversity
• Moral and ethical reasons
• Ecological reasons
• Economic reasons
• Aesthetic reasons
• Agricultural reasons
• Environmental reasons
 Moral and ethical reasons
• People believe that our planet is shared with
a huge range of other organisms and we
have no right to drive them to extinction.
• Some believe that humans have custody of
the Earth and should value and protect the
organisms that share the planet with us.
 Ecological reasons
• The higher the diversity of an ecosystem, the less
likely it is to be unbalanced by changes in
conditions or threats such as pollution.
• The loss of a single species (keystone species) can
have devastating effects on the rest of its
community.

• Example: The pacific sea otter and the African bush

elephant.
 Economic reasons
• Many of the drugs originate from living organisms.
• Antibiotics are isolated from fungi and bacteria;
anticancer drugs have been isolated from plants
such as the Madagascan periwinkle and Pacific
yew tree.
• Currently there is much interest in cataloguing
plants used in traditional Chinese and Indian
medicines to see if they can provide drugs.
• If we allow tropical rain forests to disappear, we are
undoubtedly losing species that could be beneficial
to us.
 Economic reasons
• Wildlife is a source of income for many countries
as ecotourism has increased in popularity.
• Some countries encourage tourists to visit their
National Parks.
• This form of tourism provides employment and
contributes to the economies of these nations.
• The heat-stable enzyme Taq polymerse is found in
a thermophilic bacterium which is mass produced
by GM bacteria for use in PCR which is used to
increase quantities of DNA for analysis.
• There are likely to find more enzymes from the
archaeans living in extreme conditions.
 Aesthetic reasons
• Many people gain pleasure from studying or
appreciating the natural world, which continues to
provide inspiration for artists, photographers…
 Agricultural reasons
• Crop plants do not have as much genetic diversity as their
wild relatives because of selective breeding.
• Many of the wild relatives are threatened by climate
change, habitat destruction & spread of GM crops.
• A species of rice which grows in wild is not suitable for crop
plant because of its low yield and poor taste but it is
resistant to many strains of disease called bacterial blight. It
has been successfully interbred with cultivated rice to give
varieties of rice with resistance to disease.
 Environmental reasons
• Ecosystems provide services for us.
• Forests absorb CO2 and reduce the effect of increases in
CO2 in the atmosphere.
• Organic waste materials in water is broken down by
microorganisms.
• Transpiration of plants contributes to the water cycle
providing us drinking water.
• Termites and ants along with many fungi and bacteria
recycle elements like carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and
phosphorus.
• Without this recycling, plant growth would slow and there
would be less food available for organisms in other trophic
levels.
 Protecting endangered species
• An endangered species is one that is threatened
with extinction.
• The best way to conserve any species is to keep it
in its natural habitat.
• There are many ways to protect endangered
species:
o National parks
o Zoos / Botanic garden
o Assisted reproduction
o Ban hunting
o Educate public
 parks
• National parks are areas
of land that are controlled
by the government of a
country and protected by
legislation.
• Agriculture, building,
mining and other industrial
activities are strictly
controlled.

• Marine parks have been set up in many places to

conserve fragile ecosystems and areas at risk of
overfishing, dredging and pollution.
 Galapagos Islands
• Much of the Galapagos Islands is a national park.
• They have restricted access to the uninhabited islands and
limited access to other areas which are sensitive to human
interference.
• A marine reserve of 133 000 km2 has been set up to protect
the environment from the destructive activities of fishing.
• Alien animal species (rats and goats) are being removed
and invasive plants are destroyed.
• There are captive breeding and
reintroduction programmes
notably for giant tortoises.
 Needs for zoos
• Even though species and habitats are protected,
the threats remain so great that some species
have to be removed from their natural
environment and placed somewhere safer.
• The mountain forests of Panama were the
habitat of the golden frog.
• It faced threats from habitat loss, over-
collection for the pet trade and disease.
• The species was protected by growing them in a
conservation centre or zoos.
 Zoos
• Zoos provide protection for endangered and
vulnerable species, and have had success with captive
breeding programmes, often with the long-term aim of
reintroducing the animals to their natural habitat.
 Zoos

• Zoos also have an important

role in research especially in
trying to gain a better
understanding of breeding
habits, habitat requirements
and ways to increase genetic
diversity.
• The major goal of captive
breeding is to reintroduce
animals to their natural
habitat.
 Zoos
• Not every conservation attempt has been a success story.
• Some animals simply refuse to breed in captivity.
• It is not possible to create suitable habitats for them, so they
cannot be returned to the wild.
• Sometimes, even if a habitat exists, it is very difficult for
animals to adapt to living in it after being cared for in a zoo.
• For example, female golden lion tamarins do not have the
climbing and foraging (looking for food) skills that they need to
survive.
• Some captive-bred animals do not know how to avoid
predators, find food or rear their own young.
 Assisted reproduction
• Assisted reproduction is a solution to the problem
of inbreeding.
• Zoos used to transport large mammals between
them as part of their captive breeding programmes.
• This is difficult and expensive and breeding did
not always happen.
• Cheaper option is to collect semen and keep it
frozen in a sperm bank.
• Samples are collected from male, checked for sperm
activity and then diluted with a medium containing a
buffer and albumen.
• Small volumes of semen are put into thin tubes
known as straws, which are stored in liquid nitrogen
at -196˚C.
 Artificial insemination (AI)
• Assisted reproduction solve the problem of males and females
who do not show any courtship behaviour and will not mate.
• In AI, a straw is placed into warm water so that sperm
become active and then put into a catheter, which is inserted
into the vagina, through the cervix and into the uterus.
• This may happen when the female is naturally on heat, but
also may follow hormone treatment so she ovulates at the
same time.
• After AI, the resulting embryos may be flushed out of the
uterus and transferred to other females that have hormonal
treatment to prepare them for pregnancy.
• These females need not to be the same species but related.
• This process of embryo transfer protects the endangered
animal from the risks of pregnancy and means that she can
be a source of many offspring.
• Females that receive embryos like this are surrogate mothers.
 In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
• Oocytes are collected by inserting a needle into the ovaries
and withdrawing some mature follicles.
• The oocytes are kept in a culture medium for a short time
and then mixed with semen.
• The resulting zygotes divide to form embryos, which are
cultured for several days and then placed into the mother
or into several females of the same or different species.
 Storage of oocytes and embryos
• Eggs and embryos can also be stored in much the same way
as sperm.
• Eggs are more difficult to freeze as they are more likely to be
damaged by the freezing or thawing processes.
• Eggs are large cells with lots of water which tends to form ice
crystals that damage internal membrane.
• Eggs are fertilized in vitro and then frozen until such time as
a surrogate mother becomes available.
• A frozen zoo holds genetic resources in the form of sperm,
eggs and embryos from many endangered and vulnerable
species until they might be needed.
• Frozen zoos can hold much more genetic diversity than a
normal zoo and the material can be kept for very long time.
 Problems of successful conservation
• Conservation practices may be too successful and the
organism saved from extinction has increased in numbers
beyond the capacity of the ecosystem.
• Culling (killing or moving) is often used to reduce numbers.
• Transferring animals to places where there are small
populations is one option, but that is not easy over large
distances and is expensive.
• Alternative is to use methods of birth control.
• Vasectomy or chemical contraceptives (vaccine)
o It stimulates the body to produce antibodies against the
glycoproteins in the zona pellucida.
o These antibodies attach to the glycoproteins around the
eggs, so blocking the sperm from fertilizing the egg.
 Botanic gardens
• It plays similar roles to zoos for endangered plants.
• Seeds or cuttings are collected from species in the
wild and then used to build up a population of
plants and reintroduced to their natural habitats.
• Small samples of cells can be grown in lab by
tissue culture to produce large numbers of plants
from a few original specimens.
Roles of botanic gardens
 Botanic gardens as seed bank
• As well as cultivating plants, botanic gardens may store
seeds in a seed bank.
• If the plants become extinct in the wild there will still be
seeds from which they can be grown.
• If possible, seeds of the same species are collected from
different sites so that the samples contain a good
proportion of the total gene pool.
• Orthodox seeds can remain viable for at least 15 years if
they are dehydrated until containing 5% water and stored
at around -15 to -20 ˚C.
• Seed banks carry out germination tests at five-year
intervals.
• When fewer than 85% of the seeds germinate successfully,
then plants are grown from these seeds so that fresh seed
can be collected and stored.
 Difficulty of storing seeds
• Some plants have seeds (recalcitrant seeds) that
cannot be dried and frozen such as rubber,
papaya, coconut, coffee and cocoa.
• The only way to keep the genetic diversity of these
species are to collect seeds and grow successive
generations of plants or keep them as tissue
culture.
• Cocoa is banked as trees.
• Coconut palms’ seed (coconut) is very large, and
the embryo is too large to freeze.
• Collectors remove the embryos from the seeds,
culture them is sterile tubes and eventually plant
them.
 Controlling alien species

• They are invasive species that moved from one

ecosystem to another.
• This has happened by trading animals and plants
or unintentionally carrying them on ships.
• Some species have been introduced as biological
control agents to control pests.
 Example of alien species
• In Australia, the introduction of cane toad to control
insect pest of sugar cane.
• The cane toad has become a pest as it breeds
rapidly and has spread the country.
• They has few predators because it produces a
powerful toxin that kills most animals that eat it.
• Numbers of the northern quoll decrease steeply
because they try to eat the toads..
• Cane toad probably compete with some other
amphibian species for food and are known to eat
chicks.
 Example of alien species
• Red lionfish is native to the seas of South-East
Asia.
• It has spread throughout the Caribbean, eating its
way through many local species on coral reefs.
• There is no natural predator of the animal in its
new environment.
• Divers are encouraged to spear them to reduce
their populations.
• In some countries, people are encouraged to eat
them so fishermen will catch more of them.
 Example of alien species
• The water hyacinth is a
floating aquatic plant that
spreads rapidly when
introduced to new habitats.
• It blocks sunlight from
reaching native aquatic
plants and reduces the
oxygen concentration of the
water, so killing fish.
• It also provides a habitat for
mosquito larvae so its control
is important for the sake of
human health too.
 Damages from alien species
• Alien species may be carnivores so will prey on
many animals.
• Compete with existing predators in the ecosystem.
• They may be herbivores which will compete with
the existing herbivores in the ecosystem.
• Plants may compete with existing species for light,
minerals, water and space.
• They may introduce disease that the existing
species have not experienced so have no immunity.
• They may compete with native species for space
and breeding sites.
• They may change the environment so that native
species cannot survive.
International conservation organisations
• CITES
• An agreement to control the trade in endangered species
and any products from them, such as skins, furs and ivory.
• CITES considers the evidence presented to it about
endangered and vulnerable species and assigns them to
one of three Appendices.
 IUCN
• International union for conservation of nature is the
global authority on the status of the natural world
and the measures needed to safeguard it.
• Scientists monitor populations and evaluate the risk
of species becoming extinct.
• https://www.iucnredlist.org/