In-situ and ex-situ conservation of biodiversity

In a nutshell

Conservation schemes are very important in maintaining biodiversity at a local and global level. Maintaining biodiversity at a global level requires international cooperation and agreement. Different conservation schemes can be done in situ or ex situ depending on the circumstances.

In situ conservation

In situ means on site, therefore in situ conservation refers to methods that protect species in their natural habitat.

Method	Description
Protecting habitats	Protecting habitats includes activities such as controlling water levels to conserve wetlands and coppicing to conserve woodlands. This allows organisms to continue in their natural habitat.
Controlling or preventing the introduction of harmful species	This includes preventing the introduction of harmful species that would threaten local biodiversity such as the control of grey squirrels in some areas of the UK. (Grey squirrels are not native to the UK).
Creating protected areas for organisms	Protected areas include national parks and nature reserves. Both organisms and habitats are protected in these areas as the development of the land are restricted. This means the land cannot be used for building houses or farming.
Reintroducing hedgerows and field margins	Field margins are areas of land around the edges of a field where wildflowers and grasses are left to grow. Hedges can be planted around the fields to form hedgerows. Both hedgerows and field margins provide habitat for lots of different organisms. This is particularly useful in fields with only one type of crop as they have low biodiversity.
Government programmes	The government can implement programmes to increase biodiversity. Some governments have given legal protection to endangered species by making it illegal to kill them.

In situ conservation is beneficial as it allows large populations to be protected without major disruptions. However, it is difficult to control certain factors such as poaching, predators, disease and climate change in natural habitats.

Ex situ conservation

Ex situ conservation refers to conservation methods that are off site, this means species are moved to a new location.

Method	Description
Relocation	Sometimes organisms are moved to safer areas where the threats from poachers and predators aren't so severe.
Captive breeding	Sometimes organisms are bred in captivity and then released into the wild when they are strong, it is often carried out in zoos and animal sanctuaries.
Botanic gardens	Botanic gardens are places with controlled conditions where rare plants are grown for both conservation and educational purposes.
Seed banks	This is where seeds are frozen and stored for a long period of time without losing their fertility. Seed banks can provide reserves of plant species if they become endangered or extinct.

Ex situ conservation is beneficial as it can be done in a controlled environment without the threats of the wild. However, it has disadvantages as only a small amount of animals can be cared for at once and this is often very expensive to do. Animals who grow up around humans are also less likely to survive well in the wild.

International cooperation

Conservation agreements require cooperation on an international level, between countries, so organisms can be protected over a large area.

Examples

Rio convention on biological diversity	This aims to promote international strategies and guide governments on how to conserve biodiversity. This convention made it international law that the conservation of biodiversity is the responsibility of everyone.
Convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) agreement	This agreement aims to increase international regulation of the trade of wild animals and plant specimens. The countries who signed this agreement all made it illegal to kill endangered species.

Local conservation

Local conservation schemes are also important in maintaining local biodiversity.

Example

Limestone pavement orders in the Lake District have helped protect these pavements. Limestone pavements are solid blocks with fissures, in these fissures ferns grow and rare butterflies thrive in this habitat.

Biology; Biodiversity; KS5 Year 12; In-situ and ex-situ conservation of biodiversity