Conservation

Test yourself on Conservation

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Managing Succession

Succession is often managed, and sometimes prevented, in the conservation of some habitats.

Managing grasslands

Many rare and protected species can be found in grasslands.
Without management, grassland would quickly turn into shrubs and then woodland by succession.
Managing grassland prevents succession from taking place.

Management techniques

Succession can be managed in two ways:
- Grazing - animals graze to prevent growth of vegetation.
- Burning - burning kills vegetation and allows secondary succession to take place.

Managing heather moors

Heather moors provide an ideal habitat for game birds like red grouse.
Red grouse feed on young, succulent heather shoots and makes nesting sites in the longer heather.
If left to succession, the heather would be unsuitable as either food or nesting sites for the red grouse.
Heather moorland is burnt approximately every 12 years to manage succession.

Human Needs vs Conservation

The conservation of species and habitats can be controversial. There can be conflicting evidence with regards to the benefits that some conservation management policies have.

Need for conservation

Humans pose a huge threat to biodiversity on the planet.
The two main threats from humans are:
- Population growth.
- Resource exploitation.
Conservation helps oppose the effects from humans.
Conservation protects ecosystems and the species within them to help prevent decreasing biodiversity.

Methods of conservation

There are a number of ways that species and ecosystems can be conserved:
- Protected areas (e.g. national parks) - protect habitats.
- Seedbanks - store seeds to avoid extinction.
- Protected species - avoid extinction.
- Fishing quotas - prevent overfishing.

Conflict - needs and conservation

Conflict exists between human needs and conservation.
Conservation can be expensive.
Human population growth means there is high demand for food, space and other resources. Conservation can sometimes make meeting these demands difficult.

Example of Conservation

The management of heather moorlands for the benefit of red grouse and the conservation of hen harriers is an example of a conflict between human needs and conservation.

Hen harriers

Hen harriers are a protected bird of prey species in the UK.
Hen harriers feed on other birds including red grouse.
Hen harriers are sometimes killed illegally because of the believed threat on red grouse.
The population of hen harriers has been declining.

Red grouse

Heather moorlands are conserved and managed to increase populations of red grouse.
Red grouse are shot for ‘game shooting’.
- Game shooting creates a large number of jobs (2,500 annually).
- Shooting also makes a significant contribution to the rural economy (£100 million a year).
The red grouse population has been declining.
Some argue that shooting the birds for sport is not ethical.

Conflict

The conflict between conservation of hen harriers and red grouse and human needs poses some questions.
- Should the hen harrier population be conserved if an increase in hen harriers will be detrimental to red grouse and game shooting?
- Should heather moorlands be conserved to increase populations of red grouse and should game shooting of red grouse continue?

Conflicting evidence

Evaluating evidence is important when considering the conflict between conservation and human needs.
Data can be collected about the numbers of the two birds and how their populations have changed in recent years.
It is important to compare multiple studies to make an informed decision.

Evaluating the evidence

When evaluating evidence about conservation, you should look at the methods used in a study.
- Has the study used a control?
- Is the sample size big enough?
- Was only one factor changed?