Conservation

National parks are areas in which the wildlife and environment are protected. The activity of humans on this land is highly regulated. National parks aim to protect wild species in their natural habitats.

Marine Parks

Marine parks are similar to national parks but for conserving endangered marine ecosystems and species. They have restrictions that prohibit overfishing and pollution.

Zoos

When a species cannot be sustained in its natural environment, zoos are used. Endangered species are placed in captivity to be conserved. Sometimes the offspring of individuals are released into the wild through breeding programmes. Zoos also allow research as scientists can closely study animals’ behaviours, needs, and genetics. Despite this, zoos can reduce genetic diversity and don’t provide a suitable environment for animals.

Frozen Zoos

Frozen zoos store the genetic information of animals at extremely low temperatures so that they are preserved and can then be used to breed more individuals of a species through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and genetic engineering. It becomes important when traditional conservation methods are no longer useful.

Botanical gardens

Botanic gardens are essentially zoos for plants. Cuttings and seeds are used to develop a species population in captivity that can later be reintroduced into habitats. Tissue culturing and cloning can also obtain large numbers of plants from a small sample size.

Fig. 1 - The Singapore botanic gardens

Seed banks

Seed banks dry and store seeds in temperature-controlled environments to be used to regrow extinct plant species. As seeds only last a relatively short time, they are grown into plants and fresh seeds harvested every so often.

How do humans affect succession?

Human activities often alter the process of succession in many types of ecosystems. For instance, humans can clear and repurpose wide areas of land very quickly, destroying established ecosystems and preventing recolonisation from occurring.

Agricultural, residential, and recreational land are usually highly controlled by humans. For instance, the crops grown in farms are carefully controlled, and naturally occurring weeds are prevented from growing. Thus, a climax community cannot develop. However, as we will learn, this is not always bad!

Fig. 2 - The process of succession

Managing succession

When ecosystems move between different stages of succession, different species can be lost as they are either:

• Outcompeted by more dominant species
• Their habitats are destroyed or significantly altered

Human activities can disrupt the ecosystem even further and enhance progression to the next stage of succession.

Communities at intermediate stages of succession are more diverse than climax communities and often contain species that could not survive progression to the climax community. These species might be rare or endangered or provide vital resources for other species. Diverse communities are more resilient to change and disruption. Because of this, from a conservation point of view, it can be beneficial to deliberately prevent succession from proceeding in specific environments such as these diverse communities. Habitats and the species they harbour can thus be preserved by artificially managing the process of succession.

Conflicting interests between conservation and human need

As we saw above, habitats can be conserved through carefully controlled methods that come at the expense of particular species or resources. However, many human activities require excessive consumption of resources and are detrimental to ecosystems.

This problem has become particularly apparent as the human population grows and becomes more economically developed, requiring more and more resources to survive at an acceptable standard of living. Because of this, there is considerable conflict between human needs and conservation goals.

Take, for example, a coastal village that relies on the fish living in coral reefs both for food and income.

1. Due to climate change, the coral reef experiences episodes of coral bleaching that kill the coral and reduce the carrying capacity for fish.
2. As a result, fishermen experience economic losses and are driven to fish more than usual, further decreasing the fish stock.
3. Eventually, they might turn to more destructive practices such as dynamite fishing, which damages the reef itself.
4. If the overfishing continues, the coral reef population will decline into extinction.
5. If the fisherfolk do not catch enough fish, they will not earn enough to support their families.

Even after well-meaning interventions are put into place to conserve wildlife, communities may still end up paying a considerable cost to coexist with wild animals without gaining much benefit.

As we have seen above, the conflict between humans and conservation is often complex and multidimensional, and thus it is often difficult to resolve. Resolution requires careful and empathetic consideration of a wide array of factors, including the economic needs of the people, their capacity to enact specific tasks, and even the historical circumstances that led to the conflicts they currently face. Resolution can be tough when one or more of the deciding parties involved prefer to prioritise short-term benefits such as financial profit over long term sustainability.

However, with enough effort, it is still possible to develop resource management practices that balance human needs and conservation. Many interventions have been made to conserve biodiversity worldwide, such as the creation of protected areas, conservation laws, and breeding and repopulation programs. It is important to continuously evaluate the success and sustainability of these efforts and keep doing as much as possible to prevent further loss of the world’s biodiversity.