What is Conservation Study

1
What is Conservation Study?

• When the last individual of a race of living
  things breathes no more, another heaven and
  another earth must pass before such a one can be
  again.
• William Beebe

2
Based Upon Value of Biodiversity

• Anthropocentric Value
• Human utilitarian value based upon providing
  goods, ecosystem services and information.
• Biocentric Value
• Intrinsic value is given to living organisms,
  species and biotic communities separate from
  human interests.
• Not mutually exclusive from anthropocentric value

3
In Response to

• Rapid change in the biosphere due to human
  activity, especially over the past 200 years.
• Lack of information about living organisms.
• The concept that we should exert caution in
  exploiting and eliminating something with
  potential value, currently undiscovered.

4
Conservation Ethics Provide Guidance for
Conservation Study

• Modern guiding principles based upon three
  philosophical movements of the 19th and 20th
  centuries.
• Romantic-Transcendental Conservation Ethic
• Resource Conservation Ethic
• Ecological Land Ethic

5
Romantic-Transcendental Ethic

• 19th century writers inspired this ethic
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
• John Muir
• Nature was portrayed as a place to refresh the
  soul and commune with God.
• Anthropocentric

6
Resource Conservation Ethic

• Gifford Pinchot, first director of the Forest
  Service under Theodore Roosevelt.
• Natural resources should be utilized for the
  benefit of the greatest number for the longest
  time.
• Multiple Use Concept for federal lands.
• Anthropocentric

7
Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic

• Aldo Leopold (1949 Sand County Almanac)
• Grew out of resource-based ethic of Pinchot.
• Recognized ecosystems as complex, integrated
  systems, not a collection of independent species
  to manage separately.
• Provided the first biocentric value of the three
  major ethics.

8
Managing Populations in Trouble

• Based on scientific principles of ecology,
  genetics and evolution.
• Incorporates the interests of local people.
• Often facilitated through the United Nations
  programs, national governments and local
  governments.
• Consider economic concerns, cultural influence
  and political realities.

9
Understanding Single Population Management
Requires

• Principles of genetics and ecology.
• Principles of mathematics involving population
  change over time.
• Understanding concepts of evolution.

10
Theoretical non-evolving population

• The frequencies of alleles in a very large
  populations gene pool remain constant over time
  when
• Only random sexual shuffling of alleles due to
  sexual reproduction occurs.
• No mutation occurs.
• No new alleles are introduced from outside the
  population.
• No environmental conditions favor one allele form
  over another (No natural selection occurs).

11
Consider two allelic forms for a gene, A and a

• The population may have individuals with genotype
  
• AA or
• Aa or
• aa
• Will the frequency of the AA, Aa or aa genotype
  in the population change over time?
• Will the frequency of the A allele form and a
  allele form in the population change over time?

12
Phenotypes
Genotypes
0.64 0.16
0.8
Gamete Frequency
Therefore Gametes available to make the F1
generation
a 20
A 80
13
ova
F1 Genotype Frequency
p 0.8
q 0.2
p 0.8
P2
pq
sperm
q 0.2
pq
q2
14
Hardy-Weinberg Theorem
p q 1
p2 2pq q2 1

• Assuming a large population with random mating
  and no natural selection
• The frequency of alleles in a populations gene
  pool will remain constant over generations.

15
Evolution of Populations

• Genetic Drift change in allelic frequency due
  to sampling error.
• Bottleneck Effect dramatic reduction of a
  population.
• The Founder Effect small populations may start
  a new population.
• Non-Random mating
• Mutation
• Natural Selection

16
(No Transcript)
17
Try an example! Your cluster is the population.

• Flip a coin two times to determine your genotype.
• AA heads, heads
• Aa heads, tails (or tails, heads)
• aa tails, tails
• Flip the coin to determine your sex.
• Heads Female, Tails Male
• Record your results on a sheet of paper.
• Example Aa female

18
Clouded Leopard
19
Cluster Population Characteristics

• Count and record the number of each genotype in
  the room and the number of males and females.
  Record these numbers on the board.
• Determine the frequency of the genotypes and the
  frequency of each individual allele form in the
  population.

20
Producing the Next Generation

• Find a mate.
• Set up a Punnett Square.
• Determine all possible genotypes of offspring.
• Determine the genotype of your offspring.
• Determine the sex of your offspring.
• Write this down to give to your offspring.
• Pass the gatekeeper with this information to get
  an offspring.

21
Producing the next generation

• 1) Add your genotypes
• 2) Add possible genotypes of offspring
• 3) Flip a coin twice to determine genotype of
  offspring
• 4) Flip a coin once to determine sex of offspring

22
Record Several Generations

• Follow the changes, or lack of changes in the
  frequency of alleles in your population.
• What potential problems can you foresee for the
  wild population?

23
VORTEX

• Population Software
• Used to review possible trends in small
  populations.
• After reviewing the software demonstration
  identify ways this software may be a useful to to
  conservation biologists.