Prepared by: Lau Siaw Jiun Phoon Wei Yi 4 PISMP SN/PJ PC

Units of Conservation
Biodiversity refers to the range of variation or difference among living things. An alternative view is that genetic resources are the appropriate target of conservation. The unit of conservation is the smallest collective set of organisms that is considered in conservation planning.

Units of Conservation
It may be a genotype, a group of individuals in a single place, a set of populations, a taxanomic group such as a species, or groups of species that make up a community.

The units are used to design and manage conservation reserves, to set priorities for allocation resources and to evaluate of the adequacy of protection measures.

Genetic diversity
Between individuals within populations

Genetic diversity
Between species Between populations within species

Genetic diversity
Within populations, genetic diversity may be represented by different sequences of base-pairs on strands of DNA, by different chromosome numbers and arrangements between populations or between species, or by the different, generally based phenotypic traits exhibited by individuals within populations. Variation represented by the presence of alternative alleles at a single locus, or by difference among indivuduals in quantitative traits that are determined by many genes.

Genetic diversity
Genetic diversity enables populations to adapt to new environment conditions and so is directly relevant to the chances of long-term persistence of a population.

Genetic variation between populations is measured using genetic distance.

Genetic diversity
Between individuals in a populations

Genetic Variation
Between species in a higher taxon

Between populations within a species

Genetic diversity
The range of genetic distances within many genera is large. Examples:
i. Birds: genetic distances tend to be relatively small. Bird species within genera often have similar genetic compositions. Amphibian species: relatively large distance.

ii.

Genetic diversity
Species that are reproductively isolated and genetically distinct but morphologically similar may be relatively common among amphibians where visual cues and associated morphological change are relatively unimportant mechanisms in reproductive isolation.

Genetic information may be used to monitor population size and trends, to identify species, sexes or individuals, to evaluate mating systems, to reconstruct pediges, to confirm predictions of population structure, and to guide the management of genetic variation in closely managed populations.

Genetic diversity
One of difficulties in using genetic criteria to conserve biodiversity is that the requisite information is usually unavailable. Conservation planning require indicators of genetic variation.

Populations
The most important cause of genetic differentiation within a species is the spatial segregation of populations. Populations that do not freely exchange genetic information will experience some degree of independent genetic drift and there will be some environment conditions unique to each populations, resulting in unique selective pressures. These forces will tend to result in genetic differentiation.

Populations
The fate of populations determine the fate of genes. The extent of differentiation among populations will determine the strategies for conservation.

The most appropriate focus for conservation is at the population level.

If gene flow between populations is restricted, then populations are the units of evolution.

Populations
If the focus is on populations or metapopulations, the target for preservation becomes genetic variation. This level is much less affected by the idiosyncrasies of taxanomy and it is sensitive to the geographic distribution of biological variation. Recognition of the spatial structure of genetic variation and the identification of collections of populations for management and conservation is important for short term and long term conservation objectives.

The species concept

Species are defined by a set of morphological characters that are shared by members of that species, and are distinguished from other species by morphological discontinuities. Important: taxanomy shapes perceptions of biodiversity and the recognition of endangered species.

Protection of natural areas

Property rights to species

Implication of species concept

Preservation of taxa in botanical and zoological gardens

Access rights to genetic resources Legal and economic aspects of in situ protection

Priorities for germ plasm banks

The species concept

All species concepts may lead to a failure to protect biodiversity because they assume that individuals within species are uniform and they ignore genetic divergence within species.

When species are used instead, it is likely that different concepts will be applied to different taxonomic groups, and conservation efforts will fail to protect biodiversity as efficiently as they otherwise right.

The Number of Species

Estimates of the total number of described species are difficult to make because many groups contain a substantial proportion of synonyms ( redundant names resulting from species that have been described more than once, usually by different people). The literature on species descriptions is dispersed among many publications and is difficult to find and compile, and taxonomists disagree on what constitutes a species. As a result, current estimates of totals for the number of valid, described taxa, vary between 1.4 and 1.8 million.


The best known groups are the birds and mammals. These groups make up a tiny proportion of the worlds biota. Insects make up about 65% of all species. The vast majority of species are still undescribed. The figures for the number of undescribed insects, bacteria, viruses, algae, fungi, protozoans and nematodes are somewhat arbitrary because there are no reliable estimates of total numbers for these groups. Rate of description are calculated from the number of new species formally described each year.


Spesies that are considered attractive(such as flowering plants and butterflies), those that are most closely related to humans (vertebrates and especially mammals), and those that directly affect our economy (insect pests, plague rodents) or health (such as some viruses, bacteria and invertebrates) are the favoured objects of study. Usually when new taxa are discovered, they can be categorized into broad, often well known as groups.

Species Richness
Species richness -> The number of different species in a given site, habitat, or defined geographic region. Species diversity -> Refers to both the number and relative abundance of different kinds of species within a site of habitat. ->The amount of genetic differentiation among species.

 Maximizing the number of species at a location has been used as an objective of natural resource management.

Main Problems associated with the simple interpretation of the number of species

Maximum species richness may occur at a local scale following disturbance as a result of invasions by animals and plants more typically associated with disturbed environment.
- Although a higher number of species might occur, species that depend on undisturbed ecosystems may be eliminated from such modified landscapes.

Introduced animals would be given a weight equal to rare species which may be threatened by the impacts of human activities.
- Inappropriate application of such measures and failure to consider an appropriate spatial scale for their use, can lead to ineffective conservation strategies.

Endemism
A species or other taxon is regarded as endemic to an area only if it occurs uniquely in that area. Also refer to species with restricted geographic distributions. Factors of changes in endemism:
Changes in ranges of species (invasion(range extension)/range contraction) Speciation

Long geographic distance to sources of immigrants (lower migration rates)

Topographic and habitat variety within the area

high levels of endemism within an area

of Causes

Large size of area

Long periods since geological formation or isolation from other areas

Species Diversity

= Variety of species that we are likely to observe when we move from one place to another.

(alpha) diversity is the diversity of a community within a local area. -> measures the number of species and their relative abundances within a single location or defined geographic region.

(beta) diversity is the changes in species composition that occurs along an ecological gradient within a community.
-> Measures the rate of change in the assemblage of species as one move along the gradient. (gamma) diversity is the turnover of species between sites within more or less homogeneous habitat. -> Measures the spatial component of community diversity that is independent of environmental gradients. Ecosystem diversity applies at a landscape or global level and refers to the variety of different assemblages and communities of organisms that exist in different places within a landscape.

-> There is no consensus on the meaning of ecosystem diversity, reflected in the lack of a consensus on how to measure its properties.

Vegetation Structure As A Target for Conservation

forms. Biodiversity may take many

Variation in the physical structure of vegetation.
Variation in size and shape
Life forms of different species Age of individuals within species Different environments individuals experience

Biodiversity may be considerable.

Some Eucalypt species exhibit considerable morphological variation throughout their range, sometimes being difficult to recognize as the same taxon in different places.

Regeneration strategies of plants in a community -determinants of the structure that the community may achieve.

from -> species regenerate

seeds released after the parent plant has been firekilled or badly damaged.

Relatively even-age populations

Regeneration strategies of plants in a community

Uneven-aged populations -> Survive fire and resprout new growth from epicormic buds in the main stem.

How to find productivity of plant community structure

Imagine the vegetation in a community
If we know percentage and at what height the foliage is found, it tells us about the productivity of the community.

Project the crown of each plant on the ground

Estimate the proportion of the ground covered by the vegetation

Crown cover is the percentage of the surface of a site that falls within the crowns of plants. Either crown cover or foliage cover may be used to characterize the distribution and abundance of the biomass of a plant community.