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Conservation of biodiversity - Coggle Diagram
Conservation of biodiversity
The importance of conserving biodiversity
Resources: wood, fibres,oils,fuel and food
New food species: Many of the species that are currently farmed today were once cultivated a long time ago, but there are attempts to domesticate new species e.g The potato bean of North America has a high protein content and the Yeheb tree from Somalia produces edible nuts, is drought-resistant and can grow in many poor soils
Medicines: Plants need to protect themselves from herbivores. Some plants use thorns, spikes and bad taste but others produce chemicals that are toxic to animals. Many of these chemicals are alkaloids. In controlled amounts, these chemicals may have beneficial medical effects on humans.
Poppies are cultivated to produce the painkillers, morphine and codeine
Physiological research: Some species have evolved to become adapted to specific environments conditions studying these could give us a greater understanding of human health problems:
Hippopotamus skin secretes hipposudoric acid which is a natural sunscreen and antimicrobial agent. This is being studied to help improve treatment for burn victims
Genetic resources: Many populations of wild plants have genetic characteristics that may be used in breeding programmes to improve cultivated crop varieties:
Domesticated crops often lack genetic diversity because they have been produced from a limited number of original plants. The search for new characteristics that can be bred into the commercial cops focuses on the same species or close relatives. These are often called Crop wild relative species (CWR). Many CWR species are naturally found in areas where there is environmental degradation threatens their survival, for example, the middle east, Central America, and Southeast Asia
Resistant to drought
High yield
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Salt-tolerance:Sea kale is salt intolerant and has been studied for possible use in cross-breeding with closely related crops
Improved taste or apperance
Disease resistance: Sugar cane has been protected from the sugarcane mosaic virus by cross-breeding with wild sugar cane variety from Indonesia
Nutrient uptake
Pest control species: A wide range of herbivores, parasites, and pathogens are used to control agricultural pests. Some may be indigenous species, while others have to be introduced.
Bacillus thuringiensis is a pathogenic bacterium that has been used to control insect crop pests as it produces proteins that are toxic to insects
Biomimetics: Involves using knowledge and adaptations of other species, to improve the designs on manufactured items
Examples
Infection control: Bacteria does not stick easily to shark skin. A coating material that imitates shark skin is used in hospital operating theaters to help control bacterial infections
Architecture
Vehicle design: The splayed feathers of soaring birds reduce wind turbulence and drag. Copying the feather structures has improved aircraft wing designs to help increase fuel efficiency
Adhesion
Materials: The lightweight, flexible, strong silk produced by spiders is being copied to produce better car airbags and body armour