Question

A threatened plant species needs urgent measures to save it from extinction. Find out the least desirable approach in this scenario from the options given below.

• A. Propagate the plant using tissue culture techniques
• B. Try and save the entire ecosystem
• C. Conserve the seeds of the plant in seed banks
• D. Conserve the plant in the controlled environment of a botanical garden

Answer 1

The correct option is B Try and save the entire ecosystem

Extinction of a species occurs when no living individual of that species exists in any part of the world.

Species which face imminent threats of extinction in the near future are called threatened species and need urgent measures for conservation. In such cases, organisms belonging to the threatened species are collected and conserved in special settings under controlled conditions, away from their natural habitat. This approach is known as ex situ conservation of biodiversity.

A threatened plant species requires urgent measures to prevent extinction. Thus trying to conserve it in its natural habitat (in situ), along with its entire ecosystem is not advisable as the time and effort of conservation would be spent on saving all the flora and fauna in its habitat, that affect its existence one way or the other. This would prevent the resources, needed for conservation, from being focussed on this particular threatened species of plant which needs them most. Hence option b is correct.

Thus the more preferable approach would be to collect the members of the plant species and maintain them in controlled environments of botanical gardens, conserve the seeds in seed banks or propagate them at a faster rate by tissue culture of the plant parts. Hence options a, c and d are incorrect.