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Question
Assertion : Ex situ conservation is no longer about keeping threatened species in enclosures.
Reason : Gametes, embryos, tissues or seeds of endangered plants or animals can be conserved via techniques of cryopreservation, gene banks, seed banks, etc.
Assertion : Ex situ conservation is no longer about keeping threatened species in enclosures.
Reason : Gametes, embryos, tissues or seeds of endangered plants or animals can be conserved via techniques of cryopreservation, gene banks, seed banks, etc.
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Solution
The correct option is A Both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion
Ex situ (off site) conservation of biodiversity (variety amongst living organisms of an area) refers to protection and conservation of organisms in controlled environments, away from their natural habitats. Examples include botanical gardens.
This is in contrast to in situ conservation which involves conservation of organisms by conserving the entire ecosystem that they belong to. Examples include sacred groves (tracts of forest which are protected around places of worship).
Ex-situ conservation is preferred when an organism faces threats of extinction in the wild in the immediate or near future and needs urgent measures for its conservation.
Zoological parks and botanical gardens serve the purpose of off-site conservation of animals and plants, respectively, in enclosed areas. But, in recent times, ex situ conservation has gone beyond the scope of protecting threatened species in enclosures.
This can be said because advanced techniques have enabled conservation of the cells and tissues of threatened species by artificial means.
Gametes, fertilised eggs, seeds, plant parts, etc., can be preserved indefinitely via cryopreservation (in liquid nitrogen at -196°C) without disturbing their viability.
Seeds of threatened (any species vulnerable to endangerment in the near future) or endangered (a species seriously at risk of extinction) plant species, commercially important crop plants, etc., can be conserved for very long periods in seed banks.
Plants can be propagated artificially from different parts using tissue culture methods and eggs of animals can be fertilised in vitro to give birth to offspring. Thus, conservation is no longer limited to the enclosures of zoos or botanical gardens.
Hence both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
Figure : Cryopreservation
Ex situ (off site) conservation of biodiversity (variety amongst living organisms of an area) refers to protection and conservation of organisms in controlled environments, away from their natural habitats. Examples include botanical gardens.
This is in contrast to in situ conservation which involves conservation of organisms by conserving the entire ecosystem that they belong to. Examples include sacred groves (tracts of forest which are protected around places of worship).
Ex-situ conservation is preferred when an organism faces threats of extinction in the wild in the immediate or near future and needs urgent measures for its conservation.
Zoological parks and botanical gardens serve the purpose of off-site conservation of animals and plants, respectively, in enclosed areas. But, in recent times, ex situ conservation has gone beyond the scope of protecting threatened species in enclosures.
This can be said because advanced techniques have enabled conservation of the cells and tissues of threatened species by artificial means.
Gametes, fertilised eggs, seeds, plant parts, etc., can be preserved indefinitely via cryopreservation (in liquid nitrogen at -196°C) without disturbing their viability.
Seeds of threatened (any species vulnerable to endangerment in the near future) or endangered (a species seriously at risk of extinction) plant species, commercially important crop plants, etc., can be conserved for very long periods in seed banks.
Plants can be propagated artificially from different parts using tissue culture methods and eggs of animals can be fertilised in vitro to give birth to offspring. Thus, conservation is no longer limited to the enclosures of zoos or botanical gardens.
Hence both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
Figure : CryopreservationSuggest Corrections
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