Exercises: Ecosystem conservation

Name three current threats to biodiversity and briefly explain what one of them consists of.

What is a national park? Name one in Mexico and a characteristic species or landscape that it protects.

What is an invasive alien species? Give an example present in Mexico and explain the problem it causes.

Distinguish between in situ conservation (national parks and nature reserves) and ex situ conservation (zoos, seed banks, or germplasm banks), and state one advantage of each strategy.

Explain what overfishing is and how measures such as closed seasons or minimum catch sizes help recover fish populations.

The Iberian lynx population has grown from around 100 individuals to more than 2 000 in just two decades. Cite two conservation measures that have made this recovery possible and explain how one of them works.

A local municipality is planning to build a parking lot next to a lagoon where protected birds overwinter. Draft a set of arguments outlining two foreseeable impacts of the construction work and two less harmful alternatives.

The graph shows the change in the population census of an endangered species since its recovery plan was launched. Calculate the total percentage increase between 2010 and 2024, describe the trend, and assess whether the recovery plan is working.

The construction of a motorway has split a protected natural area in two, leaving a population of badgers separated into two isolated groves. Over the years, environmental officers detect an increase in inbreeding, a lower birth rate, and frequent roadkill of individuals attempting to cross the road.

1. a) Justify why the isolation of these populations threatens their long-term survival, even though the original forest remains well-conserved.
2. b) Design a proposal based on wildlife corridors to restore connectivity between both sectors without halting motorway traffic, and predict what benefits this measure will bring to the species' migrations and genetic exchange.