Ex Situ Conservation - Seed Banks, Zoos, Botanical Gardens - Unsolved Practice Set

Q1. Ex situ conservation refers to the conservation of species:

1. Within their natural habitat
2. Outside their natural habitat, in artificial or controlled environments
3. Only through legal protection with no physical relocation
4. A method that does not actually exist in practice

Q2. Which of the following is an example of an ex situ conservation method?

1. A national park
2. A wildlife sanctuary
3. A seed bank or botanical garden
4. A biosphere reserve

Q3. Seed banks are primarily used for the conservation of:

1. Animal species
2. Plant genetic material, in the form of preserved seeds
3. Marine ecosystems only
4. Soil microorganisms

Q4. One key advantage of ex situ conservation, such as captive breeding programmes, is that it can:

1. Guarantee the complete natural behaviour of a species
2. Help protect critically endangered species from immediate extinction threats in a controlled environment
3. Eliminate the need for any future habitat protection
4. Automatically restore natural ecosystems

Q5. A common limitation associated with ex situ conservation is that:

1. It always perfectly replicates natural evolutionary processes
2. Captive populations may have limited genetic diversity, and species may lose natural behaviours over time
3. It has no practical application in biodiversity conservation
4. It requires no scientific or technical expertise