UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 29 of 150

Correct — A, In-situ conservation. In-situ ('on-site') conservation protects species in their natural habitats, so wild populations — and the genetic diversity/gene pool they carry — keep evolving under natural selection. National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves are the classic in-situ tools: by conserving the whole ecosystem they preserve the genetic variation of wild populations in place. A national park therefore maintains genetic diversity by the in-situ method.

• (b)Ex-situ conservation — Ex-situ ('off-site') conservation keeps organisms outside their natural habitat — zoos, botanical gardens, seed/gene banks, captive breeding. It typically maintains only limited genetic diversity. A national park, by definition, conserves species in their habitat (in situ), which is the opposite of ex-situ.
• (c)Gene pool — The gene pool is the total genetic variation of a population — it is the thing being conserved, not a method of conservation. It answers 'what is maintained', not 'how a national park maintains it', so it does not fit the sentence.
• (d)None of the above — Incorrect, because option (a) in-situ conservation is precisely the method by which national parks maintain genetic diversity — so 'none of the above' cannot be right.

Biodiversity conservation is of two broad kinds. In-situ conservation protects species within their natural habitats — national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, sacred groves, conservation and community reserves — conserving whole ecosystems and their gene pools in place. Ex-situ conservation keeps organisms away from their habitat — zoos, botanical gardens, seed/gene banks, cryopreservation and tissue culture.

The tempting wrong choice is (c) 'gene pool', because the question mentions genetic diversity. But the gene pool is what is being conserved, not the method. The sentence asks by which METHOD a national park maintains that diversity — and that method is in-situ conservation, protecting the species where it naturally lives.

• In-situ = conservation in the natural habitat: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, sacred groves.
• Ex-situ = conservation outside the habitat: zoos, botanical gardens, seed/gene banks, captive breeding.
• In-situ conservation protects entire ecosystems and lets natural evolutionary processes continue, preserving wild gene pools.
• National parks and sanctuaries are notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; national parks carry the highest degree of legal protection.

• Choosing 'gene pool' because the question mentions genetic diversity — it is the object, not the method.
• Confusing in-situ (protection in the habitat) with ex-situ (zoos, gene banks).

UPSC and UPPSC repeatedly test the in-situ vs ex-situ split — 'which of the following is/ is NOT a site for in-situ conservation', or match the method to its example.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is an example of ex-situ conservation of biodiversity?

  • (a)Biosphere reserve
  • (b)National park
  • (c)Seed / gene bank
  • (d)Wildlife sanctuary

  Answer(c) Seed / gene bank — it conserves germplasm off-site, away from the natural habitat, which is ex-situ; the other three are in-situ sites.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Sacred groves, which help conserve local biodiversity, are an example of which method of conservation?

  • (a)Ex-situ conservation
  • (b)In-situ conservation
  • (c)Cryopreservation
  • (d)Captive breeding

  Answer(b) In-situ conservation — sacred groves protect species within their natural habitat through community/religious tradition.