Ch. 4 — Interventions To Maintain Biological Diversity * 93 



Figure 4-1.— Transfers of Biotic Material Between IManagement Systems 



SOURCE; Office of Tecfinology Assessment. 1986. 



botanic gardens, or private collections. Taking 

 wild specimens for living collections may pro- 

 vide material for research and public education, 

 may prevent captive populations from inbreed- 

 ing, and may even enhance wild populations 

 through later reintroduction. However, these 

 activities can— and have— threatened wild pop- 

 ulations of a number of species. 



It is often possible to take only germplasm — 

 seeds, cuttings, and semen— rather than entire 

 organisms. This approach has the advantage 

 of being less destructive to rare or endangered 

 populations (6). In the interest of preserving en- 

 dangered populations, mammal germplasm col- 

 lection is increasingly being attempted. Semen 

 has been collected from wild populations of 



