Unit 3 BIODIVERSITY
Unit 3 BIODIVERSITY
Unit 3 BIODIVERSITY
Variability among living organisms from all sources (including terrestrial, marine and
other ecosystems)
Walter G Rosen coined the term biodiversity in the year 1985 Which is a relatively new
compound word of the longer version 'Biological Diversity', which was introduced by
Lovejoy (1980) to express the number of species present in the community.
India with 2.4% of world land area accounts for 7-8% of all recorded species, including
over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 animal species.
India ranks 10th among the plant rich countries of the world
11th in terms of number of endemic species of higher vertebrates
6th among the centers of diversity and origin of agricultural crops.
Country % Diversity
Mega-biodiverse Brazil 1/10th of world species, 55,000 plants species, 103,870 animal species
Columbia 45,000 plant species and 20% of the total global species. It also has 1,900 species of
Countries birds, 2,000 species of fish and around 7,000 species of beetles
United state 428 mammal species, 784 bird species, 311 reptile species, and 295 amphibian species.
Till date, there are 91,000 insect species
South Africa 22,000 different vascular plants which makes up about 9% of the known plant species
Mega-biodiverse countries are a group of on Earth.
nations that contains more than 70% of the Philippines 100 mammal and 170 bird species found in the country are endemic
earth‟s bio-diversity, identified in 1998 by Papua New Guinea 5% of the world‟s biodiversity spread over less than 1% of the Earth‟ land.
Conservation International (CI), to Malaysia 210 mammal species, 250 reptile species, 150 species of snakes, and 80 species of
lizards, 150 species of frogs and thousands of insect species.
promote the awareness for biodiversity
conservation among the world nations. The Democratic Republic of Congo Around 20% of the world‟s animal species.
Australia Greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species. Among the flora, many
evergreen species, especially eucalyptus are dominant. In the animal kingdom,
Kangaroo, Koala, and wombat are Australian specialty.
Indonesia 1,531 species of birds, 515 species of mammals
China
Mexico 12% of the world‟s biodiversity with 200,000 different species.
Venezuela More than 1,400 bird species out of which 48 are endemic, 3,900 species of fungi and
over 25,000 species of Orchids.
Ecuador 1,600 bird species, 16,000 species of plants and 6,000 species of butterfly
Peru 21,000 species of plants and birds, out of which almost 6,000 are endemic.
India 7-8% of the species of the world, 91,000 species of animals and 45,500 species of
plants. Of these 12.6% of mammals, 4.5% of birds, 45.8% of reptiles, 55.8% of
amphibians and 33% of Indian plants are endemic, being found nowhere else in the
world.
Madagascar 14000 Plant species, 90 % flora and fauna which are endemic or native and not found
anywhere else on the Earth.
Bio-geographic Regions of India
Major biogeographic habitats of India
On the type of flora, India has been divided into following geographical
regions:
1. The Western Himalayas
2. The Eastern Himalayas
3. Western Deserts
4. Gangetic Plains
5. Central India
6. Western Coast
7. Deccan Plateau
8. North-East India
9. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Zoo-geographical regions of India
On the type of fauna, India has been divided into following zoogeographical
regions:
1. Himalayan Region
2. Malabar Region
3. Nilgiri Region
4. Northern Plains
5. Desert Lands
6. Deccan Plateau Region
Levels of Biodiversity
Genetic diversity
– Variations among the genes of the
same species are known as genetic
diversity.
Ecosystem Diversity
– Ecosystem diversity is the
diversity of habitats which
include the different life forms
within.
– The term also refers to the
variety of ecosystems found
within a biogeographical
political boundary.
Productive Value Values of biodiversity
Different products are obtained from different organisms, like silk from silk-moth/worm, wool
from sheep, fur of many animals
lac from lac insects etc.
Ecological Services
It refers to the services provided by ecosystems like
Prevention of soil erosion
Prevention of floods
Maintenance of soil fertility
Cycling of nutrients,
Maintenance of gaseous cycles
Hydrological cycle
Carbon sinks
Pollutant absorption and reduction of the threat of global warming etc.
Biodiversity have enormous potential and a decline in biodiversity will lead to huge economic,
ecological and socio-cultural losses.
Values of Biodiversity
Survival
Food: A large number of wild plants are consumed by human beings as food.
Fuel: The fossil fuels coal, petroleum and natural gas are also products of fossilized
biodiversity.
Health and Healing
About 75% of the world population depends upon different plants or plant extracts for
medicines.
Ethical and Aesthetic Value
Many of the plants are considered holy and sacred in our country like Tulsi, Peepal etc.
The ethical value means that we may or may not use a species but knowing the very fact
that this species exists in nature gives us pleasure.
People from far and wide spend a lot of time and money to visit wilderness areas where
they can enjoy the aesthetic value of biodiversity and this type of tourism is now known as
eco-tourism.
Hot spots of Biodiversity
Biosphere reserves
Biosphere reserves are areas of terrestrial and
coastal ecosystems promoting solutions to
reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its
sustainable use.
They are internationally recognized, nominated
by national governments and remain under
sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are
located. There are 18 biosphere reserves in India.
Eg. Sundarban, Nanda Devi, Gulf of Mannar.
In situ Conservation
• Advantages
– Ecological integrity is maintained and managed.
– Better opportunity for conservation as well as evolution.
– Cheaper way of conservation.
– Potential of fast growth and reproduction rate.
• Disadvantages
– Less protection against pollution.
– Poachers and Eco tourists may cause damage.
– Large area is required to protect entire habitat.
In situ Conservation
Zones of a biosphere reserve
Core zone
In core or natural zone human activity is not allowed. This
area is legally protected and undisturbed ecosystem.
Buffer zone
The immediate surrounding area of core zone is buffer zone.
Here limited human activities live like research, education
and research strategy is permitted.
Transition zone
transition zone is the outermost or peripheral area of
biosphere reserve. With the cooperation of reserve
management and local people several human activities like
settlements, cropping, recreation, and forestry are carried out
without disturbing the environment.
Restoration zone
Through the restoration activities selected degraded area
called restoration region is restored to natural form. This is a
part of Buffer zone.
In situ Conservation
National Parks Conservation of species of a No person resides in the park other Core
habitat with minimal or very than public servants on duty and
low intensity of human persons permitted by the chief
activities wildlife warden
Wildlife Conservation of species and No person resides in the park other Core, Buffer and
Sanctuary habitats by manipulative than public servants on duty and Restoration
management persons permitted by the chief
wildlife warden
Biosphere Conservation of natural Both natural and human-influenced Core, Buffer,
Reserves resources and the improvement ecosystems; substantial human Restoration and
of the relationship between settlement Transition
humans and the environment
Ex situ Conservation
Botanical Gardens (122)
Botanical gardens are used for the conservation of rare and endangered plant
species for study and research of specific plant characters and for
disseminating scientific information and experiences to promote sustainable
development.
Aquaria (24)
The aquaria are mainly used for the threatened and endangered fresh water
species.
Zoo (155)
In the past, zoos were mainly display facilities for the purpose of public
enjoyment and education. As large numbers of the species traditionally on
display have become rarer in the wild, many zoos have taken on the
additional role of building up numbers through captive breeding
programmes.
Ex situ Conservation
Advantages
Organisms are completely protected from predation and poaching.
The species survive longer and may breed more offspring than
usual.
The quality of offspring may be improved by genetic techniques.
Breeding of hybrid species is possible.
Disadvantages
Animals may not behave as normal making reproduction difficult.
Animals may not survive reintroduction into the wild.
Overprotection may result in loss of natural occurrence.
Man-wildlife conflict
Sometimes we come across conflicting situations when wildlife starts causing
immense damage and danger to man and under such conditions it becomes very
difficult for the forest department to pacify the affected villagers and gain local
support for wild-life conservation.
Elephant is one of the holy animal in India, especially in Kerala but due to
elephant attack some 500 people are killed by each year.
The Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand is famous for notable man-eaters
leopard, responsible for at least 400 attacks on humans.
The largest Swamp and mangroves forest of India is also home to over 500
Bengal tigers, who killed from 50-250 people per year in India and
Bangladesh.
Causes of Man-animal conflicts
• Shrinkage of habitat.
• Man-eating tendency.
• Food scarcity.
• Electric wiring.
• Lack of corridors.
• Inadequate compensation to the farmers.
India: A Mega-diversity nation
Conservation International identified 18
mega-diverse countries in 1998. India is one
of them.
Few of the fields of diversity of India are:
Geographical diversity
Climatic diversity
Biodiversity
Habitat diversity
Cultural diversity