2. BIODIVERSITY
The number and variety of plants, animals and other
organisms that exist in an ecosystem is known as biodiversity.
It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in
different ecosystems.
The richness of biodiversity depends on the climatic
conditions and area of the region.
Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution
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6. ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY AT DIFFERENT
LEVELS AND SCALES:
Community diversity- number sizes and spatial
distribution
Landscape diversity-scales of patchiness.
Local extinction(Particular area or region)
Actual Extinction (Eg: Zebra-African Savanna)
8. VALUES OF BIODIVERSITY
Consumptive Use
Productive Use
Social Use
Ethical Use
Aesthetic Use
Option Value
9. MEASUREMENTS OF BIO-DIVERSITY
Point richness-single point with given space
Alpha richness – small homogeneous area
Beta richness – species composition across different
habitats
Gamma richness – across large landscape
10. INDIA AS MEGA DIVERSITY NATION
Just 17 of the world’s 190 or so countries contain 70
percent of its biodiversity, earning them the title
“megadiverse.”
India is one of these megadiverse countries with 2.4% of
the land area, accounting for 7-8% of the species of the
world, including about 91,000 species of animals and
45,500 species of plants, that have been documented in
its ten bio-geographic regions.
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.
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12. Some of the salient features of India’s biodiversity are as under:
India has two major realms called the
1.Palaearctic and
2.The Indo Malayan;
Three biomes, namely
1.The tropical humid forests,
2.The tropical dry deciduous forests and
3.The warm desert/ semi-deserts.
India has ten biogeographic regions, namely the Trans-Himalayan, the
Himalayan, the Indian desert, the semi-arid zone, the Western Ghats, the
Deccan Peninsula, the Genetic plain, North-East India, the Islands, and
the coasts.
India is one of the 12 mega-diversity nations of the world.
India is one of the 12 centers of origin of cultivated plants.
13. There are two hotspots that extend into India. There are
the Western Ghats/ Sri Lanka and the Indo-Burma region
(covering the Eastern Himalayas). Further these hotspots
are included amongst the top eight most important or
hottest hotspots.
India has 26 recognised endemic centres that are home to
nearly a third of all the flowering plants (angiosperms)
identified and described to date.
India has six Ramsar Wetlands. They are –
Chilika Lake, Harike Lake, Loktak Lake, Keoladeo
National Park, Wular Lake and Sambhar Lake.
14. India has 5 world heritage sites namely,
1.Kaziranga National Park,
2.Keolades Ghana National Park(Rajasthan),
3.Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, (Assam)
4.Nanda Devi National Park ( Uttrakhand) and
5.Sundarban National Park (West Bengal).
15. India has twelve biosphere reserves, namely
Nilgiri,
Nanda Devi,
Nokrerk,
Manas,
Sunderbans,
Gulf or Mannar,
Great Nicobar,
Similpal,
Dibru-Saikhowa,
Dehang Debang,
Pachmarchi and
Kanchanjanga.
16. Further, amongst the protected areas, there are 88 national
parks and 490 sanctuaries in India covering an area of 1.53 lakh
sq.km.
Based on a survey of about two-third of the geographical area of
the country, the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MOEF) reports that
India has at present 89,317 species of fauna and 45,364 species of
flora representing about 7.31% of the world fauna and 10.88% the
world flora described so far.
In plants, the species richness is high in angiosperms, bryophyta
and petridophyta, and in the family orchidaceae. In animals, arthropoda
(insects) are predominant.
17. India is also rich in agro-biodiversity. There are 167 crop
species and wild relatives.
Further, India is considered to be the center of origin of
30,000 to 50,000 varieties of rice, pigeon-pea, mango,
turmeric, ginger, sugarcane, gooseberries, etc.
India ranks seventh in terms of contribution to world
agriculture.
18. India also boasts of rich marine biodiversity, along the coastline
of 7516.5 km with exclusive economic zone of 202 million sq.km,
supporting the most productive ecosystems such as mangrooves,
estivaries, lagoons and coral reefs. The number of zooplankton
recorded is about 16,000 species.
The benthic fauna largely consists of polychaeta (62%),
crustacean (20%) and molluscs (18%) with the biomass of about 12
gm per sq.metre.
Over 30 species of marine algae and 14 species of seagrass
have been reported. There are over 45 species of mangrove
plants.
Over 342 species of corals belonging to 76 genera have been
reported and about 50% of the world’s reef building corals are
found in India.
19. Hot-Spots of Bio-diversity
No uniform distribution of bio-diversity
Richest and most threatened reservoirs of plants and
animals
If these species is lost, they can never be replaced.
20. Criteria to qualify as hot-spots
The richness of endemic species
Significant percentage of specified species should be
present
It must have more than 70% of its original habitat
The site must be under threat
21. BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS OF THE WORLD
Africa
1. Eastern Afro-Montane
2. The Guinean forests of Western
Africa
3. Horn of Africa
4. Madagascar and the Indian
Ocean Islands
5. Maputoland, Podoland, Albany
hotspot
6. Succulent Karou
7. East Malanesian islands
8. South Africa's Cape floristic
hotspot
9. Coastal forests of Eastern Africa
Asia and Australia
1. Himalayan hotspot
2. The Eastern Himalayas
3. Japan biodiversity hotspot
4. Mountains of South-West China
5. New Caledonia
6. New Zealand biodiversity hotspot
7. Philippine biodiversity hotspot
8. Western Sunda (Indonesia, Malas
and Brunei)
9. Wallace (Eastern Indonesia)
10. The Western Ghats of India and
Islands of Sri Lanka
11. Polynesia and Micronesian Islands
Complex including Hawaii
12. South-Western Australia
22. Contd…
North and Central America
1. California Floristic Province
2. Caribbean islands hotspot
3. Modrean pine-oak wood lands of the USA
and Mexico border
4. The Mesoamerican forests
23. Aquatic Hotspots
South America
1. Brazil's Cerrado
2. Chilean winter rainfall
(Valdivian) Forests
3. Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena
4. Tropical Andes
5. Atlantic forest
Europe and Central Asia
1. Caucasus region
2. Iran-Anatolia region
3. The Mediterranean basin
and its Eastern Coastal region
4. Mountains of Central Asia
24. Hotspots of Biodiversity in India
1.Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that falling
in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar)
2. Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and
Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia and southern China)
3. Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines)
4. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri
Lanka)
25. 1. The Western Ghats
These hills are present along the western edge of peninsular India. Since they are
situated near the ocean, they are likely to receive a good amount of rainfall. Most
of the deciduous, as well as rainforests, are present in this region.
Around 77% of the amphibians and 62% of the reptiles found here cannot be
spotted elsewhere in the world.
There are more than 6000 vascular plants here which belong to more than 2500
genus. 3000 plants out of these are endemic.
Most of the spices found in the world such as black pepper and cardamom all are
believed to have originated in the Western Ghats.
Most of the species are however present in the Agasthyamalai Hills situated in the
extreme South.
The region is also home to around 450 species of birds, 140 mammals, 260
reptiles and 175 amphibians. Such diversity is quite beautiful as well as rare but
now lies on the verge of extinction.
The vegetation in this region was originally spread over 190,000 square
kilometres but has reduced to 43,000 square kilometres today. Only 1.5% of the
original forest is still prevalent in Sri Lanka
26. 2. The Himalayas
The Himalayan Mountains are the highest in the world and abode some of the highest
peaks of the world including Mount Everest and K2. Some of the major rivers in the
world originate from the Himalayas. The Himalayas comprise more than 100
mountains beyond 7200 meters.
There are almost 163 endangered species in this region including one-horned
rhinoceros, wild Asian water buffalo
45 mammals, 50 birds, 12 amphibians, 17 reptiles, 3 invertebrates and 36 plant
species.
Coming to the fauna, there are 10,000 species of plants in the Himalayas a third of
which are endemic and cannot be located anywhere else in the world.
Some of the threatened ones include Cheer pheasant, Western Tragopan,
Himalayan quail, Himalayan vulture, White-bellied heron.
Mammals too can be spotted here with over 300 species such as Asiatic wild dogs,
sloth bears, snow leopard, black bear, blue sheep and wild water buffalo.
Namdapha flying squirrel is, however, a mammal that is almost on the verge of
extinction and therefore needs immediate attention.
27. THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
Habitat loss
Poaching of wild-life
Man-Wildlife conflicts
Destruction of coastal areas
Filing up of wetlands
Commercial exploitation
28. Endangered Species
Endangered species are organisms that face a high risk of extinction due to habitat loss,
genetic variation, or other factors.
1. JAVAN RHINOS
2. AMUR LEOPARD
3. SUNDA ISLAND TIGER
4. MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
5. MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
6. YANGTZE FINLESS PORPOISE
7. BLACK RHINOS
8. AFRICAN FOREST ELEPHANT
9. SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN
10. HAWKSBILL TURTLES
30. RED Databook
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the
world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of
biological species.
document that is created for recording endangered and rare species of plants,
animals.
Himalayan Brown/Red Bear
Pygmy Hog
Andaman White-toothed Shrew
Kondana Rat
Large Rock Rat or Elvira Rat
Namdapha Flying Squirrel
Malabar Civet
Sumatran Rhinoceros
Kashmir stag/hangul
32. Factors affecting biodiversity
1.Over-exploitation of natural resources
2.Degradation of habitat
3.Discharge of industrial waste
4.Global warming
5.Urbanization
6.Use of insecticides
7.Construction of dam
34. In-situ Conservation
In-situ (‘on site’, ‘in place’) conservation is a set of
conservation techniques involving the designation, management
and monitoring of biodiversity in the same area where it is
encountered. `
Methods of In-situ conservation
Biosphere Reserves
National Parks
Wild-life Sanctuaries
Botanical Gardens
35. Ex-situ Conservation
Ex-situ (‘off site’) conservation is a set of conservation
techniques involving the transfer of a target species away
from its native habitat.
Methods of Ex-situ conservation
Seed Storage,
Captive Breeding,
Slow-growth Storage,
DNA Storage.
Zoo
Aquarium
36. Steps of conservation of biodiversity
All the varieties of food, timber plants, livestock, microbes and agricultural
animals should be conserved.
All the economically important organisms should be identified and conserved.
Unique ecosystems should be preserved first.
The resources should be utilized efficiently.
Poaching and hunting of wild animals should be prevented.
The reserves and protected areas should be developed carefully.
The levels of pollutants should be reduced in the environment.
Deforestation should be strictly prohibited.
Environmental laws should be followed strictly.
The useful and endangered species of plants and animals should be conserved
in their nature as well as artificial habitats.
Public awareness should be created regarding biodiversity conservation and its
importance.
