B.Ameena Beebi Assistant Professor of Home Science

1. Environmental
Science
Presented By
B.Ameena Beebi
Assistant Professor

2. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - INTRODUCTION
Biodiversity is the abbreviated word for biological diversity (bio-life or living
organisms, diversity-variety). Thus biodiversity is the total variety of life on
our planet, the total number of races, varieties and species. The sum of total of
various types of microbes, plants and animals (producers, consumers and
decomposers) in a system.
Biomes can be considered life zones, environment with similar climatic,
topographic and soil conditions and roughly comparable biological
communities (Eg. Grassland, forest). The biomes shelter an astounding
variety of living organisms (from driest desert to dripping rain forest, from
highest mountain to deepest ocean trenches, life occurs in a marvelous
spectrum of size, shape, colour and inter relationship). The variety of living
organisms, the biodiversity, makes the world beautiful.

3. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - INTRODUCTION
There are 1.4 million species known
presently. But based on new discoveries,
by research expeditions, mainly in
tropics, taxonomists estimate there are
between 3-50 million different species
may be alive today. Insects make up
more than one half of all known species
and may comprise more than 90% of all
species on earth.

4. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - INTRODUCTION
The concept of biodiversity may be analyzed in 3 different levels. They are
1.Ecosystem diversity
2. Species diversity
3. Genetic diversity
Ecosystem or ecological diversity means the richness and complexity of a
biological community, including tropic levels, ecological processes (which
capture energy), food webs and material recycling.
Species diversity describes the number of kinds of organisms within individual
communities or ecosystems.
Genetic diversity is a measure of the variety of versions of same gene within
individual species.

5. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
Most of the world’s biodiversity are near the equator especially tropical rain
forest and coral reefs. Of all the world’s species, only 10-15% live in North
America and Europe. The Malaysian Peninsula, for instance, has at least 8000
species of flowing plants, while Britain, with an area twice as large, has only
1400 species. South America has 200 000 species of plants. Areas isolated by
water, desert or mountain can also have high conc. of unique species and
biodiversity. New Zealand, South Africa and California are all mid-latitude
area isolated by barriers that prevent mixing up of biological communities
from other region and produce rich, unusual collection of species.

6. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - SIGNIFICANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
Biosphere is a life supporting system to the
human race. Each species in the biosphere has
its own significance. It is the combination of
different organisms that enables the biosphere to
sustain human race. Biodiversity is vital for a
healthy biosphere. Biodiversity is must for the
stability and proper functioning of the biosphere.
Besides these biodiversity is so important due to
having consumptive use values, productive use
values, social values, ethical values and aesthetic
values.

7. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY
We benefit from other organism in many ways. Even insignificant organisms
can play irreplaceable roles in ecological systems or the source of genes or
drugs that someday become indispensable.
Food : Many wild plant species could make important contributions to human
food suppliers either as they are or as a source of material to improve domestic
crops. About 80,000 edible plants could be used by human.
Drugs and medicine : Living organisms provides many useful drugs and
medicines. The United Nations Development Programme derived from
developing world plants, animals and microbes to be more than $30 billion per
year.

8. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY
Eg. For natural medicinal products
Penicillin – fungus is the source – Antibiotic
Quinine – chincona bark - Malaria treatment
Morphine – poppy bark – Analgesic
Twenty years before, once the drugs were not
introduced, childhood leukemia was fatal.
Now the remission rate for childhood
leukemia is 99%.

9. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS
Human life is inextricably linked to
ecological services provided by other
organisms. Soil formation, waste disposal,
air and water purification, solar energy
absorption, nutrient cycling and food
production all depend on biodiversity. In
many environments, high diversity may help
biological communities to withstand
environmental stress better and to recover
more quickly than those with fewer species.

10. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity provides a variety of environmental services from its species and
ecosystems that are essential at the global, regional and local levels.
Biodiversity is essential for preserving ecological processes, such as fixing and
recycling of nutrients, soil formation, circulation and cleansing of air and
water, global life support, maintaining the water balance within ecosystems,
watershed protection, maintaining stream and river flows throughout the
year, erosion control and local flood reduction. Food, clothing, housing, energy,
medicines are all resources that are directly or indirectly linked to the
biological variety present in the biosphere.

11. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
CONSUMPTIVE USE VALUE : A straight
consumptive use is the direct utilization of
timber, food, fuelwood and fodder by local
communities. The diversity of organisms
provide food, clothing, shelter, medicines,
proteins, enzymes, papers, sports goods,
musical instruments, beverages,
narcotics, pets, zoo specimens, tourism
and raw material for business prospects
etc.

12. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
PRODUCTIVE USE VALUE : This category comprises of marketable goods. The
biotechnologist uses bio-rich areas to prospect and search for potential genetic
properties in plants or animals that can be used to develop better varieties of
crops for use in farming and plantation programs or to develop better live
stock. To the pharmacist, biological diversity is the raw material from which
new drugs can be identified from plant or animal products. To industrialists,
biodiversity is rich storehouse from which to develop new products. For the
agricultural scientist, the biodiversity is the basis for developing better crops.
A variety of industries, like pharmaceuticals are highly dependent on
identifying compounds of great economic value from the wide variety of wild
species of plants located in undisturbed natural forests called “biological
prospecting”.

13. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
SOCIAL VALUES : Social value of biodiversity prospecting motivated habitat
conservation in some areas, as traditional societies valued it as a resource.
Ecosystem people value biodiversity as a part of their livelihood as well as
through cultural and religious sentiments. A great variety of crops have been
cultivated in traditional agricultural systems and permitted a wide range of
produce to be grown and marketed throughout the year and acted as an
insurance against the failure of one crop. In recent years, farmers have begun
to receive economic incentives to grow cash crops for national or international
markets, rather than to supply local needs. This has resulted in local food
shortages, unemployment, landlessness, and increased vulnerability to
drought and floods.

14. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
ETHICAL AND MORAL VALUES : Ethical values
related to biodiversity conservation are
based on the importance of protecting all
forms of life against illegal activities like
cloning of animals, smuggling of valuable
biodiversity instances, bio-piracy, illicit trade
etc. In India, several generations have
preserved nature through local traditions.
However, immediate benefit rather than
ethics appears to be modern man’s objective.

15. BIODIVERSITY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE - VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
AESTHETIC VALUE : Biodiversity is a direct source of pleasure and aesthetic
satisfaction – its contribution to quality of life, outdoor recreation and scenic
enjoyment. They provide opportunities for recreational activities such as
hiking, canoeing, bird watching, river rafting, rock climbing, trekking,
parasailing, bird watching and nature photography. The designing of
thousands of new horticultural species, wild life conservation, landscape
luxury, national parks, zoological and botanical gardens, snake, crocodile,
butterfly parks, and biotechnologically manipulated novel curios species added
to the existing aesthetics.

16. Thank You
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