This document discusses biodiversity and the impacts of climate change. It notes that biodiversity provides ecological services like climate stability and is a source of biological resources. Climate change is predicted to negatively impact agriculture, forests, and species in India by raising temperatures and altering rainfall patterns. The document calls for community actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to help mitigate these effects on biodiversity.

1. D.K.Belsare
Former Prof & Dean Life Sciences
Barkatullah University Bhopal
P.O.Box 531, Bhopal 462016
Email: d.belsare@yahoo.com

2. Biodiversity means Variety and
Variability of Species
 Ephemeral
phenomenon
 all forms of life,
including all species
and genetic
variants within
species
 all ecosystems that
contain and sustain
those diverse forms
of life.

3. It is life supporting system. Biodiversity also
provides inputs for agriculture without which
production; either would not occur or would be
greatly decreased
Provides ecological services:
Contribution to climate stability
Protection of water resources
Nutrient storage and cycling
Soil formation and protection
Pollution breakdown and
absorption
Maintenance of ecosystems
Recovery from unpredictable
events

4. Source of biological resources.
What can they give us?
 Source of food, medicine, wood products,
ornamental plants, breeding stock & population
reservoirs.
 Future resources: Sunscreens from corals, Light
and high tensile fibres from spider silk, Instant
adhesives from velvet worms or barnacles.
 High polymer- propolis prepared by bees. It is
antiviral & antibacterial. Instant pain reliever
 Lac from lac insects
 Chips development for solar energy from
nanostructure of wings of butterflies

5. Social benefit:
 Research,
education and
Monitoring.
 Cultural values
 Recreation
 etc

6. Impact of climate change on
biodiversity of India MoEF
Study
 Adverse effect on agriculture, health, forestry
and infrastructure.
 Temperature rise by 3o C to 4oC towards the end
of 21st century.
 Reduction in wheat and rice yields. Rainfall
patterns and quantities in periods of drought in
some regions, more rainfall in central India and
reduced rain in the north-east, leading to
changes in forestry and vegetation. Rain spells in
the Ganga , Krishna and Godavari more intense
 Number of rainy days may be reduced in the
western parts of the Gangetic basin.
 70% of vegetation vulnerable to change.
 Adverse impact on wildlife and other biological
species.

7. Climate change on Forests of
India Sukumar & Ravindran 1995
 Shift in vegetation type
boundaries i.e in Western
Ghats the moist forest species
are shifting eastward.
 Species of lower altitude
migrating to higher altitude.
 Mountain forests of Western
Ghats would change into
grasslands.
 Increase in dry season length
would increase the risk of
forest fires in moist and dry
deciduous forests.

8. How our industries understand
climate change?
 Green business survey of climate risk’ conducted in
2008 of 213 companies of India
 58% companies -----deep understanding of climate
change issues
 54% companies measured their emissions either
completely or partially
 16% measured their emissions completely.
 71 % companies from the chemical and fertilizers
sector perceived physical risk from climate change to
their companies.
 69% from the automotive industry professed
regulatory risk as a threat, reputation.

9. How to reduce
GHGs?
 Climate change or climate
breakdown’ due to global
warming.
 GHGs emissions. Carbon
limit of 450 ppm suggested
by IPCC is outdated.
 To stabilize climate : limit should be brought down
to 350 ppm by
 air capture of CO2 or by the bio-sequestration route.

10. Conclusions
 The climate change affects
biological processes such as metabolism,
nutrient requirements and biochemical activities
quickly react to them.
 The behavioural response like migration, and
geographic distribution are changed.
 Reproductive physiology and breeding
behaviour of animals are directly affected by
photoperiods, temperature and precipitation.

11. Conclusions
 Changes in atmospheric CO2
and methane can affect plant
species and indirectly animal species. The entire food
web is affected and becomes imbalanced .
 The montane animals may be endangered and be
eliminated as a result of climate change at high
altitude. Tigers living at low altitude may move to
high altitude to avoid temperature stress and may
become endemic to that area. The visible effect is
seen in some tiger reserves of India where tigers are
vanished.
 Those animal species which can not adopt to these
changes may be extirpited by genetic drift.

12. Community actions for impact
reduction.
 Control of forest fires
 Do not use slash & burn crop wastes.
Plaugh them back to land
 Restrict use of bioenergy & biofuels
 No permission for coal-based industries after 2010
 Use of clean energies like solar and wind power for
running industries and household lights.
 Total ban on fuel woods (storage of wet carbon) for
energy
 Use incinerators for burning dead bodies
 Capture of CO2 from air