Biodiversity is essential for human well-being and survival. It provides vital goods and services like food, medicine, clean air and water. Each species, no matter how small, plays an important role in ecosystem productivity and sustainability. At least 40% of the global economy and 80% of needs of poor people are derived from biological resources. Biodiversity also has immense aesthetic, cultural and spiritual value for humans. While we have benefited from biodiversity in many known ways, most of its benefits are still unknown as important species and ecosystem functions have yet to be discovered. Loss of biodiversity therefore poses a major threat to humanity's future welfare and progress.

1. Importance
OF
To HumanKind….

2. Ecological & Human Dependency On
„BIODIVERSITY‟
• Biological diversity is the intricate net that holds our planet together. It is the vast range of
species that greatly enhances the productivity of an ecosystem
• Biodiversity increases the spectrum of life and ensures sustainability for the entire ecosystem, and
thus, our world
• Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all
have an important role to play.
For example,
- A large no of plant species mean a large varied range of
“CROPS”.
- Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability
for all life forms.
- Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover
from a variety of disasters .And so, while we dominate
this planet, we still need to preserve diversity of wildlife.

3. Human Dependency on “BIODIVERSITY”
• At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the
needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition,
the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical
discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such
new challenges as climate change.
• Biodiversity is Foundational to human health. By securing the life
sustaining goods and services which biodiversity provides to us Benefit
Human Health.
• Biodiversity Provides Economic Benefits which makes it Most
important to Humans.
Example-
Humans, are dependent on photosynthesis, clean water
and clean air to survive. These are things that ecosystems provide.

4. Biodiversity(Compromising genetic diversity, species, populations, communities
and ecosystems, and landscapes and regions, provides countless benefits to
humans .
ECONOMIC BENEFITS ASTHETIC BENEFITS
INSURANCE AGAINST FUTURE
SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL KNOWLEDGE

5. • Economic Benefit through biodiversity are Classified as of two types
-DIRECT BENEFIT
-INDIRECT BENIFIT
1. Direct Benefit –
Goods that can be directly valued and costse because
they provide something that can be extracted and sold. These goods include
everything from all the domesticated agricultural crops that form the basis of the
world's food supply, to medicines that protect and cure us to the fibres that make
up the clothes we wear.

6. Example-
Goods Food Building Materials Fuel Paper Products
Fiber (clothing, textiles) Industrial products (waxes,
rubber, oils) Medicine
Medicines :-
Biodiversity prospecting is the process of
searching for naturally-occurring organisms that
may be able to be used as a pharmaceutical or
other beneficial innovation.
Example-
In fact, the drugs derived from “MADAGASCAR
ROSE PERIWINKLE FLOWER” this plant have
increased children's survivability of leukemia from
10% to 90%.

7. Indirect Benefits-
Biodiversity also provides critical indirect benefits to
humans that are difficult to quantify because we
have never had to put a price tag on them. These
benefits encompass ecosystem services , such as air
and water purification, climate regulation, and the
generation of moisture and oxygen
Profitable and sustainable farms rely on goods and services from
nature such as soil, water, air, nutrient cyling, pollination and pest
control. These goods and services are often called ecosystem services.

8. Example-
Without biodiversity, there would be no ecosystem services, and vice
versa. For example, soil (which allows us to grow food) cannot be formed
without the insects, fungi, bacteria and plant matter that act together to
create it
VEGETATION-
Vegetation helps recycle moisture into the atmosphere. A single corn plant (1
lb dry weight) can transfer 60 gallons of water from soil to atmosphere in a few
months. A single rainforest tree, in its 100 year lifespan can transfer
approximately 2.5 million gallons from soil to air. Their role in the hydrologic
cycle is crucial
SOIL-
A multiplicity of organisms is required to create soils and maintain fertility
through complex cycles and interactions. Plant roots break up rock to create
soil particles, small animals like earthworms, mites, insects and millipedes help
give soil its texture and fertility and are crucial to its aeration. Even tinier soil
microorganisms and fungi are responsible for cycling essential nutrients like

9. nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur and making them available to higher plants. And
their numbers are staggering. A gram of fertile agricultural soil may contain 2.5
billion bacteria, 400 000 fungi, 50 000 algae and 30 000 protozoa. All these organisms
have particular functions and interact with each other and with their physical
environment to create the fertile soil that humans depend on for agricultural
production.
• Natural ecosystems also help absorb the wastes we create and render them nontoxic.
Wetlands are large filters which purify freshwater and remove heavy metals and
other contaminants from it. We often depend on rivers to flush away and break down
the sewage and effluents that we put into them, which again depends on the array of
small and large organisms that decompose and transform wastes in water. Soil
organisms can slowly decompose food items, paper products and other wastes
produced by human activities
Global Processes:
Atmospheric Regulation:
Global Processes: Atmospheric Regulation Photosynthetic biodiversity created an
oxygenated atmosphere, and also has the potential to moderate the rising amounts of
atmospheric carbon dioxide linked to global climate change

10. Global Processes: Climate Regulation:
Global Processes: Climate Regulation Forests and other vegetation modify climate: by
affecting sun reflectance, water vapor release, wind patterns and moisture loss.
Forests help maintain a humid environment, for example, half of all rainfall in Amazon b
is produced locally from forest-atmosphere cycle
Soil and Water Conservation:
Filters excess nutrients and traps sediments that would otherwise impact
neighboring marine and aquatic areas Other services: Minimizes damage from
waves and floods Serves as a nursery for juvenile commercial fish Provides habitat
for many birds, fish, and shellfish Soil and Water Conservation
Example: Coastal wetlands and mangroves
Nutrient Cycling:
Nutrient Cycling Biodiversity is critical to nutrient cycling and soil renewal
Decomposers such as algae, fungi, and bacteria
Pollination and Seed Dispersal:
Pollination and Seed Dispersal Many flowering plants depend on animals for
pollination to produce food. 30% of human crops depend on free services of pollinators

11. AGRICULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is the variation of life at all levels, from genes to organisms to populations.
Healthy ecosystems tend to have greater biodiversity.
Most biofuel feedstock come from agricultural crops grown in highly disturbed ecosystems
with relatively low biodiversity. Agricultural practices that tend to make farms less diverse
than wild lands include:
• tillage
• planting
• large monocultures
• fertilizer and pesticide applications
• irrigation
• weed management
• harvest

13. Aesthetic value and recreation
In North America, protected wild areas where indigenous
organisms live undisturbed give people a sense of satisfaction in
knowing that there are bears and wolves and rare plants and
insects that still exist on their continent. Natural and wild
landscapes are aesthetically pleasing and provide opportunities
to get away from human-dominated landscapes. They also
provide opportunities for recreational activities such as hiking,
canoeing, birdwatching and nature photography.
Future Potential-
While there are hundreds of examples of known economic and
aesthetic benefits of biodiversity, biologists and other scientists
frequently outline that more is unknown than known. Important
ecosystem services and uses for plants and animals are still
unknown and await discovery. Yet these cannot be discovered,
and benefit humankind, if they disappear before discovery. The
threat to biodiversity can be compared to book burning (the
obliteration of former and future knowledge).

14. Many of our valuable goods, from spices (cinnamon, pepper) to
critical medications (aspirin, tamoxifen, quinine, digitalis) have been
discovered "accidentally" because plants or animals produced
chemicals for defense or attraction. We would not have otherwise
considered the organisms from which these chemicals originated as
valuable and worthy of conservation.
Spiritual and Cultural Values:
Spiritual and Cultural Values The survival of natural areas and species
are important to different cultures around the world. Thousands of
cultural groups in the world, each have distinct traditions and
knowledge for relating to natural world

15. MANIPAL UNIVERSITY JAIPUR
A SLIDE BY-GROUP-1 ,SEC J
BY-Nitika Shrivastava