India as mega biodiversity habitat, Biodiversity, Hot spots of India, Khaziranga national park, Keoladeo national park Nanda devi national park, sunderbans

1. BIODIVERSITY
Lecture-3

2. India as
Mega Biodiversity Habitat
By
Dr. Suri Babu Golla
Assistant Professor
EM & H Department
SRKR Engineering College
Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh.
Mail: suribabu.g@srkrec.ac.in

3. INDIA AS A MEGA BIODIVERSITY HABITAT

4.  INDIA IS ONE OF THE 12 MEGA BIODIVERSITY COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
 IT HAS 8% OF THE WORLD’S BIODIVERSITY
 IT IS THE HOME TO 33% OF LIFE FORMS OF THE WORLD
 IT COMPRISES 2% OF WORLD’S LAND MASS
 IT IS DIVIDED INTO 10 MAJOR BIOGEOGRAPHICAL ZONES WHICH
REPRESENT ALL THE ECOSYSTEMS.
 THERE ARE 33 BOTANICAL GARDENS, 89 NATIONAL PARKS, 275 ZOO’S ,
504 SANCTUARIES, 12 BIOSPHERE RESERVES
 THERE ARE 47000 SPECIES OF PALNTS AND 81000 SPECIES OF ANIMALS
 INDIA IS HOME TO 5 WORLD HERITAGE SITES

6. RHINO ASIATIC ELEPHANT PALLA’S FISH EAGLE
BARASINGHA DEER HOG DEER WILD BOAR
RED JUNGLE FOWL ROSE RINGED PARAKEET

8.  BHARATPUR BIRD SANCTUARY- RAJASTHAN
 366 SPECIES OF BIRDS
 379 FLORAL SPECIES
 50 SPECIES OF FISH
 13 SPECIES OF SNAKES
 5 SPECIES OF LIZARDS
 7 SPECIES OF AMPHIBIANS
 7 SPECIES OF TURTLES

9. PAINTED STORK
GREAT EGRET
EURASIAN SPOONBILL
PAINTED STORK
PARAKEET
DARTER
INDIAN SARAS CRANE SAMBAR DEER NEELGAI

10. MANAS WILD LIFE SANCTUARY

11.  LOCATED IN ASSAM- HIMALYAN FOOT HILLS
 TIGER RESERVE, ELEPHANT RESERVE
 ASSAM ROOFED TURTLE, HISPID HARE, GOLDEN LANGUR, PYGMY HOG,
WILD WATER BUFFALO, WILD PIG, SLOW LORIS, ASIAN GOLDEN CATS,
HOOLOCK GIBBONS, BENGAL FLORICAN, BULBULS, PELICANS,
SCARLWET MINIVETS, MAGPIE ROBINS
 543 PLANT SPECIES
450 SPECIES OF BIRDS
 55 SPECIES OF MAMMALS
 50 SPECIES OF REPTILES
 3 SPECIES OF AMPHIBIANS

12. INDIAN PYTHON
CAPPED LANGUR
MAGPIE ROBINS
SCARLET MINIVET
BENGAL SLOW LORIS
PELICAN
BULBUL BENGAL FLORICAN
HOOLOCK GIBBON

13. NANDA DEVI NATIONAL PARK

14.  UTTARAKHAND
 INNER AND OUTER REGIONS- COVERED WITH GLACIERS
 114 SPECIES OF BIRDS
 312 SPECIES OF FLOWERS
 HOME FOR LIFE RESTORING FLOWER- BRAHMAKAMAL
 HIMALAYAN MUSK DEER, BLUE SHEEP, MAINLAND SEROW, HIMALAYAN
TARH, SNOW LEOPARD, HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR, RHESUS MACAQUE

15. LIME BUTTERFLY SNOW LEOPARD BLUE SHEEP
HIMALAYAN MUSK DEER BRAHMAKAMAL BRAHMAKAMAL

16. VALLEY OF FLOWERS- UTTARAKHAND

20. SUNDERBAN NATIONAL PARK

21.  TIGER RESERVE- MORE THAN 400 TIGERS
 DENSELY COVERED BY MANGROVES
 ROYAL BENGAL TIGER- SWIM IN SALINE WATERS AND MAN EATERS
 FISHING CATS, LEOPARD, WILD BHOR, INDIAN GREY MONGOOSE,
JUNGLE CAT, FLYING FOX, PANGOLIN, SALT WTAER CROCODILES,
RUSSELS VIPER, DOG FACED WATER SNAKE, RAT SNAKE, RIVER
TERRAPIN, OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE, GANGES RIVER DOLPHIN, MANGROVE
HORSESHOE CRAB.

23. TROPICAL HUMID FORESTS

24. TROPICAL WARM FORESTS

25. DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS

26.  India is a subcontinent representing a major part of South Asia, rich in
flora and fauna; and hence it is one of the 12 mega biodiversity nations in the
world.
India contains a great wealth of biodiversity in the forests, wet lands and
marine areas.
Biodiversity can be observed at all levels i.e. locally, nationally and
globally.
It is estimated that (2000 year) (Ministry of Environment and Forests MoEF,
GOI records) 47,000 spp of plants and 81,000 spp of animals are found in
India.

27.  Species restricted to a particular area are known as Endemic.
In India 62% of amphibians, 50% of lizards are endemic.
ENDEMISM
EXTINCT
ENDANGERED
 Species that are already lost, there is no more on the Earth.
 Species which are ready to lost or having only few in number
causes threat in future.

28.  A large number of spp. are known to have originated from India.
Nearly 5000 spp of flowering plants, 166 spp of crop plants and 320 spp of
cultivated crops were originated from India.
Centre of Origin
MARINE DIVERSITY
 Along 7500 km of long coastline of our country, mangroves, estuaries,
coral reefs, back waters exists a rich biodiversity.
More than 340 spp of corals of the world are found in India.
Mollusks, Crustaceans (crabs), mangrove plants and sea grasses are also
found in our country.

29.  Climate of India is dominated by the Asiatic monsoon
South-West rains between June-October
Dry winds and cold between Dec-Feb
Dry and hot between March-May.
CLIMATE
 Cold desert of Ladakh to hot desert of Thar
Temperate forest in Himalayas to tropical rain forest of low lands
Freshwater lakes wular in kashmir, chilka lake in odissa, kolleru lake in A.P
to rich coastline of coralreefs of Deccan.

30.  The panorama of Indian forest ranges from evergreen tropical rain forest in
the Andaman and Nicobar; Western Ghats to alpine forest in the Himalayas.
Semi ever green rain forests: Do not loose their leafs.
Deciduous forests: Trees which loose their leafs in winter/dry seasons
Thorn forests: having spines, small trees/shrubs
Pine forests: which gives wood, used for furniture
Tropical forests: located near the equator
Rain forests: high annual rainfall, no dry season
Western Ghats monsoon forests: situated in western Ghats region
Tropical evergreen forests: donot loose their leafs seasonally,
located nearer to equator.
FORESTS

31.  India has a rich variety of wetlands.
The total area of wetlands excluding rivers in india is 5,82,86,000 hectares,
classified into 8 categories
Reservoirs of Deccan plateau
Vast saline (Rajasthan and Gujarat)
Freshwater lakes
Delta wetlands
Freshwater marshes
Flood plains of Brahmaputra
Marshes and Swamps in N.E India
Wetlands of Islands (A&N)
WETLANDS

32.  Finally based on the above 6 factors (endemism, centre of origin, marine
diversity, climate, forests and wetlands) India is considered as one of the
mega biodiversity nations in the World.

33. HOTSPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY

34. HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY
 Hotspots are the main areas of focus for biodiversity
conservation.
 These are the areas that are extremely rich in biodiversity,
have high level of endemism, and are under constant threat
of species extinctions and habitat destruction.
 Areas which exhibit high species richness as well as high
species endemism are termed as hot spots of biodiversity.
 These hotspots covering less than 2% of the world's land
area are found to have about 50% of the terrestrial
biodiversity.

35.  1. Tropical Andes
 2. Mesoamerica
 3. Caribbean
 4. Brazil's Atlantic Forest
 5. Choco/Darien/Western Ecuador
 6. Brazil's Cerrado
 7. Central Chile
 8. California Floristic Province
 9. Madagascar
 10. Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests of
Tanzania/Kenya
 11. Western African Forests
 12. Cape Floristic Province
 13. Succulent Karoo

36.  14. Mediterranean Basin
 15. Caucasus
 16. Sundaland
 17. Wallacea
 18. Phillipines
 19. Indo-Burma
 20. South-Central China
 21. Western Ghats/Sri Lanka
 22. SW Australia
 23. New Caledonia
 24. New Zealand
 25. Polynesia/Micronesia

37.  The 25 hotspots contain 44% of all vascular
plant species and 35% of terrestrial
vertebrates and encompass only 1.4% of the
earths surface.
 However, collectively they have lost 88% of
their original primary vegetation.
 Species in these areas are at risk from
extinction if further habitat loss occurs.

38.  It has been estimated that 50,000 endemic plants,
which comprise 20% of global plant life, probably
occur in only 18 ‘hotsopts’ in the world.
 Countries which have a relatively large proportion of
these biodiversity hotspots are referred to as ‘mega-
diversity nations.’
Hotspots in India:
 Eastern himalayas and western ghats.
 These areas are particularly rich in floral wealth and
endemism, not only in flowering plants but also in
reptiles, amphibians , swallow tailed butterflies, and
some mammals.

39. Eastern Himalayas
 The area comprises Nepal, Bhutan, and neighboring states of
northern India, along with a continuous sector of the Yunnan
province in Southwest china.
 All Himalayan forests lie north of the Tropic of Cancer, and some of
them are at altitudes of 1780 -3500 m, they can be considered
tropical forests .
 Many deep and semi isolated valleys are exceptionally rich in
endemic plant species, In Sikkim, in an area of 7298 km2 , of the
4250 plant species , 2550 (60%) are endemic..
 In Nepal, there are around 7000 plant species, many of which
overlap with those of India, Bhutan, and even Yunnan. Of these
species, at least 500(8%) are believed to be endemic to Nepal.
 Bhutan, possesses an estimated 5000 species, of which as many as
750 (15%) are considered to be endemic to the Eastern Himalayas

40. Western Ghats:
 Out of India’s 49219 plant species , 1600 endemics(40% of the
total number of endemics) are found in an 17000km2 along the
sea side of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Kerala.
 Forest track up to 500 in elevation, comprising one – fifth of the
entire forest expanse, are mostly evergreen, while those in 500-
1500 m range are semi- evergreen.
 There are two main centers of diversity, the Agasthyamalai Hills
and the Silent Valley/New Amambalam Reserve Basin.
 The forest cover in western Ghats has reduced 34 % from 1972-
1989

41. Thank you
Dr. Suri Babu Golla
Asst. Professor,
S.R.K.R. Engg. College,
Bhimavaram.