Biodiversity

Biodiversity and conservation

and
conservation
 What is biological diversity ?
• Biodiversity or biological diversity refers to the numbers,
variety and variability of living organisms and
ecosystems.

• Biodiversity is the earth’s primary life support system

and is a precondition for human survival.

• Includes all the terrestrial, marine and other aquatic

organisms.

• Also covers diversity within species, between species, as

well as the variation among ecosystems.
Levels of Biodiversity
1.Genetic diversity: variation among genes

2. Species diversity: variation among species

2. 3.Ecosystem diversity: variety of habitats

 Levels of biodiversity
Diversity of genes: Chihuahuas, beagles, and rottweilers
are all dogs—but they're not the same because their genes are
different.
• refers to the variation of genes within species i.e., different
genes & combinations of genes within populations
• covers distinct populations of the same species such as the
thousands of traditional rice varieties in India.

Chihuahua Beagle
Rottweilers
Diversity of species: monkeys, dragonflies, and meadow
beauties are all different species.
• refers to the number of plant and animal species present in a
community or an ecosystem.
• Species diversity is very high in tropical rainforests and low in
isolated islands.

Saki Monkey

Meadow Beauty
Golden Skimmer
Variety of ecosystems: Prairies, Ponds, and tropical rain
forests are all ecosystems. Each one is different, with its own
set of species living in it.

•It is the variety of habitats found in an area.

•or, variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, aquatic ecosystems
etc. that occur in the area.

Paines Prairie
Hoh Rain Forest

Florida Sand hill Pond

 Value of Biodiversity

• Consumptive values:
Food
Goods like fuel, timber, paper, and medicines

• Recreation: The biodiversity of the planet enables activities like

wildlife tourism, nature photography, bird watching etc.

• Genetic resources: Biotechnology and genetic engineering use

the genes of organisms to make new types of crops, medicines
etc.

• Ecosystem functions
• Aesthetic and cultural benefits
• Option value: we have the option of paying now for the future
use of nature. For example, we might contribute now for the
establishment of a wildlife park so that we can use and enjoy the
facility later.

• Medicinal value:
Hundreds of plants are still used in the traditional medicine in
the developing countries.
More than 60% of the world’s population depends directly on
plants for medicines.
ex: cinchona for malaria, rauwolfia serpentina for hypertension,
texol fromTaxus brevifolia for cancer, Artemisnin from Artemisia
annua malaria
Where is the biodiversity
– Everywhere
• Every continent and habitat
has unique life forms

– Concentrated in the
tropics
• Panama: > 500 species of
breeding birds
• Arctic: 50-100 species

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Where is all the biodiversity?
• Mostly in the
developing countries
• Tropical forests
account for 50-75% of
species

• India:
– A mega-biodiversity
country
– Not fully explored
and documented
– Biodiversity under
threat
The 19 most biodiverse nations of
the world are listed in Table.
Australia Madagascar
Brazil Malaysia
Cameroon Mexico
China Myanmar
Colombia Peru
Costa Rica Philippines
Ecuador South Africa
Ethiopia Venezuela
India Zaire
Indonesia
 Origins of Food Plants
Plant Place of Origin
Potato Andes, South America
Wheat Turkey and Afghanistan
Bean Central America
Coffee Ethiopia
Soya, Cucumber, Orange China
Rice India
What is meant by extinction
of species?
• An irreversible loss of species is called biological
extinction.
• By extinction we mean complete disappearance of a
species, that is not a single member of the extinct
species is found on earth.
• Local and ecological extinction
• Before a species goes biologically extinct, it goes
through stages of local and ecological extinction
• Local extinction means that the species is no longer
found in the area it once inhabited.
Endangered Species
The species which are at the verge of extinction are known as
endangered species. For example
•Asiatic elephant
•Great Indian Rhino
Endemic Species
The species which are confined to
a particular region are known as
endemic species.
These species remain limited in their
distribution because of certain
geographical barriers, such as sea,
valley, mountain, etc.
EDGE species
• Refers to species of animals that are Evolutionary Distinct and
globally Endangered.
How do we declare species as being
threatened or endangered?

• For a species to survive and flourish, enough numbers must

be present in the habitat to make reproduction possible.

• If density and population size fall below threshold values, the

numbers start going down.

• A species declared endangered when the number of survivors

is so small that it could soon become extinct over all or most
of its habitat. Unless it is protected, it will move into critically
endangered category, before it goes extinct.
 Threats to Biodiversity
•Urbanization and Unplanned development and habitat destruction

•Poaching of wildlife

•Environmental pollution

•Global climate change

•Invasion by introduced species

•Mining

•Exploitation of water resources

•Eutrophication

•Waste disposal

•Deforestation and Forest fires

•Overgrazing Lantana Camara

Causes of Biodiversity Loss
Habitat loss and degradation
Destruction of biodiversity-rich areas like
tropical forests
Destruction of coral reefs and wetlands
Ploughing of grasslands
Radical alteration of river systems by
dams and water withdrawals threaten
freshwater fish species
Pollution of freshwater streams, lakes,
and marine habitats
 Habitat fragmentation
 For a species to survive it
requires a minimum extent
of area in the ecosystem.
Due to human impact, many
large, continuous areas of
habitat are being reduced in
extent. This has many
effects:
 Species become divided into smaller populations that cannot
sustain themselves.
 Species becomes more vulnerable (exposed) to predators
 Ex: migratory birds face the loss of their seasonal habitats.
 Fragmentation creates barriers that limit the ability of the species to
disperse and colonize new areas.
Commercial hunting and poaching
 Illegal trade in rare and endangered species of plants, birds and
animals estimated to be US$ 8 billion per year.
 Animals such as rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, gorilla, butterfly etc.
 Decorative plants are also sold to collectors.
 The poachers, mostly poor people, depend on this trade for their
livelihood.
 The country of origin does not get any benefit since no taxes or
duties are paid. The country loses its biodiversity for nothing.
 Induction of non native
species
• When non native species introduced in an ecosystem and
it has no predators, competitors, parasites, or pathogens
to control its numbers, it can reduce or wipe out many
local species.

Parthenium Lantana Camara

 Other causes of biodiversity decline
 Growing population and migration of
farmers from overpopulated area

 Pollution

 Overexploitation of resources like over

fishing in the ocean and excessive
harvesting of medicinal plants by
pharmaceutical industries.

 Construction of large dams that flood

large biodiversity rich area
 What is biodiversity hotspot?
• If an area rich in biodiversity and this flora and fauna are
under a constant threat of overexploitation, it is called a
biodiversity hotspot.
• There are about 25 such hotspots in the world
• Mostly in the tropical forests.
 Hotspots of Biodiversity
Hotspots are the richest and the most threatened reservoirs
of plant and animal life on earth.
Hotspots are classified on the basis of three criteria :

•The number of species present

•The number of those species that exist exclusively in the

given ecosystem

•The degree of threat they face

Hotspots of India
• Western Ghats
• North–East Himalaya
 Impact of biodiversity loss?
• The poor people in developing countries, who are
dependent on diversity for their daily survival, will feel
the impact first.
• Soon however industrialized countries will also start
experiencing the effects.
• Most of their food crops, medicines, textiles, spices,
dyes, and paper originate from plants in the developing
countries.
• The destruction of rain forests means that less carbon
will be absorbed and natural climate control mechanism
are lost. This will have a major impact on the world’s
climate.
 Biodiversity Conservation

• Every organism contributes, directly or indirectly, in

maintaining the ecological balance.

• During last 200 millions years, 100-1000 species become

extinct in each country.

• Today we are losing 1500 species every two months.

 Two major approaches of conservation:

• In situ (on-site or “in the natural or original place”)
• Ex-situ (off-site) conservation
• In situ conservation tries to protect species where they
Inthatsitu
are, is, inand Ex situ
their natural conservation
habitat.

• Ex-situ conservation attempts to preserve and protect the

species in a place away from their natural habitat.

• In general, in-situ conservation is more cost-effective.

 Conservation of Biodiversity
In situ Conservation: Protection of species in their natural habitat.

•National parks

•Wildlife sanctuaries

•Biosphere reserves

Ex situ Conservation: Protection in a place away from their natural habitat.

•Gene banks: seed banks, sperm and ova banks

•Botanical gardens

•Aquaria

•Tissue culture technique

•DNA technology
How is conservation done in situ
• Identification and protection of natural areas that have high
diversity.

• In situ done primarily by setting up national parks and

reserves.

• In situ conservation through reserves is associated with

limitations also. They do not receive the level of management
and protection they need.

• On-farm conservation
 National Park
National park are the area dedicated to conserve species with
minimal and very low intensity of human activity.

Objective:
Conservation of species of habitat with minimal and very low
intensity of human activity
Features:
No person reside in park other than public servants on duty and
person permitted by chief wildlife warden.
Zone:
Core
 Wild life sanctuary
Dedicated to protect wild life and habitat considers the
conservation of species only
Human activity is allowed but interferences not allowed
Objective:
Conservation of species and habitants by manipulative
management
Features:
No person reside in park other than public servants on duty and
person permitted by chief wildlife warden.
Zone:
Core, Buffer and restoration
 Biosphere reserve
“Natural areas that are generally used for scientific study”

Objective:
Conservation of natural resources and the improvement of the
relationship between humans and the environment

Features:
Both human and natural influenced ecosystems; substantial
human settlement.

Zone:
Core, Buffer, restoration or transition
Advantage of in situ conservation
• It ensure the long term protection of the area

• Natural ecosystem spread in large areas provide a good

opportunity for conservation as well as evolution

• It offers cheaper means of protecting species in their natural

habitat.
Limitations of in situ conservation
• Many reserves do not receive the level of protection and
management they need

• Widespread encroachment by poachers, settlers,

• Flora and fauna, as well as resources like wood and minerals

continue to be exploited.

• Locals should be trained to conserve the wildlife and restore

the degraded areas.
 How is conservation done
ex-situ?
 Conserve biodiversity in artificial setting.
 Chief mode of preservation of genetic resources.

It includes
 storage of seeds in banks and gene in gene bank
 breeding of animal species in zoos
 setting up botanical gardens,
 aquariums and
 research institutes
 Seed bank
 Seed banks allow the storage of genetic diversity of whole
plant populations
 Seeds are dried in cool conditions (15-18°C) with the relative
humidity at 11-15%
 Storage into an airtight container and kept at -20 °C
 This takes about a month
 Gene bank
 Gene bank are also known as germplasm bank,
 Gene banks are rather like seed banks
 Eggs, sperm and embryos are cryogenically frozen to protect
the genetic variation of a species
 other vegetative propagating parts of various endangered
plants can be preserved in these gene bank under viable
conditions.
 Botanical Gardens
• Botanical gardens are used for the conservation of rare
and endangered plant species, for study and research of
specific plant characters and for disseminating scientific
information and experiences to promote sustainable
development.
 Botanical garden
 There are estimated to be
around 1600 botanical gardens
throughout the world and these
receive over 150 million visitors
a year
 These botanical gardens are
important as it is estimated that
60,000 plant species could be
lost in the next 50 year
 The Botanic Gardens
Conservation Institute (BGCI)
was set up in 1987 and its role is
to collect and make available
information on plant
conservation
Botanical gardens tend to look after
plants in one of the five categories below
o Rare species
o Endangered species
o Economically important
o Species that are needed for the
restoration of an ecosystem
o Taxonomically isolated species
 Aquaria
• Used for captive propagation of threatened or
endangered fresh water species.
• It also play an important role in educational facilities
• The world conservation union (IUCN) is currently
developing captive breeding programs for endangered
fishes.
 Use of Biotechnology
• manipulates the genes in an organism to
change its characteristics.
• can make a plant resistant to specific pests or
diseases
• can produce new varieties of plants with some
desired characteristics.
• could lead to new and improved methods for
preserving plant and animal diversity.
• by increasing the value of biodiversity, it could
lead to better conservation.
 Tissue Culture Technique
• used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a
nutrient culture medium

• Micro-propagation

• Technique used for asexual propagation in plants.

• Require specialized lab
 DNA technology
• Genetic
modification
 Zoo
 The main aim of a zoo is to house whole animals for
breeding and re-introduction
 Benefits of Zoo
o To conservation of species
o To educate the public
o Earning
 The world zoos conservation strategy estimates that
there are more than 1100 zoos in the world and they
receive over 600 million visitors annually
 Zoo contd...

• Along with many other animals zoo also preserve a few

individuals of critically endangered species.
• If an animal breed in captivity, the may ultimately reintroduce
the species into protected reserves.
• Zoo need large space and huge funds
• Only small percentage of species can be protected in zoos
• Public tends to support the saving of large or popular species
i.e. lion, tiger, elephants, etc.
• There is not much interest in protecting smaller and less
attractive species, even if they are known to be very
important for ecosystem
Advantages of Ex situ Conservation
• It ensure long term conservation of the species
• Due to controlled supervision and assured food,
shelter, and security provided in ex situ conservation,
the species can survive longer and may breed more
than usual.
• The quality of offspring may be improved by genetic
techniques, if required
• In ex situ conservation, breeding of hybrid species is
possible.
Limitations of Ex situ Conservation
• It is specific method that can be adopted for only a
few kinds of species

• It is not a viable option for protection of rare species

owing to human interference

• Overprotection of species in ex situ conservation

may result in loss of naturality

Both ex situ and in situ conservation methods should

be given equal importance as measures of
biodiversity conservation
 Steps to Preserve Biodiversity
• Undisturbed land should not be used for setting up
industries and carrying out other developmental
activities. Such projects cause large scale
deforestation and ultimately lead to loss of
biodiversity
• Germplasm of existing species should be collected so
that the threatened and endangered species may be
protected against extinction