Biodiversity and Conservation

DESIGNED

By

Edustudy point
Biodiversity: It can be defined as the combined diversity at all the levels of biological
organization. Various types of biodiversity are-

• Genetic diversity: A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level over
its distributional range. Example- The genetic variation of the medicinal
plant Rauwolfia vomitoria in potency and concentration of the active chemical
reserpine that the plant produces.

• Species diversity: The diversity at the species level. For example, the Western Ghats
have a greater amphibian species diversity than the Eastern Ghats.

• Ecological diversity: diversity at the ecosystem level. For example- deserts, rain
forests, mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands, estuaries, and alpine meadows of India has
a greater ecosystem diversity than a Scandinavian country like Norway.

➢ Number of species on earth and in India: The total number of plant and animal
species described so far is slightly more than 1.5 million.

• Robert May places the global species diversity at about 7 million.

• More than 70 per cent of all the species recorded are animals, while plants including
algae, fungi, bryophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms comprise no more than 22 per
cent of the total.

• Among animals, insects are the most species-rich taxonomic group, making up more
than 70 per cent of the total.

• India has only 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area, its share of the global species
diversity is an impressive 8.1 per cent and that is how makes India is one of the 12
mega diversity countries of the world.

• Nearly 45,000 species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded
from India.

➢ Pattern of biodiversity
1) Latitudinal gradients: Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator
towards the poles.

• Tropics harbor more species than temperate or polar areas.

• Colombia located near the equator has nearly 1,400 species of birds while New York
at 41° N has 105 species and Greenland at 71° N only 56 species.
 • India, with much of its land area in the tropical latitudes, has more than 1,200
species of birds.

• The largely tropical Amazonian rain forest in South America has the greatest
biodiversity on earth- it is home to more than 40,000 species of plants, 3,000 of
fishes, 1,300 of birds, 427 of mammals, 427 of amphibians, 378 of reptiles and of
more than 1,25,000 invertebrates.

• Tropics have greatest biodiversity because

a. Unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical

latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years.
b. Tropical environments are less seasonal and more constant and predictable which
promote niche specialization and lead to a greater species diversity.
c. There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher
productivity thus contributing indirectly to greater diversity.

2) Species-Area relationships: Alexander von Humboldt observed that within a region

species richness increased with increasing explored area, but only up to a limit.

• The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa such as
angiosperm plants, birds, bats, freshwater fishes turns out to be a rectangular
hyperbola.

• On a logarithmic scale, the relationship is a straight line described by the equation

log S = log C + Z log A where, S= Species richness , A= Area

Z = slope of the line (regression coefficient)

C = Y-intercept.

• The species-area relationships among very large areas like the entire continents,
the slope of the line is much steeper (Z values in the range of 0.6 to 1.2).

For example, for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and mammals in the tropical
forests of different continents, the slope is found to be 1.15.

➢ The importance of species diversity to the ecosystem: Communities with

more species, generally, tend to be more stable than those with less species.

• A stable community should not show too much variation in productivity from year to
year.
 • David Tilman found that plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation in
total biomass and increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.

• According to the rivet popper hypothesis, in an airplane (ecosystem) all parts are
joined together using thousands of rivets (species).

• Loss of rivets on the wings is more serious threat to flight safety than loss of a few
rivets on the seats or windows inside the plane.

➢ Loss of biodiversity: The colonization of tropical Pacific Islands by humans is said to

have led to the extinction of more than 2,000 species of native bird.

• The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of 784 species. Some examples
of recent extinctions include the dodo (Mauritius), quagga (Africa), thylacine
(Australia), Steller’s Sea Cow (Russia) and three subspecies (Bali, Javan, Caspian) of
tiger.

• Loss of biodiversity in a region may lead to

a) Decline in plant production

b) Lowered resistance to environmental perturbations such as drought
c) Increased variability in certain ecosystem processes such as plant productivity,
water use, and pest and disease cycles.

➢ Cause of biodiversity loss: The accelerated rates of species extinctions that the
world is facing now are largely due to human activities. There are four major causes-
1) Habitat loss and fragmentation: Tropical rain forests covering more than 14
percent of the earth’s land surface, these rain forests now cover no more than 6 per
cent.

• The Amazon rain forest called as the ‘lungs of the planet’ harboring probably
millions of species is being cut and cleared for cultivating soya beans or for
conversion to grasslands for raising beef cattle.

• Breaking of large areas into small fragments cause biodiversity loss.

2) Over exploitation: Many species extinctions in the last 500 years were due to
overexploitation by humans.
For example- Steller’s sea cow, passenger pigeon.
 3) Alien species invasions: When alien species are introduced these cause decline or
extinction of indigenous species.

Example- the Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria in east Africa led eventually to
the extinction of an ecologically unique assemblage of more than 200 species of cichlid
fish in the lake.

4) Co-extinctions: When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal species
associated with it in an obligatory way also become extinct.

Example- When a host fish species becomes extinct, its unique assemblage of parasites
also meets the same fate.

Biodiversity conservation: Reasons of conserving biodiversity is grouped into three

categories-

1) Narrowly utilitarian: humans derive countless direct economic benefits from

nature such as cereals, pulses, fruits, firewood, fiber, construction material,
industrial products like tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, and perfumes.

2) broadly utilitarian: Biodiversity plays a major role in many ecosystem services that
nature provides.

• Amazon forest is estimated to produce, through photosynthesis, 20 per cent of

the total oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere

• Bees, bumblebees, birds and bats pollinate the flowers without which plants
cannot give us fruits or seeds.

3) Ethical: The ethical argument for conserving biodiversity relates to what we owe to
millions of plant, animal and microbe species with whom we share this planet.

➢ Ways to conserve biodiversity: Biodiversity can be conserved by In Situ and Ex

Situ conservation.

• The process of protecting biodiversity at all levels by conserving and protecting the
whole ecosystem is called in situ conservation.
• The process in which endangered and threatened animals are saved by taking urgent
measures is called Ex situ conservation.

• Biodiversity hotspots are the regions with very high levels of species richness and
high degree of endemism. Three hotspots- Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma
and Himalaya – cover high biodiversity regions.

• Biodiversity-rich regions are legally protected as biosphere reserves, national parks

and sanctuaries.

• India now has 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries.

• In ex-situ conservation, threatened animals and plants are taken out from their
natural habitat and placed in special setting where they can be protected and given
special care. Examples- Zoological parks, botanical gardens and wildlife safari park.

• Gametes of threatened species can be preserved in viable and fertile condition for
long periods using cryopreservation techniques, eggs can be fertilized in vitro, and
plants can be propagated using tissue culture methods.

KHATAM