BIODIVERSITY and its CONSERVATION
Biodiversity is occurrence of different types of genes, species
and ecosystems in a particular place .Biodiversity word was
coined by Edward Wilson.
Biodiversity is divided into three levels--
A .Genetic diversity it is measure of variety in genetic
information contented in organism. Example different strains of
rice.
B. Species diversity --It is variety of species within a region.
Western ghats have greater amphibian species than eastern
ghats.
C .Ecological diversity--- It is measure of diversity at ecosystem
level .Example- deserts ,rainforest, wetlands and estuaries etc
Global species diversity-- according to international union for
conservation of nature and natural resources (IUCN) total
number of plants and animal species is over 1.5 million. More
than 70% of all organisms are animals while plants accounts for
only 22%. India has only 2.4% of world's area and 8.1% global
diversity in terms of biodiversity.
Terms of biodiversity in latitude gradients
Biodiversity increases from poles to equator that is from high to
low altitude. Greater biodiversity is found in tropical areas as
they have less seasonal variation and constant temperature
with plenty of rainfall and greater solar energy.
Area species relationship --German geography Alexander won
Humbolt observed that within a region species richness
increases with increasing explored area but up to a certain
limit. It is described by a graph on logarithmic scale with
equation--
Log S= log C + Z log A
S is species richness, A is a area, z is a slope of line or regression
coefficient and C is the y intercept. The value of z lies in the
range of 0.12 to 2 regardless of taxonomy group of the
region.However in a very large area Z value ranges from 0. 6 to
1.2
Importance of species diversity to the ecosystem ---Paul Elhrich
gave the river proper hypothesis which assumes that ecosystem
is a aeroplane and species are to be the revets joining all parts
together .If one passenger pops revered to take home it will not
affect the flight safety initially or proper ecosystem functioning
but with time as more rivets or species are removed the plane
become dangerously insecure and it can be fatal. to the life of
other species.
Loss of biodiversity--- or Evil Quartet---
Reasons for loss in biodiversity are
1 .Habitat loss and fragmentation-
Destruction of habitat causes greater loss. Amazon rainforest is
the lung of the planet .It is being cut and cultivated for Soya
beans and converted into grasslands.
2 .Over exploitation-- when a biological system is over exploited
it results in extinction of the resources. Example is Taylor
Chicago ,passengers pigeon and many marine fishes.
3. Alien species invasion--
Some alien species when introduced in an area it become
harmful to the native species. Examples are Nile perch -it is a
Predator fish introduced into Lake Victoria causing extinction
of chichlid fish in the lake. Other examples are the weed
species like Parthenium or Echhornia or water hyacinth are
threat to native species. Others examples are African cat fishes
for aquaculture purpose is a threat to the Indian native fishes.
4. Co Extinction--- when one species become extinct the plant
and animal species associated with it will also becoming extinct.
example plant pollinators( wasp etc) and plant.
Reasons for conserving biodiversity----
1. Narrow utililaterian concept- It is states that there are many
forest products like raisins, gums, firewood ,fibre etc .so
forests need to be preserved.
2. Broadly utililaterian concept ---It states that biodiversity
plays major role in maintaining supply of goods and services
for ecosystem ,bringing rainfall ,doing pollination ,stopping
soil erosion and cleaning air. Ethical reasons are also
important to maintain the beauty of the nature.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY--
1. INSITU conservation --It is protection of species in their
natural habitat. It includes sacred grooves, national parks,
biosphere reserves, sanctuaries and hotspots.
Biodiversity hotspots-- These are areas of species richness and
high degree of endemism. There are 34 hotspots in India.
Examples are Western ghats, Himalayan regions ,Srilankan
region. They reduce mass extinction by 30%.
Protected areas India has 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national
parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries.
Sacred grooves-- these are interior areas of forests protected
by the tribal people with greater landscape example western
ghats, Aravali hills in Rajasthan and Khasi and Jaintia hills in
Meghalaya.
2. EXSITU conservation --It is protection of threatened animal
and plant species outside their natural habitat.
Eg.Zoo,Botanical gardens, pollen bank, gene bank, seed bank
etc.
Cryo preservation --It is preserving genes, gametes etc at - 196
degree in liquid nitrogen for breathing purposes.
Conventions on biodiversity---
Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 which called
upon all nations to take measures for conserving biodiversity.
World summit on sustainable development was held in
Johannesburg ,South Africa in 2002 in which 190 countries
agreed to reduce the loss of biodiversity at global ,regional and
local levels by 2010.
