BIODIVERSITY

The variety of biological life on Earth or

within a region
 Types of biological diversity:

Genetic diversity refers to the variations

between individuals of a species
characteristics passed down
from parents to their offspring.

Species diversity refers to the variety

of different living things

Ecosystem diversity refers to the great variety of

environments produced by the interplay of the living
(animals and plants) and non-living world (earth
forms, soil, rocks and water).
 Values of biodiversity
What do we get from biodiversity?
What are the benefits of biodiversity

It has intrinsic value (value in and of itself)

It has useful value
9Consumptive use value:
9Productive use value
9Social value
9Ethnical value
9Aesthetic value
9Option value
9Ecosystem service value
 Values of biodiversity
1. Consumptive use value:

Natural products are consumed directly.

Food and medicine :

animals: cattle, pigs, chickens, buffaloes, ducks all are
originally belonged to forests we tamed them now.
plants: greens and vegetables all our food crops are originally from
the nature
Fish: 110 million tones of fish consumed/year

Herbal medicines, medicines extracted from plants (1/4 th of the drugs

are extracted from tropical plants, eg. Tetracyclines, quinine,
cancer drugs from perriwinkle)
Why smoking is so harmful and
Addictive?
70% of smokers want to quit 35% attempt to quit each year fewer
than 7% succeed.

Culprit:
WhyNicotine
smoking causes cancer? It's because
tobacco and tobacco smoke contain more than 60
Increases the level of the
carcinogenic compounds. In general, more than 4,000
neurotransmitter dopamine, which is
individual substances have beenin the
a chemical identified in tobacco
brain responsible for
smoke, including carbon monoxide,
feelings hydrogen cyanide,
of pleasure.
ammonia and other toxic irritants.

5
 Why coffee keeps you awake?

slows down nerve cell

Caffeine

Adenosine

1. Amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin to

stimulate the brain, though with milder effects.
2. Adrenal glands to produce adrenaline
3. Dopamine: Pleasure system of the brain,
providing feelings of enjoyment and 6
reinforcement
2. Productive use values:

Commercially usable marketed

Fuel
Wild gene resources
Tusks of elephants
Musk from musk deer
Silk from silkworms
Wool from sheep
Industries like Paper , Silk, textile, leather,
pearl etc depend on natural resources.
One of the main reasons for deforestation
3. Cultural, Social and
ethical value:
Customs, religion
and psycho-spiritual
related values
Eg. Certain plants
are worshiped
Holy besal, Palm
tree in egypt
Tribal people are
often related to
wildlife: look their
dances, activities are
more related with
Snake, fish, cow,
peacock etc
4. Option value:

Biodiversity gives us several options

-Option of different forms of energy
-Option to visit different areas
-Options of medicines and other products etc.
5. Ethical value:

Also known as existence value.

Having affection for our other living beings, and feeling that All
life should be preserved.

We do not use several of plant and animal species directly.

But we still feel that they should not go to extinction.
 6. Aesthetic value

Which do you like better?

A B

Aesthetic value: We like natures diversity.

We like the variety of species around us.
 7. Ecosystem service value

Services provided by ecosystem like;

Maintenance of soil fertility
Cycling of nutrients and water
Contribution to water cycle
Pollution breakdown and absorption
(eg: CO2 is absorbed by plants)
Contribution to climate stability
Recovery from disaster
 Realize it
A tree provides $19,62,150/ year
worth of ecological services as
oxygen, clean air, water
recycling, fertile soil, erosion
control, wild life habitat, toxic
gas moderation etc. Whereas
its worth is only $590 if sold in
market as timber
 Global biodiversity
14

1992 - earth summit at Rio de Janeiro

growing need to know scientifically huge
no. of species.
Terrestrial biodiversity of earth is described
as biomes.
Largest ecological units present in different
geography area eg. Tropical rainforest, tall
grass prairies, savanas etc.
 National diversity
15

India has a rich biological diversity of flora

and fauna.
India ranks 10th among the plant rich
country of the world.
11th in endemic species of higher
vertebrates
6th origin of agricultural crops.
 Local biodiversity
16

At region level it is divided into 4 types.

Point richness: no. of species found in a
single point in a given space.
Alpha richness: to the no. of species
found in small homogenous area.
Beta richness: rate of change in species
composition across different habitats.
Gamma richness: rate of change across
large landscape gradient.
 Alpha richness - related to physical
environmental variables.
Eg. 100 species of tunicates in arctic waters, 400
species in temperate waters and 600 in tropical
seas.
Beta richness cumulative no. of
species increase as more heterogeneous
habitats
Eg. Ant species found in local region of north
pole in merely 10.
 India as a mega diversity
nation 18

India is one among 12 mega diversity

countries of world.
47000 species of plants & 81000 species
of animals recorded.
7-6.5% global flora and fauna.
Endemism: species restricted only to a
particular area known as endemic.
62% amphibians and 50% lizards are
endemic.
 Center of origin
19

Large no. of species present in india.

5000 flowering species India.
Agro-diversity point India is rich.
Marine diversity:
7500 km long coastline of our country
mangroves, estuaries, coral reefs,
backwaters tec. 340 species in corals
64 million hectares covers forest.
 HOT SPOTS OF
BIODIVERSITY20

Definition - Areas which exhibit high

species richness as well as high species
endemism are termed as hot spots of
biodiversity
Introduced by Myers (1988)
such hot spots of biodiversity on a global
level
two are present in India
Eastern Himalayas
Western Ghats
 Threats of Biodiversity
10,000 species Year (27 per day)
Loss of Habitat
Loss of forest
Habitat Fragmentation
Tropical forest (0.6 % Year)
Marine (Oceanic fish to other
species)

POACHING
Illegal trade of wildlife (Hunting)
Smuggling of wildlife: Herbal products
Elephant tusks: $100/Kg: Leopard fur
coat $ 100,000 in japan
 Conservation of Biodiversity

National Conservation Programmes

Approaches and Strategies

In-situ conservation

Ex-situ conservation
In situ conservation

Biosphere reserves

National Parks

Wildlife sanctuaries

Conservation reserves

Tiger reserves

Seed stands and seed production areas

Plus trees
Ex-situ conservation

Botanical gardens

Arboreta

Herbal gardens

Clonal repositories

Plant herbarium

Provenance trials

Seed orchards
 In-situ conservation
1. Biosphere reserves
Following the man and biosphere approach advocated
by the UNESCO, 14 sites have been identified a Biosphere
reserves covering area of 49012.62 sq. Km
Eg: Thar Desert, Sunderbans, Kaziranga etc

2. National Parks
There are 97 existing national parks in India covering an
area of 38,199.47 km2, which is 1.16% of the geographical area
of the country.
In addition to the above 74 national parks are proposed
covering an area of 16,630.08 km2 in the Protected Area
Network Report. Eg: silent valley, eravikulam etc
 In-situ conservation
3.Wild Life Sanctuaries
There are 508 wildlife sanctuaries covering an area of
118,236.94 km2,which is 3.60% of the geographical area. Another
217 sanctuaries are proposed in the Protected Area Network Report
covering an f 16 669 44 k 2 area of 16,669.44 km2.
Eg: nilgiries, Gir, Wayanad etc

4. Tiger reserves
Project Tiger was launched in the year 1973 to save the tiger.
endangered species of Starting from nine (9) reserves in 1973-74 the
2006 number is grown up to 29 in 2006. A total of 38,620 km2 is
covered by these project tiger areas, which is 1.17% of
the total geographical area.
Eg: periyar, Kanha, Srisailam etc
 In-situ conservation
5. Seed stands and seed production areas
The best natural stands or plantations that are near full stocking
are used for the development of seed production areas.
One of the important component is the improvement of seed
quality.

6. Plus trees
tree Plus selection is one of the methods to conserve diversity at
species level. Plus tree is a phenotypically superior tree.
It is the utilization part of gene conservation
 Ex-situ conservation
1. Botanical gardens
India has more than 100 botanical gardens under different
management systems located in different bio-geographical regions.
Central and state governments manage 33 botanical gardens that
maintain the diversity in the form of plants or plant populations.

2. Arboreta
An arboretum generally refers to a place established for
conservation of tree species.
FRI Dehradun has established an arboretum with 130 tree species
forest species, a bamboosetum of 53 species.
NBPGR at Bhubaneswar has established an arboretum with 1,430
species of trees, a palmeretum of 100 different types of palms, a
bamboosetum with 61 collection of bamboo, and an orchidarium
housing 220 species of orchids.
 Ex-situ conservation
3. Herbal gardens
Refers to the gardens that conserve herbs, shrubs that are of
medicinal value and aromatic value.
The concept of herbal gardens has been picked up by the NGOs in
India.
Several institutions, State Forest Departments and NGOs in different
parts of the country, have established herbal gardens.

4. Clonal repositories
Institutions dealing with perennial plants have field repositories for
conservation of FGR.
ICFRE has established field repositories in the form of VMGs
(Vegetative Multiplication Gardens), clonal banks and germplasm
banks at its institutes regional institutes.
Also such repositories have been established in the jurisdiction of the
state forest departments for their use.
 Ex-situ conservation
5. Plant herbarium
Plant diversity preserved in the form of herbarium.
The Botanical Survey of India has the largest holding of 1,500,000
specimens.
The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun has collection of more than
3.0 lakh specimens.
There are many more herbaria, such as Presidency College Madras
( 100,000); The Blater Herbarium at St. Xaviers College, Bombay
(100,000); St. Josephs College, Tiruchirapally (60,000) etc.

6. Provenance trials
Provenance trials help in exploration of gene resources called
genecological exploration.
More than ninety species provenance trials have been established in
different parts of India to screen out best provenance for raising new
plantations with increased productivity.
Provenances are collected from different geographical, ecological
and environmental conditions and play an important role in gene
conservation
 Ex-situ conservation
7. Seed Orchards
Seed orchards contribute greatly to the production of quality
planting stock of the desired species.
These are plantations established primarily for the production of
seed of proven genetic quality.
These orchards can be put under selective conservation the
objectives in ex-situ conservation, as one of ex conservation.
Establishment of seed orchards is part of long-term conservation
management programme and also a long-term breeding
programme.
 Some important Terms:
Endangered species: Dodo
Extinct: passenger pigeon
Vulnerable:
Rare:
NBPGR: National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Resources(New Delhi)
NBAGR:National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources(Karnal)
NFPTCR: National Facility for Plant Tissue Culture Repository
Genetically modified crops
 Traditional cross breeding - an
artificial selection
Used to modify genetic characteristics of populations
of species
Example: Dogs, cats, cows, mangoes, flowers
It is a slow process
Can be done only between species that are genetically
close
 Genetic engineering is also an
artificial selection
Isolation, modification, multiplication and
recombination of genes from genetically different
organisms possible
Enables transfer of genes from different species
that never interbreed result is genetically
engineered or genetically modified organism
 Advantages of genetic
engineering
Faster than traditional cross breeding
Costs lesser
Allows transfer of traits between
genetically different plants or animals
 Some achievements by genetic
engineers
Pest-resistant plants
Genetically modified bacteria to clean oil
spills
Chickens that lay less cholesterol eggs
Tomatoes with genes to prevent some types
of cancer
Cloning?
Gene therapy?
Genetically modified (GM) crops
GM crops gain increasing popularity
USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and China produce
GM crops
Two types of GM crops
- Herbicide tolerant crops farmers can us herbicides
to wipeout weeds
- Pest-resistant crops produce some toxins to kill
insects
How are GM crops made?
How are GM crops made?
 Why GM crops?
GM crops are needed to
feed growing population
GM crops are healthier
GM crops are produced
in more efficient,
environmental friendly
way

.Some claims of pro-GM

groups
 Why GM crops are not welcome?
Nobody knows the future
effects like the effect of
pesticides
The genes can escape to other
plants produce super
weeds Eva
May be harmful to good
insects and to ecosystem
Some people claim that it is
against nature
Enough food is already
produced - 1.5 times of what
is required UN study no
need for GM crops
Genetically modified brinjal
A case study
 Brinjal some facts
Second most cultivated vegetable in India
Eaten by almost all Indians
Cultivated over 5 lakh hectares
Annual yield 8 lakh tonnes
So the company producing GM brinjal wants to enter in to
brinjal business to get financial benefits

Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech
 What does GM brinjal contain?
GM brinjal has a foreign gene from Bacillus
thuringenesis
The plant can produce its own pesticide to kill
fruit and shoot borer

So the company claims that farmers

no need to use pesticides
 Why should we worry about
GM brinjal?
Antibiotic resistance the gene package is resistant
to Neomycin and Streptomycin
Toxicity of proteins released
Not tested for allergic reactions
No long term safety tests conducted
Babies have higher risk but not tested
Ecological imbalance killing of other insects
Loss of consumer choice we cannot differentiate
between GM and non GM brinjal
Farmers seed sovereignty under threat
Possibility of gene contamination
Price raise
Regulatory problems