INTRODUCTION

MEANING OF BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is that part of nature which includes the differences in genes among
the individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal
species at different scales in space, locally, in a region, in the country and the
world, and various types of ecosystems, both
terrestrial and aquatic, within a defined area.

The word BIODIVERSITY originates from the Greek word BIOS : LIFE and
Latin word DIVERSITAS : VARIETY or DIFFERENCE. The whole word BIO-
DIVERSITY generally therefore means: VARIETY OF LIFE.

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ValueS of Biodiversity

The value of biodiversity is difficult to define and is often impossible to

estimate.However,biodiversity provides a variety of environmental services from
its species and ecosystems that are essential at the global, regional and local
levels.

Fig. Values of Biodiversity

 Consumptive Values

These include utilisation of timber, food, fuel wood and fodder by local
communities. For example, fisher-folks are completely dependent on fishes and
know where and how to catch them and other edible aquatic animals and plants.

 Productive Value

The genetic properties of microbes, plants and animals are used

biotechnologically to develop better varieties of crops for use in farming and
plantation programs or to develop better live stock.
Biodiversity, to industrialist, is a rich storehouse from which to develop new
products. Biodiversity, to pharmacists, is the raw material from which new drugs
can be developed from plant or animal products. The commonly used modern
drugs derived from plant sources are given in Table below.

Fig. Commonly used modern drugs derived from plant sources

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  Social Value

The social values are linked to consumptive and productive value of

biodiversity.‘Ecosystem people’ or traditional societies value biodiversity as a
part of their livelihood, as well as through cultural and religious sentiments.
Cultivation of rice and many other cereals are linked to certain social culture
and customs.

Fig. Social Values of Biodiversity

 Ethical and Moral Values

There are several cultural, moral and ethical values which are associated with
the sanctity of all forms of life. Nature in Indian civilisation has been preserved
for hundreds of generations through local traditions and customs.Tribal people
in several states of our country have a number of sacred groves or ‘deorais’
around ancient sacred sites and temples.This acts as gene banks for several wild
plants.

 Optional values

There are various type of values are shown in Table below.

Fig. Importance of Biodiversity to Human

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Types of Biodiversity
 Genetic Diversity

Within each member of any animal or plant species there are often found a
number of varieties or races or strains which slightly differ from each other in
one, two or a number of characteristics such as shape, size, resistance to insects,
pests and diseases, ability to withstand adverse conditions of environment, etc.
These differences result as individual differ widely from others of its own species
in its genetic make-up, owing to the large number of combinations possible in the
genes that give every individual its specific characteristics. This diversity in the
genetic make-up of a species is referred to as genetic diversity.

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 Fig. Genetic Diversity

 Species Diversity

In any ecosystem the biotic component is composed of a few species only or a

large number of microbe, plant and animals species. These species react and
interact with each other and with the abiotic factors of the environment. The
diversity related to the numbers and relative abundance of species within a
community are referred to as species diversity.

Fig. Species Diversity

 Components of species diversity

 Alpha diversity:

This is the local diversity which is expressed as the number of species in a small
area of more or less uniform habitat, Alpha or local diversity is, thus, sensitive to
habitat, area and intensity of sampling effort.

 Beta diversity:

The diffference in species from one habitat to the next is referred to as beta
diversity. The greater the turnover or difference of species between habitats, the
greater is the beta diversity.

 Gamma diversity:

Gamma or regional diversity is the total number of species observed in all

habitats within a region or geographic area that includes no significant barriers
to dispersal of organisms. The boundaries of a region thus depend on which
organisms we consider. The distribution of species within a region reflects their
selection of suitable habitats rather than their inability to disperse to a
particular locality.

Factors Affecting Biodiversity

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  Site Selection

 Ecological Environment and Social Impact

 Climate

 Soil

 Irrigation and Drainage

 Plant Maintenance and Protection

Fig. Main Factors affecting Biodiversity

Significance of Biodiversity in Natural Medicine

There is a wide variety of naturally derived drugs which still serve as important
therapies in medicine today. Many substances have been derived from
traditional medicine, e.g. digitalis (from Fox glove), ergotamine (from
contaminated rye), quinine (from Cinchona), etc. More recently, many antibiotic,
antifungal and anticancer agents have been derived from bacteria, fungi, plant
and ani mal sources.

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The conservation of biodiversity throughout the world is of significance for the
mankind and indeed to the constancy of the whole world. The vast genetic
variety available in terrestrial plants, animals and micro-organisms offers a
wealth of possibilities for the betterment of mankind in the production of foods
and medicines.

Causes of Reduction in Biodiversity

 Destruction of natural ecosystems

The expanding human establishments has contributed largely to the rapid

declinein biodiversity.

The destruction of natural eco-systems are :

 The Boreal Coniferous forests of the north are probably the modest as
far as losses of biological diversity is concerned.

 Temperate and Sub-tropical regions consisting of coniferous forests

are now reduced to isolated patches of forest and woodland, standing
amidst vast stretches of plains, the grass prairies of North America,
Cedar groves of Lebanon and the hardwood forests of Europe are fast
disappearing. Only 12.3 million hectares out of the original 31 million
hectares has been left.

 Tropical regions comprising of developing countries (often designated

as mega diversity countries) are endowed with the richest flora and fauna of the
world.

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 Fig. Causes of Biodiversity

 Adverse changes in environment

Biotic and abiotic factors of environment may undergo unfavorable changes

resulting in reduction of biodiversity.

These changes are :

 Environmental pollution.
 Over-exploitation of selected species.

 Natural calamities.

Fig. Biodiversity Loss Projection

Hotspots of Biodiversity

The biodiversity of the earth is unevenly distributed and is concentrated in

specific ecological regions.The biodiversity hotspots were originally identified by
Dr. Norman Myers. There are more than a thou sand major eco-regions in the
world, of which 200 Eco
regions are said to be the richest, rarest and most distinctive natural areas.
These areas are said to be the ‘Global 200’.

The important facts which were taken into considera tion were :
 Very high total species numbers

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  Endemicity, whether of common or unusual lineages
 Unusual combinations, characteris tics of communities

hotspot areas, other characteristics were :

 These areas should be already threatened or under threat.
 The site should include a diverse range of habitat.
 Specialist species should be of adequate amount and adapted to specific
edaphic conditions.

These criteria’s of biodiversity fall into three contrasting types :

 Continental hotspots which are sites of very high diversity, often with un
usual endemic species, sometimes called mega, hyper and super diversity
centres.
 Large islands, also called continental islands that have diverse distinctive
faunas which include relict faunas long extinct on the main continents.
 Oceanic islands which are often low in total species numbers but with high
proportions of endemics, unusual combination of species and peculiar
evolutionary lineages.

Critiques of Hotspots :

Biodiversity hotspots do not address the concept of cost. The purpose of

biodiversity hotspots is not just to identify regions that are of high biodiversity
value, but also to direct available funds to such small land areas of the world.
This was the main point behind the initial exposition of the idea — that a
majority of the world’s biodiversity could be protected by conserving a small
amount of land. Subsequently, hotspots became known as “Silver bullet
solution”.

Threats to Biodiversity
Natural causes

 Narrow geographical area

 Low population
 Low breeding rate
 Natural disasters

Fig. Threats to Biodiversity

Anthropogenic causes

 Habitat modification
 Overexploitation of selected species
 Innovation by exotic species.

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  Pollution
 Hunting
 Global warming and climate change
 Agriculture
 Domino effect

Degeneration of Biological Diversity

During the course of organic evolution a number of species disappeared.

Biological extinction is a natural phenomenon which has taken place in a
balanced way.
Before man’s interference the rate of extinction was one species per thousand
years.

However, due to the pressure of human activity in a span of three hundred years
the world has lost about 30 species of higher animals, which accounts for one
species per year. However, the situation is much more grave as these higher
animals constitute about 2-3% of the known species of living organisms.

Fig. Threats to biodiversity

Role of Biodiversity in Agriculture

India is a centre for crop diversity. It is the homeland for 167 cul tivated species
and 320 wild relatives of crop plants. India is considered to be the centre of
origin of 30,000-50,000 varieties of rice, pigeon pea, mango, turmeric, ginger,
sugar cane, gooseberries etc. In terms of contribution to world agriculture India
ranks seventh.

Mega-Diversity Zones
The zone between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is warm and humid. This
wide belt around the globe is provided with a rich and diverse plant, animal and

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microbial life. It is here that more than half of the total number of species
present in our planet occurs. Countries which occur in this belt are referred to as
megadiversity countries.

The mega- diversity countries are groups of countries in which less than 10% of
the global land surface has more than 70% of the lands biodiversity. Mega-
diversity countries are unusually rich in all forms of biodiversity, although data
for such categorisation relies on higher vertebrates, plants and a few insect
groups.

At present the number of mega-diversity countries has increased to 17 by the

UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (2007), with the inclusion of
Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Africa,
U.S.A., and Venezuela.

Fig. List of mega-diversity countries of the world with their land area as percentage of total global surface,
number of flowering plants and annual rate of deforestation

India as a Mega-Diversity Nation

Geological events since 70 million years ago, leading to the formation of India’s
present landmass, suggests a high level of biological diversity. India’s special
geographical posi tion or ‘niche’ between three distinctive centres of biological
evolution and radiation of species is responsible for our rich and varied
biodiversity.

India, because of its rich variety of species is among the top 10 bio-rich nations.
Many of the species found in India are not found elsewhere. India also has 1,022
species of ferns, 1,082 species of orchids, 50,000 identified species of insects
including 13,000 butterflies and moths. It is speculated that the number of
unidentified species could be several times higher.

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Fig. India’s world ranking (in relation to some groups and the number of species these groups contain)

About 30,000 to 50,000 varieties of rice and a number of cereals,vegetables and

fruits have been cultivated. The highest diversity of cultivars is seen in the high
rainfall areas such as Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Northern Himalayas and
the North-eastern hills. In India, gene banks have collected 22,000 pul ses and
34,000 cereals.

Among the animals in India, 62% of the total amphibians found are unique to
the country. Among the 153 species of lizards, 50% are endemic. Among the
mammals, India has 27 indigenous breeds of cattle, 40 breeds of sheep, 22 breeds
of goat and 8 breeds of buffaloes.

Thus, the Indian landscape is slowly beginning to loose its individuality. So,
proper planning and conservation of our endemic species has to be undertaken.

Biodiversity Profit of India

India contains a great wealth of biological diversity with a wide spectrum of

habitats from tropical rain forests to alpine vegetation and from temperate
forests to coastal wetlands. India is blessed with two hot spots – the Western
Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas from among 18 biodiversity hot spots in the
world-study carried out in the eighties.
India is also bestowed with 26 recognised endemic centres that are home to
nearly a third of all the flowering plants identified and described to date. India,
with a mere 2.4% of the world’s area, accounts for 7.31% of the global faunal
total with a faunal species count of 89,451 species.

Fig. Comparison between recorded no. Of species and the world.

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Conservation of Biodiversity

Being one of the so-called mega diversity countries, India has a broad range of
ecosys tems that contain a vast array of flora and fauna. The loss of biodiversity
is occurring worldwide and in India, too, this trend pre sents a clear threat.
India is committed to biodiversity conservation. It has developed an
extensive system of parks and sanctuaries covering more than 4 percent of its
land areas.

Conservation steps have been taken in the following ways :

 IN-SITU CONSERVATION

Biodiversity at all levels can be best preserved by setting aside an adequate

representation of wilderness as protected areas through in-situ conservation.
Setting up a network of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries etc., each with
distinctive ecosystems, would preserve the total diversity of life of a region.
The conservation of genetic resources through their main tenance within natural
or even human-made ecosystems in which they occur is termed as in-situ
conservation. It includes a system of protected areas of different categories, man-
aged with different objectives to bring benefit to the society.

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The in-situ conservation includes an extensive system of protected areas such as
National Parks, Sanctuaries, Nature Reservoir, Natural Monuments, Cultural
Landscapes, and Biosphere Reserves etc. The objective of these areas is the
preserva tion of relatively intact natural ecosystems, where biological diversity
from microbes, microscopic plants and animals to the giant trees and large
mammals are all equally protected.

However, in these areas, a particular species cannot be protected individually as

in an ecosystem various species are interdepen dent on each other. The
conservationist’s view-point is in dealing with areas that are relatively
speciesrich, or those that have rare, threatened or endangered species or those
with ‘endemic’ species which are not found anywhere else.
Generally, some rare endemic species are found in a small area and such areas
must be given added impor tance as their biodiversity is a special feature of that
region.

Fig. Conservation of Biodiversity (Insitu and Exsity)

 EX-SITU CONSERVATION

Endangered species can be conserved outside its natural habitat through ex-situ
conservation by carefully controlled situation such as a botanical garden for
plants and zoological parks for animals.

When con servation is done outside the natural habitat of organisms, it is called
ex-situ conservation. Here, sample populations are con served in genetic resource
centres, zoological parks, botanical gardens, culture collec tions etc. or are
conserved in the form of gene pools and gamete storage for fishes, germplasm
banks for seeds, pollen, semen, ova, cells etc.

Modern zoos undertake breeding pro grammes of endangered animals and even
assisting in artificial breeding. They take care of all the needs of animals even in
providing enclosures that stimulate their wild habitats. In India, such
conservation practices have been done for all the three species of crocodiles.
The Madras Crocodile Trust Bank is one such example, where crocodiles have

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grown in number and are successfully laying two clutches of eggs a year, com
pared to one in the wild. The Guwahati zoo has been successfully breeding the
very rare pygmy hog, while the Delhi zoo has successfully bred the rare Manipur
browantlered deer.

The success of the breeding programme also lies in the reintroduction of these
species into its original wilderness. This requires reconstruction of the degraded
habitat and stringent measures to be taken against poaching or other man-made
disturbances, which had been the primary cause for the reduction in such species
population.

 CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY THROUGH ECO-DEVELOPMENT

India’s Forest Research Education and Extension Project (FREEP) have enlisted
local communities to preserve its precious biodiversity through a strategy known
as eco-development.

Eco-development involves developing alternative resources and sources of income

for the many thousands of poor people who depend on pro tected natural habitats
for their livelihood. This has initiated groups of villagers to take responsibility
for conserving natural resources in nearby forests.

India has traditionally relied on policing to safeguard its protected areas. They
have used walls, gates, guards and guns to protect parks, sanctuaries etc., which
have proved ineffective in preventing exploitation of these areas by local
communities.
It has often led to confrontation between wildlife authorities and villagers.
FREEP has launched a long-term initiative to strengthen India’s forestry
research system, improve forestry education and expedite the use of research
findings in forestry extension.

The biodiversity conser vation activities of FREEP have provided experience that
has proved useful for ano ther program, the Eco-development Project, financed
by International Development Association (IDA) and the Global Environ ment
Facility Trust Fund.

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 Fig. Eco-wheel

BIODIVERSITY LOSS AND SPECIES EXTINCTION

• Extinction : last member of a species dies and the species vanishes

forever from Earth
• Extirpation : disappearance of a particular population, but not the
entire species globally
• These are natural processes. On average one species goes extinct
naturally every 500–1,000 years—this is the background rate of extinction.
• 99% of all species that ever lived are now extinct.

BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY: BIOPHILIA

Biophilia : human love for and attachment to other living things; ―the
connections that human beings subconsciously seek out with the rest of
life.

• Affinity for parks and wildlife

• Keeping of pets

• Valuing real estate with landscape views

• Interest in escaping cities to go hiking, birding, fishing, hunting,

backpacking, etc.

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CONSERVATION APPROACHES: CAPTIVE BREEDING

• Many endangered species are being

bred in zoos, to boost populations and
reintroduce them into the wild.

• This has worked so far for the

California condor (in photo, condor
hand puppet feeds chick so it imprints
on birds, not humans).

• But this is worthless if there is not

adequate habitat left in the wild. Fig. Captive Breeding

CONSERVATION APPROACHES: UMBRELLA SPECIES

• When habitat is preserved to meet the needs of an ―umbrella species,

it helps preserve habitat for many other species. (Thus, primary species
serve as an ―umbrella for others.)

• Large species with large home ranges (like tigers and other top predators) are
good umbrella species.

• So are flagship species, or charismatic species that win public affection, like
the panda.

Fig. Umbrella Species

The Protection of umbrella species automatically extends protection to other

species, i.e. spotted owl and old growth trees.

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The use of umbrella species as a conservation tool is highly debated.Some
scientists have found that the umbrella species provides a simpler way to
manage ecological communities.

CONCLUSION
Having reached the end of this module, it is time for a small review. Biodiversity
is a concept that has no general definition. Usually it is used in a context that
stresses the need for attention on our living environment and the sustainable use
of natural resources.

Biodiversity can be divided in different types such as habitat, species

and genetic diversity. The integrated approach used in coastal zone management
is an adequate method in dealing with the matter of biodiversity.

Loss of biodiversity and biodiversity conservation are concepts that

provide the basis for biodiversity management. The management of biodiversity
is a complex matter that needs the involvement of many different partners
ranging from governmental organisations to private companies, NGO's and
volunteers.

This aside, national and international commitment, legislation and

enforcement offer an essential framework for promoting and
maintaining biodiversity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Biodiversity and its Conservation by Satena Kumar

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity

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 https://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/6559599/Biodiversity-and-Its-
Conservation

 Biodiversity : An Introduction by John Spicer and Kevin J. Gaston.

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