WHAT IS GENETIC

DIVERSITY
• The variation in the amount of genetic information within and among
individuals of a population, a species, an assemblage, or a community.-
United Nations (UN) 1992

• Variation is high when there are many different alleles of all genes and
many different combinations of those alleles.

• The level of genetic variation in a population is constantly changing:

different alleles of a single gene can appear and disappear from time to
time within a population. This means that the gene pool of a
population is always dynamic.
IMPORTANCE OF GENETIC
DIVERSITY
• First of all, when a population of an organism contains a large gene
pool—that is, if the genetic blueprints of individuals in the population
vary significantly—the group has a greater chance of surviving and
flourishing than a population with limited genetic variability.
• Genetic diversity also reduces the incidence of unfavourable inherited
traits. In a small, isolated population of organisms, individuals may be
forced to breed with close relatives. When this happens, the genetic
makeup of the individuals becomes more and more uniform, and
genetic flaws become increasingly more common and this is called
interbreeding.
 WHAT CREATES ECOLOGICAL BALANCE?

• ecological balance is a state of dynamic equilibrium within a

community of organisms in which genetic, species and ecosystem
diversity remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes through
natural succession." and "A stable balance in the numbers of each
species in an ecosystem.
• The most important point being that the natural balance in an
ecosystem is maintained. This balance may be disturbed due to the
introduction of new species, the sudden death of some species, natural
hazards or man-made causes. In this field trip we will explore how
human population and development affects the ecological balance.
 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENETIC DIVERSITY AND
ECOLOGICAL BALANCE

• Genetic diversity provides the raw material for evolution by

natural selection (fisher 1930). However, the simple presence of
heritable trait variation does not mean that different levels of
genetic diversity will have predictable ecological consequences.
• The field of ecology provide a foundation for the study of the
ecological effects of genetic diversity. First, interest in the
ecological consequences of biodiversity has focused on how the
number of species and functional groups (e.g. trophic groups,
guilds, etc.) within communities affects the stability and
functioning of ecosystems.
• Second, there is a growing focus on the ecological effects of not
just the mean value of a particular explanatory variable, but the
variance around the mean within experimental or observational
units.
IMPORTANCE OF INTERDEPENDENCY OF
ALL CREATURES IN A ECOSYSTEM

• Ecosystem diversity boosts the availability of oxygen

• Diversity In an aquatic environment helps in
the purification of water by plant varieties for use by
humans.
• Diversity increases plant varieties which serves as a good
source for medicines and herbs for human use.
CONTINUED

• Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each

species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play
. For example,
• A larger number of plant species means a greater variety of
crops.
• Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all
life forms.
• Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a
variety of disasters.
• Wetlands, for example, are a spawning ground for many of our
fish, they act as feeding and breeding grounds for many
spectacular birds and they serve as a natural filter for pollutants.
• Our forests provide natural vegetation cover which helps to
create water catchments, regulates excessive water run off and
protects us from the extremes of droughts or floods
• It helps to keep the environment in a natural balance.
• In a system where species are limited, the loss or temporary
reduction of any one could disrupt a complex food chain with
serious effects on other species in that same system.
• If one nutrient cycling path is affected ,another pathway can
function and the biological species it supports - can survive.
 EFFECTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY FOR
POPULATION DYNAMICS, SPECIES
INTERACTIONS AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES.
HOW DOES ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE INFLUENCE
GENETIC DIVERSITY?

•Environmental disturbance regimes are changing globally.

•Disturbance is an important driver of the distribution of genetic
diversity.
•Disturbance influences genetic diversity through neutral and selection-
driven processes.
•We review challenges and opportunities for using genetics to
understand the biotic impacts of disturbance.
CONTINUED..

• Ecological diversity is dependent on natural

disturbance. The success of a wide range of
species from all taxonomic groups is closely tied
to natural disturbance events such as fire,
flooding, and windstorm. As an example, many
shade-intolerant plant species rely on
disturbances for successful establishment and to
limit competition.Without this perpetual thinning,
diversity of forest flora can decline, affecting
animals dependent on those plants as well.
 CONTINUED..

• Environmental disturbance underpins the dynamics

and diversity of many of the ecosystems of the world,
yet its influence on the patterns and distribution of
genetic diversity is poorly appreciated. We argue here
that disturbance history may be the major driver that
shapes patterns of genetic diversity in many natural
populations.
CONSERVATION
NEEDS
The importance of whatever the nature provides
us is remarkable, but why do we need to preserve
anything? Don’t things eventually change?

Because humans don’t own it!

Environment is not a “property” or some man
made “country”
It has being there always.You don’t leave your
parent when they are sick saying “others shall
look after it”
H OW TO VA L U E B I O D I V E R S I T Y
 HUMAN IMPACTS ON GENETIC
DIVERSITY IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
Humans have converted forest to agricultural and urban uses,
exploited species, fragmented wildlands. Changed the
demographic structure of forests, altered habitat, degraded
the environment with atmospheric and soil pollutants,
introduced exotic pests and competitors, and domesticated
THERE ARE MANY…

favored species. None of they activities is new; perhaps with

the exception of atmospheric poilution, they date back to
prehistory. All have impacted genetic diversity (i.E., Species
diversity and genetic diversity within species) by their
influence on the evolutionary processes of extinction,
selection, drift, gene flow, and mutation, sometimes increasing
diversity, as in the case of domestication, but often reducing it.
Even in the absence of changes .In diversity, mating systems
were altered, changing the genetic structure of populations.
Demographic changes (i.E., Conversion of old-growth to
younger, even-aged stands) influenced selection by increasing
the incidence of disease.
Introduction of exotic diseases, insects,
mammalian herbivores, and competing
vegetation has had the best -documented
e f f e c t s o n g e n e t i c d i v e r s i t y, r e d u c i n g
both species diversity and intraspecific
d i v e r s i t y. D e f o r e s t a t i o n h a s o p e r a t e d o n
a vast scale to reduce diversity by direct
elimination of locally-adapted
populations. Atmospheric pollution and
global warming will be a major threat in
the near future, particularly because
forests are fragmented and migration is
impeded. Past impacts can be estimated
w i t h re fe re n c e t o ex p e r t k n ow l e d ge , b u t
hard data are often lacking. Baselines are
needed to quantify future impacts and
p rov i d e . A n e a r ly w a r n i n g o f p ro bl e m s .
Genetic inventories of indicator species
c a n p rov i d e t h e b a s e l i n e s ag a i n s t w h i c h
t o m e a s u r e c h a n g e s i n d i v e r s i t y.
 GENETIC DRIFT :
Decreasing variation
Imagine that our random draws from the marble bag produced the following pattern:
5:5, 6:4, 7:3, 4:6, 8:2, 10:0, 10:0, 10:0, 10:0, 10:0... Why did we keep drawing 10:0?
Because if the green marbles fail to be represented in just one draw, we can't get
them back — we are "stuck" with only brown marbles. The cartoon below illustrates
this process, beginning with the fourth draw.

The same thing can happen to populations. If the gene for green coloration drifts out
of the population, the gene is gone for good — unless, of course, a mutation or gene
flow reintroduces the green gene.
GENETIC DRIFT
The impact on small populations
The marble-drawing scenario also illustrates why drift affects small
populations more. Imagine that your bag is only big enough for 20 marbles (a
tiny bag!) and that you can only draw four marbles to represent gene
frequencies in the next generation. Something like this might happen:

Notice how quickly and drastically the marble ratio changed: 1:1, 1:3,
0:1.
The same process operates in small populations. All populations
experience drift, but the smaller the population is, the sooner drift will
have a drastic effect. This may be a big problem for endangered species
that have low population sizes.
CONSERVATION GENETICS
• Rate of evolutionary change in a population is
proportional to the amount of genetic diversity
available
• Higher genetic diversity is usually positively
related to fitness
• Global pool of genetic diversity represents all of
the information for all biological processes (=
genetic library)
CONTINUED

• Habitat fragmentation and destruction now

produce and will continue to produce small,
isolated populations
• Understanding the genetic status of species and
populations and the consequences of small
population sizes is vital to conservation,
management, and recovery efforts.
• A major goal is to preserve natural patterns of
genetic diversity to the extent possible to preserve
options for future evolutionary change.
HOW GENETIC DRIFT IN OUR CROPS
MAKING IT LESS HEALTHY?
A recent study by Catherine Moyes and Philip Dale
of the John Innes Institute in England has elaborated
on the role that genetically modified crop varieties
may play in organic agriculture.
They conclude that if genetically modified crops
continue to be planted near organic crops, the
possibility of contamination is probably unavoidable.
Once genetically modified crops are released, they,
like all crops, cannot be completely contained and
are very likely to impact organic production
systems.
SOME MORE EFFECTS
Prairie Chicken

• 35-year study of a remnant population of

prairie chickens in Illinois
• In 1962, about 2,000 individuals present; in
1994, fewer than 50
• Fertility and hatching rates declined
significantly, as did genetic diversity
• Translocation program established in 1992 to
bring in birds from MN, KS and NE
CONTINUED

• By 1994, increased survival of young prairie

chickens was verified
• By 1997, there were significant increases in
mean rates of fertility and hatching
• Once the main population in Illinois
became isolated, it began to lose viability
and without intervention, it most likely
would have disappeared
HOW CAN GENETIC
DIVERSITY BE PRESERVED
There was a broad consensus on some
of the principles of genetic conservation
that can be communicated to policy-
makers and practitioners with a high
degree of confidence. These include the
following generalisations:
CONTINUED

• high levels of genetic diversity within populations are almost always

desirable to ensure that they are genetically sustainable;
• adaptability is correlated with diversity and should be an important
driver for conservation in response to environmental change;
• genetic diversity is broadly correlated with population size, hence
conservation should seek to maintain or create large populations;
• low levels of genetic diversity are detrimental to populations when
they lead to inbreeding depression but can be of special scientific
interest and may indicate ongoing evolution and speciation;
• gene flow between populations is desirable but care may be
required where small populations have been isolated for a long
period and local adaptation may be swamped;
• action to increase landscape permeability for one species may be
bad for another but what is good for most species should take
precedence.
SUMMARISING WHAT'S HAPPENING

Over use
of pollution More new diseases
resources every year.

Use of
GMO seeds
Over to fulfil More endangered,
population needs of
vast rare, extinct
population species

faster
Ecological
imbalance Genetic Natural disasters,
drift man made disasters
W H AT I S T H E B E S T
SOLUTION TO CURB
IT?

THINK.
W H AT M U S T B E D O N E .
THANK YOU.
PRESENTED BY : SHINJINI,
P O O R V A , R I C H A PAYA L .

S T U D E N T S O F 4 TH S E M E S T E R , B . A G E O G R A P H Y
(HONS.) MH, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
S U B : E N V I R O N M E N TA L G E O G R A P H Y