Biodiversity Final

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BIODIVERSITY LOSSES

AND ACTION PLAN


Group Members:
•Enum Meerza
•Midhat Akbar
•Farheen Mehdi
•Rohma Abbasi
•Amna Tanveer
•Habiba Tariq
•Nimra Malik

Group 2 BBA-V
What is Biodiversity?
 It simply means " the variety
of life on earth“

 It reflects the number, variety


and variability of living
organisms and how these
change from one location to
another and over time

 It is important in
all ecosystems

Biodiversity losses and action plan


“At least 40 per cent of the world’s
economy and 80 per cent of the needs of
the poor are derived from biological
resources. In addition, the richer the
diversity of life, the greater the
opportunity for medical discoveries,
economic development, and adaptive
responses to such new challenges as
climate change.”

- The convention on ‘Biological


Diversity’
Biodiversity losses and action plan
Levels of Biodiversity

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Genetic Diversity
 Variation between
individuals of same species

 Genes, made of DNA , are


the building blocks that
determine how an organism
will develop and what its
traits and abilities will be

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Species Diversity
 Variety of species in a
given region or area

 They are easier to


conceptualize and have
been the basis of much of
the evolutionary and
ecological research that
biodiversity draws on

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Ecosystem Diversity
 Communities of plants and
animals, together with the
physical characteristics of their
environment interlink together as
an ecological system
 Ecosystem diversity is more
difficult to measure because there
are rarely clear boundaries
between different ecosystems and
they grade into one another

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Biodiversity threats and losses
Threats:
 Over-hunting
 Habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation
 Domino effects
 Pollution
 Climate change 

Biodiversity losses and action plan


1. Over-hunting
 Over-hunting has been a
significant cause of the
extinction of hundreds of
species and the
endangerment of many
more, such as whales and
many African large
mammals.
 Most extinctions over the
past several hundred years
are mainly due to over-
harvesting for food,
fashion, and profit.
Biodiversity losses and action plan
1. Over-hunting
 The annual trade is
estimated to be at least US
$5 billion, with perhaps
one-quarter to one-third of
it illegal.
 Over-hunting, particularly
illegal poaching, remains
a serious threat to certain
species, for the future, it is
globally less important
than other factors
mentioned next.
Biodiversity losses and action plan
2. Habitat loss, degradation,
fragmentation
 As deforestation
increases the main cause
of mass extinctions caused
by human activity.
 In the New World tropics,
lowland, seasonal,
deciduous forests began to
disappear.
 The forested regions most
easily converted to
agriculture, and with a
more welcoming climate.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


3. Domino Effects
 Domino effects are
especially likely when
two or more species are
highly interdependent,
or when the affected
species has a strong
connections to many
other species.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


4. Pollution
 Pollution from chemical
contaminants certainly
poses a further threat to
species and ecosystems.
 While not commonly a
cause of extinction, it likely
can be for species whose
range is extremely small,
and threatened by
contamination.
Biodiversity losses and action plan
5. Climate change
 A changing global climate
threatens species and
ecosystems. The distribution
of species (biogeography) is
largely determined by
climate, as is the distribution
of ecosystems and plant
vegetation zones (biomes). 
 Climate change may simply
shift these distributions but,
for a number of reasons,
plants and animals may not
be able to adjust. The pace
of climate change almost
certainly will be more rapid
than most plants are able to
migrate.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Losses of Biodiversity
 Species are now becoming extinct at an alarming rate,
almost entirely as a direct result of human activities.
 Previous mass extinctions evident in the geological
record are thought to have been brought about mainly
by massive climatic or environmental shifts.
 One estimate calculates that a quarter of all species on
earth are likely to be extinct, or on the way to
extinction within 30 years.
 Another predicts that within 100 years, three quarters
of all species will either be extinct, or in populations so
small that they can be described as "the living dead".

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Extinction
 A species becomes extinct when the last
existing member of that species dies.
Extinction therefore becomes a certainty when
there are no surviving individuals that are able
to reproduce and create a new generation.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Mass Extinction
 There have been at least five mass extinctions in the history
of life on earth, and four in the last 3.5 billion years in
which many species have disappeared in a relatively short
period of geological time. The most recent of these, the
Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event 65 million years ago
at the end of the Cretaceous period, is best known for
having wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, among many
other species.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Modern Extinction
 According to a 1998 survey of 400 biologists conducted
by New York's American Museum of Natural History,
nearly 70 percent believed that they were currently in the
early stages of a human-caused extinction, known as
the Holocene extinction. In that survey, the same proportion
of respondents agreed with the prediction that up to 20
percent of all living populations could become extinct
within 30 years (by 2028)

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Massive Extinctions From Human
Activity
 75% of genetic diversity of agricultural
crops has been lost.
 75% of the world’s fisheries are fully
or over exploited.
 Up to 70% of the world’s known
species risk extinction if the global
temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C.
 1/3rd of reef-building corals around the
world are threatened with extinction.
 Every second a parcel of rainforest the
size of a football field disappears.
 Over 350 million people suffer from
severe water scarcity.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Declining Amphibian Population
 Amphibians have been described as a marker species
or the equivalent of “canaries of the coal mines” 
 amphibian extinction rate may range from 25,039–
45,474 times the background extinction rate for
amphibians
 It is difficult to explain this unprecedented and
accelerating rate of extinction as a natural
phenomenon.” 

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Lizards Threatened By Climate
Change
 “Global-scale study” published in the journal
Science found that climate change could wipe
out 20% of the world's lizard species by 2080.
 Global projection models used by the

scientists suggested that “lizards have already


crossed a threshold for extinctions caused by
climate change”

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Dwindling Fish Stocks
 About 80 percent of the world marine fish
stocks for which assessment information is
available are fully exploited or overexploited.
 Fish stocks assessed since 1977 have
experienced an 11% decline in total biomass
globally, with considerable regional
variation. 
 The average maximum size of fish caught
declined by 22% since 1959 globally for all
assessed communities.
 There is also an increasing trend of stock
collapses over time, with 14% of assessed
stocks collapsed in 2007.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Causes Of Biodiversity Loss
1. Over-Exploitation
2. Environmental Pollution
3. Natural Calamities
4. Habitat Fragmentation
5. Exotic species

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Over-exploitation
 Caused by Stone Age hunters
Woolly mammoth, horses, camels
 Threat to number of species
Whale, elephants, crocodiles
 Stellers sea cow
Hunted for food/profit
 Medicinal value
Psilotum

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Environmental Pollution
 Presence of toxic material

 Pesticides

 Crude petroleum

 Toxic trace elements

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Natural Calamities
 Floods

 Forest fires

 Earth quakes

 Volcanic eruptions

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Habitat Fragmentation
 Railway tracks and highways

 Deeper zone of patches


- Competition for space food and water

 Future extinction

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Exotic Species
 Extensive damages

 Struggle for existence

 Example: Nile Perch

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Role of IUCN
Conserving biodiversity, as the backbone of
all life on Earth and the core of what IUCN
does, is the basis for our four other priority
areas of work:
 Climate Change
 Sustainable Energy
 Managing nature for human well being
 greening the economy

Biodiversity losses and action plan


IUCN Progams

Species Program Water Program

Forest Conservation
Program Global Marine
Biodiversity losses and action plan
Role of WWF
 WWF - Pakistan is working to conserve the
environment through its Target Driven
Programmes (TDPs) that address issues
pertaining to different samples

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Target Driven Programmes

Forests Fresh Water Marine


Ecosystem

FOREST
Species Toxics FRESH WATER
Climate Change
Biodiversity losses and action plan
Biodiversity in Pakistan
 Pakistan has 225 Protected Areas (PAs) 14 national
parks, 99 wildlife sanctuaries, and 96 game reserves

 It consists of rapidly shrinking wetlands, of wondrous


juniper forests, minute life forms that buzz their way to
a magical existence, of stunning mountains

 Pakistan covers a number of the world's ecoregions,


ranging from the mangrove forests stretching from the
Arabian Sea to the towering mountains of the western
Himalayas, Hindukush, and Karakoram

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)
 Is an internationally recognized program
addressing threatened species and habitats and
is designed to protect and restore biological
systems.

 The original impetus for these plans derives


from the 1992 Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD).

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)
 The principal elements of a BAP typically
include:
 Preparing inventories of biological information for
selected species or habitats
 Assessing the conservation status of species within
specified ecosystems
 Creation of targets for conservation and restoration
 Establishing budgets, timelines and institutional
partnerships for implementing the BAP
Biodiversity losses and action plan
Species Plan
 A species plan component of a country’s BAP should
ideally entail a thorough description of the range,
habitat, behavior, breeding, and interaction with other
species. Once a determination has been made of
conservation status (e.g. rare, endangered, threatened,
vulnerable), a plan can then be created to conserve and
restore the species population to target levels

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Biodiversity Conservation
• Biodiversity Conservation refers to the efforts to
maintain or enhance biodiversity involving protection,
uplifting and scientific management at its optimum
level in order to derive sustainable benefits for the
present as well as for the future
• Biodiversity is the life support system of our planet-
we depend on it for the air we breathe, the food we eat,
and the water we drink. Wetlands filter pollutants from
water, trees and plants reduce global warming by
absorbing carbon, and bacteria and fungi break down
organic material and fertilize the soil.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Why to be concerned?
 Our ethics recall us that we should not deprive our future
generations from economic and aesthetic benefits that
can be derived from biodiversity. It is our moral duty to
look after our planet and pass it on to our future
generation in a good health.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Approaches of biodiversity
conservation
There are two approaches:
1. In Situ (on site) conservation

2. Ex Situ (off site) conservation

Biodiversity losses and action plan


In Situ conservation
• Preservation and Protection of Ecosystems at their
Original Environment.
• To recognize a particular biodiversity rich area and to
preserve it
• This method maintains all organisms at different tropic
levels from producers to top consumers such as
carnivores.
• In situ conservation requires only elimination of factors
detrimental to the existence of the species
• Allow the large number of species to grow
simultaneously and flourish in their natural environment
in which they were growing since a long time.

Biodiversity losses and action plan


In Situ conservation
 In Situ includes conservation of the following:
 National Parks
 Sanctuaries
 Biosphere Reserves
 Reserve Forests

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Ex Situ Conservation
 Involves cultivation of plants and rearing of
animals outside their natural habitats
 It is done as a sample of genetic diversity,
particularly of endangered species of plants and
animals, under human care

Biodiversity losses and action plan


Ex Situ Conservation

ZOOLOGICAL PARKS
BOTANICAL (ZOOS)
GARDENS

AQUARIUMS
Biodiversity losses and action plan
Conservation Vs Preservation
 The aim of conservation is to manage or regulate
use so that it does not exceed the capacity of the
species or system to renew itself

 The objective of preservation of species and


ecosystems is to ensure their continuity, regardless
of their potential utility

Biodiversity losses and action plan

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