LECTURE NOTES

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
 UNIT –4

BIODIVERSITY AND ITS CONSERVATION

BIODIVERSITY
 Biodiversity is the variety and differences among living organisms
from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part.
 It is virtually synonymous with “Life on earth”.
 Biologists most often define "biological diversity" or "biodiversity"
as the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region".
 The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of
distinct biological species, which is the product of nearly 3.5 billion
years of evolution.
LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY
Genetic diversity
 Species of different Genetic Characteristics
 Diversity within species i.e. Variations in genes with species.
 Slight different between species
 Difference due to combination of genes
 Basic units of Hereditary transformed from one generation to
another.
 Eg. Rice varieties, teak wood varieties, etc,
Species Diversity
Discrete group of organisms of the same kind
Diversity between species
Sum of varieties of living organisms at species level
Eg.
 Plant Species: Apple, mango, grapes, rice, wheat, etc.
 Animal Species: Lion, tiger, deer, etc.
Community and Ecosystem diversity
Ecosystem diversity refers to the diversity of a place at the level of
ecosystems. This has 3 perspectives:
 Alpha Diversity: Within community diversity. Alpha diversity
refers to the diversity of organisms sharing the same
 Community/Habitat.
 Beta Diversity: Between community diversity. It refers to the
diversity of organisms sharing two habitats.
 Gamma Diversity: Diversity of the habitat over the total landscape
or geographical area is called gamma diversity.
BIOGEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION OF INDIA
 India is mega diversity country with different types of climate and
topography in different parts
 Variations due to the variability in flora and fauna
 It is important to study and know the distribution, evolution and
environmental relationship of plants and animals.
 To know about the relationship of flora and fauna, biogeographers
classified India into ten biogeographic zones
 Each zone has its own climate, soil and biodiversity.

India’s major biogeographical habitats

 Trans – Himalayan region

 Himalayan mountain
 Desert
 Semi – Arid
 Western Ghats
 Deccan Peninsula
 Gangetic Plain
 North East
 Coasts
 Islands

VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
1. Biosphere is supporting combination of different organisms with its
own significance.
2. Biodiversity is stability and proper functioning of the Biosphere.
3. We get benefit from each organism in biosphere.
Classification and importance of value of Biodiversity
  Consumptive Use Value
 Productive Use Value
 Social Use Value
 Ethical Values
 Aesthetic Values
 Option Values
Consumptive use value
 Direct use values
 Harvested and consumed directly
Food – 80 – 90% tropical wild plants
 Ceropegia bulbosa
 Codonopisis
 Cicer microphyllum
Drugs – 70% of modern medicines from plants
 Traditional systems – Ayurvedha and Sidha.
Fuel – firewoods – fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gases
Productive use value
Obtain commercial value
Products are marketed and sold
Derived from animal and plants
ANIMAL ANIMAL PRODUCTS

Silk - worm Silk

Sheep Wool
Elephants Tusk

Fish and animal Food

PLANT & ANIMAL INDUSTRY

PRODUCT

Wood Paper and pulp industry

Cotton Textile industry

Fruits, vegetables Food industry

Leather Leather industry

Social use value

 Bio – resources are used to society
 Value associated with social life, religion and spiritual aspects.
Holy Plants: Tulsi, lotus, etc.
Holy animals: Cow, snake, bull, peacock, rat, etc
Ethical values
1. Ethical issues must be preserved
2. India has great cultural and religious basis
3. May or may not be used but gives pleasure
River Ganga
Vembu, tulsi, etc,
Kangaroo, zebra, giraffe,etc
Aesthetic values
Beautiful nature of plants and animals is the most important value of
biodiversity is eco – tourism.
Option values
 Biodiversity that are unknown and need to be known
 Suggested that any species maybe proved valuable
GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY
  Total numbers of living species in the world are about 20 million
but only 1.5 million species are found and given names.
 Tropical deforestation alone is reducing the biodiversity by 0.5%
every year.

 Terrestrial biodiversity or Biomass

Tropical rainforests
Temperate forests
 Marine diversity
Terrestrial biodiversity or biomass
Largest ecological units present in different geographic areas
Tropical rain forests:
 Earth’s largest storehouse of biodiversity
 Inhabited of millions of plants, insects, birds, amphibians and
mammals.
 About 50 – 70% of global diversity
 Medicinal plants: 25% of world drug is extracted here
 Flowering plants: nearly 1,30,000 flowering plants are found
and 1 – 3% is known
Temperate Forest:
 Much less biodiversity
1,70,000 flowering plants
30,000 vertebrates
2, 50,000 other group of species
Marine diversity
 It is much higher than terrestrial biodiversity but it is less known
and described.
 Estuaries, coastal waters and oceans are biologically diverse.
 Sea is a cradle of every known animal phylum
 35 existing phylum of multicellular animals
 34 marine
 16 exclusively marine
BIODIVERSITY AT NATIONAL LEVEL – INDIA
India is second largest nation containing 5% of world’s biodiversity and
2% of the earth surface.
Rank of India in biodiversity:
 10th rank among the plant rich
 11th rank among the endemic species of higher vertebrates
 6th rank among the centers of diversity and origin of agricultural
crops.
 India’s is an agricultural country and economic depends on the
production of crops
 India is considered as mega – diversity nation because of rich in
flora and fauna
 High demand in abroad for Indian species
Medicinal Value
More than 2000 medicinal plants – cure many diseases
Eg. Tulsi, neem, turmeric, etc.
Commercial Value
 Indian sandal wood
 Tobacco – nicotine
 Wild edible mushroom – exported
 Demand for ornamental plants, flowers and fruits
 More than 100 species developed and formulated in abroad
BIODIVERSITY AT LOCAL LEVEL
Based on the spatial distribution the biodiversity at local level is classified
as follows,
1. Point richness
Species found in single point in a given place
2. Alpha richness or Alpha diversity
Number of species found in small homogeneous area
3. Beta richness or Beta diversity
Rate of change of species increase as more heterogeneous habitats
4. Gamma richness or Gamma diversity
Changes across large landscape
BIODIVERSITY IN TAMILNADU
Distribution of plants and animals among different districts in Tamil Nadu
is uneven.
 Dense forest in Salem
 Western Ghats has 1500 species of plants, 50 species of mammals
and 90 reptiles.
 Birds of several species in Vedanthangal
 Elephant sanctuaries at Anaimalai
 Tiger sanctuary at Mundanthurai
INDIA AS A MEGA – DIVERSITY NATION
 Nearly 170 countries in this world and 12 of them contain 70% of
the earth’s biodiversity
 India is one among the 12 mega biodiversity countries
 The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
records
47,000 species of plants
81,000 species of animals
Which is about the 7% and 6.5% of global flora and fauna
respectively
HOT- SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY
 Areas which exhibit high species richness as well as high species
endemism are termed as Hot spots of Biodiversity.
 There are 25 hot spots of biodiversity on a global level and two are
present in India i.e. Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats.
 At global level, these are the areas of high conservation priority, if
these species lost, they can never be replaced or regenerated.
 Hotspots covering less than 2% of world’s land are found to have
50% of terrestrial biodiversity.
 About 40% of terrestrial plants and 25% of vertebrate species are
endemic and found in hotspot.

Criteria for determining hot-spots

 No. of Endemic Species i.e. the species which are found no where else.
 Degree of threat, which is measured in terms of Habitat loss.
E.g. Indo- Burma (Eastern Himalayas) Hotspot
 The hotspot includes all of Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos, and
 nearly the entire areas of Thailand, Myanmar & Bhutan as well
as part of Nepal, far eastern India and extreme southern China.
 In addition, it covers several offshore Islands including Mainan
Islands in the south China Sea and Andaman & Nicobar Islands
in Indian Ocean.
 Indo-Burma is one of the most threatened biodiversity
hotspots, due to the rate of resource exploitation and habitat
loss.

E.g. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

 Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, also known as the “Sahyadri Hills”
encompasses the montane forests in the southwestern parts of India
and on the neighboring Islands of Sri Lanka.
 The entire extent of hotspot was originally about 1,82,500
square kms, but due to tremendous population pressure, now
only 12,445 square Km or 6.8% is in pristine condition.
 The important populations include Asian elephant, Indian
tigers and the endangered lion tailed macaque.
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY

Extinction is a natural event and, from a geological perspective, routine.

In last century, human impact has been so severe that thousands of
species and varieties are becoming extinct annually.
Some of the main causes are:
Habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation.
Habitat loss & degradation are major causes of species extinction,
affecting 89% of all threatened birds, 83% of mammals & 91% of all
threatened plants assessed globally (IUCN, 2000)
The main causes of habitat are agriculture activities, Mining,
development of human settlement, industry etc.
According to ICUN, UNEP report, more than 50% of wildlife habitat has
been destroyed in 49 out of 61 old world tropical countries.

Causes and issues related to threats to biodiversity

 Loss of Habitat
Destruction and loss of natural habitat is the single largest cause of
biodiversity loss
  Poaching (over harvesting)
Illegal trading of wildlife products by killing prohibited endangered
species
 Man – Wildlife Conflicts
It arises when wildlife starts causing immense damage and danger
to man.

POACHING OF WILDLIFE
 Poaching is another threat that has emerged in recent decades as one
of the primary reason for decline in number of species.
 Wildlife is sold and traded in many countries for live specimens,
folk medicines, furs, Skin, and other products such as Ivory, horns
etc amounting to millions of dollars.
MAN – WILDLIFE CONFLICTS
 The conflict between man and wildlife started with the
evolution of man, but intensity increased due to the activities
of modern man
 Due to the lack of stable food and disruption of movement, wild
animals came out of forest area and attack the agricultural field and
humans and in turn got killed by the humans.

Introduction of Exotic species

 Organisms introduced into habitats where they are not native are termed
as exotics.
 They can be thought of as Biological Pollutants and are
considered to be among the most damaging agents of habitat
alteration and degradation the world.

Climate change
 A changing global climate threatens species and ecosystems.
 The distribution of species (biogeography) is largely determined by
climate.
 Climate change may simply shift these distributions but, for a
number of reasons, plants and animals may not be able to adjust.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
  According to The International Union of Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources (IUCN), the species that considered in
imminent danger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely, if
factors causing their decline continue to operate.
 Out of about 47,000 species of plants in our country, 7000 are endemic
 India contains 172 species of animals considered globally threatened by
IUCN, or 2.9% of the world’s total number of threatened species.
 These include 53 species of mammals, 69 birds, 23 reptiles and 3
amphibians
 As many as 3,000- 4,000 higher plants may be under high degree of
threat in India
 Thus Indian subcontinent has about 62% endemic flora, restricted mainly
to Himalayas, khasi Hills & Western Ghats.
 Sapria himalayana, Uvaria lurida, Napenthes khasians etc. are some
endemic flora of our country.
 A large number out of a total of 81,000 species of animals in our country
is endemic. About 62% amphibians and 50% lizards are endemic to
western Ghats.
 Golden monkey, Niligiri Langur, Indian Wolf, Red Fox, Himalayan
Brown Bear, Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, White Winged Wood
Duck, Black Necked Crane, Indian Pea Fowl, Gharial, Indian egg eating
Snake, Indian Salamandar etc. are some examples of endemic animal
species of India.

FACTORS AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY

1. Disturbed by human activities such as construction of dams in forest,

release industrial waste, using pesticides and insecticides in crop fields,
urbanization, etc.
2. Poaching, over – exploitation and degradation
3. Marine ecosystem is disturbed by oils spills and effluents
4. Global warming, ozone layer depletion and acid rain

ADVANTAGES OR NEED OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Immediate benefits to society such as recreation and tourism

Availability of raw materials
Preserves genetic diversity
Ensures sustainable utilization
 Conservation of ecological diversity
Biodiversity loss result in ecological and environmental deterioration, so
it is essential to conserve biodiversity.

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

 The convention on Biological Diversity held in June, 1992 stressed the

need of the conservation of Biodiversity for sustainable development and
perpetuation of human beings on earth.
 Conservation is defined as “ the management of human use of the
biosphere so that it may yield the greatest sustainable benefit to the
present generation while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and
aspirations of the future generations”.
 The two basic approaches to wildlife conservation in protected habitats
are:

1) In- situ conservation

2) Ex- situ conservation.

In- situ conservation

 It simply means conservation of species in its natural ecosystem or even

in manmade ecosystems.
 This strategy emphasizes protection of total ecosystem through a network
of “protected area”.
 Protected Areas: an area of land and/or sea specially dedicated to the
protection and maintenance of biological diversity and managed through
legal effective means.
 There are different categories of protected areas which are managed with
different objectives. These include; Biosphere reserves, National parks,
Wild Life Sanctuaries etc.
 At present we have 11 major biosphere reserves, 80 National parks, 420
wildlife sanctuaries in our country covering 4% of the geographic area.
 The JIM CORBETT National Park was 1st national park established in
India.

What is Difference among Biosphere reserves, National parks, Wild Life

Sanctuaries? Examples of Biosphere reserves of India:

1. Nilgiri- 5,520 sq.km

 2. Nanda Devi- 5,860.69 sq. km
3. Manas – 2837 sq. km
4. Gulf of Mannar – 10,500 sq. km
5. Great Nicobar – 885 sq. km
6. Panchmarhi – 4,926.28 Sq Km

Ex- situ conservation

It is defined as “the conservation of component of biological diversity

(Sample of genetic diversity, particularly of endangered species) outside
their natural habitats”.
It involves maintenance and breeding of endangered plant and animal
species under partially or wholly controlled conditions. E.g. Zoos,
Botanical Gardens, Aquaria, Nurseries, DNA bank, Seed bank, Gene
bank etc.
There are more than 1500 Botanical gardens in the world containing more
than 80,000 species.
There are more than 800 zoos around the world with about 3,000 species
of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.