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. This includes genetic diversity within and between species and of ecosystemsThus, in
essence, biodiversity represents all life. India is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world
and has two of the world's 18 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ located in the Western Ghats and in the
Eastern Himalayas (Myers 1999). The forest cover in these areas is very dense and diverse and
of pristine beauty, and incredible biodiversity. According to an MoEF Report (1996), the country
is estimated to have over 45,000 plant species and 81,000 animal species representing 7% of the
world’s flora and 6.5% of its fauna. The 1999 figures are 49,219 plant species representing 12.5%
and 81,251 animal species representing 6.6%.

The sacred groves of India are some of the areas in the country where the richness of biodiversity
has been well preserved. The Thar desert and the Himalayas are two regions rich in biodiversity
in India. There are 89 national parks and 504 wildlife sanctuaries in the country, the Chilika Lake
being one of them. This lake is also an important wetland area.

Ecosystem:

The term ecosystem was coined in 1930 by Roy Clapham, to denote

the physical and biological components of an environment considered
in relation to each other as a unit. British ecologist Arthur Tansley later
refined the term, describing it as "The whole system,… including not
only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical
factors forming what we call the environment". Tansley regarded
ecosystems not simply as given natural units but as "mental isolates".
Tansley later defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term
"ecotope

Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms are
continually engaged in a set of highly interrelated relationships with
every other element constituting the environment in which they exist.
Eugene Odum, one of the founders of the science of ecology, stated:
"Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the "community") in a
given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of
energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and
material cycles (ie: exchange of materials between living and nonliving
parts) within the system is an ecosystem."[4] The human ecosystem
concept is then grounded the deconstruction of the human/nature
dichotomy, and the emergent premise that all species are ecologically
integrated with each other, as well as with the abiotic constituents of
their biotope.