BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

 Biodiversity: the term biodiversity refers to the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a
region.
 Types of biodiversity described by Edward Wilson:
 Genetic diversity: A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level over its
distributional range.
 Medicinal plant Rauwolfiavomitoriaof Himalayan range produces active chemical reserpine shows
genetic variation.
 India has more than 50000 different strain of rice,1000 varieties of mango.
 Species diversity: different species of a single animal like frog.
 Ecological diversity: diversity in the ecosystem level like desert, rain forest,
mangroves, coral reef, wetlands, estuaries etc.
How many species are there on Earth and How many in India?
 According to IUCN(2004), 1.5 million of plants and animals are in our biosphere.
 Robert May places global species diversity at about 7 misllions.
 More than 70 % of all the species recorded are animals.
 All plants constitute about 22 %.Among animals, insects constitute 70 %.
 India has only 2.4 % of the world’s land area; its share of global species diversity is impressive
8.1 %.
 India is considered one of the mega diversity countries of the world.

Pattern of Biodiversity
Latitudinal gradients:
 Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the pole.
 Tropic (23.5oN to 23.5oS) harbours more species than temperate and pole
  The largely tropical Amazonian rain forest in South America has the greatest biodiversity on earth:
40,000 species of plants,3000 species of fishes,1300 of birds,427 amphibians,378 reptiles
and More than 1, 25,000 invertebrates.
Why tropical rain forest has greater biodiversity:
 Unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical latitudes have
remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years and thus, had a long evolutionary time for
species diversification.
 Tropical environments. Unlike temperate ones, are less seasonal, relatively more constant and
predictable, promotes niche specialization and lead to greater species diversity.
 There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contribute to higher productivity.
Species area relationship:
 Alexander Von Humboldt observed within a region species richness increased with increasing
explored area but only up to a limit.
 The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa turns out to be a
rectangular hyperbola.
 On a logarithmic scale the relationship is a straight line describe by the equation Log S= log C+Z
log A
 Where S= species richness, A = Area, Z = slope of the line (regression coefficient), C = Y-intercept
Importance of species diversity to the Ecosystem:
 Community with more species generally tends to be more stable than those with less species.
 A stable community should not show too much variation in productivity from year to year; it must
be resistant or resilient to occasional disturbances (natural or man-made)
 Stable community must be resistant to invasion by alien species.
 David Tillman’s long-term field experiment finds that:
 Plots with more species showed less year to year variation in biomass
 Increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.

Loss of Biodiversity:
 The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of 784 species.
 Red Data Book – Red data book was initiated in 1963.
 IUCN(international Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources) was founded in 1948.
 The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN, is a global organization that works in the field of
conservation of nature and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering the data and
also in analysis, research, field projects, support, and education. An objective of IUCN is to inspire,
encourage and assist various organizations throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that
any use of natural resources is reasonable and ecologically sustainable. The headquarters of IUCN are
located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.
 IUCN was established in 1964, has formulated Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the
world’s most comprehensive source of information on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and
plant species. Red Data Book is the book published by the IUCN, that provides all the information
on endangered species of plants and animals. Through this book, IUCN is trying to create awareness
about the endangered species. The Red Data Book is a document established for keeping records on rare
and endangered species of animals, plants, and fungi as well as some local sub-species that exist within
the region of the state or country.
 In 2008, the name of IUCN is changed to WCU (World Conversation Union). It is responsible for necessary
actions regarding better environmental management Support international conversations, agencies and
government to formulate new policies and laws for best practice.
 There are three colored pages in The Red data book — Red, Pink, and Green. The color-coded information
sheets arranged by species: red for species that are endangered, amber for vulnerable, white for
rare, green for out of danger, and grey for species that are endangered, vulnerable, or rare but with
insufficient information.
 The IUCN Red List is an important indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. It is an influential tool
to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting the
natural resources that different life forms need to survive.
 The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria
 Threatened Species
 Threatened species are the species which are susceptible to extinction in the near future. International
Union for Conservation of Nature has divided the threatened species into three categories: vulnerable,
endangered, and critically endangered, depending upon the degree to which they are threatened.


 Critically Endangered Species
 According to IUCN, critically endangered species are the wild species that are at the highest risk. The name
suggests that the number of these species have decreased, or it will decrease by 80% within three
generations. It is thus considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
 Endangered (EN) species
 Endangered species is a population of organisms which are at risk of becoming extinct as they are either
few in numbers, or threatened by changing the environment or by increased predation parameters.
Deforestation is also another factor for the decline in the number of these species as it may lead to a lack
of food and/or water.
 Vulnerable (VU) species
 Vulnerable (VU) species are those that have been categorized by the IUCN, as susceptible to become
endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Hence, these
species face a high risk of extinction in the wild.
 Extinct, Functionally Extinct and Extinct in the wild
 A species is considered extinctwhen the last existing member of that species dies. Extinction is when there
are no surviving individuals that are able to reproduce and create a new generation.
 A species become functionally extinct when only a few of individuals survive, these individuals are
unable to reproduce due to poor health, age, sparse distribution over a large range, or due to lack of
individuals of both sexes (in sexually reproducing species).
 According to IUCN, Extinct in the Wild Species” (EW)are those species that are not known to have any
living specimens in the wild, but are maintained only in zoos or other artificial environments. Some of
these species are functionally extinct; as they are no longer part of their natural habitat and it is unlikely
the species will ever be re-established in the wild.

 Recent extinction includes: Dodo (Mauritius),Quake (Africa),Thylacine(Australia),Stiller’s cow

(Russia),Three subspecies of tiger (Bali, Java, Caspian).
 Since the origin and diversification of life on earth there were five episodes of mass extinction of
species.
 The sixth mass Extinctions in progress now.
How the’ sixth Extinction’ is different from the previous five extinctions.
The current extinction rate is 100 to 1000 times faster.
All others are pre-human period, this one is anthropogenic.
Effect of biodiversity loss:
 Decline in plant production.
 Lowered resistance to environmental perturbations such as drought.
 Increased variability in certain ecosystem processes such as plant productivity, water use, and pest
and disease cycle.
Causes of biodiversity loss:
The present loss is all due to human activity (anthropogenic)
There are four major causes “The Evil Quartet” are as follows:
1.Habitat loss and fragmentation:
2.Over-exploitation:
3.Alien species invasion:
4.Co-extinction:
Habitat loss and fragmentation:
 Most important cause driving animals and plants to extinct.
 The tropical rain forest reduced to 6 % from 14 % of earth land surface.
 The Amazonian rain forest is called as ‘lungs of the planet’ is being cut cleared for cultivating soya
beans.
 Degradation of many habitat by pollution is also threatens the loss of diversity.
 Large areas are broken into figments also the cause of diversity loss.
Over-exploitation:
 When ‘need’ turns to ‘greed’ it leads to over-exploitation of natural resources.
 Many species extinctions in the last 500 years (Stiller’s cow, passenger pigeons) were due to over-
exploitation.
 Many marine fish populations around the world are over harvested.
Alien species invasion:
 The alien species became invasive and cause decline or extinction of indigenous species.
 Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria in east Africa led to extinction of 200 species of cichlid
fish in the lake.
 Parthenium, (carrot grass),Lantana, and water hyacinth (Eichornia)posed a thread to indigenous
species.
 African cat fish Clariasgariepinus for aquaculture purposed is posing a threat to indigenous catfishes
in our rivers.
Co-extinction:
  When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal species associated with it an obligatory way
also become extinct.
 Extinction of Host species leads to extinction of the parasite also.
 Co-evolved plant-pollinator mutualism where extinction of one invariably lead to the extinction of
the other.
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION:
Reason for conservation biodiversity is grouped into three categories.
i. Narrowly utilitarian.
ii. Broadly utilitarian
iii. Ethical
Narrowly utilitarian:
 Human derive countless direct economic benefits from nature-
 Food (cereals, pulses, fruits), firewood, fiber, construction material.
 Industrial products (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes)
 Products of medicinal importance.
 Bio prospecting: exploring molecular genetic and species-level diversity for products of economic
importance.
Broadly Utilitarian:
 Amazonian forest along produce 20% of oxygen during photosynthesis.
 Pollinator layer: bees, bumblebees, birds and bat that pollinate the plant without which seed cannot be
produced by plants.
 Aesthetic pleasure we get from the biodiversity.
How do we conserve biodiversity?
In situ conservation:
 When we conserve and protect the whole ecosystem, its biodiversity at all level is protected –we save the
entire forest to save the tiger. This approach is called in situ(on site) conservation.
 Biodiversity hot spot: regions with very high levels of species richness and high degree of endemism.
(species confined to that region and not found anywhere else)
Biodiversity hot spot:
These are regions with very high levels of species richness, high degree of endemism (species confined to a
region and not found anywhere else) and accelerated habitat loss.
Initially, 25 biodiversity hotspots were identified. Now there are 34 hotspots all over the world.
These hotspots are in India, i.e. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and Eastern Himalaya. If all the
biodiversity hotspots are out together, they cover less than 2% of the earth’s land area, but harbor extremely
high diversity. Ongoing mass extinctions could be reduced by 30% through strict protection of these
hotspots.
Protected Areas:
These are especially dedicated areas for protection and maintenance of ecologically unique and biodiversity
rich regions. Protected areas are classified as:-
National parks: These are government maintained areas (90 in India), reserved for the betterment of
wildlife and where activities such as cultivation, grazing forestry and habitat manipulation are not allowed.
The first National park was established in India in 1936, i.e. Hailey’s National park.
Wildlife sanctuaries: They are tracts of land with or without lake where wild animals/fauna can take
refuge without being hunted.
There number is 448 in India.
Other activities like collection of forest products, harvesting of timber, private ownership of land, tilling of
land, etc., are allowed here.
 Biosphere reserve: These are large tracts of protected land with multiple use preserving the genetic
diversity of ecosystem by protecting wildlife, traditional lifestyle of tribals and varied plants and animal
genetic resources.
They have been setup under MAB ( Man and biosphere) programme of UNESCO.
There are 14 biosphere reserves in India.
Scared groves: These are small groups of forests with special religious importance in a particular culture
and are also of mythological importance.
These are undisturbed forests without any human interventions and include a number of rare, endangered
and endemic species.
Scared groves: These are small groups of forests with special religious importance in a particular culture
and are also of mythological importance.
These are undisturbed forests without any human interventions and include a number of rare, endangered
and endemic species.
Scared groves are found in Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, Aravalli Hills of Rajastan. Western Ghat
regions of Karnataka and Maharastra and the Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar of Madhya Pradesh.
These are protected by native people as part of cultural traditions. In Meghalaya, the scared groves are the
last refuges for a large number of rare and threatened plants.
Ramsar site:These are the wetlands designated as internationally important under the convention on
wetlands held at Ramsar, Iran in 1971 for the conservation and wise use of wetlands thus known as ramsar
convention.
The wise use of wetlands is defined as ‘the maintenance of their ecological character achieved through the
implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainble develpoment’
It means wise use of wetlands and their resources, for the benefit of humankind.
There are 26 Ramsar sites in India. Some of these are Ashtamudi wetland (Kerala), Sambhar lake
(Rajastan), Chilika lake (Odisha), Renuka wetland (Himachal pradesh), etc.
Ex situ conservation:
Threatened animals and plants are taken out from their natural habitat and placed in special setting where
they can be protected and given special care.
Protection of Threatened Species
It is done by live collections of wild and domesticated species in Botanical Gardens, Zoological parks,
Wildlife Safari Parks, etc. India has 355 Parks, where animals ehich have become extinct in the wild are
continued to be maintained and has 35 Botanical Gardens where plants species are protected.
Protection of Gametes
The protection and maintenance of gametes in done by adopting following methods
Seed banks The storage of different genetic strains of commercially importannt plants in the form of seeds
is one of the most widespread and valuable ex situ approaches of the conservation strategy.
Tissue culture Plant tissue culture is widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known as
micropropagation. This method is useful in maintaining a large number of genotypes in small area,rapid
multiplication of even endangered species and for hybrid rescue, e.g. banana and potato.
Cryopreservation It is a method of in vitro conservation in liquid-N2 at temparature of -196oC(-130oF) in a
controlled rate freezer for vegetatively propagated crops and storing other biological materials.
Convention on Biodiversity:
 “The earth Summit” held in Rio de Jeneiro in 1992 called upon all nations to take appropriate measures for
conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilization of its benefits.
 World Summit on Sustainable development held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, 190 countries
pledged their commitment to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss
at global, regional and local level.