ASSIGNMENT # 4

SUBMITTED TO: DR ABDUL MAJID

SUBMITTED BY: MISBAH

ROLL NO: 58906

SEMESTER: M.PHIL 2ND

SUBJECT: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PLANT CONSERVATION

TOPIC: SUMMARY OF 3RD AND 4TH CHAPTERS

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CHAPTER # 3

HUMAN POPULATION AND THE HOTSPOTS

SUMMARY:

In this chapter has presented an update on how human population in the hotspots and major
tropical wilderness areas has changed from 2000 to 2010. Across the hotspots, the data show that
annual population growth rate has declined, although it is still above the global average. Despite
the slowdown in growth population in the hotspot and TWAs is projected to have increased by
more than 200 million people since 2000. TWAs have experienced growth rates more than twice
the average for the hotspots.

In 2000, Myers and Colleagues following introduced the 25 biodiversity hotspots as the priority
places across the globe where the highest levels of species, richness, endemism and threat
converged. In 1995, the 25 hotspots while making 13% of the earth’s inhabitable surface, where
home to 1.1 billion people, or 19% of its human population. Thus, not only where the hotspots
home to almost one fifth of the world’s population but they were also becoming more crowded
and growing more rapidly than the rest of the world.

Threats to biodiversity in the hotspots are primarily human related, this analysis
suggested that biodiversity would be increasingly threatened by local population growth. In the
past decade, population in the hotspots continued to grow faster than the global average. There
are now almost 1.5 billion people, or 21% of the human population, living in these priority
conservation areas. It almost highlights the aspects of the demographics that require the most
urgent attention ,both in terms of conservation and human well-being.

From 2000 to 2010, the population of every hotspot increased by an average of more than
7%, for a total population increase across the hotspots of 187 million people. Rural population
generally have higher fertility rates than their urban counterparts, as well as decreased access to
markets, education, health services, family planning and other government resources and
infrastructure.

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 One of the prominent characteristics of the hotspots is the importance of island
assemblages and archipelagos. Eight of the 25 hotspots fall into this category. That the island
hotspots harbor usually rich levels of species diversity and endemism is not surprising.

Given the hotspots are composed of habitats and ecosystem that already been reduced to
a small fraction of their original context, we cannot expect that the natural demographic
transition will occur fast enough on its own to save these island of biodiversity. It has the highest
population density of the hotspot located within developed countries and it is the only hotspots
whose annual population growth rate increased over previous 5- years. The hotspots are
composed of habitats and ecosystems that have already been reduced to a small fraction of their
original extent, we cannot expect that the natural demographic transition will occur fast enough
on its own to save these island of biodiversity.

CHAPTER # 4

QUANTIFYING BIODIVERSITY

SUMMARY:

Hotspots cannot provide a silver-bullet solution to the current biodiversity crises because there is
no single metric that can capture all aspects of diversity that we might value. It is urgent that
develop a common blueprint to address the global biodiversity crisis and stop duplication efforts.
Many schemes identify the same or similar areas as conservation priorities an obvious start
would be to focus resources on these zones of overlap.

The variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia,
terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystem, and the ecological complexes of which they are
part, this includes diversity within species, between species and ecosystem. The precise
definition, as species are lost through extinctions, so too will be additional components of
biodiversity, including the associated ecosystem services. Current species extinction rates are
estimated to be over an order of magnitude greater than background rates and are projected to
increase further over the next several decades of current trends continue. The systematic
conservation planning should focus on areas rather than species.

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 Species richness can be easily compared between different sites and conservation
schemes. Species represent identifiable entities that can be useful for garnering public support
and leveraging conservation funds. Species provide a focus for policy and legislation. Species
provide a surrogate for unmeasured and functional diversity. Theory and experimental data also
suggest community stability increases with the number of species because of greater potential for
redundancy in links within the community food web. Richness counts also have shortcomings.
Critically, hotspots of species richness for one taxon might correspond poorly with hotspots in
the richness of another.

Time series allow identification of species that are most rapidly traversing the red
list criteria. An alternative approach might be to focus on species with currently low risks, but
which might be vulnerable in the future. Quantifying the evolutionary distinctiveness of a species
require only information on its phylogenetic placement. Species with few close relatives are
typically given more weight, as they are assumed to possess more unique features or ecologies
that are shared among fewer species.

The link between biodiversity and ecosystem services is non- linear. It is an

unfortunate reality that conservation must be practiced within a cost-benefit frame work.
Threatened species tend to be concentrated in regions with high human population density. An
optimal conservation network might than include both hotspots of endemism and rarity, as well
as larger cold spots of inexpensive but low diversity wilderness. Rapidly changing climate and
growing human population, vane-wrights agony of choice has never been more acute.