Environmental Science

(Compulsory Course)

& Conservation

Dr. Sankar Chandra Basu

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Microbiology
Asutosh College
https://www.scinetmol.in
Environmental Science
(Compulsory Course)

& Conservation

Dr. Sankar Chandra Basu

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Microbiology
Asutosh College
https://www.scinetmol.in
Levels of Biological Diversity

– Genetic: Genetic diversity is the biological variation

that occurs within species. It makes it possible for species to
adapt when the environment changes. Genetic diversity is
particularly important under rapid environmental change, such
as in the Baltic Sea.
– Species: Species diversity is defined as the number of
different species present in an ecosystem and relative
abundance of each of those species. Diversity is greatest
when all the species present are equally abundant in the area.
– Ecosystem: Ecosystem diversity is the variety of
habitats, the communities found in a geographic location,
the beneficial services they provide, and the processes
that support the ecosystem. Earth is made up of land
(terrestrial) and water (aquatic) environments.
Bio-geographic Zones
Biodiversity Hot-spots
Biodiversity Hot-spots (World-wide)
Endemism

Endemism is a term used in biology to talk

about the distribution of a taxon limited to
a small geographic area and which can
therefore be found naturally in this place. In
consequence, endemic species are those
that live in a limited area, such as a mountain
range, lake or island, among others.
 Threats to Biodiversity: IUCN threat categories

IUCN: International Union of Conservation of Nature & Natural resources

Five major threats to biodiversity, globally

1. Climate change
2. Pollution
3. Habitat loss
4. Over-exploitation of species
5. Invasive species
In-situ & Ex-situ conservation of Biodiversity:
Protected Area Networks
 Roles of Indigenous communities
in Biodiversity Conservation
●
Areas managed by indigenous
peoples are the oldest form of
biodiversity conservation, and often
the most effective. The global
coverage of Indigenous Community
Conserved Areas has been
estimated at about 13% of the
terrestrial surface of the planet,
including 400-800 million hectares
of forest.
People’s Biodiversity Register,
Bio-prospecting and Bio-piracy
PBR is not simply a register with names of species and their distribution in a given area but it is a comprehensive
data base recording peoples' traditional knowledge and insight of the status, uses, history, ongoing changes and
forces driving these changes on the biological diversity resources of their own localities.
High Time to press the break !!