NCERT Based KT’s PowerNotes
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Biodiversity And Conservation
Biodiversity
• There are more than 20,000 species of ants, 3,00,000 species of
beetles, 28,000 species of fishes and 20,000 species of orchids.
• Biodiversity (= Heterogenity) is the term popularised by Edward
Wilson
Levels of Biodiversity
Genetic diversity
• Rauwolfia vomitoria is a medicinal plant, it shows genetic
diversity in terms of potency and concentration of chemical
reserpine, other examples are rice (50k strains) , mango (1000
varieties) etc.
Species diversity
• Western Ghats have a greater amphibian species diversity than
the Eastern Ghats
Ecological diversity:
• India has a greater ecosystem diversity e.g. deserts, rain forests,
mangroves, coral reefs etc.
How Many Species are there on Earth and How Many in India?
• Species inventories are more complete in temperate than in
tropical countries
• Robert May places the global species diversity at about 7
million.
• According to May’s global estimates, only 22 per cent of the
total species have been recorded so far
• More than 70 % of all the species are animals, (Animals >
plants)
• Insects are the most species-rich taxonomic group, out of every
10 animals on this planet, 7 are insects
• Among vertebrates fishes show maximum diversity
Fishes > Birds > Reptile > amphibian > mammal
• Among plants diversity is as follows
Fungi > Angiosperm > Algae > Pteridophytes
• Biologist are not sure about diversity amongst prokaryotes ,
because
 Conventional taxonomic methods are not suitable for
identifying microbial species
 many species are simply not culturable under laboratory
conditions
Patterns of Biodiversity
Latitudinal gradients
Species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator
towards the poles, reasons:
1) Tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for
millions → evolution → species diversification
2) Tropical environments, unlike temperate ones, are less
seasonal, more constant and predictable
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3) There is more solar energy available in the tropics 
productivity is higher
✓ Tropical Amazonian rain forest has greatest biodiversity on earth
Species-Area relationships
• Alexander von Humboldt explained Species-Area relationships
• He observed that within a region species richness increased with
increasing explored area, but only up to a limit
• Relationship graph is rectangular hyperbola
Z value
• Z lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2
• Independent of the taxonomic group or the region
• For large continent,
▪ Z value lies in the range of 0.6 to 1.2
▪ Shows steeper curve
▪ Eg for frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and mammals in
the tropical forests of different continents, Z=1.15,
steeper curve (matlab birds aur mammal ki jyada variety
kam area me milti hai)
The importance of Species Diversity to the Ecosystem
• Communities with more species, generally, tend to be more
stable than those with less species
• Features of stable community
▪ do not show too much variation in productivity from year to
year;
▪ resistant or resilient to occasional disturbances
▪ resistant to invasions by alien species
• David Tilman performed long-term ecosystem experiments
using outdoor plots , showed :
▪ Plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation
in total biomass
▪ Increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.
• Paul Ehrlich used rivet popper hypothesis; The hypothesis
suggests the importance of species richness in the
maintenance of the ecosystem.
Airplane  ecosystem I Rivets  Species,
Loss of Biodiversity
• IUCN (International Union for conservation of nature) red
list documents recent extinctions include the dodo (Mauritius),
Quagga (Africa), Thylacine (Australia), Steller’s Sea Cow
(Russia) and three subspecies (Bali, Javan, Caspian) of tiger.
• Mainly Amphibians and Gymnosperms are facing the threat of
extinction
• we are currently witnessing ‘Sixth Mass Extinction’ current
species extinction rates are estimated to be 100 to 1,000 times
faster than earlier extinctions
• Loss of biodiversity in a region may lead to (a) decline in plant
production, (b) lowered resistance to environmental
perturbations such as drought and (c) increased variability in
ecosystem processes
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Causes of biodiversity losses: 2) Biosphere reserves
Four major causes (‘ The Evil Quartet’) • Large area, not limited by state legislation
• Tourism not permissible, Scientific research are carried out
Habitat loss and fragmentation: 3) National parks
• Amazon rain forest (‘lungs of the planet”) • Offers protection to entire plants , animals, landscape of region
▪ cleared for cultivating soya beans and for raising beef cattle • Highly restricted area, permission requires for entry
▪ used to cover more than 14 per cent of the earth’s land 4) Wildlife sanctuaries.
surface, now cover no more than 6 per cent • Mainly offers protection to wildlife
• Mammals (e.g., elephants) and birds are badly affected by • Less restriction, opens to public, activities like cattle grazing
fragmentation allowed
5) Sacred grove
Over-exploitation Regions that emphasised protection of nature as per religious and
cultural tradition.
Steller’s sea cow, passenger pigeon overexploited
by humans  now extinct Ex situ (off site) conservation

Alien species invasions • In this approach, threatened animals and plants are taken out
• Introduction of Nile perch into Lake Victoria  led to extinction from their natural habitat and placed in special setting where
of more than 200 species of cichlid fish they can be protected and given special care.
• Invasive weed species carrot grass (Parthenium), Lantana and • Ex situ conservation is done in:
water hyacinth (Eicchornia)  threat to environmental damage
• Catfishh Clarias gariepinus  threat to indigenous catfishes 1) Zoological parks,
2) Botanical gardens and
3) Wildlife safari parks
Co-extinctions 4) Cryopreservation
When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal species 5)
associated with it in an obligatory way also become extinct. Also note :
When a host fish species becomes extinct, its unique assemblage The historic Convention on Biological Diversity (‘The Earth
of parasites also meets the same fate. Summit’) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, called upon all nations to
take appropriate measures for conservation of biodiversity and
Biodiversity conservation sustainable utilisation of its benefits.
……………………………..END……………………..
Why Should We Conserve Biodiversity?

Narrowly utilitarian arguments

• Humans derive countless direct economic benefits from nature
through firewood, fibre, construction material, medicine etc.
• Bioprospecting is exploring molecular, genetic and species-
level diversity for products of economic importance

Broadly utilitarian argument

Amazon forest produces 20 % of the total oxygen in the earth’s
Ecosystem provides pollination, pleasures of walking through
thick woods, watching spring flowers or a bulbul’s song etc

Ethical argument
A moral duty to care for well-being of other species

How do we conserve Biodiversity?

in situ (on site) conservation

1) Hot spots
• it is unrealistic and economically not feasible to conserve
biological wealth  Biodiversity “Hot Spots” regions have been
identified
• Biodiversity Hot spots are regions with very high levels of
species richness and high degree of endemism (that is, species
confined to that region and not found anywhere else)
• Total number of biodiversity hotspots in world: 34.
• Hot spots covering Indian regions : Western Ghats and Sri
Lanka, Indo-Burma and Himalaya
• Hot spots covers less than 2% of earth’s land but can reduce the
ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent.

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