INTRODUCTION TO BIODIVERSITY:

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals,
bacteria, and fungi. While Earth’s biodiversity is so rich that many species have yet to be
discovered, many species are being threatened with extinction due to human activities,
putting the Earth’s magnificent biodiversity at risk.

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used
more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers
to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have
estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence.
However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of
which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.
Areas with extremely high levels of biodiversity are called hotspots.

TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY:

Biodiversity is commonly broken down into three levels or types:

• genetic diversity
• species diversity
• ecosystem diversity

While these types of biodiversity are each interrelated, the forces driving each type of
biodiversity vary. Around the world, biodiversity at all levels is declining.
GENETIC BIODIVERSITY:
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.

Genetic diversity makes it possible for species to adapt when the environment changes. Thus,
large genetic diversity a big gene pool positively affects ecosystem resilience and function.
When we drain species of their genetic diversity we destroy their adaptive potential, and their
long-term survival will be jeopardized

SPECIE DIVERSITY:
Species diversity is not only based on the number of different species present in a
community, but also the relative abundance of each species and the role they have in the
community. For example, a community may be composed of many different species, but may
only have one predator that pursues a certain prey species. When the predator's population
levels are healthy, its prey's population numbers remain at a level the community can handle.

ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY:

Ecosystem diversity refers to variability in habitats within a geographic area. Unlike genetic
diversity and species diversity, ecosystem diversity considers both biological drivers and non-
biological drivers of variability, like temperature and sunlight. 8 Areas high in ecosystem
diversity create a geographic mosaic of communities that help protect an entire area from
drastic changes.
 Fig1: Types of biodiversity.

GLOBAL WARMING:

Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet’s overall temperature. Though this
warming trend has been going on for a long time, its pace has significantly increased in the
last hundred years due to the burning of fossil fuels. As the human population has increased,
so has the volume of fossil fuels burned. Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas, and
burning them causes what is known as the “greenhouse effect” in Earth’s atmosphere.

• GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

The greenhouse effect is when the sun’s rays penetrate the atmosphere, but when that heat is
reflected off the surface cannot escape back into space. Gases produced by the burning of
fossil fuels prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere. These greenhouse gasses
are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide. The excess
heat in the atmosphere has caused the average global temperature to rise overtime, otherwise
known as global warming.

• CLIMATIC CHANGE DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING:

Global warming has presented another issue called climate change. Sometimes these phrases
are used interchangeably, however, they are different. Climate change refers to changes in
weather patterns and growing seasons around the world. It also refers to sea level rise caused
by the expansion of warmer seas and melting ice sheets and glaciers. Global warming causes
climate change, which poses a serious threat to life on Earth in the forms of widespread
flooding and extreme weather.

• EFFECT OF CLIMATIC CHANGE ON BIODIVERSITY:

The main driver of biodiversity loss remains humans use of land primarily for food production.
Human activity has already altered over 70 per cent of all ice-free land. When land is converted for
agriculture, some animal and plant species may lose their habitat and face extinction. But climate
change is playing an increasingly important role in the decline of biodiversity. Climate change has
altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world. It has caused the loss of
local species, increased diseases, and driven mass mortality of plants and animals, resulting in the
first climate-driven extinctions.

1. On land, higher temperatures have forced animals and plants to move to higher elevations
or higher latitudes, many moving towards the Earth’s poles, with far-reaching
consequences for ecosystems. The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of
warming.
2. When human activities produce greenhouse gases, around half of the emissions remain in
the atmosphere, while the other half is absorbed by the land and ocean. These ecosystems
– and the biodiversity they contain – are natural carbon sinks, providing so-called nature-
based solutions to climate change.
3. Protecting, managing, and restoring forests, for example, offers roughly two-thirds of the
total mitigation potential of all nature-based solutions. Despite massive and ongoing
losses, forests still cover more than 30 per cent of the planet’s land.
 Fig 2: climatic change effect on habitat.

EFFECT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON SOIL:

Soil represents a crucial component of the climatic system. Apart from the oceans, the soil is
considered an essential means of carbon. By definition, the soil is the “unconsolidated
mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the Earth” In general, soil
biodiversity provides an avenue for advancing worldwide sustainability as it incorporates
several challenges affecting contemporary society, such as climate change, water resources
management, resources degradation, provision of food and fibre, and as well as habitat for
organisms beneath the soil surface and underwater.

• FUNCTION OF SOIL:

Soil biodiversity denotes the complexity of life below the soil surface, e.g., bacteria, fungi,
protozoa, insects, worms, and other invertebrates and vertebrates which dynamic interaction
with fauna and flora creates a web of biological activity. The soil biodiversity enhances the
topsoil vegetation by decomposing plant residues and reinforcing soil resilience. In addition,
the rich diversity of organisms promotes soil health and fertility; the soil system likely
contains more than 25 % of overall biodiversity.

During photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide, and store it above and below ground
locking it away until they die and decay .This long-term carbon sequestration makes forests
one of our best defenses against climate change. Conventional wisdom says as soils warm
and forests become more productive, the increase in leaves, sticks, and other organic
materials that fall to the ground will add even more carbon to the atmosphere.

So scientists tested this theory by sprinkling leaves, twigs, roots, and other organic debris on
a forest floor. To their surprise, instead of fixing more carbon in the soil, it stimulated
bacteria and fungi. This made the organic material decay faster and accelerated the release of
carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

• HABITAT DISRUPTION:

The key impact of global warming on wildlife is habitat disruption, in which ecosystem places
where animals have spent millions of years adapting rapidly transform in response to climate
change, reducing their ability to fulfill the species' needs. Habitat disruptions are often due to
changes in temperature and water availability, which affect the native vegetation and the
animals that feed on it.

• MOST AFFECTED SPECIES:

According to Defenders of Wildlife, some of the wildlife species hardest hit by global
warming include caribou (reindeer), arctic foxes, toads, polar bears, penguins, gray wolves,
tree swallows, painted turtles, and salmon. The group fears that unless we take decisive steps
to reverse global warming, more and more species will join the list of wildlife populations
pushed to the brink of extinction. Affected wildlife populations can sometimes move into
new spaces and continue to thrive. But concurrent human population growth means that many
land areas that might be suitable for such “refugee wildlife” are fragmented and already
cluttered with residential and industrial development. Cities and roads can act as obstacles,
preventing plants and animals from moving into alternative habitats. Up to half of the animal
and plant species in the world's most naturally rich areas, such as the Amazon and Galapagos,
could face extinction by the turn of the century due to climate change, according to a study
published in the journal Climate Change.
EFFECT ON ANIMALS EFFECT PEOPLE TOO:

As wildlife species struggle and go their separate ways, humans can also feel the impact. A
World Wildlife Fund study found that a northern exodus from the United States to Canada by
some types of warblers led to a spread of mountain pine beetles that destroy valuable balsam
fir trees. Similarly, a northward migration of caterpillars in the Netherlands has eroded some
forests there.

EFFECT ON PLAN GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION:

Minimum, maximum, and average temperatures affect plant growth and distribution.
Seasonal cycles are involved as well, but the timing of when regions warm up in the spring
and cool down in the fall is changing. For example, warmer weather is setting up later during
the spring in many places at high latitudes, where it is staying warmer later into the fall.
Arctic areas are warming up the fastest, triggering a change in Arctic tree lines and vegetation
growth, which are dependent on summer warmth.

A rising thermometer, however, doesn’t deter all plants. A trend over the last 40 years has
been for many North American plant species to move toward warmer areas, and even
downhill. University of Washington, Seattle researchers studied 300 plant species in western
North America; the 2014 study found that 60 percent of plants studied shifted toward lower
elevations as the climate warmed, although the availability of water from increased
precipitation is thought to be a driving factor.

CHANGES IN LEAF BLOOM DATES:

For some species, such as honeysuckles and lilacs, first leaf and bloom dates vary from year
to year. Such variability can make it difficult to measure major changes since the early 20th
century, the growing season in the lower 48 states has increased by about two weeks. More
rapid changes have been seen in the West, at a rate of about 2.2 days per decade. In the East,
it is about one day per decade. Also, nearly every state has seen the growing season get
longer, especially California and Arizona (However, southeastern states such as Alabama and
Georgia have seen theirs get shorter). More recent data show earlier final spring frosts and
later first fall frosts.

EXTRA GREENERY,CLIMATE CHANGE ,CO2:

Colder regions have become increasingly more hospitable to plants. In satellite images, a
greening effect has been seen across northern landscapes. A concern is that vegetation
absorbs sunlight, rather than reflects it like snow and ice do, thereby causing more warming.
The thawing of tundra may also release methane, a greenhouse gas. Warmer temperatures are
thought to potentially kill off tropical forests, releasing more gases that can contribute to
atmospheric warming.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLLEN ALLERGIES:

Longer plant seasons also equate to more pollen. One example is the ragweed pollen season.
Typically peaking in late summer and early fall, ragweed plants can keep churning out pollen
until the first frost. Given the current changes, pollen is being produced earlier in the spring
and later in the fall. Therefore, pollen counts and allergy seasons are getting longer.
According to the EPA, the ragweed season has been extended by five days in Oklahoma since
1995, and by 25 days or more in southern Canada.
 Fig 3 : Researchers say extreme weather events that impact food production could be
happening in seven years out of ten by the end of this century.

EFFECT ON MARINE LIFE :

Many major extinctions have hit marine species harder than terrestrial species, including the
greatest loss of life, the Permian-Triassic mass extinction around 252 million years ago, when
95% of marine and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species went extinct. We know that marine
species tend to colonize new areas faster than land species. The ocean has fewer barriers to
migration than the land where species may be limited by terrain features or water availability.
Eggs and larvae are often the most sensitive in terms of temperature and oxygen levels.
• CHANGE IN CHEMISTRY OF WATER:
Warming also changes the chemistry of water, including its ability to hold dissolved oxygen.
Warm water can’t hold as much oxygen as cold water can, so heat waves in places that are
already oxygen depleted will produce a compounding effect that probably has a much bigger
impact than just one single extreme event.
• RISK OF SPREAD OF DISEASE:
The risk of disease also seems to increase in warmer oceans. The infamous Blob a mass of
warm water that amassed along the western coast of North America in 2013 and continued to
spread through 2015 triggered a large-scale toxic algal bloom that researchers linked to mass
stranding of sea lions during that time.

• SEALS ARE FACING THREATS:

More than 1,200 have washed up injured or dead since July along the Gulf of Maine.
This unusual mortality event seems to be caused by viral infection, although it’s unclear
whether the ongoing heat wave has caused or exacerbated the strandings.

• RISE IN SEA LEVELS:

Sea-level rise has accelerated in recent decades due to increasing ice loss in the world’s polar
regions. Latest data from the World Meteorological Organization shows that global mean sea-level
reached a new record high in 2021, rising an average of 4.5 millimeter .Together with intensifying
tropical cyclones, sea-level rise has exacerbated extreme events such as deadly storm surges and
coastal hazards such as flooding, erosion and landslides, which are now projected to occur at least
once a year in many locations. Such events occurred once per century historically.

Moreover, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that several regions, such as the
western Tropical Pacific, the South-west Pacific, the North Pacific, the South-west Indian Ocean
and the South Atlantic, face substantially faster sea-level rise.
 Fig 4: Rise in sea levels.

LOSS OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY:

Rising temperatures increase the risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems today,
widespread changes have been observed, including damage to coral reefs and mangroves that
support ocean life, and migration of species to higher latitudes and altitudes where the water could
be cooler.

Fig 5: coral reef extinction estimation with increase in temperature.

LOSS OF HABITATS:

• Melting Arctic ice removes hunting ground from polar bears.

 • Warmer water temperatures will cause population declines for trout, salmon, and
many other species that require cold water to survive.
• Rising ocean temperatures have already caused massive coral bleaching, leading to
the collapse of these ecosystems, which sustain huge numbers of fish. Coral bleaching
occurs when colorful algae that live in corals die or are expelled from corals under
stress. The algae live symbiotically with coral polyps, providing them with nutrients
and oxygen. If the algae die and are not replaced, the corals will also die.

Many species take their cues about when to migrate, flower, nest, or mate from seasonal
changes in temperature, precipitation, and daylight. Climate change is confusing those signals
and forcing wildlife to alter their life cycle and seasonal events. In the western United States,
warming and drought stress are causing trees to die and making them more vulnerable to pine
beetle and other insect infestations. Higher temperatures and increased fuel from dead trees
have led to more wildfires.

FOOD AVAILIBILTY AND CLIMATIC CHANGE:

Some animals are laying eggs, migrating, or emerging from hibernation much earlier than
they used to, only to find that the plants or the insects they need for food have not yet
emerged. Climate change has altered food availability for migratory species; birds arrive on
schedule to find that their food sources—insects, seeds, flowering plants—have hatched or
bloomed too early or not at all. Milder winters cause seasonal food caches to spoil, so wildlife
species like the gray jay depending on food stores to survive the winter are left without
sustenance.

PLACES TO RAISE YOUNG:

Droughts caused by climate change could dry up 90 percent of central U.S. wetlands,
eliminating essential breeding habitat for ducks, geese, and other migratory species. Rising
sea level and changes in salinity could decimate mangrove forests, leaving many fish,
shellfish, and other wildlife without a place to breed, feed, or raise offspring.
MOST ENDANGERED ANIMALS BY GLOBAL WARMING:
1. THE EMPEROR PENGUIN:
If global warming continues at its current pace, experts warn that the emperor penguin could
lose up to 80% of its population by the year 2100 and from there it would be just a slippery
slide into total extinction.

2. THE RINGED SEAL:

The ringed seal is not currently endangered; while no accurate estimate exists, there are
believed to be about 300,000 individuals in Alaska alone and probably more than 2 million
indigenous to the world's Arctic regions. The problem is that these seals nest and breed on
pack ice and ice floes, precisely the habitats most at risk from global warming, and they're
one of the main sources of food both for already-endangered polar bears and indigenous
humans.On the other end of the food chain, ringed seals subsist on various Arctic fish and
crustaceans; it's unknown what the knock-on effects might be if the population of this
mammal gradually plummeted.

3. THE ARTIC FOX:

They can't survive is competition from red foxes, which have been gradually migrating
northward as Arctic temperatures moderate in the wake of global warming. With decreasing
snow cover, the The Arctic fox can survive temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero
(Fahrenheit). What arctic fox can't rely on its winter coat of white fur for camouflage, so red
foxes find it increasingly easy to locate and kill their competition.Normally red fox numbers
could be kept in check by, among other predators, the gray wolf, but this larger canid was
hunted to near-total extinction by humans, which has allowed red fox populations to surge.

4. ORANGE CLOWNFISH:

Coral reefs are especially susceptible to rising ocean temperatures and acidification, and the
sea anemones that sprout from these reefs make ideal homes for clownfish, shielding them
from predators. As coral reefs bleach and decay, anemones dwindle in number, and so do the
populations of orange clownfish.

5. THE KOALA:
The koala subsists almost exclusively on the leaves of the eucalyptus tree, and this tree is
extremely sensitive to temperature change and drought: the 100 or so species of eucalyptus
grow very slowly, and they disperse their seeds within a very narrow range, making it
difficult for them to extend their habitat and avoid disaster and as the eucalyptus tree goes, so
goes the koala

6. FLAMINGO:
Flamingos are impacted by global warming in a number of ways. First, these birds prefer to
mate during the rainy season, so prolonged periods of drought can adversely affect their
survival rates and second, the restriction of their habitats has been driving these birds into
regions where they're more susceptible to prey animals like coyotes and pythons. Finally,
since, flamingos tend to derive their pink coloration from carotenoids found in the shrimp
that they eat, plunging shrimp populations can potentially turn these famously pink birds
white.

7. POLAR BEAR:

Ursus maritimus spends most of its time on the ice floes of the Arctic Ocean, hunting for
seals and penguins, and as these platforms diminish in number and move farther apart the
polar bear's daily routine becomes increasingly precarious .According to one 2020 study,
high levels of greenhouse gas emissions paired with declining reproduction and survival rates
could lead to the disappearance of all but a few high-Arctic subpopulations by 2100.

WAYS TO COPE WITH GLOBAL WARMING RISKING THE

BIODIVERSITY:

Failing to tackle climate change meanwhile will accelerate biodiversity loss as higher
temperatures and changing rainfall patterns make survival for many species more difficult.
Both problems are intertwined, and so solutions to one which exacerbate the other are
doomed to fail.

Luckily, there are options for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss together,
called nature-based solutions. If implemented properly, these measures can enhance the
richness and diversity of life on Earth, help habitats store more carbon and even reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases, making ecosystems more resilient while slowing the rate at
which the planet warms.

1. Protect and restore ecosystems:

Everyone is familiar with the need to preserve tropical rainforests, but there are other pristine
habitats, on land and in the ocean, which are in dire need of protection.

Mangrove swamps occupy less than 1% of Earth’s surface, but store the equivalent of 22
billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s around two-thirds of total emissions from burning
fossil fuels each year. These coastal habitats act as a home, nursery, and feeding ground for
numerous species. More than 40 bird, ten reptile and six mammal species are only found in
mangroves.

2. Manage farmland and fisheries sustainably:

Not all of the world’s land and ocean can be left to nature, but the land and ocean people use
to produce food and other resources can be managed better.

People currently use about 25% of the planet’s land surface for growing food, extracting
resources and living. The global food system contributes one-third of all greenhouse gas
emissions.

Methods of farming such as agroecology, which involves incorporating trees and habitats
within farm fields and sustainable fishing practices can protect and regenerate topsoil and
seabed habitats, boosting biodiversity and improving how resilient these ecosystems are to
climate change.

3. Create new forests with care:

People have already cut down three trillion trees half of all the trees which once grew on
Earth.Creating new woodlands and forests can draw down atmospheric carbon and provide
diverse habitats for a range of species, but great care must be taken to plant the right mix of
trees in the right place. Vast plantations of non-native trees, particularly when they’re a single
species, offer less useful habitat for wildlife, but a mix of native trees can benefit biodiversity
and store more carbon in the long run.A study in south-east China showed that forests
containing several tree species stored twice as much carbon as the average single-species
plantation.

4. Shift to more plant-based diets:

Globally, animal agriculture is a major contributor to biodiversity loss. Millions of

hectares of Amazon rainforest, African Savanna and Central Asian grassland have been
ploughed up to create pasture and plant feed crops for the cows, pigs and chickens that we
eat. Nearly 60% of all planet-warming emissions from food production originate in livestock
rearing.

Reducing demand for meat and dairy, through diet changes and cutting waste, would not only
reduce greenhouse gas emissions – which itself benefits biodiversity by limiting climate
change – it would also lower pressure for farmland and so reduce deforestation and habitat
destruction, freeing more land for the wider use of nature-based solutions.

CONCLUSION:

The environmental changes being driven by climate change are disturbing natural habitats
and species in ways that are still only becoming clear. There are signs that rising temperatures
are affecting biodiversity, while changing rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and
ocean acidification are putting pressure on species already threatened by other human
activities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO

BIODIVERSITY…………………………………………………………….
TYPES OF

BIODIVERSITY…………………………………………………………….

GLOBAL WARMING ……………………………………………………..

EFFECF OF GLOBAL WARMING

ON SOIL…………………………………………………………………………

EFFECT ON ANIMAL EFFECTS PEOPLE TOO………………….

EFFECT ON PLANT GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION……….

CHANGES IN LEAF BLOOM DATES…………………………………

EXTRA GREENERY, CLIMATE CHANGE

AND CO2 …………………………………………………………………………

EFFECT ON MARINE LIFE……………………………………………….

LOSS OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY…………………………………….

MOST ENDANGERED ANIMALS BY

GLOBAL WARMING……………………………………………………………

WAYS TO COPE WITH GLOBAL WARMING ,

RISKING THE BIODIVERSITY…………………………………………….

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………..