Biodiversity and Its Conservation

Submitted by
NIKITA BUBERA MADHAVI GAWLI SHEETAL KHEDKAR SUPRIYA BHOIR

Submitted to
Madam NEEMA BISHT

Department Of Information Technology

Saraswati College Of Engineering, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. 2012-2013

DEFINITION:Biodiversity Or Biological Diversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity refers to variety and variability among all groups of living organisms and the ecosystem complexes in which they occur.

In the convention of Biological Diversity (1992) Biodiversity has been defined as the variability among living organisms from all sources including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part.

Biodiversity is often a measure of the health of biological systems to indicate the degree to which the aggregate of historical species are viable versus extinct.

LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY:Biodiversity ranges from the genetic level with in a species to the biota in a specific region and may extend up to the great diversity found in different biomes. Genetic Diversity: Diversity of genes within a species. There is a genetic variability among the populations and the individuals of the same species. Species Diversity: Diversity among species in an ecosystem. Biodiversity hotspots are excellent examples of species diversity. Ecosystem Diversity: Diversity at higher level of organization, the ecosystem.

 Genetic Diversity: Basic sources of Biodiversity. Genes are basic units of hereditary information
transmitted from one generation to other. When genes within the same species show different versions due to new combinations, it is called Genetic variability. Change in external or internal factors is responsible for genetic variations. There are about 10,000,000,000 different genes.

Species Diversity: Variability found within the population of a species or between different species of community. Represents broadly the species richness and their abundance in a community. Approximately 13.92 million species on earth. It is the most basic way to keep an account of biodiversity.

Ecosystem Diversity:-

Ecological complexity showing variation in ecological niches, tropic structure, food webs, nutrient cycling etc. Variations exit with respect to physical parameters like moisture, temperature, altitude, precipitation etc. It is describe for a specific geographical region or country or state or district.

Example:Forest Ecosystem Dominance of Trees

Tropical Rain Forest Tropical Deciduous Forest Temperature Deciduous Forest Coniferous Forest

 Indias Bio Geographic Zones:1. Trans Himalaya region of Ladakh 2. Himalayan ranges and valleys of Kashmir , HP, Uttrakhand , Assam and other NE states. 3. Terai lowland where the Himalayan rivers flow into the plains. 4. The Gangetic and Bramaputra plains. 5. The Thar desert of Rajasthan. 6. Semi- arid grassland of Deccan, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 7. The NE states. 8. The western ghats in Maharashtra and Kerala. 9. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 10. The long Western and eastern coast belt with sandy beaches, forest and mangroves.

Value of Biodiversity
In terms of Commercial Unity Ecological Services Social and Aesthetic value

The multiple uses of Biodiversity or Biodiversity value has been classified by McNeely et al in 1990 as follows:

Consumptive use value Protective use value Social value Aesthetic value Optional value Ecosystem service value

Consumptive use value

Food
80,000 edible plants species 90% of food crops domesticated from wild tropical plants

Drugs and Medicines

75% of worlds population depends upon plants or plant extracts for medicines. Penicillin, used as an antibiotic is derived from a fungus called penicillium. Tetracyclin from a bacterium. Quinine is obtained from bark cinchona tree. Vimblastin and Vincristine, two anti cancer drugs have been obtained from periwinkle plant.

Fuel
Forests used for Fuel Wood. Fossil fuels Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas are also products of fossilized Biodiversity.

Productive use value

Commercially usable values where the product is marketed and sold Wild Gene Resources- traded for use by scientists for introducing desirable traits in the crops and domesticated animals Other Tusks of Elephants, Musk from Musk deers, Silk from Silk Worms, Wool from Sheep etc.

Industries dependant upon the productive use value of Biodiversity

Paper and pulp industry Plywood industry Railway sleeper industry Textile industry Loory works Leather industry Pearl industry

Social value
Values associated with social life, customs, religion and psycho- spiritual aspects of the people. Plants like Tulsi, Peepal, Mango, Lotus etc are considered holy and their leaves, fruits and flowers are used in worship.

Ethical value
Ethical issues like all life must be preserved . Based on the concept of Live and Let Live.

Aesthetic value
Eco- tourism willingness to pay concept Eco-tourism is estimated to generate about 12 million dollars of revenue annually.

Option values
Values include the potential of Biodiversity that are presently unknown and need to be explored. Option value is the value of knowing that there are biological resources on this biosphere that may one day prove to be an effective option for something important in the future.

Ecosystem Service Value

Non-consumptive use value related to self maintenance of the ecosystem and various important ecosystem. Refer to services provided by ecosystems like: a) Prevention of Erosion. b) Prevention of floods. c) Maintenance of soil fertility. d) Cycling of nutrients.

Global Biodiversity
Roughly 1.8 million species are known till date. Most of the worlds bio-rich nations are in the south developing nations. The majority of the countries capable of exploiting bio-diversity are northern regionsdeveloped nations. International agreements- World Heritage Convention attempt to protect and support such areas. India is a signatory to the convention and has include areas covering Manas on the border between Bhutan and India, Kaziranga in Assam, Bharatpur in UP, Nandadevi in the Himalayas and the sunderbans in the Ganges delta in west Bengal.

Indian Biodiversity
Every country is characterized by its own . Diodiversity depending upon its climate. India has rich biological diversity of flora and fauna.

 6% of the global species are found in india. Total no of species found in India is 150,000. Out of a total of 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world, India posses 2, one in the northen region and one in the western ghats.

Regional Biodiversity
Four types- based upon their spatial distribution. Point Richness- refers to the number of species that can be found at a single point in a given space. Alpha Richness- refers to the number of species found in a small homogeneous area. Beta Richness- refers to the rate of change of species composition across different habitats. Gamma Richness- refers to the rate of change across large landscape gradients.

INDIA AS MEGA DIVERSITY NATION

India is one of the 12 mega diversity countries in the world. Australia Brazil China Columbia Ecuador The United States India Indonesia Madagascar Mexico Peru The democratic Republic of Congo

The ministry of environment and forest, Govt. of India records 47000 species of plants and 81000 species of animal i.e. , 7% and 6.5% of the global flora and fauna.

HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY

Areas which exhibit species richness as well as high species endemism are termed as hot spots of biodiversity. The term was introduced by Myers(1988). There are 25 hot spots at global level. According to Myers et al an area is designated as a hotspot when it contains atleast 0.5% of the plant species as endemic. The hotspot cover less than 2% of the worlds land but are found to have 50% of the terrestrial biodiversity. The Indian hotspots are not only rich in flora wealth and endemic species of plants but also reptiles, amphibians, swallow tailed butterflies ans some mammals.

Global Hot Spots Of Biodiversity

Tropical Andes Mesoamerican Forests Caribbean Brazils Atlantic Forest Darien of Panama Western Ecuador Central Chile California Floristic Province Madagascar Eastern Arc and Coastal Forest of Tanzania Western Africa Forest Cape Floristic Province Succulent Karoo Mediterranean Basin Caucasus Sundal Land Wallacea Philippines Indo-Burma Eastern Himalayas South Central China Western Ghats

South Western Australia New Caledonia New Zealand Polynesia/Micronesia

Threats to Biodiversity
Extinction or elimination of a species is a natural process of evolution. However, the rate of loss of species in geological past has been a slow process. The process of extinction has become particular fast in the recent years of human civilization One of the estimates by E O. Wilson puts the figure of extinction at 10,000 species per year. The following are the Threats To Biodiversity: 1. Loss/Degradation of habitat 2. Overexploitation of resources 3. Pollution 4. Extinction of species due to aggressive non-native species 5. Global environmental changes

Major Causes for loss of Biodiversity

Loss of Habitat- Destruction and loss of natural habitat is the single largest cause of Biodiversity loss. Billions of hectares of forests and grasslands have cleared over the past 10,000 years. Sometimes the loss of habitat is in installments so that the habitat is divided in to small and scattered patches- Habitat fragmentation. Poaching Illegal trade of wildlife products.

Causes for Man-Wild Life Conflicts

In Sambhalpur, Orissa 195 humans were killed in the last five years by Elephants. In retaliation the villagers killed 98 elephants and badly injured 30 others. The Man-Elephant conflicts in the regions of KOte-Chamrajanagar has arisen because of massive damage done by the elephants to the cotton and sugar cane crops. In 2004, a man eating tiger was reported to kill 16 Nepalese people and one 4 year child inside the royal Chitman National Park.

Conservation of Biodiversity
The enormous value of Biodiversity due to their generic, commercial, medical, aesthetic, ecological and optional importance emphasizes the need to conserve Biodiversity. It includes: 1. Protection of all critically endangered, vulnerable, rare and other species of life present in the ecosystem. 2. Preservation of all varieties of old and new flora, fauna and microbes. 3. Protection and preservation of critical habitats, unique ecosystems. 4. Regulation of international trade in wildlife. 5. Reduction of pollution 6. Increase in public awareness. There are two Conservation:approaches to Biodiversity

In Situ Conservation Ex Situ Conservation

In Situ Conservation: This is achieved by protection of wild life flora and fauna in nature itself. E.g., Biosphere Reserve, National Parks, Sanctuaries, Reserve Forests etc At present there are 7 major Biosphere Reserves, 80 National Parks, 420 Wild Life Sanctuaries and 120 botanical gardens in India covering 4% of geographic area. The Biosphere Reserves conserve some representative ecosystems as a whole for long term in situ conservation. In India we have Nanda Devi, Nokrek Manas, Sunderbans, Gult of Mannar, Nilgiri, Great Nlcobars and Similipal Biosphere reserves. A National Park is an area dedicated for the conservation of wild-life along with its environment. It is also meant for enjoyment through tourism but without impairing the environment. Each National Park usually aims at conservation specifically of some particular species of wild life along with others.

 Wild-life Sanctuaries are also protected areas where killing, hunting, shooting or capturing of wild-life is prohibited except under the control of highest authority. Private Ownership rights are permissible and forestry operations are also permitted to an extent that do not affect the wild-life adversely.

Ex Situ Conservation: This is done by establishment of gene banks, seed banks, zoos, botanical gardens, culture collections etc This type of conservation is mainly done for conservation of crops varieties, the wild relatives of crops and all the local varieties with the main objective of conserving the total genetic variability of the crop species for future crop improvement programs.

The wild-life Conservation Programs in India: Project Tiger: This programs, with the support of WWFInternational, was launched by The Central Government of India, in 1973. At beginning there were nine Tiger Reserves and by 2001, this number increased up to twenty seven, the number of tigers also increased from 286 in 1972 to 1500 in 1998. The project tiger has taught us that Tiger can not be protected in isolation, if the tiger is to be protected, the whole of its habitat is required to be protected.

Crocodile Conservation: This program was introduced in 1975. The crocodile breeding canters were established in their natural habitats.

 Project Elephant: This program was launched in 1992 mainly in North and North-eastern, and south, regions, where their natural habitats are available. At present this program has been accepted by 12 states, with all the government effect, the habitats of elephants are getting reduced; their migration routs a are disrupted by the human activities. It is a known fact that no single species can be protected individually because all of these wild species are interdependent as each others, so we must protect the total ecosystem.

INDEX
Definition of Biodiversity Levels of Biodiversity: 1. Genetic Biodiversity 2. Species Biodiversity 3. Ecosystem Biodiversity Indias Bio Geographical Zones Values of Biodiversity Global Biodiversity Indian Biodiversity Regional Biodiversity India as mega Diversity Nation Hot Spot of Biodiversity Global Hot Spot of Biodiversity Threat to Biodiversity Major Causes For loss of Biodiversity Causes for Man-Wild Life Conflicts Conservation Of Biodiversity 1. In-Situ Conservation 2. Ex-Situ Conservation The wild-Life Conservation Programs in India

BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.google.com www.scribd.com Chapter 4. Biodiversity and its Conservation. www.scribd.com BIODIVERSITY AND ITS CONSERVATION. PPT. Book Of Environmental Studies- Dr. Ravikant Pagnis (Tech-Max) semester V- Information Technology.