TYPE OF BIODIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION
• The term of biodiversity was first coined by walter G. rosen in 1986.
• Biological diversity abbreviated as biodiversity represent the sum of total of varius life form
such as unicellular as multicellular organism at varius biological levels.
• It is the degree of variation of life form within a ecosystem or biome or entire planet called
biodivesity

MEANING OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is that part of nature which includes the differences in genes among the
individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal species at different scales
in space, locally, in a region, in the country and the world, and various types of ecosystems, both
terrestrial and aquatic, within a defined area.

The word BIODIVERSITY originates from the Greek word BIOS : LIFE and Latin word
DIVERSITAS : VARIETY or DIFFERENCE. The whole word BIODIVERSITY generally therefore
means: VARIETY OF LIFE.

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VALUES OF BIODIVERSITY
The value of biodiversity is difficult to define and is often impossible to
estimate.However,biodiversity provides a variety of environmental services from its species and
ecosystems that are essential at the global, regional and local levels.

• CONSUMPTIVE VALUES
These include utilisation of timber, food, fuel wood and fodder by local communities.
For example, fisher-folks are completely dependent on fishes and know where and how to catch them
and other edible aquatic animals and plants.

• PRODUCTIVE VALUE
The genetic properties of microbes, plants and animals are used biotechnologically to
develop better varieties of crops for use in farming and plantation programs or to develop better live
stock.

Biodiversity, to industrialist, is a rich storehouse from which to develop new products. Biodiversity, to
pharmacists, is the raw material from which new drugs can be developed from plant or animal
products. The commonly used modern drugs derived from plant sources are given in Table below.

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• SOCIAL VALUE
The social values are linked to consumptive and productive value of
biodiversity.‘Ecosystem people’ or traditional societies value biodiversity as a part of their livelihood,
as well as through cultural and religious sentiments. Cultivation of rice and many other cereals are
linked to certain social culture and customs.

• ETHICAL AND MORAL VALUES

There are several cultural, moral and ethical values which are associated with the
sanctity of all forms of life. Nature in Indian civilisation has been preserved for hundreds of
generations through local traditions and customs.Tribal people in several states of our country have a
number of sacred groves or ‘deorais’ around ancient sacred sites and temples.This acts as gene banks
for several wild plants.

• Optional values

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TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
• GENETIC DIVERSITY
Within each member of any animal or plant species there are often found a number
of varieties or races or strains which slightly differ from each other in one, two or a number of
characteristics such as shape, size, resistance to insects, pests and diseases, ability to withstand adverse
conditions of environment, etc. These differences result as individual differ widely from others of its
own species in its genetic make-up, owing to the large number of combinations possible in the genes
that give every individual its specific characteristics. This diversity in the genetic make-up of a species
is referred to as genetic diversity.

• SPECIES DIVERSITY

In any ecosystem the biotic component is composed of a few species only or a large number of
microbe, plant and animals species.

These species react and interact with each other and with the abiotic factors of the environment. The
diversity related to the numbers and relative abundance of species within a community are referred to
as species diversity.

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COMPONENTS OF SPECIES DIVERSITY

• ALPHA DIVERSITY:

This is the local diversity which is expressed as the number of species in a small area of
more or less uniform habitat, Alpha or local diversity is, thus, sensitive to habitat, area and intensity
of sampling effort.

• BETA DIVERSITY:

The diffference in species from one habitat to the next is referred to as beta diversity. The
greater the turnover or difference of species between habitats, the greater is the beta diversity.

• GAMMA DIVERSITY:

Gamma or regional diversity is the total number of species observed in all habitats within a
region or geographic area that includes no significant barriers to dispersal of organisms. The
boundaries of a region thus depend on which organisms we consider. The distribution of species within
a region reflects their selection of suitable habitats rather than their inability to disperse to a particular
locality.

FACTORS AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY

• SITE SELECTION

• ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL IMPACT

• CLIMATES

• SOIL

• IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE PLANT

• MAINTENANCE AND PROTECTION

There is a wide variety of naturally derived drugs which still serve as important therapies in medicine
today. Many substances have been derived from traditional medicine, e.g. digitalis (from Fox glove),
ergotamine (from contaminated rye), quinine (from Cinchona), etc.

More recently, many antibiotic, antifungal and anticancer agents have been derived from bacteria,
fungi, plant and ani mal sources.

The conservation of biodiversity throughout the world is of significance for the mankind and indeed
to the constancy of the whole world.

The vast genetic variety available in terrestrial plants, animals and micro-organisms offers a wealth of
possibilities for the betterment of mankind in the production of foods and medicines.

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CAUSES OF REDUCTION IN BIODIVERSITY
• DESTRUCTION OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS
The expanding human establishments has contributed largely to the rapid declinein
biodiversity.

THE DESTRUCTION OF NATURAL ECO-SYSTEMS ARE :

➢ The Boreal Coniferous forests of the north are probably the modest as far as losses of biological
diversity is concerned.

➢ Temperate and Sub-tropical regions consisting of coniferous forests are now reduced to
isolated patches of forest and woodland, standing amidst vast stretches of plains, the grass
prairies of North America, Cedar groves of Lebanon and the hardwood forests of Europe are
fast disappearing. Only 12.3 million hectares out of the original 31 million hectares has been
left.

➢ Tropical regions comprising of developing countries (often designated as mega diversity

countries) are endowed with the richest flora and fauna of the world.

HOTSPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY
The biodiversity of the earth is unevenly distributed and is concentrated in specific
ecological regions.The biodiversity hotspots were originally identified by Dr. Norman Myers.

There are more than a thou sand major eco-regions in the world, of which 200 Eco regions are said
to be the richest, rarest and most distinctive natural areas.

These areas are said to be the ‘Global 200’.

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• THE IMPORTANT FACTS WHICH WERE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERA TION
WERE

➢ Very high total species numbers

➢ Endemicity, whether of common or unusual lineages
➢ Unusual combinations, characteris tics of communities

• HOTSPOT AREAS, OTHER CHARACTERISTICS WERE

➢ These areas should be already threatened or under threat.
➢ The site should include a diverse range of habitat.
➢ Specialist species should be of adequate amount and adapted to specific edaphic conditions.

• THESE CRITERIA’S OF BIODIVERSITY FALL INTO THREE

CONTRASTING TYPES

➢ Continental hotspots which are sites of very high diversity, often with un usual endemic
species, sometimes called mega, hyper and super diversity centres.
➢ Large islands, also called continental islands that have diverse distinctive faunas which
include relict faunas long extinct on the main continents.
➢ Oceanic islands which are often low in total species numbers but with high proportions of
endemics, unusual combination of species and peculiar evolutionary lineages.

CRITIQUES OF HOTSPOTS
Biodiversity hotspots do not address the concept of cost. The purpose of
biodiversity hotspots is not just to identify regions that are of high biodiversity value, but also to
direct available funds to such small land areas of the world. This was the main point behind the
initial exposition of the idea — that a majority of the world’s biodiversity could be protected by
conserving a small amount of land. Subsequently, hotspots became known as “Silver bullet
solution”.

THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
• NATURAL CAUSES

• Narrow geographical area

• Low population
• Low breeding rate
• Natural disasters

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 • ANTHROPOGENIC CAUSES
• Habitat modification
• Overexploitation of selected species
• Innovation by exotic species

During the course of organic evolution a number of species disappeared. Biological extinction is a
natural phenomenon which has taken place in a balanced way.
Before man’s interference the rate of extinction was one species per thousand years.

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ROLE OF BIODIVERSITY IN AGRICULTURE
India is a centre for crop diversity. It is the homeland for 167 cul tivated species and 320 wild
relatives of crop plants. India is considered to be the centre of origin of 30,000-50,000 varieties
of rice, pigeon pea, mango, turmeric, ginger, sugar cane, gooseberries etc. In terms of
contribution to world agriculture India ranks seventh.

• MEGA-DIVERSITY ZONES
The zone between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is warm and humid. This wide belt
around the globe is provided with a rich and diverse plant, animal and microbial life. It is here
that more than half of the total number of species present in our planet occurs. Countries which
occur in this belt are referred to as megadiversity countries.

The mega- diversity countries are groups of countries in which less than 10% of the global land
surface has more than 70% of the lands biodiversity. Megadiversity countries are unusually
rich in all forms of biodiversity, although data for such categorisation relies on higher
vertebrates, plants and a few insect groups.

At present the number of mega-diversity countries has increased to 17 by the

UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (2007), with the inclusion of Democratic
Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Africa, U.S.A., and Venezuela.

• INDIA AS A MEGA-DIVERSITY NATION

Geological events since 70 million years ago, leading to the formation of India’s present
landmass, suggests a high level of biological diversity. India’s special geographical posi tion
or ‘niche’ between three distinctive centres of biological evolution and radiation of species is
responsible for our rich and varied biodiversity.

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India, because of its rich variety of species is among the top 10 bio-rich nations. Many of the
species found in India are not found elsewhere. India also has 1,022 species of ferns, 1,082
species of orchids, 50,000 identified species of insects including 13,000 butterflies and moths.
It is speculated that the number of unidentified species could be several times higher.

Fig. India’s world ranking (in relation to some groups and the number of species these groups contain)

About 30,000 to 50,000 varieties of rice and a number of cereals,vegetables and fruits have
been cultivated. The highest diversity of cultivars is seen in the high rainfall areas such as
Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Northern Himalayas and the North-eastern hills. In India, gene
banks have collected 22,000 pul ses and 34,000 cereals.

Among the animals in India, 62% of the total amphibians found are unique to the country.
Among the 153 species of lizards, 50% are endemic. Among the mammals, India has 27
indigenous breeds of cattle, 40 breeds of sheep, 22 breeds of goat and 8 breeds of buffaloes.

Thus, the Indian landscape is slowly beginning to loose its individuality. So, proper planning
and conservation of our endemic species has to be undertaken.

BIODIVERSITY PROFIT OF INDIA

India contains a great wealth of biological diversity with a wide spectrum of habitats from
tropical rain forests to alpine vegetation and from temperate forests to coastal wetlands.

India is blessed with two hot spots – the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas from among
18 biodiversity hot spots in the world-study carried out in the eighties.

India is also bestowed with 26 recognised endemic centres that are home to nearly a third of all
the flowering plants identified and described to date. I

ndia, with a mere 2.4% of the world’s area, accounts for 7.31% of the global faunal total with
a faunal species count of 89,451 species.

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CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Being one of the so-called mega diversity countries, India has a broad range of ecosys tems
that contain a vast array of flora and fauna. The loss of biodiversity is occurring worldwide
and in India, too, this trend pre sents a clear threat. India is committed to biodiversity
conservation. It has developed an extensive system of parks and sanctuaries covering more
than 4 percent of its land areas.

• CONSERVATION STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN THE FOLLOWING

• IN-SITU CONSERVATION

Biodiversity at all levels can be best preserved by setting aside an adequate representation of
wilderness as protected areas through in-situ conservation. Setting up a network of National
Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries etc., each with distinctive ecosystems, would preserve the total
diversity of life of a region.

The conservation of genetic resources through their main tenance within natural or even
human-made ecosystems in which they occur is termed as in-situ conservation. It includes a
system of protected areas of different categories, man- aged with different objectives to bring
benefit to the society.

The in-situ conservation includes an extensive system of protected areas such as

National Parks, Sanctuaries, Nature Reservoir, Natural Monuments, Cultural Landscapes, and
Biosphere Reserves etc.

The objective of these areas is the preserva tion of relatively intact natural ecosystems, where
biological diversity from microbes, microscopic plants and animals to the giant trees and large
mammals are all equally protected.

However, in these areas, a particular species cannot be protected individually as in an

ecosystem various species are interdepen dent on each other. The conservationist’s view-point
is in dealing with areas that are relatively speciesrich, or those that have rare, threatened or
endangered species or those with ‘endemic’ species which are not found anywhere else.

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Generally, some rare endemic species are found in a small area and such areas must be given
added impor tance as their biodiversity is a special feature of that region.

• EX-SITU CONSERVATION

Endangered species can be conserved outside its natural habitat through ex-situ conservation
by carefully controlled situation such as a botanical garden for plants and zoological parks for
animals.

When con servation is done outside the natural habitat of organisms, it is called ex-situ
conservation. Here, sample populations are con served in genetic resource centres, zoological
parks, botanical gardens, culture collec tions etc. or are conserved in the form of gene pools
and gamete storage for fishes, germplasm banks for seeds, pollen, semen, ova, cells etc.

Modern zoos undertake breeding pro grammes of endangered animals and even assisting in
artificial breeding. They take care of all the needs of animals even in providing enclosures that
stimulate their wild habitats. In India, such conservation practices have been done for all the
three species of crocodiles.

The Madras Crocodile Trust Bank is one such example, where crocodiles have grown in
number and are successfully laying two clutches of eggs a year, com pared to one in the wild.

The Guwahati zoo has been successfully breeding the very rare pygmy hog, while the Delhi
zoo has successfully bred the rare Manipur browantlered deer.

The success of the breeding programme also lies in the reintroduction of these species into its
original wilderness. This requires reconstruction of the degraded habitat and stringent measures
to be taken against poaching or other man-made disturbances, which had been the primary
cause for the reduction in such species population.

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• CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY THROUGH ECO-DEVELOPMENT

India’s Forest Research Education and Extension Project (FREEP) have enlisted local
communities to preserve its precious biodiversity through a strategy known as eco-
development.

Eco-development involves developing alternative resources and sources of income for the
many thousands of poor people who depend on pro tected natural habitats for their livelihood.
This has initiated groups of villagers to take responsibility for conserving natural resources in
nearby forests.

India has traditionally relied on policing to safeguard its protected areas. They have used walls,
gates, guards and guns to protect parks, sanctuaries etc., which have proved ineffective in
preventing exploitation of these areas by local communities.

It has often led to confrontation between wildlife authorities and villagers. FREEP has launched
a long-term initiative to strengthen India’s forestry research system, improve forestry education
and expedite the use of research findings in forestry extension.

The biodiversity conser vation activities of FREEP have provided experience that has proved
useful for ano ther program, the Eco-development Project, financed by International
Development Association (IDA) and the Global Environ ment Facility Trust Fund.

• BIODIVERSITY LOSS AND SPECIES EXTINCTION

• Extinction : last member of a species dies and the species vanishes forever from Earth
• Extirpation : disappearance of a particular population, but not the entire species globally
• These are natural processes. On average one species goes extinct naturally every 500–1,000
years—this is the background rate of extinction.
• 99% of all species that ever lived are now extinct.

• BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY: BIOPHILIA

Biophilia : human love for and attachment to other living things; ―the connections that
human beings subconsciously seek out with the rest of life.
• Affinity for parks and wildlife
• Keeping of pets
• Valuing real estate with landscape views
• Interest in escaping cities to go hiking, birding, fishing, hunting, backpacking, etc.

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 SUMMARY
Having reached the end of this module, it is time for a small review. Biodiversity is a concept
that has no general definition. Usually it is used in a context that stresses the need for attention
on our living environment and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Biodiversity can be divided in different types such as habitat, species and genetic diversity. The
integrated approach used in coastal zone management is an adequate method in dealing with
the matter of biodiversity.

Loss of biodiversity and biodiversity conservation are concepts that provide the basis for
biodiversity management. The management of biodiversity is a complex matter that needs
the involvement of many different partners ranging from governmental organisations to
private companies, NGO's and volunteers.

This aside, national and international commitment, legislation and enforcement

offer an essential framework for promoting and maintaining biodiversity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity

• https://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/6559599/Biodiversity-and-Its-Conservation

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