BiodiversityandConservation

Biodiversityoccursnotonlyinthespecieslevel,butalsointhe
macromolecularlevels.
BiodiversityasdescribedbyEdwardWilsonisthecombineddiversity
atalllevelsofbiologicalorganisation.
Themostimportantformsofbiodiversityare:
Geneticdiversity(diversityatthegeneticlevel)
Speciesdiversity(diversityatthespecieslevel)
Ecologicaldiversity(diversityattheecosystemlevel)
Therearecloseto1.5millionplantsandanimalsthathavetobe
discoveredanddescribed.Morespecieshavebeendiscoveredin
temperateregionsascomparedtotropics.
AccordingtoanestimatemadebyRobertMay,globalspecies
biodiversityisabout7million.
Ofthetotalspeciesdiscoveredsofar,70%areanimalsand22%are
plants.Oftheanimals,70%areinsects.
Indiahas2.4%oftheworldslandand8.1%ofthetotalspecies
diversity.AccordingtoMaysestimate,78%ofthebiodiversityisstill
tobediscovered.
ApplyingthistoIndiasbiodiversityfigures,therestillisascopefor
discoveryofover1lakhspeciesofplantsand3lakhspeciesof
animals.

PatternsofBiodiversity

LatitudinalgradientsTheplantsandanimalsarenotdistributed
evenlyworldwide.Thediversityoflivingformsdecreasesaswego
fromtheequatortowardsthepoles.Ahugeamountofplantsand
animalsareconcentratedinthetropicalregionbecauseofthe
followingreasons.
Tropicalenvironmentislessseasonalandalmostconstantand
predictableascomparedtotemperateenvironment.
 Tropicsreceivethemajorpartofthesolarenergy,whichcontributesto
greatproductivity.
Speciationisdependentupontime.Tropicalareashaveremained
undisturbedformillionsofyearsunliketemperateregions,whichhave
experiencedfrequentglaciationsinthepast.
SpeciesArearelationshipsAlexandervonHumboldtobserved
thatbiodiversityincreaseswithincreaseinexploredarea.This
relationshipcanbegivenby,

logS=logC+ZlogA

Where,

S=Speciesrichness

A=Area

Z=Slopeoftheline(regressioncoefficient)

C=Yintercept

ValueofZisfoundtolieintherangeof0.1to0.2forcomparatively
smallerareassuchascountrieswhileforverylargeareassuchasentire
continents,theslopeofthelineismuchsteeperwithZvaluelyingfrom
0.6to1.2.

Importanceofbiodiversity&Lossof
Biodiversity
WhatistheimportanceofbiodiversityontheEarth?

Thereisnoexactanswertothisquestion,butexperimentsconducted
bymanyecologistshavedemonstratedthatasystemwithgreater
biodiversityismorestableandhasgreaterproductivity.
Inthelongrun,biodiversityisrelatedwithoverallhealthofour
ecosystemandsurvivalofhumanraceontheearth.
Characteristicsofastablecommunity:
Itshouldnotshowmuchvariationinproductivityfromyearto
year.
Itmustbeeitherresistantorresilienttooccasionaldisturbances.
 Itmustberesistanttoinvasionbyalienspecies.

LossofBiodiversity

Duetohumanactivities,thenaturalwealthisgettinglostrapidly.
Thelast20yearshaveseenthelossof27species.
Someofthecausesofthislossare:
HabitatlossandfragmentationThisisthemajorcausefor
lossofbiodiversity.Habitatdestructioniscausedbyhuman
activitiessuchasdeforestationandincreasingpollution,leading
tothelossofmanyplantsandanimals.
OverexploitationHumansduetotheirgreedandincreased
exploitationofnaturalresourceshavecontributedtothe
endangermentofcommerciallyimportantspeciesofplantsand
animals.ExampleSpeciessuchasStellersseacowand
passengerpigeonhavebeenextinctduetooverexploitationby
humans.
AlienspeciesinvasionTheunintentionalordeliberate
introductionofalienspeciescausesthedeclinationofthe
indigenousspecies.ExampleNileperchintroducedinLake
Victorialedtotheextinctionofmorethan200speciesofcichlid
fishinthelake.
CoextinctionWhenaplantoranimalbecomesextinct,
anotherplantoranimalwhichisdependentonitinanobligatory
wayalsobecomesextinct.ExampleIncaseofplantpollinator
mutualism,theextinctionofonepartnerwilleventuallyleadto
theextinctionofotheralso.

BiodiversityConservation
Biodiversityconservationisnecessarybecauseofthefollowing
reasons:
Manycommerciallyimportantproductsareobtainedbynature
suchasfood,fibre,wood,andcountlessindustrialproducts.
Certainactivitiesandproductscannotbeaccomplishedwithout
thehelpofnaturesuchasproductionofoxygenandpollination.
 Intangiblebenefitssuchasaestheticpleasurearederivedfrom
nature.
Conservingthespeciesweshareourplanetwithandpassingthe
richlegacyofbiodiversitytoourfuturegenerationsisourethical
duty.
Biodiversitycanbeconservedby:
InsituconservationInordertoconservebiodiversitybetter,
someoftheworldsbiodiversityhotspots(withhighdegreeof
biodiversityandendemism)havebeenidentifiedandare
protected.InIndia,biospherereserves,wildlifesanctuaries,and
nationalparksarebuiltforthispurpose.
ExsituconservationThethreatenedspeciesofplantsand
animalsaretakenoutoftheirhabitatsandarekeptinspecial
settingsasinzoologicalparks,botanicalgardens,andwildlife
parks.
Nowadays,thegametesofendangeredspeciescanbepreserved
viablebymethodssuchascryopreservationandcanbefertilized
invitrofollowedbypropagationthroughtissueculturemethods.
Similarly,seedscanbepreservedinseedbanks.