Biodiversity can be defined as the totality of genes, species and

ecosystems of a given region.

This term was coined by EDWARD WILSON
Diversity ranges from macromolecules to biomes.
Biodiversity can be studied at1. Genetic diversity
2. Species diversity
3. Ecological/Ecosystem diversity
1. Genetic diversity
Greater the genetic diversity among organisms of a species,
more sustenance it has against environmental perturbations.
Genetically uniform populations are highly prone to disease
harsh environment.
Rauwolfia vomitoria shows genetic variation in terms of
concentration and potency of chemical reserpine.
There are more than 50,000 varieties of rice and nearly 1000
varieties of mangoes.
2. Species diversity
Important measures:
Species richness: It refers to the number of species per unit area.
Species Evenness: It refers to the relative abundance with which
each species is represented in an area.
The variety and number of individuals determine the level of
diversity of an ecosystem.
The Western Ghats have a greater diversity of amphibian
species than the Eastern Ghats.

3. ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Ecological Diversity is related to species diversity.
India has greater ecosystem diversity than any other Scandinavian
country.
India has several biomes like alpine meadows, rain forests,
deserts, wetlands, mangrovesetc.
GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY
According to the IUCN (2004) the total number of plant and animal
species is about 1.5 million.
More than 70% of the species recorded are animals and plants
account for about 22%; 70% of the animals are insects.
A more conservative and scientifically sound estimate has been made
by Robert May ; it puts the global species diversity at about seven
million.

These estimates do not give any figure for prokaryotes for the following
reasons:
1. The conventional taxonomic methods are not sufficient for identifying
these microbial species.
2. Many of these species cannot be cultured under laboratory conditions.
3. Biochemical and molecular biology techniques would put their diversity
into millions.
BIODIVERSITY IN INDIA
India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity countries of the world.
India has only 2.4% of the land area of the world; it has 8.1% of the
global species biodiversity.
There are about 45,000 species of plants and about 90,000-1, 00,000
species of animals.
New species are yet to be discovered and named.
Applying Robert Mays global estimate, only 22% of the total species
have been recorded, India has probably more than 1,00,000 species
of plants and 3,00,000 species of animals to be discovered and
described.

PATTERNS OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is not uniform throughout the world but varies with
latitude and altitude.
Favorable environmental conditions favor speciation and make it
possible for a larger number of species to exist there, i.e., biodiversity
is more in such areas than the others.
1. Latitudinal Gradients
Species diversity decreased from equator towards poles.
The tropics harbor more species than temperate and polar regions.
Example- Colombia (near equator) has 1400 species of birds
whereas New York (41 N) has 105 species, Greenland (71 N) has
56 species and India (equator region) has 1200 species.
Variation of species with latitude
The number of species of vascular plants in tropics is about ten times
more than that of temperate forests.
Amazonian Rainforest has the greatest biodiversity on earth. It has
more than 40000 species of plants, 1, 25,000 species of insects, 300
species of fish, 427 of amphibian and 378 of reptiles, 1300 species of
birds and 427 of mammals.
2. Species-Area Relationship
Alexander Von Humboldt has observed that within a region,
species richness gets increased when explored area is increased,
but only up to a limit.
The relationship between species richness and area for a number
of taxa like angio-spermic plants, fresh water fishes and birds is
found to be a rectangular hyperbola.
Graph showing Species-Area Relationship

The equation is described by

Log S = log C + Z log A
S Species Richness
Z Slope of the line (regression coefficient)
A Area
C y-intercept
Ecologists have found that Z value ranges between 0.1 & 0.2
irrespective of the taxonomic group or the region.
In very large area like continents, Z value ranges between 0.6 & 1.2.

IMPORTANCE OF SPECIES DIVERSITY TO ECOSYSTEM

Ecologists believe that communities with more species tend to be
more stable than those with less species.
Attributes of a stable community1. It shall not show too much of variations in the year-to-year productivity.
2. It must be either resistant or resilient to seasonal disturbances.
3. It must be resistant also to alien species.
Feature of David Tilmans ecology experiments1. The plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation in the
total biomass.
2. Plots with increased diversity showed higher productivity.
Hence, we realize that species richness and diversity are essential for
ecosystem health as well as survival of human race on earth.
LOSS OF BIO-DIVERSITY:
Caused by Population, Urbanization and Industrialization.
The colonization of tropical Pacific Islands by human has led to the
extinction of more than 2000 species of native birds.
15,500 species are facing the threat all around.
At now 31% gymnosperms, 32%amphibians, 12% bird species and
23% of mammals face the threat.
Loss of bio-diversity in a region leads to :
1) Decrease in plant production.
2) Less resistance to environmental disturbances such as droughts.
3) Increases variability in ecosystem processes like plant
productivity, water use, pest and disease cycles etc.
CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY LOSSES
1.

Habitat loss and fragmentation

2.

Over-exploitation

3.

Alien species invasion

4.

Co-extinction

I. HABITAT LOSS AND FRAGMENTATION

Destruction of habitat is the primary cause of extinction of species.

The tropical rainforests initially covered 14% of land but now only 6%.
The Amazon rain forest is also called The lungs of the planet.
When large sized habitats are broken or fragmented due to human
settlements, buildings of roads, digging of canals etc.., animals
requiring large territories and some animals with migratory habitats
are badly affected.

ll. OVER-EXPLOITATION
When biological system is over exploited by man for the natural
resources ,it results in degradation and extinction of the resources, e.g.
Stellers sea cow, passenger pigeon etc.
III. ALIEN SPECIES INVASIONS
Some alien invasion has become invasive and causes maximum
harmful impact and the extinction of the indigenous species.
Introduction of African catfish for aquaculture purposes is posing a
threat to the existing species of catfishes of Indian rivers.

IV. CO-EXTINCTIONS
When a species become extinct, the plant and animal species
associated with it in an obligatory manner, also become extinct.

 For example, if the host fish species becomes extinct, all those
parasites exclusively found on it will also become extinct.
Recent extinctions

Quagga, Africa
The Dodo Bird, Mauritius
Thylanine ,Australia
Stellers sea cow.
Dugong resembling the stellers sea cow

BIO-DIVERSITY CONSERVATION
1. Narrowly utilitarian
Humans derive a number of economic benefits from nature like food,
firewood, fibres, medicines and more
More than 25% of the drugs are derived from plants and more than
25,000 species of plants are used by natives for medicine.
2. Broadly utilitarian
Biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining and sustaining
supply of goods and services.
Amazon forest contributes 20% of the total oxygen in the atmosphere
on earth.
Pollination of plants by providing pollinators, layer bee, birds and bats
etc...
Ethical
There are thousands of plants, animals and microbes on this earth
which are not useless.
Each one has some intrinsic value even if it is not of any economic
value to us.
It is therefore our moral duty to ensure well-being of all the living
creatures for the utilization.

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
There are two basic approaches towards conservation of bio diversity:

In situ conservation

Ex situ conservation

I. In situ conservation:
a) Biosphere reserves: Out of 425 biosphere reserves in the world, 14 are
in India. Hot spots are the areas / regions of high endemism and very high
levels of species richness. There are 34 hot spots in the world, of which
three are in India; namely Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and
Himalaya.
b) National parks and wildlife sanctuaries: India has 90 nationals parks and
448 wildlife sanctuaries.

c) Sacred groves: These are forest patches which were venerated and
given total protection. It includes a number of rare, endangered and
endemic species. Ex. Western Ghats, Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.

II. Ex situ conservation: India has 35 botanical gardens and 275 zoological
parks. By using Cryopreservation (-196o C) technique, sperms, eggs,
animal cells, tissues and embryos can be stored for long period. Plants are
propagated by using tissue culture methods called micropropagation.

CONVENTIONS ON BIODIVERSITY

The Earth Summit-Rio de Janeiro, 1992.

The World Summit, South Africa 2002.

In the Summit, 190 countries pledged to reduce the current rate of

biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels by 2010