Course contents

Biodiversity and Its conservation

• Example of High Yield Cotton Seeds-
• Monsanto’s talk of ‘technology’ tries to hide its real objectives of
control over seed where genetic engineering is a means to control
seed, “Monsanto is an agricultural company. We apply innovation
and technology to help farmers around the world produce more
while conserving more.”

• “Producing more, Conserving more, Improving farmers lives.”

• In reality – small farmers are in hands of entrepreneurs who
provide all the seeds, fertilizers and pesticides
• Reduction in biodiversity- mono culture of cotton crop – danger of
extinction of native varieties and

• Green revolution

• Project Bengal Tiger

– Total estimated number of animal and plant species on
Earth: 8 million (includes 5.5 million insect species).
– Up to 1 million species threatened with extinction, many
within decades.

– The threatened list includes more than 40% of

amphibian species, almost 33% of reef-forming corals,
and more than a third of all marine mammals.

– Humans have severely altered 75% of land, 40% of

marine environments and 50% of inland waterways.
– The term Biodiversity was first coined by Walter G.
Rosen in 1986.
– Definition:
– As defined in convention on
Biological diversity singed at Rio
De Jenerio (Brazil) in 1992 by
154 countries, the Biodiversity
defined as
– “the variability among living
organisms from all sources
including, inter alia, terrestrial,
marine and other aquatic eco-
systems and the ecological
complexes of which the area
part- this include diversity with
in species, between species
and of ecosystem.”
 The degree of Biodiversity
• Habitat Stress: harsh climate, pollution
• Geographical Isolation:
• Dominance by one species
• Availability of ecological niches: complex
community offer a greater diversity
• Edge effect: transition area have greater
biodiversity
• Geological history: stable ecosystem have
greater biodiversity
 Hot spots of biodiversity
• Biodiversity is not uniformly distributed across the geographical
regions of the earth. Certain regions of the world are very rich in
biodiversity. We call such areas as “mega diversity zones”. We
also refer to them as “hot-spots”.

– Norman Myers, a British Ecologist, developed the concept of hot spots in

1988 to designate priority areas for in situ conservation. According to him, the
hot spots are the richest and the most threatened reservoirs of biodiversity on
the earth. The criteria for determining a

• Hot spot are:

• i) The area should support >1500 endemic species,
• ii) It must have lost over 70 % of the original habitat

• The 35 biodiversity hotspots cover 2.3% of the Earth's land

surface, yet more than 50% of the world’s plant species and
42% of all terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to
these areas.
 •
Biodiversity hotspots in India

• 1) Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and

that falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar).
– 10000 species of plant-1/3 endemic

• 2) Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam

and Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia and southern China).
– Active center for evolution of flowering plants, origin of crop plants, home to
monkeys, langurs

• 3) Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia,

Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines).

• 4) Western Ghats & Sri Lanka : Includes entire Western Ghats.

• • Eastern Himalayas, which was originally part of the Indo-Burma

Biodiversity Hotspot and included Bhutan, north-eastern India and
southern, central and eastern Nepal.

– In 2004, a hotspot reappraisal classified the region as part of two hotspots:

Indo-Burma and the newly distinguished Himalaya.
 Extinction
• Local extinction and ecological
extinction
• A mass extinction happened
– About 225 million years ago- 95%
of marine species vanished
– 65 million years ago-giant
dinosaurs
 Examples of benefits of Biodiversity
• 5000 plant species are known to have been used as food by
humans. Presently about 20 species feed the majority of the
world’s population and just 3 or 4 only are the major staple
crops to majority of population in the world.
• The usage of medicinal plants in India has an ancient history,
dating back to the pre-vedic culture, at least 4000 years B. C.
The therapeutic values of herbal medicines led to evolution of
Ayurveda which means “science of life”. It is estimated that at
least 70 % of the country’s population rely on herbal medicines
and over 7000 species of plants are used for medicinal
purposes.
• Genetic material or genes of wild crop plants are used to
develop new varieties of cultivated crop plants for restructuring
of the existing ones for improving yield or resistance of crops
plants. For example: rice grown in Asia is protected from four
main diseases by genes contributed by a single wild rice variety.
 Ecological Benefits
i) Protection of water resources: Wetlands and forests
act as water purifying systems, while mangroves trap
silt thereby reducing impacts on marine ecosystems.

ii) Soil protection: Biological diversity helps in the

conservation of soil and retention of moisture and nutrients.
Vegetation cover protect soil from erosion, protects its
productivity. Root systems allows penetration of water to
the sub soil layer.

iii) Nutrient storage and cycling: recycling nutrients found in

the atmosphere as well as in the soil. Food chain and
Ecological Pyramid help to transfer the energy, nutrients.
 CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY
DEPLETION

• Indirect ways:
Loss or modification of the natural habitats
Introduction of exotic species, Pollution

• Direct ways: Deforestation, hunting,

poaching, population growth, commercial
exploitation.

• Natural causes - Climate change.

An all-taxa biodiversity inventory, or ATBI by
ecologist Daniel Janzen
• National park –no grazing, no human settlement, no forestry only outdoor
recreational activities are permitted
– Covered under Wildlife Protection Act 1972
– India has ninety six National Parks

• Wildlife sanctuaries- no human settlement but grazing and firewood

collection is permitted, tourism is permitted,
– Covered under Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
– India has five hundred Wildlife Sanctuaries

• Protected forests- notified under forest acts, 1927. It has limited degree of
protection. Outside activities allowed unless mentioned.

• Reserved forests: it has full degree of protection. Outside activities not

allowed unless mentioned.
• Covered under the Indian forest act, 1927

• Tiger reserves: legally protected areas for tigers. Covered under the Wildlife
(protection) amendment Act, 2006
– The national tiger conservation authority
– India has twenty seven Tiger Reserves
 Biosphere Reserves in India
• Biosphere reserves are
areas of terrestrial and
coastal ecosystems
promoting solutions to
reconcile the conservation
of biodiversity with its
sustainable use. They are
internationally recognized,
nominated by national
governments and remain
under sovereign
jurisdiction of the states
where they are located.
 Conservation
The main functions of reserves are:

• • Conservation: Long term conservation of representatives,

landscapes and different types of ecosystems, along with all
their species and genetic resources.

• • Development: Encourages traditional resource use and

promote economic development which is culturally, socially
and ecologically sustainable.

• • Scientific research, monitoring and education- Support

conservation research, monitoring, education and
information exchange related to local, national and global
environmental and conservation issues.

• ii) Species-oriented projects: Certain species have been

identified as needing a concerted and specifically directed
protection effort. Project Tiger, Project Elephant and Project
crocodile are examples of focusing on single species through
conserving their habitats.
India as a mega-diversity nation,
• Group Assignment
• Mind Mapping of your Ecosystem

• Things to be fulfilled in your project

• Species (Human, Plants, animals, micro-organisms)
• Pollutant
• Impact of pollutant on species
• Steps
• First choose your observation site. It should be a place you like to explore.
• For your location, choose a good time to go out and observe. For your observations you can choose
plants, animals. You need to be patient while observing and noting down the details. If you are
observing bugs, you will want to explore and even dig around under rocks or with a shovel. Bring a
magnifying glass to look for very small animals in the soil, leaves or under rocks. Find the native
varieties and foreign one of plants. You can take any area near to you.
• Collect information on species, pollutant, impact of these pollutants on the ecosystem. You can take
pictures to enhance your project
• Draw a mind map- explaining your collected material
• Your subject (main topic) is ecosystem of the area (that you have explored). Be sure to label each area,
and factors after you draw it on your map.
• Branches will go towards different: a) Species (description of their habitat), b) Pollutant of that area (a
pond, collected water, plastics, industrial waste, hospital waste, residues from human settlement, etc.).
c) Impact of pollutant over the species (humans, plants or animals or micro-organisms sufferings, health
issues, noise, air, water problems).

• Present your findings (mind-map) in the classroom.

• PPT presentation- 1 to 5 slides/ 10 to 15 minutes of presentation