2.

DiversityAssessmentMethods BiodiversityValues
Prof.S.AjmalKhan
CentreofAdvancedStudyinMarineBiology AnnamalaiUniversity

iodiversityiscurrentlythebuzzwordoftheday.Ithasbecomethe hottopicofdebates,discussionsanddeliberationssinceRiosEarth Summit.ThewordBiodiversityisthecontractionofBiologicalDiversity. Diversity is a concept, which refers to the range of variations or differences among the same set of entities. It relates to varieties within the living world. Thus it is used to describe the number, variety and variabilityoflivingorganisms.Perhapsbecausethelivingworldismost widely considered in terms of species, biodiversity is very commonly usedasasynonymofspeciesdiversityinparticularofspeciesrichness whichisthenumberofspeciesinasiteorhabitat.Discussionofglobal biodiversityistypicallypresentedintermsofglobalnumbersofspecies in different taxonomic groups. The convention on Biological Diversity recognizedtheimportanceoflifesustainingsystemsofthebiosphere.It acknowledged that conservation and sustainable use of biological diversityisofcriticalimportanceformeetingthefood,healthandother needsofthegrowingworldpopulation.Biodiversityhasintrinsicvalue and its components have ecological, social, economic, scientific, educational,cultural,recreationalandaestheticvalues.

Among the various biodiversity regions, the coastal ecosystems are of particular importance in terms of their utility to the human livelihood security. They are extremely important both for the natural resources and ecological communities they contain and as areas of concentratedhumanactivities.Itishere probablymore than anywhere else in the major components of the global ecosystem that human activities are inseriousconflict withmaintenanceofthe environmental quality. Natural and, man made disasters have major impacts on both thebiologicaldiversityoftheregionandhumanlifeandwelfare.Added to it the increasing human habitation in the coastal areas of the world thatislikelytobe6billionby2030,furtherstressestheneedtodevelop an integrated balance between the conservation and utilization of naturalresourcebaseintheseregions.

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With respect to conservation the need to prioritize conservation sites arises because of the various limitations and constraints that operate in the real world. Ideally, perhaps all biodiversity everywhere would be conserved. However, there are financial, institutional and humanresourceconstraints,whichlimitconservationefforts.Thereare also multiple demands on land and ecosystems. To meet all these demandsandyetalsoadequatelyconservebiodiversityisnoteasyand ifitistobeachievedatall,itbecomescriticaltofocuseffortsonpriority sitesandspecies. ValuesforPrioritisingSites Prioritisationofsites,forconservation,needstobedonewithreference to certain well defined values. These include biodiversity and socio economic value of the site, and the value determining the feasibility of conservingasite. 1.BiodiversityValues The importance of a site in terms of its biodiversity value can be assessedonthebasisofits: Biologicalrepresentatives Biologicaluniqueness Naturalness Biodiversityrichness Supportfunctionsforothersitesandforspecies Potentialvalueofasitewhereitmightpotentiallybeofhigh biodiversity value (for one or more of the earlier mentioned reasons} but its biodiversity value has not been studied or established.

1.1.Representatives Strictlyspeaking,asiteisrepresentativeonlyofitself.However,asthere arelimitsonhowdisaggregatedconservationeffortscanbeecosystem and habitat types have to be demarcated and representative sites identified. The level of biological similarity of a particular site with other similar sites, or with an ecosystem type, in terms of the number and percentage of defining characteristics of that ecosystem (or of similar sites)woulddetermineitsrepresentatives.Sinceitisimpossibletofinda

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siteidenticaltoanentireecosystem,sitescanbeprioritizedonthebasis oflevelsofsimilarity. Additionalcriteriaforprioritizingrepresentativesites,especially when deciding between ecosystem types, is the coverage in terms of protectedrepresentativesitesthateachecosystemtypealreadyhas.An ecosystemwithnoorrelativelyfewprotectedsiteswouldhaveahigher prioritythanonewithmanysuchsites. 1.2.Uniqueness Strictly speaking, each site is unique. However, in terms of practical conservation, areas that are markedly different in their habitat, ecosystem processes, or species combination from all others areas, are classified, through admitted somewhat arbitrarily, as unique ecosystems. This criterion has the twin components of distinctiveness and rarity. Distinctiveness with regards to a community would mean how far separated the unit is from its nearest neighbour in terms of combinationsandprocesses.Withregardstospeciesthistranslatesinto the relatedness of the species with other levels of the taxonomic hierarchy,e.g.aspeciesthatistheonlymembersofitsgenusorfamily would be a greater loss to diversity than one which is part of a large genus. Rarity signifies the occurrence of species or combinations of species,orofprocess,whicharerareinnature.Raritymaybeanatural occurrenceorduetohumanintervention. 1.3.Naturalness This captures the extent to which a system has been free from human intervention and therefore has been allowed to exist and evolve in its natural state. Such sites are likely to be examples of relatively unmodifiedecologicalprocesses. Therearetwodifficultquestionsrelatedtothiscriterion.First,is allhumaninterventionnegativeintermsofnaturalnessvalues,?Second is any ecosystem on Earth natural? Conceivably human activities leading to pollution and climate change, among other, might have modified even those wilderness patches never actually visited by humans. 1.4.Richness/Diversity Thisreferstothenumbers(anddensity)ofspeciescontainedinanarea.

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Measurement of species per unit area is perhaps the most objective measure of this criterion. In the context of ecological communities,itcouldmeandiversityofhabitats. However,thiscriterionshouldbeusedtoprioritisebetweensites belonging to the same ecosystem type only. Species richness cannot be usedtoprioritisebetweenecosystemtypes. Diversity is an additional value in so far as the less the genetic relatednessofconstituentspecies,thegreaterthevalueofdiversity. 1.5.Endemism Anendemicspeciesisonewhoseoccurrenceisrestrictedorparticularto a locality or area. The measure most often used is the number/ percentageofspeciesendemictoasite.Theproblemofscaleariseshere aswell,sincethequestionoflocalendemismisdependentonthesizeof the area under consideration. Also, if limits on geographical extent are set for characterization of a species as endemic, species with larger rangesbutendemicwithinthosemaybeoverlooked,e.g.birdsendemic to the Mediterranean rim are not considered restricted range species becauseofthe5O,OOOsq.Km,limitonEBAS. 1.6.SignificanceforotherAreasofBiodiversityValue Thisinvolvesvaluationofanareabasedonitsimportanceforhealthof other ecosystems even though it may not be biologically rich itself. Theseinputs couldbeconstant,cyclic(repeatedlyin aknowncycle) or periodic(atunknownintervals) (a) Constant inputs could be functions such as water catchment for wetlands, or genetic corridors. With regards to species, constant services would mean their role in maintaining processes such as pollinationortheirstatusaskeystonespecies. (b)Cyclicsignificancetoanareaofbiodiversityvalueisafunction ofanareaoccurringatregularintervalse.g.nesting/winteringgrounds, stopoversonmigratoryroutes. (c)Periodicinputscouldincluderefugiaprovidedtospeciesin timesofcrisis(e.g.floods)intheirnaturalhabitat.Thiswouldoftenbe anunknowninterval. 1.7.ContainingValuableorImportantSpecies The value of the constituent species could be ecological, economic, as conservationsymbolsorbecauseoftheirthreatenedstatus.Apartfrom

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conserving ecosystems, biodiversity conservation would also involve theconservationofspecificspecies.Prioritisationbetweenspeciescould be made on the basis of endemism, of how rare they are, how fragile theyare,threatenedtheyareandtheirimportancetootherspecies(the keystonefunction). 1.8.PotentialforHighBiodiversityValue Unexplored areas, whose potential biodiversity value is high, e.g. unexploredislandintheAndamanandNicobargroup. 2.SocioEconomicValues Indeciding priority sitesforconservation, it is importantto assessand takeintoconsiderationthesocioeconomicvalueofthesite.Inonesense, all biodiversity values are also socioeconomic values as, directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, biodiversity resources are also socioeconomic resources. However, more specific socioeconomic values also need to be taken into consideration in the prioritisation process. Thereareindirectsocioeconomicvalueswherebiodiversityrich sites perform catchment, seed bank, climate regulation and other such functions, which contribute to the social and economic welfare of humanity. There are, in addition, direct socioeconomic benefits where local communities, especially the tribal and forest dwelling communities, use plants and animals for food, medicine and to meet other basic needs. Consequently, a river, or a bay, or a part of the sea which,apartfromhavingrichbiodiversity,alsofunctionsasaseedbank in support of the fisheries of the region, has added priority for conservation. If the area also supports fisher folk or other local people (evenfromtourismbasedactivities)thenitsprioritygoesupfurther. Socialandeconomicvaluescanbeclassifiedasfollows: Directeconomicvalue Indirecteconomicvalue Optionvalue Socioculturalvalue Scientificvalue

2.1.DirectEconomicValue Thedirecteconomicvalueofasite(orspecies)istheeconomicvalueof those goods and services it directly provides (or can provide) that are generally acknowledged to have a market price, and perhaps a

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replacement cost or an exchange value. Such goods could include timber,fuelwood,andmedicinalandedibleplants.Suchservicescould includetourism. 2.2.IndirectEconomicValue The indirect economic value of a site (or species) is the (notional) economic value of those goods and services provided (or providable) that are not ordinarily bought or sold (or even exchanged) and, consequently, do not have acknowledged economic value. Such goods and services are, however, critical for human well being and for the continued availability of other goods and services, which have, direct economic value. Examples would include carbon sink, climate and hydraulic regulation, seed bank, and soil and oxygen replenishment functions. 2.3.OptionValue Optionvalueisthe(notional)value,economic,culturalorscientific,that a site or a species might have in the future, but which is not yet recognised. 2.4.SocioCulturalValue Socioculturalvalueisthenoneconomicvaluethathumanbeingsattach tositesandspecies,asapartofsentiment,culture,aesthetics,historyor religion.Thisisespeciallytrueofruralandforestbasedcommunities. 2.5.ScientificValue Scientific value is indicated by the potential of a site or species to contribute to our knowledge of the world. This could include sites of longstandingresearchvalueandotherswherenewstudiescouldprove fruitful,e.g.theAntarctica. 3.ConservationFeasibilityValues Given the need to priorities because of the constraints already mentioned it is important to assess the conservation feasibility of an area, in terms of how easy or difficult it is to conserve. Essentially this involvesontheonehandanassessmentofthethreatsandpressureson the area and, on the other hand, the capabilities and institutional structures available to conserve the area. If a choice has to be made betweentwoareas whichareotherwiseofequalbiodiversityandsocio economicvalue,clearlythatwhichiseasiertoconservemustbechosen.

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Anexceptiontothisrulemight,however,needtobemadeinthe case of an area, which, if something were not urgently done, would loose all its unique biodiversity value. In such cases, priority may be given to such an area even when it is difficult to conserve, over other areaswhichareeasiertoconservebutcanwellwaitforawhile. Someoftheimportantconcernscouldbe: Protectionstatus Levelofthreats ManagementCapability Sizeandecologicalvulnerability

3.1.ProtectionStatus The legal or social protection a site enjoys is an important factor for determining the conservation feasibility value. For example, a duly notified national park would have greater feasibility value than a sanctuary. Similarly a sanctuary would have higher conservation feasibilitythanareservedforest,andallthreewouldhavehighervalue than a site, which has no special conservation status. Conservation feasibilityvaluecanalsobeenhancedbythenonlegalsocialstatusofa site,likethatofasacredsite. 3.2.LevelofThreat Thelevelandtypeofhumanpressuresthatanareaissubjectedtoisalso animportantcriterionfordeterminingthefeasibilityvalue.Forexample, constantpressuresmightbefarmoredamagingthaninfrequent,cyclic, ones. Similarly, pressures emanating from the legitimate needs of the local population might be far more difficult to control than those from elitetouristactivities. 3.3.ManagementCapability The ability and willingness of the government and other institutions, including local community institutions, to conserve the site is an importantbasisfordeterminingfeasibilityvalue.Merelegalstatusdoes notguaranteeproperprotection. Thisinvolvesnotonlyhavingthecapabilityofmanagingthesite butalsoofinfluencinglarger policyandactionwhichhasabearingon the conservation of the site. It also involves being able to get the participationandsupportoflocalcommunitiesinconservingthesite.

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3.4.SizeandEcologicalVulnerability Thedamagethatspecificpressurescancausetoasiteoftendependson sizeand ecologicalvulnerabilityofthearea.Smallersitesareoftenless abletoabsorbpressuresandthreats.Thelayoutandextentofasite,its shapeandrelationshipwithothersites,alsohasabearingonitsviability asaconservationunit. Reference

Singh, S. and Taneja, B. (1996). Prioritisation for biodiversity conservation priortisationproject,ProjectDesignWorkshop,WWFforNatureIndia, NewDelhi,4:7pp.