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Unlocking Life's Diversity: Exploring Biodiversity and Conservation

Learn about the importance of biodiversity and conservation efforts, including different types of biodiversity like genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Discover the impact of biodiversity loss, causes such as habitat fragmentation and over-exploitation, and the alarming rate of species extinction. Explore how species diversity influences ecosystem stability and productivity, and delve into the significance of preserving Earth's diverse life forms.

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Unlocking Life's Diversity: Exploring Biodiversity and Conservation

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  1. BIODIVERSITYANDCONSERVATION

  2. BIODIVERSITYANDCONSERVATION • Biodiversity:thetermbiodiversityreferstothetotalityofgenes,species,andecosystemsofaregion. • TypesofbiodiversitydescribedbyEdwardWilson: • Geneticdiversity:Asinglespeciesmightshowhighdiversityatthegeneticleveloveritsdistributionalrange. • MedicinalplantRauwolfiavomitoriaofHimalayanrangeproducesactive • chemicalreserpineshowsgeneticvariation. • Indiahasmorethan50000differentstrainofrice. • 1000varietiesofmango. •  • Speciesdiversity:differentspeciesofasingleanimallikefrog. • Ecologicaldiversity:diversityintheecosystemlevellikedesert,rainforest,mangroves,coralreef,wetlands,estuariesetc.

  3. HowmanyspeciesarethereonEarthandHowmanyinIndia? • AccordingtoIUCN(2004),1.5millionofplantsandanimalsareinourbiosphere. • RobertMayplacesglobalspeciesdiversityatabout7 millions. • Morethan70percentofallthespeciesrecordedareanimals. • Allplantsconstituteabout22percent. • Amonganimalsinsectsconstitute70percent. • India has only 2.4 percent of the world’s land area; its share ofglobalspeciesdiversityisimpressive8.1percent. • Indiaisconsideredoneofthemegadiversitycountriesoftheworld.

  4. Patternof Biodiversity • Latitudinalgradients: • Speciesdiversitydecreasesaswemoveawayfromtheequatortowards • thepole. • Tropic(23.5oNto23.5oS)harborsmorespeciesthantemperateandpole • ThelargelytropicalAmazonianrainforestinSouthAmericahasthegreatestbiodiversityonearth: • 40,000speciesofplants. • 3000speciesoffishes. • 1300ofbirds. • 427amphibians • 378reptiles • Morethan1,25,000invertebrates.

  5. Whytropicalrainforesthasgreater biodiversity: • Unliketemperateregionssubjectedtofrequentglaciationsinthepast,tropicallatitudeshaveremainedrelativelyundisturbedformillionsofyearsandthus,hadalongevolutionarytimeforspeciesdiversification. • Tropicalenvironments.Unliketemperateones,arelessseasonal,relativelymoreconstantandpredictable,promotesnichespecializationandleadtogreaterspeciesdiversity. • Thereismoresolarenergyavailableinthetropics,whichcontributetohigherproductivity.

  6. Speciesarearelationship: • ALEXANDERVONHUMBOLDTobservedwithinaregionspeciesrichnessincreasedwithincreasingexploredareabutonlyuptoalimit. • Therelationbetweenspeciesrichnessandareaforawidevarietyoftaxaturnsouttobearectangularhyperbola. • OnalogarithmicscaletherelationshipisastraightlinedescribebytheequationLogS=logC+ZlogA • WhereS=speciesrichness,A=Area,Z=slopeoftheline(regressioncoefficient),C=Y-intercept

  7. ImportanceofspeciesdiversitytotheEcosystem: • Communitywithmorespeciesgenerallytendstobemorestablethanthosewithlessspecies. • Astablecommunityshouldnotshowtoomuchvariationinproductivityfromyeartoyear;itmustberesistantorresilienttooccasionaldisturbances(naturalorman-made) • Stablecommunitymustberesistanttoinvasionbyalien • species. • David Tillman’s long-termfieldexperimentfindsthat: • Plotswithmorespeciesshowedlessyeartoyearvariationin • biomass • Increaseddiversitycontributedtohigherproductivity.

  8. LossofBiodiversity: • TheIUCNRedList(2004)documentstheextinctionof784species. • Recentextinctionincludes: • Dodo(Mauritius). • Quake(Africa) • Thylacine(Australia) • Stiller’s cow (Russia) • Threesubspeciesoftiger(Bali,Java,Caspian).  • Sincetheoriginanddiversificationoflifeonearththerewerefive episodesofmassextinctionofspecies. • ThesixthmassExtinctionsinprogressnow.

  9. Howthe’sixth Extinction’is different fromthe • previousfiveextinctions. • Thecurrentextinctionrateis100to1000timesfaster. • Allothersarepre-humanperiod,thisoneisanthropogenic.

  10. Effectofbiodiversityloss: • Declineinplantproduction. • Loweredresistancetoenvironmentalperturbationssuchasdrought. • Increasedvariabilityincertainecosystemprocessessuchasplantproductivity,wateruse,andpestanddiseasecycle.

  11. Causesofbiodiversityloss: • Thepresentlossisallduetohumanactivity(anthropogenic) • Therearefourmajorcauses“The Evil Quartet” areasfollows: • 1.Habitatlossandfragmentation • 2.Over-exploitation: • 3.Alienspeciesinvasion: • 4.Co-extinction:

  12. Habitatlossandfragmentation: • Mostimportantcausedrivinganimalsandplantstoextinct. • Thetropicalrainforestreducedto6%from14% • ofearthlandsurface. • TheAmazonianrainforestiscalledas‘lungsoftheplanetǮis being cut cleared for cultivating soya beans. • Degradationofmanyhabitatbypollutionisalsothreatensthelossofdiversity. • Largeareasarebrokenintofigmentsalsothecause • ofdiversityloss.

  13. Over-exploitation: • When Ǯneedǯ turns to Ǯgreedǯ it leads to over-exploitationofnaturalresources. • Manyspeciesextinctionsinthelast500yearsȋStillerǯs cow, passenger pigeonsȌ were due to over-exploitation. • Manymarinefishpopulationsaroundtheworld • areoverharvested.

  14. Alienspeciesinvasion: • Thealienspeciesbecameinvasiveandcausedeclineorextinctionofindigenousspecies. • NileperchintroducedintoLakeVictoriaineastAfricaledtoextinctionof200speciesofcichlidfishinthelake. • Parthenium,(carrotgrass),Lantana,andwaterhyacinth(Eichornia)posedathreadtoindigenousspecies. • AfricancatfishClariasgariepinusforaquaculturepurposedisposingathreattoindigenouscatfishesinourrivers.

  15. Co-extinction: • Whenaspeciesbecomesextinct,theplantandanimalspeciesassociatedwithitanobligatorywayalsobecomeextinct. • ExtinctionofHostspeciesleadstoextinctionof • theparasitealso. • Co-evolvedplant-pollinatormutualismwhereextinctionofoneinvariablyleadtotheextinctionoftheother.

  16. BIODIVERSITYCONSERVATION: • Reasonforconservationbiodiversityisgroupedintothreecategories. • Narrowlyutilitarian. • Broadlyutilitarian • Ethical

  17. Narrowlyutilitarian: • Humanderivecountlessdirecteconomicbenefitsfromnature- • Food(cereals,pulses,fruits),firewood,fiber,constructionmaterial. • Industrialproducts(tannins,lubricants,dyes,resins, • perfumes) • Productsofmedicinalimportance. • Bioprospecting:exploringmoleculargeneticandspecies-leveldiversityforproductsofeconomicimportance.

  18. BroadlyUtilitarian • Amazonianforestalongproduce20%ofoxygenduringphotosynthesis. • Pollinatorlayer:bees,bumblebees,birdsandbatthatpollinatetheplantwithoutwhichseedcannotbeproducedbyplants. • Aestheticpleasurewegetfromthebiodiversity.

  19. Howdoweconservebiodiversity? • Insituconservation: • Whenweconserveandprotectthewholeecosystem,itsbiodiversityatalllevelisprotected– wesavetheentireforesttosavethetiger.Thisapproachiscalledinsitu(onsite)conservation. • Biodiversityhotspot:regionswithveryhighlevelsofspeciesrichnessandhighdegreeofendemism.(speciesconfinedtothatregionandnotfoundanywhereelse) • Hotspotinbiodiversityisalsoregionsofacceleratedhabitatloss. • Outof34hotspotintheworld,threehotspotlocatedinIndia: • WesternGhatsandSrilanka. • Indo-Burma. • Himalaya.

  20. Otherprotectedareaunderinsituconservationsare: • 14biospherereserve • 90nationalpark • 448wildlifesanctuary •  • Sacredgroves:tractofforestweresetaside,andallthetreesandwildlifewithinwereveneratedandgiventotalprotection

  21. Exsituconservation • Threatenedanimalsandplantsaretakenoutfromtheirnaturalhabitatandplacedinspecialsettingwheretheycanbeprotectedandgivenspecialcare. • ZoologicalPark. • Botanicalgarden • Wildlifesafari. • Conservationofgametebycryopreservation. • Geneticstrainsarepreservedinseedbank.

  22. ConventiononBiodiversity: • “The earth Summit” held in Rio de Jeneiroin1992calleduponallnationstotakeappropriatemeasuresforconservationofbiodiversityandsustainableutilizationofitsbenefits. • WorldSummitonSustainabledevelopmentheldin2002inJohannesburg,SouthAfrica,190countriespledgedtheircommitmenttoachieveby2010asignificantreductioninthecurrentrateofbiodiversitylossatglobal,regionalandlocallevel.

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