INSTA LEARN
PLUS TWO
ZOOLOGY
BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION
biodiversity conservation
The Big Bang theory
1. Biodiversity is the term popularised by the
sociobiologist Edward Wilson to describe
the combined diversity at all the levels of
biological organisation.
2. Genetic diversity : A single species might
show high diversity at the genetic level
According to the IUCN (2004), the total num-
over its distributional range. India has more
ber of plant and animal species described so
than 50,000 genetically different strains of
far is slightly more than 1.5 million
rice, and 1,000 varieties of mango.
A more conservative and scientifically sound
3. Species diversity : The diversity at the spe-
estimate made by Robert May places the
cies level. For example, the Western Ghats
global species diversity at about 7 million.
have a greater amphibian species diversi-
ty than the Eastern Ghats.
4. Ecological diversity: At the ecosystem lev-
el, India, for instance, with its deserts, rain
forests, mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands,
estuaries, and alpine meadows has a
greater ecosystem diversity than a Scan-
dinavian country like Norway.
Although India has only 2.4 per cent of the
world’s land area, its share of the global spe-
cies diversity is an impressive 8.1 per cent.
That is what makes our country one of the 12
mega diversity countries of the world. Nearly
45,000 species of plants and twice as many
of animals have been recorded from India.
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(c) There is more solar energy available in the
tropics, which contributes to higher produc-
tivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly
to greater diversity.
Species-Area relationships : Alexander von
Humboldt Within a region species richness
increased with increasing explored area, but
only up to a limit.
S = CAZ
6. Patterns of Biodiversity
Log S = log C+Z log A
7. (i) Latitudinal gradients: In general, spe-
Species richness
cies diversity decreases as we move away
e
from the equator towards the poles al
sc
g
-lo
log
Area
logS = logC + ZlogA
where
S= Species richness A= Área
8. a) Speciation is generally a function of time,
unlike temperate regions subjected to fre- Z= slope of the line (regression
quent glaciations in the past, tropical lati-
coefficient)
tudes have remained relatively undisturbed
for millions of years and thus, had a long C=Y-intercept
evolutionary time for species diversifica-
tion.
b) Tropical environments, unlike temperate
ones, are less seasonal, relatively more
constant and predictable. Such constant
environments promote niche specialisation
and lead to a greater species diversity
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9. Value of Z lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2. But, 13. The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the ex-
if you analyse the species-area relation- tinction of 784 species (including 338 ver-
ships among very large areas like the en- tebrates, 359 invertebrates and 87 plants)
tire continents, you will find that the slope of in the last 500 years. Some examples of re-
the line to be much steeper (Z values in the cent extinctions include the dodo (Mauri-
range of 0.6 to 1.2). For example, for frugiv- tius), quagga (Africa), thylacine (Australia),
orous (fruiteating) birds and mammals in Steller’s Sea Cow (Russia) and three sub-
the tropical forests of different continents, species (Bali, Javan, Caspian) of tiger. The
the slope is found to be 1.15. last twenty years alone have witnessed the
disappearance of 27 species. Causes of bi-
10. David Tilman’s long-term ecosystem Til-
odiversity losses: The Evil Quartet (i) Habitat
man found that plots with more species
loss and fragmentation: Besides total loss,
showed less year-to-year variation in total
the degradation of many habitats by pol-
biomass. He also showed that in his exper-
lution also threatens the survival of many
iments, increased diversity contributed to
species. When large habitats are broken up
higher productivity. The ‘rivet popper hy-
into small fragments due to various human
pothesis’ by Paul Ehrlic
activities, mammals and birds requiring
large territories and certain animals with
migratory habits are badly affected, lead-
ing to population decline
11. The ‘rivet popper hypothesis’ by Paul Ehrlich
12. In an airplane (ecosystem) all parts are
joined together using thousands of rivets
(species). If every passenger travelling in it
starts popping a rivet to take home (caus-
ing a species to become extinct), it may
not affect flight safety (proper functioning
of the ecosystem) initially, but as more and
more rivets are removed, the plane be-
comes dangerously weak over a period of
time.
14. Causes of biodiversity losses: The Evil Quar-
tet
(i) Habitat loss and fragmentation: Besides
total loss, the degradation of many habi-
tats by pollution also threatens the survival
of many species. When large habitats are
broken up into small fragments due to var-
ious human activities, mammals and birds
requiring large territories and certain an-
imals with migratory habits are badly af-
fected, leading to population declines.
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15. Over-exploitation: Many species extinctions
in the last 500 years (Steller’s sea cow, pas-
senger pigeon) were due to overexploita-
tion by humans.
18. You must be familiar with the environmen-
tal damage caused and threat posed to our
native species by invasive weed species
like carrot grass (Parthenium), Lantana and
water hyacinth (Eicchornia). The recent ille-
gal introduction of the African catfish Clari-
as gariepinus for aquaculture purposes is
posing a threat to the indigenous catfishes
in our rivers.
16. Alien species invasions: The Nile perch in-
troduced into Lake Victoria in east Africa led
eventually to the extinction of an ecologi-
cally unique assemblage of more than 200
species of cichlid fish in the lake.
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Co-extinctions: When a species becomes ex-
tinct, the plant and animal species associated
with it in an obligatory way also become ex-
tinct. When a host fish species becomes ex-
tinct, its unique assemblage of parasites also
meets the same fate. Another example is the
case of a coevolved plantpollinator mutualism In situ conservation-
where extinction of one invariably leads to the Biodiversity hotspots’ -regions with very high
extinction of the other. levels of species richness and high degree of
endemism (that is, species confined to that
region and not found anywhere else). The to-
tal number of biodiversity hotspots in the world
to 34. Three of these hotspots - Western Ghats
and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and Himalaya -
cover our country’s exceptionally high biodi-
versity regions.
Conservation of biodiversity
The narrowly utilitarian arguments for con-
serving biodiversity are obvious; humans de-
rive countless direct economic benefits from
nature- food (cereals, pulses, fruits), firewood,
fibre, construction material, industrial products
(tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes )
and products of medicinal importance
India now has 14 biosphere reserves, 90 na-
The broadly utilitarian argument says that tional parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries. Sa-
biodiversity plays a major role in many eco- cred groves are found in Khasi and Jaintia Hills
system services that nature provides. The in Meghalaya, Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan, West-
fast-dwindling Amazon forest is estimated to ern Ghat regions of Karnataka and Maharash-
produce, through photosynthesis, 20 per cent tra and the Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas
of the total oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. of Madhya Pradesh. In Meghalaya, the sacred
Can we put an economic value on this service groves are the last refuges for a large number
by nature? You can get of rare and threatened plants
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The Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992,
called upon all nations to take appropriate
measures for conservation of biodiversity and
sustainable utilisation of its benefits. World
Summit on Sustainable Development held in
2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, 190 coun-
tries pledged their commitment to achieve by
2010, a significant reduction in the current rate
of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local
levels.
Ex situ Conservation– In this approach, threat-
ened animals and plants are taken out from
their natural habitat and placed in special set-
ting where they can be protected and given
special care. Zoological parks, botanical gar-
dens and wildlife safari parks serve this pur-
pose. Cryopreservation techniques and seed
banks are also examples.
Identify two ex-situ conservation approaches
of organisms from the following list :
(Zoological Park, Biosphere Reserve, National
Park, Botanical Garden)
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(a) Write four major causes of Biodiversity loss. A figure showing the global biodiversity of in-
vertebrates and vertebrates are given :
(b) Give one example for in-situ conservation
and ex-situ conservation of Biodiversity.
(A) Identify the most diverse groups of verte-
brates and invertebrates.
(B) What are the three important levels of bio-
diversity ?
........... denotes the phenomenon in which a spe-
cies confined to a parlicular geographical re-
gion and not found anywhere else.
(a) Endemism
(b) Ex-situ conservation
(c) In-situ Conservation
(d) Hot spots
“Species diversity is greater in tropical regions
than in temperate regions.” Give reasons.
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Space For Keynotes
“Species diversity is greater in tropical regions
than in temperate regions.” Give reasons.
a) Name S,A,C and Z in the graph
b) Name the scientist who explained spe-
cies-area relationship
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