WHAT BIODIVERSITY IS- TYPES & THREATS
INTRODUCTION
- Biodiversity (Biological diversity) is the variety and variability among the living organism on the earth.
- It refers to the variety of living organism on the earth including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystem and ecological complexes in which they occur.
- It means, it refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans.
- The term Biodiversity was coined by Walter G. Rosen in 1985. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the “totality of genes, species and ecosystems of a region.”
- Agro biodiversity is the diversity among agricultural system.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
- The diversity in the genetic makeup of a species is termed as genetic biodiversity.
- Genetic diversity serves as a way for populations to adapt to changing environments. The minute differences such as differences in shape, size, resistance ability to pests and diseases etc. found within a species are due to variation in the genetic organization.
- Genetic diversity plays an important role in the survival and adaptability of a species. The capability of the population to adapt to the changing environment will depend on the presence of the necessary genetic diversity.
- The more genetic diversity a population has the more likelihood the population will be able to adapt and survive.
SPECIES DIVERSITY
- Diversity within a species is necessary to maintain diversity among species, and vice versa.
- Species diversity refers to the variety of species within a region.
- Term species is the principal natural taxonomic unit and is defined as a group of living organism consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.
COMMUNITY & ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY
- Community means group of population of different species (plants, animals and microorganisms) in a given area.
- Ecosystem diversity is a type of biodiversity deals with the variation in ecosystem found in a region and its impact on human existence and the environment.
BIODIVERSITY IN INDIA
- India is recognized as one of the mega-diverse countries, rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge. With just 2.4% of the land area, India accounts for nearly 7% of the recorded species even while supporting almost 18% of the human population.
- In terms of species richness, India ranks seventh in mammals, ninth in birds and fifth in reptiles. In terms of endemism of vertebrate groups, India’s position is tenth in birds with 69 species, fifth in reptiles with 156 species and seventh in amphibians with 110 species.
- India’s share of crops is 44% as compared to the world average of 11%. India is the origin place of 166 species of crop plants and 320 species of wild relatives of cultivated crops. about 5000 species of flowering plants belonging to 141 genera and 47 families had birth in India.
- India is source of traditional crop varieties ranks 1st among the 12 regions of diversity of crop plants.
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
In fact, diversity is the beauty of nature. It is the source of food, medicines, fibers, timber, rubber and pharmaceutical drugs etc.
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IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
THREAT TO BIODIVERSITY
The never-ending human desires over exploit the natural resources. Sometimes natural calamities cause loss in biodiversity. Some of the major factors are as follows-
- Destruction of natural habitat of species– population explosion, rapid industrialization, residential & commercial development, cutting of trees, commercialization of agriculture etc. are the main cause of destruction of habitat.
- Energy production & mining
- Pollution- household sewage & urban wastewater, toxic chemicals from factories, illegal dumping of chemicals, mine tailings, arsenic from gold mining, leakage from fuel tanks, PCBs in river sediments, agricultural & forestry effluents, garbage & solid waste, air-borne pollutants, excess energy largely disturb the balanced ecosystem.
- Natural Calamities- earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fire, landslides, volcanic eruption, flood, drought & epidemics cause serious loss of living organisms.
- Transportation & service corridors- roads, railroads, shipping lanes, and flight paths, electrical & phone wires, oil & gas pipelines etc.
- Climate change- Global warming is a major threat to global biodiversity. Climate change has proven to affect biodiversity. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide certainly affects plant morphology and is acidifying oceans, and temperature affects species too.
- Genetic pollution– Genetically modified organisms contain genetic material that is altered through genetic engineering. Genetically modified crops have become a common source for genetic pollution in not only wild varieties, but also in domesticated varieties derived from classical hybridization. Genetic pollution leads to homogenization or replacement of local genomes as a result of either a numerical and/or fitness advantage of an introduced species.
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BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN INDIA
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
WHAT IS ATMOSPHERE- STRUCTURE & LAYERS
GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA- ITS IMPACT
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLIMATE & WEATHER