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Introduction to Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Diversity = Variety
Bio What?
•Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms: the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes and the ecosystems of which they are a part.
Definition:
‘Biological diversity’ or biodiversity is that part of nature which includes the differences in genes among the individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal species at different scales in space, locally, in a region, in the country and the world, and various types of ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic, within a defined area.
The word BIODIVERSITY
originates from the Greek word BIOS = LIFE and Latin word DIVERSITAS = VARIETY or DIFFERENCE.The whole word BIO DIVERSITY generally therefore means: VARIETY OF
LIFE.
The Atmospheric zones
Weather relatedchanges occurs only introposphere.
Stratosphere hasnegligible changes.
When ozone layerdepletes then influx ofUV increases, whichsupport increase intemperature of earth, itresult in globalwarming and finallyclimate change.
Major events of evolution with time
scale
Natural process of globalwarming and climatechange is very slow.
But, human interferenceraised the pace of climatechange .
Origin and evolution of Human
Why is biodiversity important?
Everything that lives in an ecosystem is part of the web of life,
including humans. Each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on the earth and plays a vital role in the circle of life. Plant, animal, and insect species interact and depend upon one another for what each offers, such as food, shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment.
Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is
necessary to preserve the web of life that sustains all living things. In his 1992 best-seller, "The Diversity of Life," famed Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson -- known as the "father of biodiversity," -- said, "It is reckless to suppose that biodiversity can be diminished indefinitely without threatening humanity itself."
Speciesdiversity is the effective number of different species that are represented in a collection of individuals
Genetic diversity, the level of biodiversity
refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species.
Ecosystem diversity refers to the diversity of a place at the level of ecosystems. The term differs from biodiversity, which refers to variation in species rather than ecosystems.
Genetic diversity
• Includes the differences in DNA composition among individuals within a given species.
• Adaptation to particular environmental conditions may weed out genetic variants that are not successful.
• But populations benefit from some genetic diversity, so as to avoid inbreeding or disease epidemics.
Includes diversity above the species level.Biologists have viewed diversity above the species level in various ways. Some alternative ways to categorize it include:
Ecosystem diversity
species = a particular type of organism; a population or group of populations whose members share certain characteristics and can freely breed with one another and produce fertile offspring
› Species diversity = the number or variety of species in a particular region
› Species richness = number of species
› Evenness, or relative abundance = extent to which numbers of different species are equal or skewed
SPECIES DIVERSITY
Community diversity
Habitat diversity
Landscape diversity
• India is known for its rich heritage of biodiversity.• India is one of the 17 mega-diverse countries in the world.• With only 2.4 % of the world’s area, India accounts for 7–8 % of the world’s recorded plant and animal species.• India’s ten biogeographic zones possess an exemplary diversity of ecological habitats like alpine forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, and desert ecosystems.• Amongst the existing biota, 91,307 species of animals of which 2,557 Protista, 12,470 general invertebrates, 69,903 arthropods, 4,994 vertebrates, and 45,500 species of plants as well as 5,650 microbial species have been documented in its 10 bio-geographic regions.• India has four out of thirty-four global biodiversity hotspots, which is an indicator of high degree of endemism (of species) in India.• About 5,150 plant species and 1,837 animal species are endemic to India. •India’s biodiversity includes wild relatives of agricultural crops and domesticated animals.
Causes of BIODIVERSITY
Evolution
Adaptation
BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY
Consumptive value:
Food/Drink
Fuel
Medicine
Batter crop varieties
Industrial Material
Non-Consumptive Value:
Recreation
Education and Research
Traditional value
Ecological services:
Balance of nature
Biological productivity
Regulation of climate
Degradation of waste
Cleaning of air and water
Cycling of nutrients
Control of potential pest and disease causing
species
Detoxification of soil and sediments
Stabilization of land against erosion
Carbon sequestration and global climate
change
Maintenance of Soil fertility
Flora and fauna diversity depends on-
Climate
Altitude
Soils
Presence of other species
Most of the biodiversity concentrated in
Tropical region.
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS:
A region with high biodiversity with most
of spices being Endemic.
India have two Biodiversity Hotspots- East
Himalayan Region and Western Ghat
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
Natural causes:
Narrow geographical area
Low population
Low breeding rate
Natural disasters
Anthropogenic causes:
Habitat modification
Overexploitation of selected species
Innovation by exotic species.
Pollution
Hunting
Global warming and climate change
Agriculture
Domino effect
Species and taxonomy
Each species is classified within a hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships.
Two related species might be in the same genus; two related genera in the same family, etc.
Threatened endangered species In India
Diversity of subspecies
Within species, diversity exists in subspecies, or geographic variations.
The tiger, Pantheratigris, had 8 subspecies.5 persist today, including Pantheratigris altaica, the Siberian tiger.
Endangered golden lion tamarin, endemic to Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, which has been almost totally destroyed.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION OF
BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION OF
BIODIVERSITY
Conservation of Biodiversity
Conservation approaches: International treaties
• Various treaties have helped conserve biota.
• A major one is CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, prepared in 1973.
• It bans international trade and transport of body parts of endangered organisms.
Conservation approaches: International treaties
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), from the Rio Conference in 1992, aims to:
• Conserve biodiversity
• Use it sustainably
• Ensure fair distribution of its benefits
The CBD has been signed by 188 nations, but not by the United States.
Biodiversity is the variety of life forms on earth and the essential interdependence
of all living things.
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.”
According to IUCN in 1998, “the variety and variability of species of their
population, the variety of species of their life forms, the diversity of the complex
association with species with their interaction and their ecological process which
influences perform.”
BIODIVERSITY CONVENSIONS
The first convention on biodiversity organized at Rio De Janerio,
capital of Brazil from June 5 to 16, 1992 named as United Nation
Conference On Environment and Development
(UNCED), batter known as Rio Summit to maintain ecological
balance and enrich biodiversity. The agreement on biodiversity signed
by 150 countries including three programmes-
To ensure conservation of biodiversity
Sustainable use of biodiversity
Rational and equitable share of profit to accrue from use of genetic
resources.
The second convention organized at Johannesburg in 2002 called
World Summit On Sustainable Development (WSSD) where the
Biodiversity and Sustainable Ecosystem Management was the issue.
The International Conference held on Biodiversity in Relation to
Food & Human Security in a warming planet 15-17 February, 2010
in Chennai.
International Conference on Wildlife & Biodiversity Conservation
held on 3 to 5 June, 2010 at Dal lake, Srinagar, Kashmir.
Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC) & Indian Biodiversity
Expo(IBE) will be held on 27-31 December at Thriuvananthapuram,
Kerala
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY: INSITU AND EX-SITU
In-situ conservation:Conservation of a species is best done by protecting its habitat along with all the other species that live in it in nature.
Ex-situ conservation:However, there are situations in which an endangered species is so close to extinction that unless alternate methods are instituted, the species may be rapidly driven to extinction.
Biodiversity inventories
Conserving Biodiversity in protected
Habitats-
In situ conservation
Ex situ conservation
Seed Bank, Gene Bank, Pollen Bank,
DNA Bank
Restoration of Biodiversity
Imparting Environmental Education
Enacting, strengthening and enforcing
Environmental Legislation
Population Control
Reviewing the agriculture practice
Controlling Urbanization
Conservation through Biotechnology
Biodiversity Conservation
In situ
Sacred groves
and lakes
Biosphere Reserves
Terrestrial
Marine
National parks, wildlife
sanctuaries
Ex situ
Sacred plant home garden
Seed Bank, Gene bank,
Cryopreservation
Botanical garden, Zoological
garden, Aquaria
Biodiversity loss and species extinction
• Extinction = last member of a species dies and the species vanishes forever from Earth
• Extirpation = disappearance of a particular population, but not the entire species globally
• These are natural processes.On average one species goes extinct naturally every 500–1,000 years—this is the background
rate of extinction.
• 99% of all species that ever lived are now extinct.
Benefits of biodiversity: Biophilia
Biophilia = human love for and attachment to other living things; “the connections that human beings subconsciously seek out with the rest of life”:
• Affinity for parks and wildlife• Keeping of pets• Valuing real estate with landscape views• Interest in escaping cities to go hiking, birding,
fishing, hunting, backpacking, etc.
Ethics?
Do we have an ethical responsibility to prevent species extinction?
On one hand, as humans we need to use resources and consume other organisms to survive.
On the other hand, we have conscious reasoning ability and are able to make conscious decisions.
Conservation biology
• Scientific discipline devoted to understanding the factors, forces, and processes that influence the loss, protection, and restoration of biological diversity within and among ecosystems.
• Applied and goal-oriented: conservation biologists intend to prevent extinction.
• This discipline arose in recent decades as biologists grew alarmed at the degradation of natural systems they had spent their lives studying.
Equilibrium theory of island biogeography
• Explains how species diversity patterns arise on islands, as a result of:
• Immigration
• Extinction
• Island size
• Distance from the mainland
• The theory originally developed as basic science for oceanic islands.
• Then it was found to apply to islands of habitat (fragments) within terrestrial systems, for conservation biology.
Conservation approaches: Captive breeding
• Many endangered species are being bred in zoos, to boost populations and reintroduce them into the wild.
• This has worked so far for the California condor (in photo, condor hand puppet feeds chick so it imprints on birds, not humans).
• But this is worthless if there is not adequate habitat left in the wild.
Conservation approaches: Umbrella species
• When habitat is preserved to meet the needs of an “umbrella species,” it helps preserve habitat for many other species. (Thus, primary species serve as an “umbrella” for others.)
• Large species with large home ranges (like tigers and other top predators) are good umbrella species.
• So are flagship species, or charismatic species that win public affection, like the panda.
Conservation approaches: Biodiversity hotspots
Biodiversity hotspot= an area that supports an especially high number of species endemic to the area, found nowhere else in the world
Conservation approaches: Biodiversity hotspots
Global map of biodiversity hotspots, as determined by Conservation International.
Conservation approaches: Community-based conservation
• Many environmentalists from developed nations who want to establish reserves in developing nations have been viewed with resentment by local people.
• But today many efforts work with local communities to get them invested in the conservation of their own natural resources.
• This community-based conservation makes efforts more complex, but will probably be more successful in the long run.
Conservation approaches: Economic incentives
Debt-for-nature swaps = a non-governmental organization (NGO) raises money and offers to pay off debt for a developing country, in exchange for parks, reserves, habitat protectionConservation concession = an NGO offers money to a developing nation’s government for a concession to some of its land—for conservation, rather than for resource extraction
CONCLUSION
Biodiversity is our life. If the Biodiversity got lost at this rate then in
near future, the survival of human being will be threatened. So, it is
our moral duty to conserve Biodiversity as well our Environment.
Long-term maintenance of species and their management requires co-
operative efforts across entire landscapes. Biodiversity should be dealt
with at scale of habitats or ecosystems rather than at species level.
Threats to biodiversity due to climate
Change
Prof. S. L. Kothari
Director
Amity Institute of Biotechnology
Amity University Rajasthan Jaipur
Email: [email protected]
Climate change It refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be
identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or
the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended
period, typically decades or longer.
It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural
variability or as a result of human activity.
Climate in a wider sense also includes not just the mean conditions,
but also the associated statistics (frequency, magnitude, persistence,
trends, etc.), often combining parameters to describe phenomena
such as droughts.
This usage differs from that in the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where climate change
refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly
to human activity that alters the composition of the global
atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability
observed over comparable time periods.
It is different from weather…
Weather describes the conditions of the atmosphere at a certainplace and time with reference to temperature, pressure,humidity, wind, and other key parameters (meteorologicalelements); the presence of clouds, precipitation; and theoccurrence of special phenomena, such as thunderstorms, duststorms, tornados and others.
Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, ormore rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the meanand variability of relevant quantities over a period of time rangingfrom months to thousands or millions of years.
The relevant quantities are most often surface variables such astemperature, precipitation and wind.
Classically the period for averaging these variables is 30 years, asdefined by the World Meteorological Organization.
Why should we bother about
climate change???
Atmosphere
Rainfall
Rise in
Temperature
Change in
Rainfall
Living organisms
Changes in plankton
biomass
Wildlife Agriculture
Carbon,methane,nitr
ous oxide,
Cholorofluoro
carbons
Changes in behavior,
migration pattern,
Flowering time
Change in crop
biology
CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY
Figure 1 | This summary of the relative effects by the year 2100 is a composite
derived from calculations carried out for 12 individual terrestrial and freshwater
ecosystems by O. E. Sala et al. (Science 287, 1770–1774; 2000). Overall, changes in
land use constitute the main estimated impact on biodiversity, but the pattern
varies considerably for different ecosystems. According to Sala and colleagues’
calculations, climate change will have the strongest effect on Arctic, alpine and
boreal ecosystems, whereas biotic exchange (that is, invasion by non-native
species) will exert its main influence in lakes.
NATURE|Vol 448|2 August 2007
The main factors, or ‘drivers’,
affecting biodiversity.
Causes of climate change
Natural Causes
Human Causes
Short lived and long lived climate forces
Natural causes
Climate is influenced by external natural factors such as changes in
volcanic activity, solar output, and the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
Of these, the two factors relevant on timescales of contemporary
climate change are changes in volcanic activity and changes in solar
radiation.
Volcanic eruptions are episodic and have relatively short-term
effects on climate.
Changes in solar irradiance have contributed to climate trends over
the past century but since the Industrial Revolution, the effect of
additions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere has been about
ten times that of changes in the Sun’s output.
Anthropogenic causes Burning of fossil fuels
Conversion of land for forestry and agriculture.
Agriculture
Industrial Revolution (CFC…)
Greenhouse gases
Livestock: responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas
emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents and 65% of human-
induced nitrous oxide
The Atmospheric zones
Weather related changes
occurs only in
troposphere.
Stratosphere has
negligible changes.
When ozone layer
depletes then influx of UV
increases, which support
increase in temperature
of earth, it result in global
warming and finally
climate change.
GJJ99 3Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
The greenhouse effect
SUNSome solar radiation is
reflected by the earth’s
surface and the atmosphere
ATMOSPHERE
Solar radiation
passes through the
clear atmosphere
EARTHMost solar radiation is absorbed
by the surface, which warms
Some of the infrared
radiation is absorbed
and re-emitted by the
greenhouse gases.
The effect of this is to
warm the surface
and the lower
atmosphere
Infrared radiation
is emitted from the
Earth’s surface
Changes in the
atmosphere,
land, ocean,
biosphere and
cryosphere
(both natural
and
anthropogenic)
can perturb the
Earth’s
radiation
budget,
producing a
radiative forcing
that affects
climate.
Rising temperature
Global average temperatures have increased ~0.6°C (1°F) in last 100 years
Temperatures at poles have increased by up to 9°F
Over last 30 years, annual average Arctic sea ice has decreased 8% (1 million km2)
Global sea level has risen ~10-25cm due to melting glaciers and permafrost and due to thermal expansion of oceans
2006, 2005, 2004, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2001, 1997 are hottest years on record
Global-average surface temperature projected to increase by 1.4 ºC to 5.8 ºC by 2100
Increasing CO2 level
Major events of evolution with time scale
Natural process of global
warming and climate change is
very slow.
But, human interference
raised the pace of climate
change .
Origin and evolution of Human
Effects of climate change
Increased sea level
Rapid sea ice loss
Increased temperature
Increased extreme events
Ocean Acidification (The average pH of ocean surfacewaters has fallen by about 0.1 units, from about 8.2 to 8.1(total scale) since 1765 )
Hurricane Intensity Increases
Reduced agricultural productivity
Increased threat to biodiversity
Climate change effects on biodiversity…
Climate change effects on biodiversity…
Various effects on populations are likely to modify the web ofinteractions at the community level (Gilman et al. 2010; Walther2010).
A study of 9650 interspecific systems, including pollinators andparasites, suggested that around 6300 species could disappearfollowing the extinction of their associated species (Koh et al.2004).
In addition, for many species, the primary impact of climate changemay be mediated through effects on synchrony with species foodand habitat requirements .
Climate change has led to phenological shifts in flowering plantsand insect pollinators, causing mismatches between plant andpollinator populations that lead to the extinctions of both the plantand the pollinator with expected consequences on the structure ofplant–pollinator networks (Kiers et al. 2010; Rafferty & Ives 2010).
Climate change effects on biodiversity
A recent analysis of potential future biomedistributions in tropical South America suggeststhat large portions of Amazonian rainforest couldbe replaced by tropical savannahs (Lapola et al.2009).
Oceans are predicted to warm and become moreacid, resulting in widespread degradation oftropical coral reefs (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007).
The implications of climate change for genetic andspecific diversity have potentially strongimplications for ecosystem services.
The most extreme and irreversible form of fitnessdecrease is obviously species extinction.
Hatching is a temperature sensitive
event…
Global warming will lead to reduced population of certain reptiles and birds.
Effects on rainfall in India
Source from presentation of Dr. R. K. Bhatt, Principle Scientist CAZRI Jodhpur
Effect on ecosystem
Climate change is projected to occur at a rapid rate relativeto the speed at which forest species grow, reproduce and re-establish themselves (past tree species’ migration rates arebelieved to be on the order of 4–200 km per century). Formid-latitude regions, an average warming of 1–3.5°C over thenext 100 years would be equivalent to a pole-ward shift ofthe present geographic bands of similar temperatures (or“isotherms”) approximately 150–550 km, or an altitude shiftof about 150–550 m.
Therefore, the species composition of forests is likely tochange; in some regions, entire forest types may disappear,while new assemblages of species and hence new ecosystemsmay be established.
(AR5)”
Effect on water sources
Changes in climate could exacerbate periodic and chronic shortfallsof water, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas of the world.
Developing countries are highly vulnerable to climate changebecause many are located in arid and semi-arid regions, and mostderive their water resources from single-point systems such asbore holes or isolated reservoirs.
These systems, by their nature, are vulnerable because there is noredundancy in the system to provide resources, should the primarysupply fail. Also, given the limited technical, financial andmanagement resources possessed by developing countries,adjusting to shortages and/or implementing adaptation measureswill impose a heavy burden on their national economies.
There is evidence that flooding is likely to become a larger problemin many temperate and humid regions, requiring adaptations notonly to droughts and chronic water shortages but also to floodsand associated damages, raising concerns about dam and leveefailures.
Mitigation to climate change
Organic farming
Use of chemical input will
reduce the biodiversity
Agricultural production, including access to food, in many African countries and regions is
projected to be severely compromised by climate variability and change. The area suitable for
agriculture, the length of growing seasons and yield potential, particularly along the margins of
semi-arid and arid areas, are expected to decrease. This would further adversely affect food
security and exacerbate malnutrition in the continent. In some countries, yields from rain-fed
agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020.
Kilimanjaro 2000
Ice on Kilimanjaro
0
5
10
15
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year
Are
a (
km
2)
What’s about sea level rise?
Source: R. Nicholls, Middlesex University in the U.K. Meteorological
Office. 1997. Climate Change and Its Impacts: A Global Perspective.
So
urc
e: I
PC
C 2
00
1
TEN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE MUST MOVE AWAY WHEN Sea level rise IS
HIGH
Scale of Change
20% of the world’s
coral reefs were lost
and more than 20%
degraded
35% of mangrove
area has been lost in
the last several
decades
• Ecosystem services: mountains influence rainfall patterns and
mountain forests prevent erosion & floods
• Mountain communities are marginalised, with little access to
urban resources and limited agricultural land
• Language diversity in mountains is high, and threatened
languages are common in mountain regions
The Importance of Mountain
Environments
Mountain Watch
The first global assessment of mountain ecosystems
Wood fuel is the only source of fuel for one third of the world’s population
Wood demand will double in the next 50 years
Forest management will become more difficult due to an increase in pests and fires
One third of the world’s population is now subject to water scarcity
Population facing water scarcity will more than double over the next 30 years
Climate change is projected to decrease water availability in many arid- and semi-arid regions
Indian scenario wrt climate change
How to protect biodiversity in changing climate In general, there are two different strategies when it comes
to dealing with climate change. We can try to stop futurewarming (mitigation of climate change) or we can findways to live in our warming world (adaptation to climatechange).
Adaptation involves developing ways to protect peopleand places by reducing their vulnerability to climate impacts.For example, to protect against sea level rise and increasedflooding, communities might build seawalls or relocatebuildings to higher ground.
Mitigation involves attempts to slow the process of globalclimate change, usually by lowering the level of greenhousegases in the atmosphere. Planting trees that absorb CO2from the air and store it is an example of one such strategy.
Solutions includes mitigation and
adaptations.
Reduce the needs
Increase forest cover
Promote organic farming
Go for sustainable development
Thank you
