Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Global diversity patterns and loss of biodiversity
Citation preview
Global diversity patterns and loss of biodiversity
Jitendra KumarDepartment of FRMCollege of Fisheries, Mangalore
Biodiversity • Refers to the numbers, variety and
variability of living organisms and ecosystem
• Includes all terrestrial, marine and other aquatic organisms
• Covers diversity within species, between species as well as variations among ecosystems.
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet.
Global Patterns of Biodiversity
• main factors determining species richness
• also increased with the need to understand how biodiversity might change – under different scenarios of global climate change
Global biodiversity hotspots
• A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species.
• Hotspots were first named in 1988 by Dr. Sabina V.
• To qualify as a hotspot, an area must hold at least 1500 endemic species
– Brazil's Atlantic Forest is containing roughly 20,000 plant species &1,350 vertebrates etc
• ! All 34 hotspots contain 50% plant species, 42% terrestrial vertebrates.• ! Hotspots cover 15.7% of the land surface.• ! Intact hotspot habitat equals 2.5 of the total land surface.
Major problems with biodiversity conservation
• Low priority for con-tion of living natural res.
• Exploitation of living natural res.
• Values and knowledge about the spp. and ecosystem in adequately known
• Uncontrolled Urbanization and Industrialization
Major biodiversity threats
• Habitat destruction• Overexploitation• Deforestation• Anthropogenic climate change• Bioaccumulation and Synergetic effects etc..
Habitat
• “the place where it lives”
• Term coined by Elton in
1927.
Habitat = Address or home of an organism
• Habitat loss and degradation
– Destruction of biodiversity rich areas like tropical forests.
– Destruction of coral reefs and Wetlands.
– Ploughing of grasslands.
– Aquatic ecosystem is threatened.
– Pollution of freshwater streams, lakes, and marine habitats.
Habitat loss and degradation
Most pervasive threat-
Impacting 86% of threatened mammals,
86% of threatened birds and
88% of threatened amphibians
Habitat loss and degradation is the greatest threat to global diversity among mammals, birds, amphibians,
and gymnosperms
Threats to Reefs10% of the coral reefs around the world are already dead.
Deforestation
Deforestation is the clearing of trees off an area of land.
It includes any forestry practice that results in a long-term land use change.
• Types of change:
• –Forest -agriculture • –Forest -human settlements • –Forest -non-forest uses e.g.,
urban, industrial, livestock, etc.
Overexploitation
33% of mammals and 30% of birds are affected by overexploitation
Invasive are affecting 67% of threatened birds on islands
Current Patterns of Global Endangerment
• Best data on global endangerment are collated in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.redlist.org)
• All species placed into one of 9 categories – 3 primary categories: – Critically Endangered, – Endangered &– Vulnerable
• To date, only 2.5% of species evaluated (and 41% considered endangered)
IUCN, Red List of Threatened Species
• Classifies species according to their extinction risk
• Searchable online database containing the global status and supporting information on about 45,000 species
• Primary goal is to identify and document the species most in need of conservation attention and provide an index of the state of biodiversity
IUCN Red List
• Contains 784 documented extinctions
• 60 extinctions in the wild since 1500 AD
• Over the past 20 years, 27 documented extinctions or extinctions in the wild
• Rates of extinctions 100 to 1,000 times natural background extinction rates
IUCN Red List – 2008 Update• 2008 assessment includes 44,838
species
• 869 (2%) are extinct or extinct in the wild
• 16,928 (38%) are threatened with extinction
– 3,246 critically endangered – 4,770 endangered– 8,912 vulnerable– 5,570 have insufficient info to
determine their status (data deficient)– Rates of extinctions 100 to 1,000 times
natural background extinction rates
Why are we losing biodiversity?
• INCREASING POPULATION
• INCREASING USE OF FINITE
RESOURCES
• INCREASING POLLUTION
HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH
Time to Attain Year Attained
• 1st Billion 2-5 Million Years About 1880 • 2nd Approx. 130 Years 1930• 3rd 30 Years 1960• 4th 15 Years 1975 • 5th 12 Years 1987• 6th 12 Years 1999• 6.7 10 Years 2009
Source: http://math.berkeley.edu/~galen/popclk2009.html
BIODIVERSITY IN INDIA
Thar desert - The climate and vegetation in this area is a contrast to the Himalayan region.
Western Ghats - One of the two biodiversity hotspots in India.
Sunder bans - The largest mangrove forest in India.
Chilika - This wetland area is protected under the Ramsar convention.
Himalayas - This majestic range of mountains is the home of a diverse range of flora and fauna. Eastern Himalayas is one of the two biodiversity hotspots in India.
Source: earthtrends.wri.org
09/5749
25/521
72/458
88/390
244/18664
03/231
Source: www.earthtrends.wri.org/2002-03
Comparative statement of recorded number of animal species in India and the World
Taxa Species World Percentage of India to the world
Protista 2577 31259 8.24
Mollusca 5070 66535 7.62
Arthropoda 68389 987949 6.9
Other Invertebrates
8329 87121 9.56
Protochordata 119 2106 5.65
Pisces 2546 21723 11.72
Amphibia 209 5150 4.06
Reptilia 456 5817 7.84
Aves 1232 9026 13.66
Mamalia 390 4629 8.42
Source: MoEF 2002.
IS THE BIODIVERSITY OF INDIA UNDER THREAT?
• 10% of India’s plant species are under threat.
• More than 150 medicinal plants have disappeared in recent decades.
• About 10% of flowering plants,20% of mammals and 5% of the birds are threatened.
• Increased vulnerability of species extinction
• Ecological imbalance
• Reduced sources of food, structural materials, medicinal and genetic resources
• Cost increase to the society
Impact of loss of Biodiversity
– Establishing protected areas
– Targeted interventions at the genetic,– – species, and ecosystems levels
– Restoration of damaged ecosystems
– Recovery of endangered species
– Creation of sustainable forms of development
Solutions will include
References• www.redlist.org
• http://math.berkeley.edu/~galen/popclk.html
• www.earthtrends.wri.org
• www.earthtrends.wri.org/2002-03
• MoEF 2002
• http://esl.jrc.it/envind/pf_intro/pf_int07.htm
• http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html
• www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
