This document discusses biodiversity at multiple levels - genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. It notes that biodiversity represents the variety of life forms from unicellular to multicellular organisms across all biological levels. Species diversity is largest among small organisms like insects and fungi. The document highlights that we have only described 15% of terrestrial species and 9% of marine species, showing how much biodiversity remains unknown. It also discusses the value of biodiversity through the ecosystem services it provides like nutrient cycling, soil conditioning, climate regulation, and providing natural resources for food, medicine and other uses. Maintaining biodiversity acts as an environmental insurance and ensures ecosystem resilience.

1. Biodiversity
And Its Conservation
PART - 1

2. Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth.
Edward O. Wilson, popularized the term.
Biodiversity is the abbreviation of ‘biological diversity’.
Biodiversity represent the sum total of various life forms
such as unicellular fungi, protozoa, bacteria and
multicellular organisms such as plants, fishes and mammals
at various biological levels.
Unicellular fungus (yeast)
Protozoa
Fish Mammals Plants

3. Bio = life
Diversity = variety
Levels of biodiversity
Genetic
diversity
Species
diversity
Ecosystem
diversity
Biodiversity is usually described at three levels.

4. Species
Diversity
‘Little things run
the world’
We notice that there
are large numbers of
insects, myriapods
(centipedes,
millipedes), fungi,
algae and protozoa.
Thus, a large fraction
of the species
diversity is
contributed by the
small sized living
entities.

5. Mammal
species
Bird
species
4500
10000
Total species
Did you know that we only know 15% of all the
biodiversity on the planet? Discover more!
To be more precise, we still have 86% of the
terrestrial species to be described and 91% of the
marine species.
1736000
Unfortunately, Our conservation
efforts are generally limited to these
animals.
To give an example of how far we are from knowing all
the species, last year we identified a new species of
primate: the orangutan of Tapanuli (Pongo
tapanuliensis), which lives on the island of Sumatra
(Indonesia).

6. Genetic Diversity
Genetic biodiversity is the diversity within the species. There is diversity of
genes among the individuals of the same species.

7. Ecosystem Diversity
For the ecologists, the macro-view of biodiversity is as important as its micro-view.
They do look at the genetic aspects and the variety of species. But they are more
concerned about the interrelationships among the various species and their
interaction with the environment.
India has one of the biggest ecosystem diversity ranging from the
desserts, plains, hills, mangrooves, rainforests and cold Himalayas.

8. Endemism : organisms are exclusively restricted to a given area.
That means organisms are not found in any other areas. Areas that have been
geographically isolated are likely to be endemic.
Eg: Purple Frog, Western Ghats
The purple frog, also known as Pignose frog is
only found in the rainforests of western ghats
in India. It spends most of its life underground.
Eg: Asiatic Lion, Gir Forest
Asiatic Lion is also known as the Indian Lion and
can be only found in and around Gir Forest
National Park of Gujarat. These are listed as
endangered species. These are one of the five big
cats found in India, the others being Indian
Leopards and Bengal Tigers.

9. Biogeographical
classification
of
India On the basis of natural vegetation and wildlife
India has been divided into ten bio-geographic
regions and 25 bio-geographic provinces.
• to utilize the ecosystem judicially and to
conserve the biodiversity.

10. Bio-geographic Regions
Trans-himalaya:
Himalaya
Indian desert
Semi-Arid Zone
Western ghats
Deccan peninsula
Gangetic plain
North-east of India
Islands
Coast
Terminology
Extinction- having no living members.
Humification- a process of formation of humic
substances (organic matter that has reached
maturity) decomposed from plant remains
Sustainable development- is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.“
Wetlands - A wetland is a place where the land is
covered by water, either salt, fresh or
somewhere in between. Marshes and ponds, the
edge of a lake or ocean, the delta at the mouth of
a river, low-lying areas that frequently flood—all
of these are wetlands.

11. Value Of Biodiversity
1. Ecosystem services :
 Nutrient cycling
the various nutrient cycles are vital for life and life
forms are essential in keeping these cycles up and
running. The dead waste matter is first
decomposed by microorganisms, and then used
by small sized life forms such as earthworms, etc
to feed soil.
Eg: Phosphorus cycle
Eg: nitrogen cycle
The plants use these nutrients for
growth and get consumed by
consumers. The food chain continues.
If a species gets extinct, it means a
break in the food chains, and the
entire chain suffers.

12. Value Of Biodiversity
1. Ecosystem services :
 Soil conditioning
sometimes it may be necessary to remove certain elements such as iron and
aluminium from the soil for the healthy growth of the vegetation. Decaying tiny
fibrous root systems bind with these elements in the soil thus removing the excess
concentration. Soil conditioning also takes place by the litter of leaves and biomass
from trees- humification.
 Water availability
forests and other vegetation are not only the water traps and filters, but also water
flow regulators and filters.
Losing one vegetation type may result in losing many more dependent species. The
destructive effect can be manifold.

13. Value Of Biodiversity
1. Ecosystem services :
 Climatic stability
forests and vegetation in general recycle the water vapour back into the atmosphere
by means of evapo-tranpiration, which in turn helps in having steady rains. Depleted
forests, therefore, may harm the water cycle and precipitation in general.
Biodiversity is essential part of global concept for sustainable development. It is a
very valuable backup system, to maintain wealth and productivity of the ecological
system in case one or the other species get destroyed due to environmental stress.
 Keeping balance of other Biota
the presence of one species may mean a great deal for several life forms in the
ecosystem. For example, birds keep the number of mice and rats in control and eat
insects that harm crops.
there are cases on islands when certain species of birds go extinct, the trees in
the vicinity also go extinct.

14. Value Of Biodiversity
1. Ecosystem services :
 Cleaning up the pollutants
industrial effluents, sewage, garbage and chemicals used in agriculture are causing
much pollution. A diversity of microorganisms and other bigger organisms breakdown
these pollutants.
Of particular mention in this breakdown process are the wetlands. These
also at as filters and remove suspended solids as well as the harmful heavy
metals, biodiversity of smaller organisms and microorganisms is very useful here.

15. Value Of Biodiversity
1. Ecosystem services :
 Insurance against disaster
Inadequately conserved and isolated
populations, and ecosystems which are
degraded and lack biological diversity are very
vulnerable against man-made and natural
disasters like fires, flood, pests and cyclone.
The variety of life forms provides an insurance
that if one kind of organism gets destroyed
there is another kind- perhaps similar if not
the same – that can survive the calamity. The
more species comprising an ecosystem, the
more resilient and stable the ecosystem is
likely to be in the face of environmental stress.
in the image below, we can see that these two
communities are composed of the same species, but
they differ in regards to species abundance: In the
image below, community 1 has a higher species
diversity than community 2.

16. Value Of Biodiversity
Let us not destroy our legacy
There is another compelling argument for conserving biodiversity. It lies in the fact
that we have very little awareness about nature’s processes and the deleterious
effect the elimination of a native species may have on the ecosystem.
2. Biological resources:
Biodiversity could be ‘reservoir of biological resources’ to be drawn upon for the
manufacture of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. Biodiversity is one of the
greater wealth of the planet, and less recognized as such.
Food resources
the tribal people of India and in other lands have been aware of many mare
food resources than the city dwellers have been
Eg. Aboriginal people of Australia have been using fifty types of acacia seeds for food.
These seeds are found to be superior to rice and wheat in energy, protein and fats.

17. Value Of Biodiversity
2. Biological resources:
Gene pool
It is claimed that 400000 varieties of rice existed in existed in India during the vedic
period. Now there are much fewer existing – reportedly about 130. many of the
traditional (non-high-yeilding) varieties of rice are drought resistant; some of them are
resistant to attack by pests and diseases. This gene pool ensures that the supply of rice-
the staple food – can continue in future even if drought or pest-attack were to occur.
Pharmaceutical Resources
A considerable number of important
medicines that we use today have been
derived from nature or from chemical
compounds found in nature. Penicillin,
morphine, aspirin and steroids are a few
important examples.

18. Value Of Biodiversity
2. Biological resources:
Bio-prospecting
Glaxo Wellcome, a British pharmaceutical company, funds the centre for natural
products research in Singapore, which surveys various species in Asia for medicinal
purposes. Such efforts are called ‘Bio-prospecting’. At present we do not know enough
about the chemistry and medicinal value of all existing plants and animal species.
Human beings are busy destroying large portions of nature even before they appreciate
them.
3. Social resources:
Nature is presented with beauty, basically because
of its coordinated variety. Many artists have drawn
inspiration from the diversity of life in nature.
3. Ecotourism:
With increased interest in the variety of life
manifested in nature, people are visiting sites for
peaceful holiday at places where there are
different variety of birds, animals, trees and
flowers. Like historical sites, the natural heritage
sites are also being visited.
Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary Vizag