WELCOM

E
BIODIVERSITY AND
CONSERVATION
Part 2
 LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
12% birds, 23%
27 species >15,500 mammals, 32%
amphibians, 31%
disappeared species face
gymnosperm
in the last the threat species face
20 years of extinction threat of
extinction

The current species extinction rate is 100

to 1000 times faster than in the pre-
human times. If the present trends
continue, nearly half of all the species on
earth might be wiped out within the next
100 years
 Loss of biodiversity leads to
 Decline in plant production.
 Lowered resistance to environmental
perturbations such as drought.
 Increased variability in ecosystem processes
such as plant productivity, water use and pest
and disease cycles.
 Habitat loss &
fragmentation

CAUSES OF
BIODIVERSITY
LOSSES Over-
Co-extinction
(‘THE EVIL
exploitation
QUARTET’)

Alien species
invasions
1. Habitat loss & fragmentation
 Most important cause
 E.g. Habitat loss in tropical rain forests (loss from 14% to 6%).
Thousands hectares of rain forests is being lost within hours.
 The Amazon a rain forest (‘lung of the planet’) is being cut for
cultivating soya beans or for conversion of grass lands for cattle.
 When large habitats are broken up into fragments, mammals
and birds requiring large territories and certain animals with
migratory habits are badly affected, leading to population
declines.
 2. Over-exploitation
PASSENGER PIGEON

Many species
such as Stellar’s
sea cow,
Passenger pigeon
etc extinct due to
over exploitation.

STELLAR’S SEA COW

 3. Alien species invasions
 Alien species cause decline or extinction of indigenous species.
 E.g. The Nile Perch introduced into Lake Victoria (East Africa)
caused extinction of > 200 species of cichlid fish in the lake.
 Invasive weed species like carrot grass (Parthenium), Lantana
and water hyacinth (Eicchornia) caused damage to our native
species.
 The illegal introduction of the African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)
for aquaculture is posing a threat to the indigenous catfishes in
our rivers.
Cichlid fish
Cichlid fish
 4. Co-extinction

When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal

species associated with it also become extinct. E.g.
 Extinction of the parasites when host is extinct.
 Co-evolved plant-pollinator mutualism where extinction
of one leads to extinction of other.
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
Reasons for
conservations
Narrowly utilitarian
arguments

Broadly utilitarian
arguments

Ethical arguments
1.Narrowly utilitarian arguments

• Human derive economic benefits from

nature such as food, firewood, fibre,
construction material, industrial products
(tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes)
and medicines.
• > 25% of the drugs are derived from plants.
• 25,000 species of plants have medicinal
value.
2. Broadly utilitarian arguments

 Biodiversity plays a major role

in many ecosystem services.
 Amazon forest produces 20% of
total O2 in the earth’s
atmosphere.
 Pollination through bees,
bumblebees, birds and bats.
 Aesthetic pleasures.
 3. Ethical arguments

Every species has an intrinsic value.

We have a moral duty to care for their well-being.
 In situ conservation
(on site)
TYPES OF
CONSERVATION
Ex situ conservation
(off site)
IN SITU CONSERVATION (ON SITE)

 The conservation of genetic resources within natural or

human-made ecosystems in which they occur.
 It includes protected areas such as National Parks,
Sanctuaries, Biosphere reserves, cultural landscapes,
natural monuments.
 India has 14 Biosphere Reserves, 90 National Parks and
448 wildlife sanctuaries.
 National Park
 Area which is strictly reserved for the welfare of the wildlife where
private ownership, activities like cultivation, grazing etc are
prohibited. E.g. Eravikulam National Park in Kerala.

ERAVIKULAM
 Sanctuary
 The area in which protection is given only to the animals. Operations
like collection of timbers, minor forest products and private
ownership rights are allowed so long as they do not interfere with
the well-being of animals. E.g. Periyar Wildlife sanctuary in Kerala.

PERIYAR
 Biosphere Reserves
 Areas of land or coastal environments to conserve ecosystem and
genetic resources contained therein.
 Sacred forests (Sacred groves)
Protected by several tribal communities. E.g.
 Sacred groves in Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya
 Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan
 Western Ghat regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra
 Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas of Madhya Pradesh.
 EX SITU CONSERVATION (OFF SITE)
 Conservation of organisms outside their habitats.
E.g. Genetic resource centres, zoological parks,
botanical gardens, gene banks etc.
 HOTSPOTS
 Hotspots are the richest and the most threatened
reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth.
 There are 34 hotspots in the world.
 3 hotspots (Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma
and Himalaya) cover India’s biodiversity regions.
WESTERN GHAT
HIMALAYA
INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS FOR CONSERVING
BIODIVERSITY

Sustainable use
of biodiversity
Sharing of
Conservation of benefits of the
biodiversity utilization of
genetic
resources
Objectives
of the EARTH
SUMMIT (Rio
de Jeneiro,
1992)
EARTH SUMMIT
 INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS FOR CONSERVING
BIODIVERSITY

 The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002 in

Johannesburg, South Africa, 190 countries pledged to reduce the
current rate of biodiversity loss.
THANK YOU
Prepared by
MUHAMMED ALI. K.C
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
Ph: 9544187632
Email: mailtokcm@gmail.com
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