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II (H) BIODIVERSITY AT GLOBAL LEVEL, NATIONAL

LEVEL AND LOCAL LEVEL

1. Biodiversity at Global level

 Global diversity includes the variance of species world wide.

 Geographically different climate areas have totally different living

beings.

 The number of species of plants and animals on Earth could vary

from 1.5 to 20 billion.

At present 1.8 million species are known and documented by

scientists. The majority of species are yet to be discovered.

 Tropical forests are inhabited by a number of species of plants,

birds, amphibians, insects and mammals. 80% of global
biodiversity lies in these rainforests. More than one fourth of
the plants of medicinal importance are found in tropical forests.

 Most of the world’s bio-rich nations are in the south. Northern

nations have lower levels of biodiversity.

 Some countries in South America like Brazil and South east

Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have higher
biodiversities than India. The species found in these countries
are different from our own.

 Biologically rich natural areas have great value.

 International agreements like the World Heritage Convention,

Protect and support such areas. India has included the following
protected areas as World Heritage Sites.

i) Manas on border between Bhutan and India.

ii) Kaziranga in Assam
iii) Bharatpur in U.P.
iv) Nandadevi in the Himalayas, and
v) Sunderbans in the Ganges delta in West Bengal.
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2. Biodiversity at National level

 Each country has its own biodiversity depending mainly on its

climate.

 India has a rich biological diversity of flora and fauna. The total
number of living species in India is 1,50,000.

 70% of the total flowering plants occur in 12 countries. These

countries are called mega diversity countries. India is one of the
12 mega diversity nations of the world.

 The richness of biodiversity in India is mainly due to the wide

variety of climatic and attitudinal conditions characteristic of this
country. The climate varies from humid tropical areas (Western
Ghats) to Icy Mountains (Trans Himalaya) via hot Desert (Thar) and
plants.

 The ten biogeographical regions of India form a wide variety of

ecological habitats. They give shelter to many kinds of plants and
animals.

 India as a Mega-Diversity nation. India has rich and varied

biodiversity and it has great variety of plants and animals. Many of
them are not found elsewhere. India finds ranking in the world
biodiversity almost in every field.

3. Biodiversity at Local level

 It is the study of biodiversity in a particular region.

 Whittaker describes three types of species diversity based upon
their spatial distribution.
(i) Alpha diversity: It deals with the number of species of
same community in a small homogeneous area.
(ii) Beta diversity: It deals with the rate of replacements of
species along a gradient of habitats or communities. It
results from the environmental changes in altitude or
moisture.
(iii) Gamma diversity: It deals with the diversity of habitats over
the total landscape or geographical area. It is a measure of
the overall diversity for the different ecosystems within a
region.
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