What is Environmental

Science?
The study of how humans
interact with their environment
Our environment is everything
that surrounds us, both
natural and man-made.
Environment: the total of our
surroundings
All the things around us with
which we interact:
Living things
Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc.
Nonliving things
Continents, oceans, clouds, soil,
rocks
Our built environment
Buildings, human-created living
centers
Social relationships and
institutions
 Scope

It is a broad field of study that includes the

natural environment, built environments, social
environments, organizational environments, and
the sets of relationships between them.
The discipline encompasses study in the basic
principles of ecology and environmental sciences
as well as the associated subjects such as policy,
politics, law, economics, social aspects, planning,
pollution control, natural resources, and the
interactions of human beings and nature.
 Need for Public Awareness
Environmental deterioration is due to the lack of
public awareness, and also the lack of expertise
to provide national planners and policy
Developing countries in particular lack relevant
technologies and expertise. Due to inaccurate
or insufficient information
Promoting environmental knowledge and
enhancing public awareness seem to be the
most urgent goal in environmental protection
Education implies a new way of thinking
through which Man can live in harmony with
nature- 4 Rs
 Important Days
Environment Day 5th June in 1972 UN

2016 slogan Go wild for Wild life

It is celebrated to make aware the common

public about the environmental issues
Ozone Day 16th September

Earth Day 22nd April

 Environment Systems
In science and engineering, a system is
the part of the universe that is being
studied, while the environment is the
remainder of the universe that lies
outside the boundaries of the system
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere
Biosphere
 Atmosphere
The atmosphere - nitrogen (78%) - oxygen
(21%) - traces (remaining 1%) of carbon dioxide,
argon, water vapor and other components.
Atmosphere is approximately 1,100 km high, the
stratosphere (10 to 50 km) and the troposphere
(less than 10 km) are the main atmospheric
interactors of the biosphere.
The atmosphere is a prime mean for the spatial
diffusion of pollutants and a temporary mean of
their accumulation until they precipitate.
 Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is the accumulation of
water in all its states (solid, liquid and gas)
97% of the water forms the oceans, 2% is
ice (north and south poles) and 1% forms
rivers, lakes, ground water and
atmospheric vapor.
It covers around 71% of the earth's surface
and is an important accumulator of
pollutants and a significant vector of
diffusion.
 Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the thin crust between the mantle and
the atmosphere.
Main constituents are oxygen (47%), silicon (28%),
aluminum (8%), iron (5%), calcium (4%), sodium (3%),
potassium (3%) and magnesium (2%) in a crystalline state.
The lithosphere is the main source of pollutants since it is
from where raw materials are extracted to support life and
economic activities and a permanent accumulator.
Some pollutants are naturally released through sources like
volcanic eruptions, while others like fossil fuels are the
result of artificial extraction and combustion.
 Ecosphere
The ecosphere is the set of all living
organisms, including animals and
vegetation.
They are temporary accumulators
(like lead) and sources for pollutants
(natural forest burning) in a very
complex set of relationships with the
atmosphere, hydrosphere and
lithosphere.
 Resources
Forest Resources

Water Resources

Land Resources
Food Resources

Energy Resources
 Forest Resources
An area with high density of different types of
tress and plants
Forests cover about 30% of total land area
(World)
Forest area: Tamil Nadu - 17.6% ; India - 20.6%
Serves as: habitats for organisms, water cycle
modulators, and soil conservers
Demand for timber, combined with poor
management of remaining forest stands, is a
major threat to forests
 Land Resources
The most important natural resource, upon which
all human activity is based since time
immemorial, is land

Our relentless progress towards development has

considerably damaged our land resource base

Land Degradation and Soil Erosion

Increase in population pressures and demands of

society on scarce land, water and biological
resources and the increasing degradation of these
resources is affecting the total environment
 Food Resources
Food supplier to the environment
All vegetation nature dependent
Food scarcity famine problem
Human made
Advanced agricultural technologies
Poverty rapid population growth
Scarcity of agricultural land
 Energy Resources
Non Renewable types problem
Coal all fossil fuels

Renewable types problem

Solar, wind, tide, geo thermal

Alternate sources types problem

Nuclear hydro
ECOSYSTEM AND
BIODIVERSITY

16
ECOSYSTEM

Defined area in which a

community lives with interaction taking
place among the organisms between the
community and its non-living physical
environment
An ecosystem is formed by the interaction
between all living and non-living things
Structure:
Living (biotic)
Nonliving (abiotic)
17
ABIOTIC components:
Solar energy provides practically all
the energy for ecosystems.
Inorganic substances, e.g., sulfur,
boron and carbon cycle through
ecosystems.
Organic compounds, such as
proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and
other complex molecules, form a link
between biotic and abiotic
components of the system.
18
BIOTIC components:
The biotic components of an ecosystem can be
classified according to their mode of energy
acquisition.
In this type of classification, there are:
Autotrophs
Organisms that produce their own food from
an energy source, such as the sun, and
inorganic compounds.
Heterotrophs
Organisms that consume other organisms
as a food source.
19
 Producers are able to capture the
sun's energy through photosynthesis and
absorb nutrients from the soil, storing
them for future use by themselves and by
other organisms. Grasses, shrubs, trees,
mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria.

Consumers are organisms that do

not have the ability to capture the energy
produced by the sun, but consume plant
and/or animal material to gain their
energy for growth and activity. Consumers
are further divided into three types based
on their ability to digest plant and animal
material

Herbivores eat only plants Deer,

20
 Carnivores eat only animals,
such as the snake, lion, tiger etc.,
Omnivores eat both plants and
animals, such as the black bear, mice,
rat, human etc.,

Decomposers they feed on

dead organic matter that includes the
insects, fungi, algae and bacteria both
on the ground and in the soil that help
to break down the organic layer to
provide nutrients for growing plants.
There are many millions of these
21
organisms in each square metre of
ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM :
Energy is defined as the capacity to
do work. For living organisms, it is the
basic force responsible for running all the
metabolic activities. The flow of energy
from producer level to top consumer level
is called energy flow.
The flow of energy in an ecosystem is
unidirectional. It flows from producer level
to consumer level.
The process of energy flow involves
transfer of energy from autotrophs to
various components of heterotrophs and
help in maintaining bio diversity. The main
source of energy in the ecosystem 22 is
Food Chain in Ecosystem
In an ecosystem one can observe the
transfer or flow of energy from one tropic level to
other in succession.
A tropic level can be defined as the
number of links by which it is separated from the
producer, or as the which position of the organism
in the food chain.
Thus, primary producers trap radiant energy
of sun and transfer that to chemical or potential
energy of organic compounds such as
carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
When a herbivore animal eats a plant (or
when bacteria decompose it) and these organic
compounds are oxidized, the energy liberated is
just equal to the amount of energy used in
synthesizing the substances (first law of
23
 If this animal is eaten by another one,
along with transfer of energy from a herbivore to
carnivore a further decrease in useful energy
occurs as the second animal (carnivore) oxidizes
the organic substances of the first (herbivore or
omnivore) to liberate energy to synthesize its own
cellular constituents.
Such transfer of energy from organism to
organism sustains the ecosystem and when
energy is transferred from individual to individual
in a particular community, as in a pond or a lake
or a river, we come across the food chains.

24
25
26
Ecological Pyramids
In the successive steps of
grazing food chain producers,
herbivorous, carnivores and decay
bacteria-the number and mass of the
organisms in each step is limited by
the amount of energy available. Since
some energy is lost as heat, in each
transformation the steps become
progressively smaller near the top.
This relationship is sometimes called
"ecological pyramid". The
ecological pyramids represent the
tropic structure and also tropic
27
28
Definition:
Graphical representation of
structure and
function of tropic levels of an
ecosystem.
Types of Ecological Pyramids
The ecological pyramids
may be of following three kinds
Pyramid of number
Pyramid of biomass
Pyramid of energy
29
 Pyramid of number
It depicts the number of
individual organisms at different tropic
levels of food chain. The animals at the
lower end (base of pyramid) of the chain
are the most abundant. Successive links
of carnivores decrease rapidly in number
until there are very few carnivores at the
top. The pyramid of number ignores the
biomass of organisms and it also does not
indicate the energy transferred or the use
of energy by the groups involved. The
grassland ecosystem provides a typical
example for pyramid of number.
30
31
Pyramid of biomass
The biomass of the
members of the food chain present
at any one time forms the pyramid of
the biomass. Pyramid of biomass
indicates decrease of biomass in
each tropical level from base to apex.
For example, the total biomass of the
producers ingested by herbivores is
more than the total biomass of the
herbivores in an ecosystem.
Likewise, the total biomass of the
primary carnivores (or secondary
consumer) will be less than the
32
33
Pyramid of energy
When production is
considered in terms of energy, the
pyramid indicates not only the
amount of energy flow at each level
the actual role the various organisms
play in the transfer of energy. the
pyramid of energy is constructed is
the quantity of organisms produced
per unit time.

34
35
Tropic Levels
A tropic level is the position occupied
by an organism in a food chain.
Tropic levels can be analyzed on an energy
pyramid.
Producers are found at the base of the
pyramid and compromise the first tropic
level.
Primary consumers make up the second
tropic level.
Secondary consumers make up the
third tropic level.
Finally tertiary consumers make up the
top tropic level. 36
37
Food web
In nature simple food
chains occur rarely The same organism
may operate in the ecosystem at more
than one tropic level i.e. it may derive its
food from more than one source. Even the
same organism may be eaten by several
organisms of a higher tropic level or an
organism may feed upon several different
organisms of a lower tropic level. usually
the kind of food changes with the age of
the organism and the food availability.
Thus in a given ecosystem various food
chains are linked together and interested
each other to form a complex network
38
39
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
In a particular area, one
community of species may be replaced by
another community; The progressive
replacement of one community by another
till the development of stable community
in a particular area is called as ecological
succession.
TYPES OF SUCCESSION
Primary succession.
If an area in any of the basic
environments (such as terrestrial, fresh-
water or marine) is established by
organisms for the first time, the
succession is called primary succession.
40
41
Secondary succession.
If the area under established has
been cleared by whatsoever agency (such
as burning, grazing, clearing, felling of
trees, sudden change in climatic factors,
etc.) of the previous plants, it is called
secondary succession.

Autogenic succession.
After the succession has begun, in
most of the cases, it is the community
itself (as a result of its reactions with the
environment) modifies its own
environment and, thus, causing its own
replacement by new communities. 42 This
43
Classification of Ecosystems / Ecology
Terrestrial Ecosystems -which encompass
the activities that take place on land.
Aquatic ecosystems - the system that
exists in water bodies.
Terrestrial ecosystem
Forest ecosystem
Desert ecosystem
Grassland ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystem
Pond ecosystem
River or stream ecosystem
Marine ecosystem
Estuarine ecosystem
44
FOREST ECOSYSTEM
A forest ecosystem is the one in which a
tall and dense trees grow that support
many animals and birds.
Forest occupies 40% of the worlds land.
Total land area is 19% in India.
There are three important types of forests
are
Tropical rain forests.
Temperate deciduous forests.
Coniferous forests.
45
Tropical rain forests
They are found near the equator.
These forests have a warm annual mean
temperature.
These forests have high humidity and
heavy rainfall almost daily.
These forests consists of broadleaf ever
green plants.
These trees have larger surface on their
leaves that allows them to collect more
sunlight and do photosynthesis
extensively.
Tropical rain forests have wide varieties
46
of
47
Temperate Deciduous forests:
Temperate deciduous forests can be found in the
eastern part of the United States and Canada,
Europe ,China and Japan
Winter, spring and summer. Winters are cold and
summers are warm.
Temperate deciduous forests have a great variety
of plant species.
Conifers like spruce, fir and pine trees can also be
found mixed in with the hardwood trees.
There is great diversity of life. Insects, fox,deer
etc., are common.

48
49
Coniferous forests:
The temperate coniferous forest includes areas
South America, New Zealand North America,
northwest Europe and Iceland and southern Japan
Many softwood trees such as fir, pine, spruce.
Most animals are herbivores, however some
carnivores and omnivores are thrown in. Animals
in Coniferous Forests include the red fox, moose
and owl.
Coniferous Forests are the largest land of the
World.
A Conifer is a tree that produces its seeds in
cones. The Pine tree is the most common
example. Conifer leaves conserve water with the
thick, waxy layer that covers their leaves.
50
51
STRUCTURE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:
Climate factors(Temp,light,rainfall)

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:
1.Producers: Trees,shrubs etc.,

2.Consumers:
Primary consumers : ants,flies & insects
Secondary consumers : snakes,birds.
Tertiary consumers : tiger,lion.

3.Decomposers: Bacteria,fungi
52
GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

20% of earth surface.

It improves the production of

grasslands.

Overgrazing leads to desertification.

53
There are three types of grasslands
A. Tropical grasslands
B. Temperate grasslands
C. Polar grasslands
Tropical grasslands
They has high temperature and
moderate rain fall, 40-100cm.They have
tall grasses with scatteres shrubs.They are
the shelter for animals like zebras, giraffes
and African elephant. Savanna grassland
in Africa is good example for tropical
grassland.
54
Tropical grassland

55
Temperate grasslands:
Cold in Winters and hot in summers,
annual precipitation is less and falls
unevenly through the year. Pampas in
South America and Veldt in Africa are
examples for temperate grasslands.

Polar grasslands:
It is also known as arctic
polar region. Severe cold and strong
winds along with ice and snow. They
have animals like arctic fox.

56
Temperate grassland

57
Polar grassland

58
STRUCTURE OF GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:
Climate factors(Temp,light,rainfall),C,H,O,N.,

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:
1.Producers: Grass,shrubs etc.,

2.Consumers:
Primary consumers : cow,deer.
Secondary consumers : snakes,birds.
Tertiary consumers : hawks,eagle

3.Decomposers: Bacteria,fungi
59
DESERT ECOSYSTEM
Deserts are dry places with unpredictable and
infrequent precipitation.

Desert occupies about 35% of worlds land

area.

It is characterizes by 25 cm rain fall.

The atmosphere is dry.

60
TROPICAL TEMPERATE COLD DESERTS
DESERTS DESERTS
Temperatures are Day time temperature Winters are too cold,
high around year are high in summer & summers are too hot
low in winter
There is very little There is more Precipitation is too
rainfall during 1 or 2 precipitation than low
months of a year. tropical deserts
These driest places It consists of drought Small shrubs
on the earth have few resistant shrubs, cacti
plants along with and few animals
wind blown sands
and rocks
Ex: Sahara desert Majave desert Gobi desert

61
STRUCTURE OF DESERT ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:

Climate factors(Temp,light,rainfall)

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:

1.Producers: Trees,grass etc.,

2.Consumers:Squirrels,foxes,rabbits.

3.Decomposers: Bacteria,fungi

62
WATER or AQUATIC
ECOSYSTEMS
The aquatic system deals with water
bodies.The
major types of organism found in this
ecosystem.

1.Fresh water ecosystem

:Ponds,river,stream,lake.
2.Salt water ecosystem: oceans and
estuaries.

POND ECOSYSTEM:
It contains algae,plants,insects,fish.
63
Lake ecosystem:
Littoral zone
light penetrates to the bottom,
allowing aquatic plants to grow.
Limnetic zone
the open water area where light
does not generally penetrate all the way to
the bottom.
Euphotic zone
the layer from the surface down to
the depth where light levels become too
low for photosynthesis.
Benthic zone
the bottom sediment.

64
65
 LAKE ECOSYSTEM:
Lakes are natural shallow water
bodies.
Characteristic:
1.Permanent water body.
2.It helps in irrigation and drinking.
3.It is fresh water body.
RIVER ECOSYSTEM or STREAM
ECOSYSTEM:
Well oxygenated,no.of animals are
less. 66
ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEM:
An estuary is a partially enclosed
coastal area at the mouth of river, where
river joins the sea.
Characteristic:

1.Estuaries are transition zone.

2.Water characteristic are periodically

changed.

3.The living organism in this ecosystem have

tolerence.

4.Salinity is highest during the summer

69
70
STRUCTURE OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:
Climate factors(Temp,light,water,organic and
inorganic compounds.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:
1.Producers: phytoplankton

2.Consumers:
Primary consumers : zooplankton
Secondary consumers : small fish
Tertiary consumers : big fish

3.Decomposers: Bacteria,fungi
71
Biodiversity and its
conservation
Bio means life and diversity means variety
Definition :
Biodiversity is defined as , the variety and
variability among all groups of living organism
and the ecosystem in which they occur.
Classification:
Genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the diversity within
species ie., variation of genes within the
species.eg.,rice varieties.
teak wood trees : Indian teak,burma
teak,malasian teak.
72
73
GENETIC DIVERSITY
It refers to the total genetic information
contained in the genes of individuals of
plants, animals and microorganisms.
The genes found in organisms can form
enormous number of combinations each of
which gives rise to some variability.
when the genes within the same species
show different versions due to new
combinations, it is called genetic
variability.

74
75
SPECIES DIVERSITY
Species diversity is the diversity between
different species. The sum of varieties of all
the living organisms at the species level is
known as species diversity.
Species richness is the simplest measure of
biodiversity and is simply a count of the
number of different species in a given area.
Plant species : Apple,mango,graphs,wheat
Animal species : lion,tiger,elephant
,deer.
76
Community or ecosysytem diversity :
The diversity at the ecological or habitat
level is known as ecosysytem diversity. A
large region with different ecosysytem can
be considered as ecosysytem diversity.
Eg., River ecosystem.

77
78
Value of Bio-Diversity
Consumptive value:
These are direct use values where
the biodiversity product can be
harvested and consumed directly
e.g. fuel, food, drugs, fibre etc.

79
Drugs and medicines:
About 75% of the worlds population
Depends upon plants or plant extracts for
medicines.The wonder drug Penicillin used
as an antibiotic is derived from a fungus
called "Penicillium.
Quinine, the cure for malaria is obtained
from the bark of Cinchona tree,
Digitalin is obtained from foxglove
(Digitalis) which is an effective cure for
heart disease.
Vinblastin and vincristine, two anticancer
drugs, have been obtained from Periwinkle
(Catharanthus) plant, which possesses
anticancer alkaloids.
80
Fuel:
Our forests have been used since ages for
fuel wood. The fossil fuels coal, petroleum
and natural gas are also products of
fossilized biodiversity.

Productive Values:

These are the commercially usable values

where the product is marketed and sold.
These may include the animal products
like tusks of elephants, musk from musk
deer, silk from silk-worm, wool from
sheep,leather from all animals.
81
Social Values/Ethical values:
These are the values associated with
the social life, customs, religion and
aspects of the people.
Holy plants:Many of the plants are
considered holy plants in our country
like Tulsi,Mango, Lotus, Neem etc.
Holy animals : Many of the plants are
considered holy animals in our
country like cow,snake,peacock etc.,

82
Aesthetic value:
People from far and wide spend a lot
of time and money to visit beautiful
areas where they can enjoy the
aesthetic value of biodiversity and
this type of tourism is now known as
ecotourism.
The pleasant music of world birds,
colour of flowers, peacock,butterfly
are important asthetic value.

83
Ethical value:
It involves ethical value like all life must
be preserved.
The ethical value means that a species
may or may not be used,but its existance
in nature gives us pleasure.
Eg., The river ganga,neem,tulsi etc.,
Optional values:
The optional values of biodiversity
suggests that any species may be proved
to be a valuable after someday.
Eg., growing technology field is searching a
species for causing the diseases of
cancer and AIDS.
84
Levels of Bio-Diversity
BIODIVERSITY AT GLOBAL LEVEL
The huge number of species which are
still unknown on this earth.About 2.1
million species have been identified till
date.

About 70% of all known species are

invertebrates (animals without backbones
such as insects, sponges, worms, etc.);
while, about 15% are plants.

The trophical rainforests have species of

plants, insects, animals. They are the
earths largest store house of biodiversity.
85
 Tropical deforestation alone is reducing the
biodiversity by half a percent every year.
Many of these species are more vulnerable
to extinction when their natural home is
destroyed.
About 50 to 80% of global biodiversity lies
in these rainforests.
More than one-fourth of the worlds
prescription drugs are extracted from
plants growing in tropical forests.
Temperate forests have much less
biodiversity.
Globally, we have roughly
1, 70,000 = flowering plants
30,000 = vertebrates
2, 50,000 = other groups of species
86
DIVERSITY AT NATIONAL LEVEL :
Indian Biodiversity:
Every country is characterized by its own
biodiversity depending mainly on its climate.
India has a rich biological diversity of flora and
fauna.
Overall six percent of the global species are found
in India.
It is estimated that India ranks 10th among the
plant rich countries of the world.
India ranks 11th in terms of number of endemic
species of higher vertebrates.
India ranks 6th place among the centers of
diversity and origin of agricultural crops.
The total number of living species identified in
our country is 1,50,000.
Indian is also one of the 12 mega-biodiversity
countries in the world.
Out of a total of 25 biodiversity hot-spots in the
world, India possesses 2, one in the northeast
87
India as a mega-diversity nation
India occupies 2.4% of the total land area
of the world, but India contributes 8.22%
of the known global biodiversity.
India is one of the 12 mega-diversity
nations of the world.
India is in the 10th position in the world
and 4th in the Asia in terms of plant
diversity.
India ranks 10th in the world in terms of
number of mammalian species.
India ranks 11th in the world in terms of
endemic species of higher vertebrates
In terms of number of species contributed
to agriculture and animal husbandry, it
ranks 7th in the world. 88
 India has three biomes, namely the tropical humid
forests, the tropical dry deciduous forests and the
warm desert/semi-deserts.
India can be divided into ten biogeographic zones and
26 biotic provinces which represent the major
ecosystems of the world.
Out of 25 hotspots in the world, India has two
hotspots'. the Western Ghats and the Eastern
Himalayas.
Endemism: Species which are restricted only to a
particular area are known as endemic.
About 62% of amphibians and 50% of lizards are
endemic to India. Western ghats are the site of
maximum endemism. India has 26 recognized endemic
centers.
Biosphere reserves : which protect larger areas of
natural habitat ,it includes National Parks, preserves,
along buffer zones that are open to some economic
uses. The World has 482 biosphere reserves in 102
countries.

89
Hot spots of Bio-Diversity
The hotspots are the geographic
areas which posses high endemic
species.

There are 25 hot spots at global level. Out

of 25, two are present in India, namely the
Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats.
Nearly 70% of the bird species in this
hotspot are endemic. These are the areas
of high diversity, endemism and are also
threatened by human activities.

90
 About 40% of terrestrial plants and
25% of vertebrate species are
endemic and found in these
hotspots.
It has been estimated that 50,000
endemic plants, which comprise 20%
of global plant life, probably occur in
only 18 hotspots in the world.
Countries which have a relatively
large proportion of these biodiversity
hotspots are referred to as mega-
diversity nations.
91
Threats to Bio-Diversity
Any disturbance in an natural
ecosystem tent to reduce its
biodiversity.
Causes of threats :
a.Habitat loss :
The lose of population is caused by
habitat loss. Habitat loss threatened
a wide range of animals and plants.

92
 1.Deforestation :
Forest and grasslands have been
cleared for conversion into agricultural
lands or settlement areas or development
project. So thousands of species loss their
habitat.
2.Destruction of wetlands :
The wetlands and mangroves are
destroyed due to the draining,filling and
pollution which cause huge boidiversity
loss.
3.Habitat fragmentation :
The habitat is divided into small and
scattered patches.This is called as Habitat
fragmentation .due to this wild animals
and song birds are vanishing.
93
4.Raw material :
for the production of hybrid seeds the wild plants
are used as raw materials.

5.Production of drugs :
many pharmaceutical companies collect wild
plant for the production of drugs.

6.Illegal trade:
Illegal trade on wild life also reduces the
biodiversity .

7. Development activities :
construction of massive dams in the forest area
and discharge of industrial effluents which kills
the birds and other aquatic organism.
94
b. Poaching of wildlife :
Poaching means killing of animals or
commercial hunting. It leads to loss of animal
biodiversity.
1.Subsidence poaching:
killing animals to provide enough food for their
survival .
2.Commercial poaching :
hunting and killing animals to sell their
products .
Man-wildlife conflicts :
when wildlife starts causing immense
damage.
Eg.,
1.In orissa, 199 humans were killed in the last
5 years
by elephants.
95
2. In mysore several elephants were killed
Endangered Species
of India
IUCN-INTERNATIONAL UNION OF
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL
RESOURCES, the species classified into
various types,
1.Extinct species :
A species is said to be extinct, when it is
no longer found in the world.
2. Endandered species :
When its number has been reduced to a
critical level.Unless it is protected and
conserved,it is in immediate dancer of
extinction. 96
3.Vulnerable species :
A species is said to be vulnerable,
when its population is facing
continuous decline due to habitat
destruction.
4. Rare species:
A species is said to be rare, when it
is localised within restricted area or
they are scattered over a more
extensive area. Such species are not
endangered or vulnerable.
97
Endangered Species of India
When its number has been reduced
to a critical level.Unless it is
protected and conserved,it is in
immediate dancer of extinction.
Eg., Reptiles pyhton,tortoise.
Birds : peacock
Mammals : tiger,lion,golden
cat,desert cat
Primates : golden monkey,cabbed
monkey.
98

 RED DATA BOOK :Red data book

contains the list of endangered
species of plants and animals.

Endangered Species of India

The species which are found only
in a particular region are known as
endemic species.
Eg., fauna and flora.

99
 Out of about 47,000 species of
plants in our country 7000 are
endemic.
Thus, Indian subcontinent has about
62% endemic flora, restricted mainly
to Himalayas, Khasi Hills and
Western Ghats.
A large number out of a total of
81,000 species of animals in our
country is endemic.
The Western Ghats are particularly
rich in amphibians (frogs, toads etc.)
and reptiles (lizards, crocodiles etc.).
About 62% amphibians and 50% 100
Conservation of Bio-
Diversity
The act or process of conserving. The
protection, preservation, management, or
restoration of wildlife and of natural resources
such as forests, soil, and water.
Conservation of our natural
resources has the following three specific
objectives:
(i) to maintain essential ecological processes and
life-supporting systems .
(ii) to preserve the diversity of species or the
range of genetic material found in the organisms
on the planet .
(iii) to ensure sustainable utilization of species
and ecosystems which support millions of rural
communities as well as the major industries all
over the world.
101
 There are two
approaches of biodiversity
conservation:
(a) In situ conservation
(within habitat): This is achieved by
protection of wild flora and fauna in
nature itself, e.g. Biosphere
Reserves, National Parks,
Sanctuaries, Reserve Forests etc.
(b) Ex situ conservation (outside
habitats) This is done by
establishment of gene banks, seed
banks, zoo, botanical gardens,
102
(a)In situ conservation:
In-situ conservation involves
protection of fauna and flora within
its habitat,where the species
normally occurs is called In-situ
conservation.
1.Biospere reserves: nilgiri
kerala,TN
2. national park:gir national park-
gujarat
3. wildlife sanctuaries:ghana bird
sanctuary 103
Exsitu conservation :
In-situ conservation involves protection of
fauna and flora outside the natural habitat.
Methods of exsitu conservation:
1.National Bureau of plant Genetic
Resources:
(NBPGR):Its located in new delhi.
Cryo preservation technique:
Perseveration of seeds of crops by using
liquid nitrogen at temp -196o c.Variety of
rice,tomato,onion,carrot,chilli preserved in
liq.nitrogen
104
ii) National bureau of animal genetic
resources :
(NBAGR):It is located at haryana.
It preserves the semen of bovine
animals.

iii)National facility of plant tissue

culture repository:(NFPTCR)
It develops the facility for
conservation of varieties of crop
plants and trees by tissue culture.
105
 Urban Ecology
Understanding how urban
ecosystems function is integral to
mitigating their negative effects on
ecosystem services, assessing their
impact on neighboring environments,
and considering them in decision-
making dialogue.