BIODIVERSITY

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

BIODIVERSITY
• Biodiversity or biological diversity refers to the totality of genes,
species, and ecosystems of a region.

• The number of different native species and individuals in a habitat or

geographical area.

• “Biodiversity is actually the vast array of all the species of plants,

animals, insects and micro-organisms inhabiting the earth either in
aquatic or terrestrial habitats.”
MAGNITUDE OF BIODIVERSITY
• Estimates of the number of species on the earth range from 7 million
to 100 million, with a best guess of 7–10 million species. So far,
biologists have identified about 2 million species—most of them
being insects (Science Focus 4.1).
 1. GENETIC DIVERSITY
LEVEL OF
2. SPECIES DIVERSITY
BIODIVERSITY
3. ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY
GENETIC DIVERSITY
• Genetic diversity refers to various kinds of “genes” which exist in any
one individual species. Due to this diversity, variation in characters
occur within the same species giving rise to “varieties” and “races”.
• Genetic diversity enables the earth’s species to survive and adapt to
dramatic environmental changes.
Genetic diversity

©Cenage Learning. Environmental Science 15th Edition c2016 by G. Tyler Miller & Scott E. Spoolman
Genetic diversity

Michael & Patricia Fogden/Minden Pictures/Getty Images

This species became extinct in

1989, apparently because its
habitat dried up.

Joel Sartore/National Geographic Creative. Environmental Science 15th Edition c2016 by G. Tyler Miller & Scott E. Spoolman
SPECIES DIVERSITY
• Species diversity refers to the variety of species of plants and animals
present within a region.
• Scientists think that ecosystems with high levels of species diversity
tend to be more stable.

MEASURE OF SPECIES DIVERSITY

1. SPECIES RICHNESS – the total number of different types of organism per

unit area.
2. SPECIES EVENESS – is define as the total number of individual of a species
in each area.
ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY
• Ecosystem diversity refers to variety of ecosystems such as terrestrial
(forest, grassland, alpine and desert ecosystem), aquatic (freshwater
and marine ecosystem) and the wetlands (mangroves and estuarine
ecosystem) that exists on the earth.
Gradation of Biodiversity
1. Alpha (a) diversity: is the number of species sharing the same habitat.
2. Beta (b) diversity: is the number of variety of species in an area
3. Gamma (g) diversity: A measure of the overall species diversity within a
landscape or geographic area, obtained by multiplying alpha
diversity and beta diversity
 CONSUMPTIVE VALUE

PRODUCTIVE VALUE

SCIENTIFIC VALUE
VALUE OF SOCIAL VALUE
BIODIVERSITY
AESTHETIC AND CULTURAL VALUE

ETHICAL VALUE

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
1. COMSUMPTIVE VALUE

- Food
- Drugs and medicines
- Fibers
- Fuel
VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
2. PRODUCTIVE VALUE
Commercially usable products like fats, oils, waxes, pectins, resins, gums
and a host of biochemical compounds are derived from biodiversity.

3. SCIENTIFIC VALUE
Biodiversity is a source of gene bank and of great use to modern agriculture,
horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry. Genes from wild species are
used to confer new properties such as disease resistance or improved yield
in domesticated crop plants.
VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY
4. AESTHETIC and CULTURAL VALUE
Biodiversity has a lot of aesthetic and attraction value. Some examples of
aesthetic aspects include sight seeing, photography of wildlife, natural
habitat and natural features, bird watching, etc.

5. ETHICAL VALUE
Ethical value of biodiversity cannot be ignored since it is age old and have
roots in our religion and culture. It appeals for respect of life on the earth.
VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY

7. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Biological diversity is important for maintenance and sustainable utilization

of ecosystems.
• production of oxygen
• maintenance of freshwater quality
• Flood mitigation
• Greenhouse gas reduction
• Pest control
• production and maintenance of fertile soil
HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY

“The hot spots are defined as the richest and the most
threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth.”
HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY

Criteria for determining a Hot Spot

1. Number of endemic species i.e. the species which are not

found any where else (must have over 1500 endemic
plant species)
2. Degree of threat, which is measured in terms of habitat loss
(must have lost over 70% of original habitat)
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
NORTH and CENTRAL AMERICA

• California Floristic Province

• Madrean Pine-oak Woodlands
• Caribbean Island
• Mesoamerica
• North American Coastal Plain
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
SOUTH AMERICA

• Cerrado
• Tropical Andes
• Atlantic Forest
• Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests
• Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
ASIA-PACIFIC

• Eastern Himalaya
• Western Ghats, India: Srilanka
• Indo-Burma, India and Myanmar
• New Celedonia
• New Zealand
• Polynesia-Micronesia
• Japan
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
ASIA-PACIFIC

• East Malanesian Island

• Philippines
• Sundaland
• Southwest Australia
• Eastern Australia
• Wallacea
• Aucasus
• Irano-Anatolian
• Mountains of Southwest China
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
CENTRAL ASIA

• Mountains of Central Asia

EUROPE

• Mediterranean Basin
LIST of 36 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
AFRICA

• Coastal Forests of Africa

• Eastern Afromontane
• Guinean Forest of West Africa
• Horn of Africa
• Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands
• Succulent Karoo
• Cape Floral Region
• Maputaland Pondoland-Albany
 HABITAT LOSS

POACHING

THREATS TO OVEREXPLOITATION

BIODIVERSITY INTRODUCTION OF EXOTIC SPECIES

NATURAL CALAMATIES

DISTURBANCE IN MIGRATORY ROUTES

THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
1. HABITAT LOSS

Reasons:
a. HABITAT DESTRUCTION
b. HABITAT FRAGMENTATION
c. HABITAT DEGRADATION
d. POLLUTION
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
2. POACHING
It is hunting, killing and selling of wild species for monetary or
materialistic gains.

3. OVEREXPLOITATION

Overexploitation can therefore lead to irreversible biodiversity loss.

with an exponential increase in human population, exploitation of
some species is occurring beyond sustainable levels.
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
4. INTRODUCTION OF EXOTIC SPECIES
Exotic species are considered as second major cause of extinction of
species, next only to habitat destruction.
5. NATURAL CALAMATIES
Volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires,
floods, landslides and flash floods cause a considerable loss to marine and
terrestrial ecosystems.
6. DISTURBANCE IN MIGRATORY ROUTES
Due to infrastructure development, migration of many birds and animals
has been disturbed.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

Conservation means wise use of natural resources so that they are not
exploited beyond their capacity for renewal. Conservation is concerned
with the survival of life in all its forms for the use of present generation,
while maintaining its potential for the benefit of future generations.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Strategies:

1. Wildlife can be conserved by providing favourable conditions with regard to the availability of
food, water and shelter. This method is called habitat management.
2. Several species which have been threatened to extinction should be given priority in conservation.
3. Separate areas like sanctuaries, national parks, etc. are set up where wildlife can survive.
4. Illegal practices like hunting and poaching can be prevented by enforcement of strict laws.
5. The critical habitat (feeding and resting areas) of species should be preserved to promote their
growth and multiplication.
6. A species threatened with disease can be protected by sanitation measures in the habitat.
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
METHODS OF CONSERVATION

1. IN-SITU (on-site) CONSERVATION

2. EX-SITU (off site) CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
METHODS OF CONSERVATION

1. IN-SITU (on-site) CONSERVATION

- it means conservation of biodiversity in its natural habitat

• Protected Areas – National Parks, Sanctuaries

• Biosphere Reserves
• Sacred Grooves and Forest
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
METHODS OF CONSERVATION

2. EX-SITU (off-site) CONSERVATION

- it means conservation of biodiversity is outside.its place of
origin.

• Botanical Garden
• Zoological Garden
• Gene Bank
References:
• Dahiya, P., Ahlawat, M. (2013), Environmental Science: A New
Approach. Alpha Science Internation Ltd.
• Kathari, D.P., Singal, K.C., Ranjan, R. (2016). Environmental Science
and Engineering. Alpha Science Internation Ltd.
• Jazib, J. (2018). Basics of Environmental Sciences.iqra Publishers
• https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biodiversity/
• https://www.environmentbuddy.com/endangered-wildlife/list-of-
biodiversity-hotspots-examples/#importance
• https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-
statistics#Summary%20Tables
Biodiversity and Evolution
Mutations provide the raw materials needed to create new species.
• The teaching of macroevolution is built on the claim that mutations—
random changes in the genetic code of plants and animals—can
produce not only new species but also entirely new families of plants
and animals.

But do mutations really produce entirely new species? What has a

century of study in the field of genetic research revealed?
Biodiversity and Evolution
Scientists in the United States, Asia, and Europe launched well-funded
research programs using methods that promised to speed up evolution.
After more than 40 years of intensive research, what were the results?

“In spite of an enormous financial expenditure,” says researcher Peter von

Sengbusch, “the attempt to cultivate increasingly productive varieties by
irradiation [to cause mutations], widely proved to be a failure.”

-Mutation Breeding, Evolution, and the Law of Recurrent Variation, pp. 48-51.
Biodiversity and Evolution
After examining the evidence, Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, a scientist from
the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany who
has spent some 30 years studying mutation genetics in plants
concluded:
“Mutations cannot transform an original species [of plant or animal] into an
entirely new one. This conclusion agrees with all the experiences and results
of mutation research of the 20th century taken together as well as with the
laws of probability.”
- Mutation Breeding, Evolution, and the Law of Recurrent Variation, pp. 49,
50, 52, 54, 59, 64, and interview with Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig.
Biodiversity and Evolution
While the word “species” is used frequently in this section, it should be
noted that this term is not found in the Bible book of Genesis. There we find
the term “kind,” which is much broader in meaning. Often, what scientists
choose to call the evolution of a new species is simply a matter of variation
within a “kind,” as the word is used in the Genesis account.

GENESIS 1:12
And the earth began to produce grass, seed-bearing plants and
trees yielding fruit along with seed, according to their kinds. Then
God saw that it was good.