E.V.S PROJECTS BIO

7/23/2019 E.V.S PROJECTS BIO

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What is biodiversity?

Oh, the beauty of a forest! The pleasure of walking through it, enjoying the smells of theflowers and the wild; watching the insects flitting about and listening to the birds chirp - how

we all love it and wish to return to it again and again. t is this biodiversity that we have to

protect and take care of in order to enjoy the joy of it all. ut what is biodiversity"

Biodiversity is the variety and differences among living organisms from all sources, includingterrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are apart. This includes genetic diversitywithin and betweenspeciesand of ecosystems. Thus, in essence,biodiversity represents all life. India is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world and has two ofthe world's 1 !biodiversity hotspots" located in the #estern $hatsand in the %astern &imalayas(yers 1)))*. The forestcover in these areas is very dense and diverse and of pristine beauty, andincredible biodiversity.

+ccording to an (o% -eport 1))*, the country is estimated to have over /0, plant species and1, animal species representing 23 of the world"s flora and .03 of its fauna. The 1))) figures

are /),41) plant species representing 14.03 and 1,401 animal species representing .3.

The sacred groves of Indiaare some of the areas in the country where the richness of biodiversity hasbeen well preserved. The Thar desertand the &imalayasare two regions rich in biodiversity in India.There are ) national par5s and 0/ wildlife sanctuaries in the country, the 6hili5a 7a5ebeing one ofthem. This la5e is also an important wetlandarea. 7earn more through map on biodiversity in India.

8ver the last century, a great deal of damage has been done to the biodiversity existing on the earth.Increasing human population, increasing consumption levels, and decreasing efficiency of use of ourresources are some of the causes that have led to overexploitation and manipulation of ecosystems.Trade in wildlife, such as rhino horn, has led to the extinction of species. 6onsequences ofbiodiversity loss can be great as any disturbance to one species gives rise to imbalance in others. In

this the exotic specieshave a role to play.

To prevent such loss, the $overnment of India is setting up biosphere reserves in different parts ofthe country. These are multipurpose protected areas to preserve the genetic diversity in differentecosystems. Till 1))), ten biosphere reserves had been set up, namely 9ilgiri, 9andadevi, 9a5re5,$reat 9icobar, $ulf of (annar, (anas, :underbans, :imilipal, and ;ibru :ai5howa. + number of9$8s are being involved in the programme to create awareness. But legal protection is provided onlyto national par5s and sanctuaries, which cover about /.03 of India"s land area.
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An Introduction to Biodiversity Theory

The science of biodiversity originates largely from ecology the study of therelationship between organisms and their environment* and evolution the study of

the origin of diversity*. rom these two fields come its two main goals< to understandthe way the natural systems wor5 and are structured, and to understand how it gotthat way.

#hy study biodiversity= +lthough the theory of biodiversity can be studied for its ownsa5e to gain a better idea of how the world wor5s, it has several important practicaluses, mostly centred on conservation. By understanding the theory, we can betterunderstand which types of species are most li5ely to decline under differentcircumstances and also 5now how best to protect those species from extinction. Ifdiversity is reduced in an area, we can also best prevent further loss and try torestore the lost diversity if we have a good grasp of what the outcome of different

actions, such as reintroducing lost species, will be. +s human activities continuereduce the biodiversity on the planet, it becomes increasingly important to 5now whatthe effect of our actions will be before we lose any more diversity.

This section consists of four parts. The first introduces the three levels of biodiversitythat are studied, the second loo5s at how diversity can be gained or lost, the thirdexamines the composition of diversity in more depth, and the fourth loo5s at howbiodiversity affects the functioning of ecosystems. %ach of these only scrapes thesurface of the research available> the -eferences section of this site lists moredetailed resources.

+s one would expect, theory is a complex issue, full of new concepts and terms. Thisis the most difficult section of the site, and much of the complexity is unavoidable.

New method for measuring biodiversity

How individual species help structure thebiodiversityof tropical rainforests

Leipzig. German and Sri Lankan researchers have developed a new method for

measuring the impacts of species on local biodiversity. It makes it possible to determine

whether a certain species promotes or suppresses species diversity. The new method

etends a procedure familiar to biologists that involves investigating species numbers in

relation to area !the species"area relationship# or S$% by adding sophisticated

statistical methods so that it can be used to describe the role of individual species in

their impact on biodiversity.
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Luftaufnahme des Tropenwaldes auf Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Panama. Im oto sind

die !elb bl"hende #uayacanb$ume (Tabebuia guayacan) !ut %u er&ennen.

'ource 'mithsonian Tropical esearch Institute* Center for Tropical orest 'cience

This individualised method (+individual species,area relationship-* or I') ma&es it easier

to identify &ey species. /0e are effectively loo&in! at diversity in the ecosystem throu!h the!lasses of the individual species*/ says co,author 1r ndreas Huth of the 23. This means

that in future it will be easier to understand the role of individual species in ecosystems and to

implement tar!eted protection measures for &ey species. In addition* the method can be used

to investi!ate better the ecolo!ical conse4uences of chan!es in land use.

The researchers used their new method to evaluate uni4ue data from two tropical rainforests

in 'ri Lan&a and Panama that are part of a networ& coordinated by the Center for Tropical

orest 'cience (CT'5 www.ctfs.si.edu). 0ithin this networ&* every sin!le tree with a

trun& thic&er than a pencil has been mapped and monitored for years on about a do%en

selected sample plots* some as lar!e as 67 hectares* in tropical rainforests around the !lobe.

The researchers compared in their study around 87 777 lar!er trees in the tropical rainforeston Barro Colorado Island* Panama* with those in the 'inhara9a 0orld Herita!e 'ite in 'ri

Lan&a. To their surprise* more than two third of all species did not leave identifiable

si!natures on spatial diversity. The other tree species had an impact on localbiodiversityonly

in their immediate surroundin!s* within a radius of up to :7 metres* but not on a lar!e scale.

These findin!s support the much,debated +neutral theory-* accordin! to which species

characteristics are unimportant for certain community attributes and play only a subsidiary

role in the stability and diversity of ecosystems. The study reveals that the two tropical forests

lac&ed any &ey species structurin! species diversity at lar!er scales* su!!estin! that

+balanced- species;species interactions may be a characteristic of these species rich forests.

1r Thorsten 0ie!and says* /Biodiversity researchers have not been able to a!ree on which

processes permit a hi!h level of species diversity to emer!e* and which processes &eep these

complicated systems stable/.

ities of the ori!in and

maintenance of species richness in tropical forests/. fter all* the method was bein! used for

the first time. /0e first used the new method in tropical rainforests* but it is universally

applicable and can be used for plants in all ecosystems*/ says 1r ndreas Huth of the 23.The new method closes a !ap between rather more crude descriptions ofbiodiversity(for the

whole ecosystem) and e>tremely detailed analyses (interactions between individual

species).In future then* the new method can also be combined with the forest simulation

models already developed at the 23.

$'($NT$G)S *+ ,I*'I()%SIT-

By adoptin! a different* more positive* and more proactive approach to the challen!es that

environmental issues pose* Indian enterprises will !reatly benefit in this millennium. The

prevalent attitude today* with some e>ceptions* is that environmental concerns impose coststhat are best avoided. This is natural since these are costs which can fairly readily be
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e>ternalised and imposed on somebody else. Thus* when industrial effluents render river

water unfit for drin&in!* or decimate fisheries* the costs are paid by people who have to see&

other sources of water for domestic use* or pay more for fish. rational economic

or!anisation would* of course* try and* as far as possible* avoid payin! these costs. It would

first invest in lobbyin! a!ainst re!ulations demandin! pollution,control. If that does not

wor&* it will invest in bribin! pollution,control authorities to certify that it is obeyin!re!ulations* even if it isn?t.

I have more personal e>perience of such corporate attitudes. Public 'ector 2nderta&in!

(P'2) en!a!ed me as a consultant to loo& at the environmental impact of its operations. In

my report* I made a number of specific recommendations to avoid adverse environmental

conse4uences while endorsin! other aspects of their pro!ramme. I offered to help train their

en!ineers and contractors to ensure that my su!!estions were implemented. =ot only did the

P'2 i!nore this offer* it deleted all my su!!estions for safe!uards while preparin! a

consolidated environmental,impact assessment report.

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E.V.S PROJECTS BIO