Dr. B.

Victor

Biodiversity
What does Bio mean?

Bio =

Biodiversity
What does Diversity mean?

Diversity = Variety

Why protect biodiversity ?

MORAL
right to exist, stewardship (heritage),
unnecessary waste immoral
ECONOMIC
valuable resources now and in the future
ECOLOGICAL
maintain local to global ecosystem health
LEGAL
have to by law

Human impact on Global

Biodiversity

Human activities have altered the worlds terrestrial,

freshwater and marine ecosystems throughout
history.
In the last 50 years, there was a substantial and
largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on
Earth (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).
The number of species at risk of extinction
16,306 species of plants and animals listed as
threatened globally clearly reflects this loss of
diversity.
Biodiversity plants, animals, microorganisms and
the ecological processes that interconnect them
forms the planets natural productivity.

The world is a living system

where
Everything is connected and.
Everything is interdependent and.
Sustained in a dynamic balance.
Matter and energy may change form, but
they do not disappear.

A Basic Equation for Life

Seeds + Soil + Nutrition + Water + Sun =
Food
Natural cycles in the worlds ecosystems help
deliver nutrition and water to the soil, and
microbes in the soil help capture and
process those materials so they are available
to be taken up by plants. Plants become a
part of the food chain and are eaten by other
living things.

Massive
biodiversity
loss
is
Each species
is the product of a unique, nonessentially
irreversible
reproducible history

Paleontology shows that it takes about ten

million years to recover previous levels of
species diversity after a period of mass
extinction, and the new biodiversity strongly
differs from that lost

The Millennium Ecosystem

Assessment : five main causes of
biodiversity
habitat change,loss
climate change,
invasive alien species,
overexploitation and
pollution.
The Assessment argued that the loss of the
species and the progressive homogenization
of many ecosystems is one of the main
threats to the survival of the natural systems.

Introduction
The term BIODIVERSITY was first coined by
the entomologist E.O. Wilson in 1986.
Biodiversity is the heritage of million of years
of evolution.
Diversity is a basic property of life.
The striking feature of Earth is the existence
of Life and the striking feature of Life is its
Diversity.

Biodiversity allowed the advent of

modern civilizations, but
Plant and animal domestication often
involves a reduction in biodiversity through
artificial selection
Industrialization and modern technology
provide humankind with increasing control
over, and independence from, nature

Modern humans
(Homo sapiens)
appear about
2 seconds
before midnight

Age of
mammals
Age of reptiles
Insects and amphibians
invade the land

midnight

Origin of life
(3.63.8 billion
years ago)

Plants invade
the land

First fossil
record of
animals
Plants begin
invading
land

Recorded human
history begins
1/4 second
before midnight

noon
Evolution and expansion of
life

Biodiversity is the measure of the number,

variety and variability of living organisms .
Variety - the number of
different types.
Quantity - the number
or total biomass of any
one type.
Distribution - the
extent and nature of
geographic spread of
different types.

What is biodiversity?

Biodiversity includes diversity within species,

between species and among ecosystems.

Significance of biodiversity
Biodiversity is the sum of life on earth and
includes genetic, species and functional
diversity.
The status and trends in biodiversity reflect
the health of the ecosystems that support
and enrich human life.

The Earth is home to a tremendous

biological diversity
This biodiversity, which includes:
The millions of different species
The diversity of their genes, physiologies, and
behaviors
The multitude of their ecological interactions
The variety of the ecosystems they constitute
This biodiversity, which is the result of more than 3
billion years of evolution, is under serious threat today

Biodiversity

Variety of living things, number of kinds

Ecological diversity

Species diversity

different habitats, niches, species interactions

different kinds of organisms, relationships among
species

Genetic diversity

different genes & combinations of genes

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

Which do you like better?

What is biodiversity?
The spectrum of life on earth,
in terms of variation in
genes,
populations,
species,
ecosystems,
interactions among them.

Biological Diversity
Genetic diversity the genetic variation
among individuals in a species
Species diversity the number of
different species in a given area
Ecosystem (Habitat) diversity the
variety of interactions among organisms
in a community (or the variety of
ecosystems on Earth)

Biodiversity, the variety of life

more interactions
COMMUNITY
POPULATION
INDIVIDUAL
GENOME
CHROMOSOME
GENE
ENZYME
more biological units

Biological Diversity

Biological diversity organization

Levels of genetic organization

Gene

Text sequence

Chromoso
me

Chapter

Genome

Gene pool

Genetic diversity

Variation within genes

alleles & haplotypes

Variation within individuals

individual heterozygosity

Variation within populations

allele frequencies, average heterozygosity, average number of
polymorphic alleles and loci.

Variation among populations

differentiation and genetic distance (pairwise and average)

Species diversity
It represents the different types of plants,
animals and other life forms within a region.
It is a dynamic property and changes over
space and time.
The number of species and their relative
abundances depend on the size and
geographic area of the ecosystem.
Species diversity is an indicator of the
biological richness/stress of an ecosystem.

Ecosystem diversity
It is the variety of different
habitats/ecosystems in a particular area
( e.g.. wetland, woodland, grassland).
The ecosystems of the world are maintained
by their biodiversity.
Every ecosystem can be characterized by its
own species composition.
The ecosystems differ in features such as
physical structure, temperature, water
availability and food types.

Ecosystem Characteristics
Biological structure, composition.
Physical structure, composition.
Major vegetation types.
Successional stages.
Rare or specialized communities
(or otherwise at risk.)
Soil and air resources.
Water quality.
Stream flows, streambanks, shorelines, lakes, wetlands,
riparian areas, floodplains.
Principal ecological processes, invasives.

Ecosystem Characteristics
Major vegetation types and developmental stages.
Rare and unique habitats.
Species richness, diversity, distribution.
Narrow endemic, geographically restricted, or rare
species.
Spatial structure of populations.
Invasives.
Keystone species or ecological engineers.
Landforms adjacent to stream channels.
Wetlands.

Structure Characteristics
Proportion and distribution of vegetation types and
successional stages.
Density of large trees per acre.
Landscape patch dynamics.
Stream habitat complexity.
Riparian structure.
Tributaries, lake morphometry.
Soil productivity, soil compaction layers.
Percent particulate matter in air.
Stream diversions and impoundments.

Processes Characteristics
Fire, landslides, flood types, frequencies,
severities, patch size, landscape pattern.
Successional pathways.
Stream and lake temperature regimes.
Riverine flow regimes, sediment transport.
Nutrient cycling.
Rate and extent of invasion by exotics.

Diversity of organisms

How many different species are

there?
The number of species identified and named is
more than 1.7 million, including:

950,00 species of insects

270,000 species of plants
19,000 species of fish
10,500 species of reptiles and amphibians
9,000 species of birds
4,000 species of mammals

The rest includes mollusks, worms, spiders, fungi,

algae, and microorganisms.

Biodiversity: # of species estimates

Most estimates of the

total number of species
on Earth lie between
5 million and 30 million.

Of this total, roughly 2

million species have
been formally described;
the remainder are
unknown or unnamed.

Biodiversity Attributes

1.Scales of diversity

Alpha number of species

in a given plot or area

a
a
c
a c

d a ba
b
b
a

a
b c

2.Scales of diversity

Beta species turnover across an

environmental gradient

16.14

3.Scales of diversity
Gamma diversity: the total biodiversity within
a landscape.
Gamma diversity is a function of local or
within habitat diversity (alpha diversity) and
differences in species composition or
turnover of species, between habitats or
localities (beta diversity ).

Scales of diversity

Types of biodiversity measures

What is being measured?
- measures of numbers of things (e.g., number of
species
- measures of processes (e.g., primary productivity)
- measures of system properties (e.g., resilience)
What scale?
- genetic
- species
- community
- ecosystem
- landscape

Species Richness (S)

The total number of different organisms

present. It does not take into account the
proportion and distribution of each
subspecies within a zone.

Simpson Index (D)

A measurement that accounts for the richness and

the percent of each subspecies from a biodiversity
sample within a zone. The index assumes that the
proportion of individuals in an area indicate their
importance to diversity.
Simpson's index: D = sum(Pi2)
The first step is to calculate Pi, which is the
abundance of a given subspecies in a zone divided
by the total number of subspecies observed in that
zone.

Shannon-Wiener index (H)/ the

Shannon index / the ShannonWeaver
index takes into account subspecies
This measurement

richness and proportion of each subspecies within

a zone.
The first step is to calculate Pi for each category
subspecies. Then multiply this number by the log of
the number. While you may use any base, the
natural log is commonly used. The index is
computed from the negative sum of these numbers.
H = -sum (Pi log [Pi])
Using species richness (S) and the ShannonWiener index (H), you can also compute a measure
of evenness:
E = H/ log (S)

Biodiversity
Biodiversity maintains the health
of the earth and its people.
It provides us with food and
medicine and contributes to our
economy.
It tells us a lot about the health of
the biosphere.
The greater the variety of species,
the healthier the biosphere.

Biodiversity
Hierarchy

Biodiversity Is determined By:

Species richness
Species evenness
Species composition
Species interaction
Temporal and spatial
variation

Species richness is the number of

species in a given area.

High-, medium- and low Diversity

Why is biodiversity important?

Regulation of climate and biogeochemical cycles,
Hydrological functions,
Soil protection,
Crop pollination,
Pest control,
Recreation and ecotourism
Ecological resilience
Wildlife habitat and diversity
Traditionally free benefits to society or public goods
Scale is variable from local to global benefits

What do we get from biodiversity?

Oxygen
Food
Clean Water
Medicine
Aesthetics
Ideas

Biodiversity is dynamic
Biodiversity is not
static, but constantly
changing.
Biodiversity is
increased by genetic
change and
evolutionary processes
and reduced by
processes such as
habitat degradation,
population decline, and
extinction.

Earth's five mass extinctions

Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction today.

Anthropogenic Impacts

By the end of the 21st century, we may have

lost two-thirds of the species on Earth

To date, about 50 percent of the planet's

natural habitats have been cleared for
human use, and another 0.5 to 1.5 percent
of nature is lost each year

Principal causes of extinction

73% - Destruction of habitat
68% - Displacement by introduced species
38% - Alteration of habitat by chemical `
pollution
38% - Hybridization of species (plants)
15% - Over-harvesting

The main threats to biodiversity

Endangered and Extinct Species

Extinction, the elimination of a species from

Earth, occurs when the last individual of a
particular species dies.

Extinction is a natural process 99.95% of all

the species that have ever lived on Earth are
extinct today.

However, human activities can speed the

process - extinctions today are occurring at 100
to 1000 times faster than the natural rate.

Endangered and Extinct

Species

Endangered species are in imminent

danger of extinction throughout all or
part of their range.

Threatened species have low population

sizes and are likely to become
endangered in the near future.

Characteristics of
Endangered Species
Endangered

species have one or

more of these characteristics that
make them vulnerable to extinction:
limited natural range
low reproductive success
specialized feeding requirements
large territory requirement

Extinctions can be
caused by:

natural processes (e.g. fires, hurricanes,

droughts);
excessive harvesting of particular species of
economic value;
impacts of alien invasive species including
diseases;
the impacts of various environmental
pollutants;
changes in climate;
knock-on effects from extinction of essential
companion species (e.g. pollinators, fruit or seed
dispersers, obligate parasites or symbionts);

Human activities threatening

biological
diversity:
Habitat destruction, fragmentation,
and
degradation
Invasive species
Pollution
Overexploitation

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmented into smaller patches

The patches grow further apart, more isolated,
organisms cant move among them.
Fragments reside in a matrix of anthropogenic,
disturbed habitat (farmland, subdivisions, etc)
often inhospitable to native species.
those Species obligated to the remaining habitat
patches decline, those able to move among
patches and utilize the human-dominated matrix
hold on.
Generalist species able to use patch, edge, and
matrix increase (deer, raccoons, many weeds).

Fragmentation most easily observed in forest habitat is

caused by human activities. Anywhere that humans
transformations cut up continuous habitat.

Edge

Effect and edge vs. interior species.

Habitat Destruction

Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation is

the leading cause of biodiversity decline.

All in the name of progress?

Invasive Species

Biotic pollution is the introduction of a foreign species into an area where it is not native

Other names for these:

Invasive Species
Exotic Species
Foreign Species
Non-native Species

Pollution

Acid deposition
Global warming
Toxic chemicals
Plastics

Overexploitation

Over-hunting unregulated hunting

Poaching illegal hunting
Over-fishing harvesting faster than the
stocks can replace themselves
Over-collecting collecting live organisms
for zoos, pet stores, research etc.

Homogenization

Homogenization is the process whereby

species assemblages become increasingly
dominated by a small number of
widespread, human-adapted species.

http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312380/images/wheat.jpg

Anthropogenic
Homogenization

Exotic species
Homogenization

Biodiversity affects human wellbeing

Global
changes

Human
activities

Ecosystem
services

Biodiversity
Ecosystem
processes

Links between biodiversity, climate

change and Human well-being

Links between biodiversity,

climate change and ecosystem
services

Consumptive
Consumptive

value
value

Aesthetic
Aesthetic
value
value

Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Value
Value

Ethical
Ethical
value
value

Productive
Productive
value
value

Social
Social
value
value

Values of biodiversity

Values of
biodiversity

Ecological Economic
values
values

Cultural
values

Value of Biodiversity
1. Market values
2. Non-market values
3. Ecosystems services
Measured in terms of ecosystems
function
Focus on biologically mediated flows of
energy and materials

Biodiversity Value :
Ecological values
All living creatures are supported by the
interactions among organisms and
ecosystems.
Loss of biodiversity makes ecosystems
less stable, more vulnerable to extreme
events, and weakens its natural cycles.

Economic values
: A biologically diverse natural environment
provides humans with the necessities of life
and forms the basis for the economy.
Every thing we buy and sell originates from
the natural world.

Cultural values
Most people feel connected to nature, often for
reasons hard to explain.
Some feel a strong spiritual bond that may be
rooted in our common biological ancestory.
Others are inspired by its beauty.
Human cultures around the world profoundly
reflect our visceral attachment to the natural
world.
Thus cultural diversity is linked to Earths
biodiversity.

Ecosystem Services

New ways of thinking

Ecosystem Services: the benefits people
obtain from ecosystems
Provisioning
Goods produced or
provided by
ecosystems
food
fresh water
fuel wood
genetic resources

Regulating

Cultural

Benefits obtained from Non-material benefits

from ecosystems
regulation of
spiritual
ecosystem processes
recreational
climate regulation
aesthetic
disease regulation
inspirational
flood regulation
educational

Supporting
Services necessary for production of other ecosystem services
Soil formation
Nutrient cycling
Primary production

Many human activities disrupt, impair, or

reengineer ecosystems every day
including:

runoff of pesticides, fertilizers, and animal wastes

pollution of land, water, and air resources
introduction of non-native species
overharvesting of fisheries
destruction of wetlands
erosion of soils
deforestation
urban sprawl

Linkages among Biodiversity,

Ecosystem Services, and
Human Well-Being

Major Concepts
Most species are moderately abundant; few
are very abundant or extremely rare.
A combination of the number of species and
their relative abundance defines species
diversity.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
http://www.oceansatlas.org/

http://library.thinkquest.org/

Over-harvest
http://www.ourworldfoundation.org.uk/polar.jpg

Climatic
change

Pollution

Species invasions

Loss of biodiversity
Molles 2007

Land use change

- type
- intensity

Global changes

ADVERSE EFFECTS ON
ECOSYSTEMS

decline of forests, due to air pollution and acid deposition;

loss of fish production in a stream, due to death of
invertebrates from copper pollution;
loss of timber growth, due to nutrient losses caused by
mercury poisoning of microbes and soil insects;
decline and shift in age of eagle and hawk (and other top
predator) populations, due to the effects of DDT in their food
supply on egg survival;
losses of numbers of species (diversity) in ship channels
subjected to repeated oil spills;
loss of commercially valuable salmon and endangered
species (bald eagle, osprey) from forest applications of DDT.

Percentage of birds, mammals, fishes and plants/ Total

number of species disappearing

(after Pimms et al., 1995 in Chapin et al., 2000)

The role of biodiversity in global change

Biodiversity and Sustainability

The biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to the

sustainability of that ecosystem.
Higher/more biodiversity = more sustainable.

Lower/less biodiversity = less sustainable.

High biodiversity in an ecosystem means that there

is a great variety of genes and species in that
ecosystem.

Preserving Earths
Biological Diversity

Ex-situ Conservation

Ex-situ conservation means off-site conservation.

The species of plants and animals to be protected
are removed from the natural habitats and are
placed in the safer areas under the control of man.
Botanical gardens, zoos and the arboreta are the
traditional methods of ex-situ conservation.
Germ plasm banks or Seed banks (also Gene
banks) are some other methods of ex-situ
conservation.

In-situ Conservation
In-situ conservation means on-site
conservation i.e. protection of species within
the natural habitat of the species of animals
and plants.
It includes protection in the wildlife
sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere
reserves etc. that have been formed to
protect threatened and even rare species.

In-situ Conservation
In India we have 608 protected areas.
National Parks: 95
Biosphere Reserves: 13
Wildlife Sanctuaries: 500
In India, there are four internationally recognized
Biosphere Reserves: Nilgiri, Gulf of Mannar,
Sunderbans and Nanda Devi (Man and Biosphere
Programme of UNESCO).
In Tamil nadu we have:
National parks: 5
Wild life sancturies: 20
Biosphere reserves: 2

Biodiversity Hotspot Zones

British ecologist Norman Myers gave the
concept of biodiversity hotspots in 1988.
There are 25 hotspots on a global level.
Out of the 25 hotspots, 11 have lost at least
90% of their natural vegetation.
The TWO Indian hotspots viz. the eastern
Himalayas and the western Ghats are rich in
flora, reptiles amphibians butter flies and
some mammals.

Indo-Burma hotspot region

This region extends from North-east India to
Burma and has a rich treasure of biological
resources.
The region has a remarkable diversity of
fresh water turtles and bird species (over
1300 species).
A number of dipterocarps, orchids and ginger
11 species are present in this region.

The Himalayan Hotspot

The Himalayan Hotspot has over 10,000
plant species of which 31.6 5 are endemic.
These include pines, firs, spruces,
rhododendrons and variety of orchids,
mosses and ferns.
A number of birds and mammals including
vultures, tigers, elephants, rhinos and wild
water buffaloes exist in the Himalayas.

Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

Western Ghats and Sri Lanka is one of the
richest biodiversity areas with a high rate
(52%) of endemism of plants species.
A number of unique and rare plants and
ferns are present in this hotspot.

Biodiversity Act of India (2002)

The Government of India approved biodiversity bill

in December 2002 which became an ACT known
as Biological Diversity Act of 2002.
Later, Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 were
formulated as a step towards conservation of
biodiversity.
According to this act, any one who destroys
biodiversity in any way or takes it away for
commercial utilization or any other purpose without
approval of authorities is liable to be imprisoned for
up-to five years or to pay a fine of Rs.10 lakhs.

Some closing thoughts

How do we restore ecological

balance
andnon-renewable
meet human
needs?
Dont deplete
resources
Use renewable resources efficiently and
sustainably
Dont create persistent toxicity
Respect and protect biodiversity
Organic farming provides the foundation for
restorative agriculture.

Biological Diversity

Biological Diversity

Biodiversity quotes

Every country has three forms of wealth:

material, cultural and biological. The first two
we understand well, because they are the
substance of our everyday lives. The
essence of the biodiversity problem is that
biological wealth is taken much less
seriously. . . ..
-EDWARD WILSON, The Diversity of Life
(1992).

Harmony with the land is

like harmony with a friend;
you cannot cherish his
right hand and chop off his
left. The land is one
organism. Its part
compete with each other
and co-operate with each
other. To keep every cog
and wheel is the first
precaution of intelligent
thinking
Aldo Leopold

We
rememberwe
depend
on
each
other,
live andlet live.