BIO – DIVERSITY & ITS CONSERVATION
PART 5
HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY :
• They are the areas with high density of biodiversity or megadiversity which are also the most threatened one.
• To designate priority areas for in situ conservation, Norman Myers developed the 'hot spots' concept in 1988.
• 'The hot spots are the richest and the most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth'.
Ecologically hot spots are determined by four factors.
(i) Number of species/species diversity.
(ii) Degree of endemism.
(iii) Degree of threat to habitat due to its degradation and fragmentation.
(iv) Degree of exploitation.
• Over the world 25 terrestrial hot spots have been identified for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Out of these 15 hot spots have tropical forests, 5 occur in Mediterranian-type zones and 9 hot spots are present in tropics.
• The hot spots together occupy 1.4 per cent of the earth's land area. About 20 per cent of the human population lives in the hot spots.
Hot spots in India :
• Out of the 25 hot spots of the world, two are found in India. These are Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas, and these extend to the neighboring countries also.
• These areas show high degree of endemism and are inhabited by a wide variety of flowering plants, swallow tailed butterflies, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
(i) Western Ghats :
• It lies parallel to the Western Coast of Indian peninsula for almost 1600 km, spread over in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• The evergreen forests are found at low elevation (i.e. 500 m above mean sea level), whereas semi-evergreen forests occur at 500-1500 m height.
• The two main centres of biological diversity are :
a. The Agastryamalai hills and Silent valley
b. The new Amambalam Reserve.
(ii) Eastern Himalaya :
• It extend to the north eastern India and Bhutan. Many deep and semi isolated valleys are found in this region.
• These valleys are exceptionally rich in endemic plant species. There occur temperate forests at altitudes of 1780 to 3500 m in this region.
• The eastern Himalaya is an active centre of evolution and exhibits a rich diversity of flowering plants.
• Numerous primitive angiosperm families (e.g., Magnoliaceae and Winteraceae) and primitive genera of plants like Magnolia and Betula and found in this region.
• They are the areas with high density of biodiversity or megadiversity which are also the most threatened one.
• To designate priority areas for in situ conservation, Norman Myers developed the 'hot spots' concept in 1988.
• 'The hot spots are the richest and the most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth'.
Ecologically hot spots are determined by four factors.
(i) Number of species/species diversity.
(ii) Degree of endemism.
(iii) Degree of threat to habitat due to its degradation and fragmentation.
(iv) Degree of exploitation.
• Over the world 25 terrestrial hot spots have been identified for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Out of these 15 hot spots have tropical forests, 5 occur in Mediterranian-type zones and 9 hot spots are present in tropics.
• The hot spots together occupy 1.4 per cent of the earth's land area. About 20 per cent of the human population lives in the hot spots.
Hot spots in India :
• Out of the 25 hot spots of the world, two are found in India. These are Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas, and these extend to the neighboring countries also.
• These areas show high degree of endemism and are inhabited by a wide variety of flowering plants, swallow tailed butterflies, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
(i) Western Ghats :
• It lies parallel to the Western Coast of Indian peninsula for almost 1600 km, spread over in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• The evergreen forests are found at low elevation (i.e. 500 m above mean sea level), whereas semi-evergreen forests occur at 500-1500 m height.
• The two main centres of biological diversity are :
a. The Agastryamalai hills and Silent valley
b. The new Amambalam Reserve.
(ii) Eastern Himalaya :
• It extend to the north eastern India and Bhutan. Many deep and semi isolated valleys are found in this region.
• These valleys are exceptionally rich in endemic plant species. There occur temperate forests at altitudes of 1780 to 3500 m in this region.
• The eastern Himalaya is an active centre of evolution and exhibits a rich diversity of flowering plants.
• Numerous primitive angiosperm families (e.g., Magnoliaceae and Winteraceae) and primitive genera of plants like Magnolia and Betula and found in this region.
INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS FOR CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY :
• Earth summit of Rio de Janeiro (1992), Brazil, promoted Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) which was signed by 152 nations.
• Its recommendations came into effect on 29th Dec. 1993. India became a party to this Convention on Biological Diversity in May, 1994.
The convention has three key objectives
a. Conservation of biological diversity
b. Sustainable use of biodiversity
c. Fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
A number of projects for the conservation and appropriate development of Biosphere Reserves, are being supported by the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN INDIA :
• India is a centre of rich biological diversity and has contributed significantly of the global biodiversity.
• India is a home land of 167 cultivated species and 320 wild relatives of crop plants.
• It is a centre of diversity of animal species (e.g. zebu, mithun, chicken, water buffalo, camel); crop plants (e.g. edible diascoreas, alocasia, colocasia); species and condiments (e.g., cardamom, black pepper, ginger, turmeric), bamboos, brassicas and tree cotton. India also represents a secondary centre of domestication for some animals (e.g. horse, goat, sheep, cattle, yak and donkey) and plants (e.g. tobacco, potato and maize).
• Because of the abundant diversity present in the country, its conservation is very important not only for the country but also for the rest of the world. Both in situ and ex situ conservation measures are being undertaken.
• Earth summit of Rio de Janeiro (1992), Brazil, promoted Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) which was signed by 152 nations.
• Its recommendations came into effect on 29th Dec. 1993. India became a party to this Convention on Biological Diversity in May, 1994.
The convention has three key objectives
a. Conservation of biological diversity
b. Sustainable use of biodiversity
c. Fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
A number of projects for the conservation and appropriate development of Biosphere Reserves, are being supported by the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN INDIA :
• India is a centre of rich biological diversity and has contributed significantly of the global biodiversity.
• India is a home land of 167 cultivated species and 320 wild relatives of crop plants.
• It is a centre of diversity of animal species (e.g. zebu, mithun, chicken, water buffalo, camel); crop plants (e.g. edible diascoreas, alocasia, colocasia); species and condiments (e.g., cardamom, black pepper, ginger, turmeric), bamboos, brassicas and tree cotton. India also represents a secondary centre of domestication for some animals (e.g. horse, goat, sheep, cattle, yak and donkey) and plants (e.g. tobacco, potato and maize).
• Because of the abundant diversity present in the country, its conservation is very important not only for the country but also for the rest of the world. Both in situ and ex situ conservation measures are being undertaken.
• The National parks, Wildlife sanctuaries and other protected areas maintained by the Ministry of Environment and Forests provide in situ conservation of biodiversity.
• The joint forest management systems involve forest departments and local communities to enable tribal and local people to have access to non-wood forest products (such as lac, silk, honey, wax, tendu leaves, etc.) and at the same time protect the forest resources.
• Major ex situ conservation of biodiversity is being managed by National Bureau of Plant, Animal and Fish Genetic Resources.
• There is an International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hydrabad for conserving germplasm of Groundnut, Pigeon Pea, Chick Pea, Pearl Millet and Sorghum.
• A number of other centres in India are maintaining hundred and thousands of present and past varieties of crop plants.
• Thus germplasms of plants and animals are being conserved in vitro in gene/seed banks, field gene banks, botanical gardens and zoological gardens.
• Being spread over different parts of the country, the various institutes are conserving regional variants of all types of important plants and animals.
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