Aquatic Biodiversity
• Aquatic biodiversity can be defined as the variety of life and the
ecosystems that make up the freshwater, tidal, and marine regions of
the world and their interactions.
• Aquatic biodiversity encompasses freshwater ecosystems, including
lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, marine, streams, groundwater, and
wetlands.
• It also consists of marine ecosystems, including oceans, estuaries
(river mouth), salt marshes (swamplands), seagrass beds, coral reefs
and mangrove forests.
• Aquatic biodiversity includes all unique species, their habitats and
interaction between them. It consists of phytoplankton, zooplankton,
aquatic plants, insects, fish, birds, mammals, and others.
Aquatic systems
In most aquatic systems, the key factors determining the types and
numbers of organisms found at various depths are:
v water temperature,
v dissolved oxygen content,
v availability of food,
v availability of light
v availability nutrients for photosynthesis
Services
Life Zone
Mangrove forest and sea grass on the coast
Coral reef and lime stone at deep sea level
Food Web
Threats to Aquatic Biodiversity
• Factors like overexploitation of species, the introduction of
exotic species, urban, industrial, and agricultural pollution,
habitat loss, alteration through damming (blocking) and water
diversion all contribute to the loss of aquatic biodiversity in
both freshwater and marine environments.
• CO2, Water Pollution, etc
Major Human Impacts
Conservation of Aquatic Biodiversity
• An aquatic bio- reserve is a defined space within a water body in which fishing is
banned or other restrictions are placed in an effort to protect plants, animals,
and habitats.
• Regulatory measures must be taken on wastewater discharge in the water body
to conserve biological diversity.
• Increasing public awareness to conserve aquatic biodiversity through
educational programs, incentive programs, and volunteer monitoring programs.
• Plantation of trees in the catchment area of water body prevent soil erosion and
subsequently reduce the problem of slitation in water body resulting in better
survival of aquatic organisms.
• Avoid the establishment of industries, chemical plants and thermal power
plants near the water resources as their discharge affect the ecology of water
body resulted in loss of biodiversity.
GM FOOD
GENETICALLY- MODIFIED FOOD
Boon or a bane?
What are genetically modified foods?
vAccording to ‘World Health Organisation’
•“Genetically modified (GM) foods are
foods derived from organisms whose
genetic material (DNA) has been modified
in a way that does not occur naturally, i.e.
through the introduction of a gene from a
different organism.
To make Strawberry resistant to Frost
A strawberry
+ = resistant to
frost
Arctic fish DNA strawberry
ringspot virus
polygalacturonase
Why do we need GM crops?
Disease resistance
Improving the quantity of the FOOD COMPONENT
Increasing vitamin content
Stress tolerance
Herbicide resistance
Delayed ripening
Edible vaccine
Examples of GMO’s
• Golden rice – rice that contains beta-carotene
(Vitamin A), which is not found in regular rice.
• Bt corn – corn that contains a chemical
normally found in a bacterium (Bacillus
thuringiensis) that is toxic to insects but not to
humans.
• Herbicide resistant plants.
GMO Foods
How to make a GMO?
Modifying Genes
• Also called recombinant DNA technology, molecular
cloning, and genetic engineering.
1. Restriction enzymes are used to “cut” DNA segments
from one genome.
2. DNA ligases are used to “paste” them into another
genome.
Types of Modification
• Transgenic : gene inserted into them that are derived from
another species. plant to plant or Animal to plant
• Cisgenic: using genes found within the same species or closely
related one, where conventional plant breeding can occur. Its
useful for the plants that are difficult to crossbreed.
• Subgenic: using gene knockdown or gene knockout to alte6r the
genetic make up of a plant without incorporating gene from
other plants.
GM Foods Production Status
• 1996 to 2005: surface area of land with GMO’s
increased by a factor of 50
– from 17,000 km² to 900,000 km²
• Over 40 plant varieties
• 75% of all processed foods in the U.S. contain
a GM-derived ingredient
– Vegetable oils, cereals more common than fruits
and vegetables
How common are GMO foods?
Labeling of GM foods is not mandatory unless if there
is a health or safety concern (Health Canada/Canadian
Food Inspec9on Agency)
Future Developments
• GM foods continue to increase
– Bananas produce vaccines against Hepatitis B
– Fish that mature more rapidly
– Fruit and nut trees that produce fruit quicker
– Plants that produce new plastics
Potential Benefits
Humanitarian:
Pest resistance Cheaper
food
Reducing
Herbicide Improved
resistance
farming
world
Cold tolerance More food hunger
Drought
tolerance
and
improving
Increased nutrition
world
Edible vaccines health
Environmental: reduced use of herbicides
and chemicals in farming.
Potential Human Health Risks
Allergens
– Genetic engineering could potential introduce or create
allergens
– For example, inserting genes from a nut into another
plant could be dangerous for people who are allergic to
nuts
Unknown health risks
– Biological processes involve a lot of INTERACTIONS
– It is oken difficult to identify every possible interaction.
Creating a balance
• So are GM foods a
good or bad thing?
• It depend on each
individual case.
• Consumers, the
government and
scientists should be Improved Nutrition
responsible for Resistance to disease
Environmental
risks
weighing the
Reduced use of Health risks
benefits against the chemicals
Economic risks
costs.
