BIODIVERSITY

Sat Aug 2,4, 2008 AM220 Lecture 10-11

 Outline
• What is Biodiversity?
• Estimation of Biodiversity
• Benefits of Biodiversity
• Threats to Biodiversity
• Biodiversity of India
• Genetic Engineering and Biodiversity
 Examples of Biodiversity

Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus)

The species has been extinct in the region

for 70 years mainly due to hunting and
habitat destruction.

Rafflesia arnoldii, the corpse flower (national flowers

in Indonesia)- has a strong and unpleasant odor of
decaying flesh. It is native to the rainforests of
Sumatra and Borneo
The last Asiatic cheetahs in PM Modi releases
cheetahs in MP forest 70
India, three males from the
years after they went
same litter, were shot in 1948—
extinct in India
while they were sitting together
at night—by Maharajah Sep 17, 2022
Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo
of Surguja State, Madhya
Pradesh, who poses behind
them with his rifle
• Amazon basin forest north of Manaus, Brazil.
• Image a 50 m tower, 30 minutes after rain, a few white
'clouds' above the canopy indicate rapid evaporation from
wet leaves after the rain.
• Canopy is typically 35 m.
Biodiversity of a coral reef.
Hopetoun Falls, Australia
A conservation effort, while continuing to allow visitor access.
Rainforests show exemplary biodiversity. This is the Gambia River in Senegal's
Niokolo-Koba National Park.
 What is Biodiversity?
Variation of life forms within a given
ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth.

• Measure of the health of biological

systems.
• Biodiversity on Earth today consists of
many millions of distinct biological species,
which is the product of four billion years of
evolution.
 Definitions
• Variation of life at all levels of biological organization

• Measure of the relative diversity among organisms present in

different ecosystems.

• Totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region.

• 1992 UN Earth Summit at Rio "the variability among living

organisms from all sources, including, 'inter alia', terrestrial,
marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological
complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within
species, between species and of ecosystems".
– adopted by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
 Biodiversity at 3 Levels
• Species Biodiversity
– Number or range of species in a given area
• Genetic Biodiversity
– Variations of genes within a species
• Ecosystem Diversity
– Diversity of habitat in a given area
There are 3 components of biodiversity

1. Diversity of genes
Chihuahuas, beagles, and rottweilers are all dogs—but
they're not the same because their genes are different.

Chihuahua Beagle
Rottweilers
 There are 3 components of biodiversity

Diversity of species

For example, monkeys, butterfly, and

Neelakurinji are all different species.

Saki Monkey Golden Birdwing: Neelakurinji

India's Largest Butterfly (Strobilanthes Kunthiana)
 There are 3 components of biodiversity
Variety of ecosystems

Prairies, Ponds, and tropical rain forests are all

ecosystems. Each one is different, with its own set of
species living in it.

Paines Prairie Florida Sand hill Pond

Rain Forest
 Estimation of Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is concept—objectives measures for
empirical measurement
• 2 criteria : Species richness & Species Evenness
• Measurement Indices:
– Species richness—only number of species.
– Simpson index—no. and relative abundance
– Shannon index—species as symbols and populations as
probability
– Alpha diversity—no. of taxa within the ecosystem
– Beta diversity is species diversity between ecosystems;
unique taxa comparison
– Gamma diversity is a measure of the overall diversity
for different ecosystems within a region.
 Compared to alpha and beta diversity, gamma diversity is a very large
scale measure.
 Today, we can observe a decline in gamma diversity all over the world.
Mass extinction in places around the world is one of the main reasons
for decreased gamma diversity.
 How many species do we have?
Numbers of identified modern species as of 2004
• 287,655 plants, including: – 58,808 vertebrates:
– 15,000 mosses,
– 13,025 ferns,
• 29,300 fish,
– 980 gymnosperms, • 5,743 amphibians,
– 199,350 dicotyledons, • 8,240 reptiles,
– 59,300 monocotyledons; • 10,234 birds,
– 74,000-120,000 fungi, • 5,416 mammals.
– 10,000 lichens;
• 1,250,000 animals, including:
– 1,190,200 invertebrates: However the total number of
• 950,000 insects, species for some phyla may
• 70,000 mollusks, be much higher: 10-30
• 40,000 crustaceans, million insects; 5-10 million
• 130,200 others;
bacteria; 1.5 million fungi; 1
million mites.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
 Benefits—Agriculture
• Gigantic economic impacts
• All food resources are products of biodiversity e.g.
Rice, wheat, potato
• We depend upon 40,000 types of plants and
animals.
• Few strains were domesticated. Thousands of
wild relatives exist.
• 80% of our food comes from just 15 species
• Infinite wealth of genetic material. Help combat
crop diseases, and prevent failure and starvation
 Biodiversity Rescues Crops
• Hybrid from a wild potato from Peru, for potato blight
resistance
• Gene from a wild Ethiopian barley saved Californian
barley from lethal yellow dwarf virus
• Genes from wild rice in India protect the Asian rice
crop from the 4 major rice diseases
• Disease resistance inherited from a wild Brazilian
cassava, increased yields of crop in India and Africa by
18 fold.
• US sugarcane industry collapse saved by wild Asian
species
• Wild Andean tomato increased sugar content of
tomatoes
 Benefits-Medicines and Chemicals
• 40% of pharmaceuticals have natural origin
– 121 prescription drugs from higher plants e.g. morphine,
codeine, quinine, atrophine, digitalis
• Only a tiny fraction of species are utilized; less than 1 %
of rainforest plants have been tested
• Pesticides
– Calabar bean led to discovery of methyl carbamate insecticides
– Daisy plants—pyrethrin (pesticides, lice remedy, mosquito
coils). Synthetic forms are ineffective isomers.
– South American vine stuns fish—biopesticide
– Bacillus thuringienesis—toxic proteins harmless to humans—
biopesticides
– Neem—insecticides—fungicides—spermicides; 90 patents
awarded on Neem based products.
 Benefits-Science
• Unique materials produced by animals
– Photosynthesis by plants; chlorophyll
– Chemoluminescence by fireflies
– Chitin from arthropods: biodegradable plastics
– Spider silk: 8 times stronger than steel!
– Biomimetic approaches in advanced and smart
materials
 Biodiversity, Stability and Evolution

• Diversity leads to stability

– Companies diversify to ensure survival; so does
nature
– So do plants, animals and ecosystems
• Enables adaptation to changing conditions
– Co-existence of different species; each adapted
to slightly different conditions.
– Selection
 Environmental Functions
• Water Resource protection
• Soil formation and protection
• Nutrient storage and recycling
• Pollution breakdown and absorption
• Maintain climate stability
• Maintain ecosystems
• Recovery from catastrophic events
 Thinking Beyond Utility
• Anthropocentric vs. Ecocentric and ethical views
• Don’t break what you cannot mend!
• It took Gaia 4 million years to bring about this
biodiversity
• You can be hanged to death for killing 1 person.
• What should be the punishment for wiping out an
entire species from the face of the earth?
• We are eliminating species at rates 1% per decade
or 2 species an hour!!!
 1.Trans Himalaya
2. Himalaya
3. Desert
4.Semi-arid
5.Western Ghats
6. Deccan Peninsula
7. Gangetic plain
8. Coasts
9. North east
10. Islands

10 Biogeographic zones , 26 Biotic

provinces
 Endemic Species in India
• Species, whose distribution is confined to a
small region
• At high risk of extinction
• Endemism-rich areas: NE, NW, and E
Himalayas, Western Ghats
• 44 mammals, 55 birds, 214 reptiles, 110
amphibians
Some examples….
 India as a Mega-Diverse Nation
• 8% of biodiversity on 2% of earth’s surface
• One of 12 megadiverse countries
• 10 biogeographic zone 26 biotic provinces
representing all ecosystems in the world.
• 33% of life forms on earth are found in India
• 5 World Heritage sites, 6 Ramsar Wetlands
 Biodiversity Hotspots
Regions that harbor a great diversity of endemic
species and at the same time be significantly
altered by human activities
• Must support 1500 endemic species (0.1% of
global)
• Must have lost more than 70% of original habitat
• 25 world hotspots have 44% of all plant species
and 35% of all vertebrates in 1.4% of land area
• 2 in India: Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats
 The Biodiversity Hotspot Next-Door
Western Ghats
• 17,000 km2 strip : Maharashtra to Kerala
• 49,219 plant species, 1600 endemics (40% of
India’s)
• Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
• 2 centers: Agastyamalai Hills and Silent
Valley/New Amambalam
• Only 6.8% of vegetation & <8000 km2 of primary
forest exists today.
• Significant endemic species for conservation:
Lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiri leaf
monkey, Brown palm civet
 Threats to Biodiversity
• Manmade mass extinction
• Habitat degradation and loss
• Exotic and Invasive species
• Pollution
• Overexploitation of resources
• Global Environmental Change
Some exotic weeds
 Biodiversity Conservation
• In Situ
- National parks/Wild life sanctuaries
- Biosphere reserve
- Sacred groves
• Ex Situ
– Seed banks/Gene Banks
– Zoos, Botanical gardens
– Cryopreservation
Conservation of biodiversity in India
– 1972 Project Tiger; 27 reserves; 35,000 km2
• Estimated less than 4000 tigers left in India
– 1991-92 Project Elephant, 12 states, 60,000 km2.
Providing corridors.
– Agencies like ZSI, BSI,WLI,SACON, WWF
 Major International Conventions
CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity:
objectives are "the conservation of biological diversity, the
sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable
sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic
resources.“ (176 countries have ratified the convention.)
CMS(1979) Convention on Migratory Species (68 states have
ratified the convention)
CITES (1973): The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (membership of 146 countries.)
Ramsar Convention: Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
(1972)
The World Heritage Convention (1971)
 Genetic Engineering and Biodiversity
• Species evolved in habitats with mutual
adaptation
• Natural evolution is slow and avoids
catastrophic imbalance
• Genetic engineering changes organisms
drastically for perceived human benefit;
disregarding effect on the environment
• GMOs are not adapted to the environment and
other beings are not adapted to them
 Genetically Engineered Mouse

Genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) is a mouse (Mus musculus) that has had its
genome altered through the use of genetic engineering techniques. GEMM are used for
research / as animal models of human diseases, and are also used for research on genes.
 Risks of GMOs

• May require large chemical and

other inputs for their survival
• May escape to the environment and
become invasive; catastrophic
effects
• In food, may produce substances
that may be dangerous to health.
 Genetic Pollution
• Undesirable and uncontrolled gene flow from
a genetically engineered (GE) or a genetically
modified organism (GMO) to wild populations
or a non GE/GM organism
• Can alter the genetic pool—an irreversible
change.
• Can lead to contamination of wild species,
indigenous crops or landraces.
 Arguments Against GMOs
• Genes replicate; genetic pollution
perpetuates causing irreversible damage to
environment, biodiversity and humans
• Genetic traits of GMOs may transfer to wild
relatives or other organisms
• Corporate giants; Patented genetic
materials; unfair litigation; control of food
and genetic resources; farmers suffer
• Safety for humans is not proven; allergies
and worse suspected
“Only after the last tree has been cut down……
Only after the last river has been poisoned…….
Only after the last fish has been caught………….
Only then will you find that money cannot be
eaten”…………………………………………………………