7 Biosystematics
7.2 Biodiversity and Conservation
Biodiversity and Conservation
Dr V Malathi
The term “biodiversity” describes the variety of life on Earth, including the various plant, animal, fungal, and microbe species, as well as the genetic variations among these species and the ecosystems they create. It is essential for sustaining life cycles, preserving ecosystems, and supplying resources including materials, food, and medicine.
There are several organizational levels at which biodiversity can be measured. Ecologists have historically used the number of species and the number of individuals of each species (sometimes referred to as relative abundance) to calculate biodiversity. To help concentrate efforts to conserve the ecologically and technologically significant components of biodiversity, scientists are employing a variety of biodiversity metrics, such as genetic diversity.
“Biodiversity” by Dasgupta Review’s photo is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Types of Biodiversity
Ecosystem Collapse: When biodiversity declines, ecosystems become unstable and lose functions like pollination, water filtering, and soil fertility.
Climate Effects: The loss of carbon-sequestering wetlands and forests hastens climate change.
Food security risks : Includes decreased agricultural resilience and a smaller genetic pool for crop and livestock adaptation to novel situations due to biodiversity loss.
Economic Repercussions: The loss of biodiversity has an impact on a number of sectors, including fishing, tourism, and pharmaceuticals.
Health Risks: By reducing the natural checks on disease-carrying species like ticks and mosquitoes, reduced biodiversity raises the risk of disease.
Biodiversity Conservation
The process of safeguarding, controlling, and reestablishing biodiversity in order to maintain species, genetic variety, and ecosystems is known as biodiversity conservation. It is necessary to preserve the resilience, health, and benefits that ecosystems offer to both people and wildlife.
Types of Biodiversity Conservation
1. In-Situ Conservation
Conserving species in their natural habitats to maintain natural evolutionary processes is referred as In-situ conservation.
Strategies:
Protected areas : National parks, animal reserves, and marine sanctuaries are examples of protected areas that are created to shield ecosystems and habitats from human interference.
Community conservation: Participating in conservation initiatives with local people is known as “community conservation,” and it is frequently more sustainable since it serves their interests.
Ecosystem restoration : Rehabilitating damaged ecosystems in order to restore ecosystem functionality and biodiversity is known as ecosystem restoration.
In-Situ Biodiversity conservation in India
The creation of protected areas, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, and community reserves, is the main way that in-situ conservation is carried out in India.
Here are a few Examples:
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