EVS UNIT 4 (Part 1) - BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Summary

In this video, Neha Green Planet provides an insightful exploration of biodiversity, the fourth chapter in an environmental science course. Biodiversity is the variability of life forms on Earth, existing at three levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem. The video delves into India's rich biodiversity, highlighting its status as a mega biodiverse nation due to its ten biogeographical zones and numerous endemic species. The lecture also discusses the importance of biodiversity, both direct, such as food and medicine, and indirect, like cultural and ecological services. Additionally, it touches on the global biodiversity context and how biodiversity is quantified at various scales. This serves as a foundation for understanding the threats to biodiversity and conservation strategies, which will be explored in the next unit.

Highlights

• Biodiversity exists at three levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem, each essential for ecological richness. 🤓
• India's biodiversity includes ten zones and many endemic species, marking its mega biodiverse status. 🇮🇳
• Direct values of biodiversity hold monetary benefits like food and medicine, while indirect values offer cultural and environmental benefits. 🌾💊
• Forests play a significant role in groundwater recharge and soil conservation, showcasing the vital ecological services of biodiversity. 🌳
• Global biodiversity is vast, with numerous species yet to be discovered, urging the need for conservation efforts. 🔬

Key Takeaways

• Biodiversity thrives at genetic, species, and ecosystem levels, each contributing to Earth's ecological richness. 🌍
• India is a biodiversity powerhouse with ten biogeographical zones and numerous endemic species, making it a mega biodiverse nation. 🇮🇳
• Direct and indirect values of biodiversity include valuable resources like food and medicines, as well as cultural and ecological services. 💊🌿

Overview

Biodiversity is at the heart of Earth's ecological balance, flourishing on genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. From the underlying diversity within a single species' genetic makeup to the intricate interdependencies found in ecosystems, biodiversity shapes our world. The video introduces these concepts, laying a foundation for appreciating the role of biodiversity in life on Earth.

India stands as a keystone of global biodiversity, noted for its ten biogeographical zones and multitude of endemic species. This rich tapestry of life forms underlines India's status as a mega biodiverse nation, boasting an array of unique species adapted to diverse climates and habitats found nowhere else. Such biological wealth highlights India's pivotal role in global conservation efforts.

Exploring the values of biodiversity reveals its profound impact on human life. Direct values, such as food and medicinal resources, offer tangible, monetary benefits. In contrast, indirect values extend to cultural, ethical, and ecological services that enrich human experience and well-being. Recognizing these values is vital for fostering a deeper appreciation for biodiversity's role, motivating conservation efforts to protect our planet's natural heritage.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Biodiversity In the chapter 'Introduction to Biodiversity', the concept of biodiversity is explained as the variability of living organisms existing on Earth. The chapter is part of an environment course and focuses on defining biodiversity and examining its different levels, such as genetic and species diversity. The content is designed to introduce the fundamental aspects of biodiversity, highlighting the importance of variation and variability among life forms.
• 10:00 - 20:40: Levels of Biodiversity This chapter discusses ecosystem-level biodiversity, highlighting India's status as a mega bio diverse nation. It covers the various biogeographical zones in the country, biodiversity hotspots, and endemic and endangered species of India. The chapter also touches on the IUCN Red List criteria and the importance of biodiversity. Finally, it addresses threats to biodiversity such as habitat loss, poaching, and biological invasions.
• 20:40 - 33:59: Importance of Biodiversity The chapter titled 'Importance of Biodiversity' discusses various strategies and methods employed in biodiversity conservation. It mentions specific approaches like the MC2 and XA2 methods, which are used to protect plant and animal life. The chapter also discusses key terms such as keystone, flagship, umbrella, and indicator species, which are crucial in conservation biology. Additionally, it includes case studies of significant conservation efforts such as Project Tiger, Project Elephant, the Vulture Breeding Program, Project Great Indian Bustard, and the Crocodile Conservation Project. Overall, the text emphasizes the diversity of life forms on Earth and the necessity of preserving this biodiversity.
• 33:59 - 43:00: Sacred Groves and their Significance Biodiversity is crucial across different ecosystems, whether terrestrial or aquatic. It refers to the variety and variability of living organisms from all sources, including land, marine, and other aquatic environments. Biodiversity highlights the importance of variations in ecological complexes.
• 43:00 - 50:00: Biodiversity at Different Scales This chapter explores biodiversity at three distinct levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem. It begins by explaining genetic level biodiversity, where variations exist within a particular species. For example, in humans (Homo sapiens), there are numerous differences among individuals. The chapter further delves into the other levels of biodiversity, emphasizing the importance of variations in biodiversity at each scale.
• 50:00 - 78:30: Why India is Mega Biodiverse The chapter explores the concept of genetic biodiversity, emphasizing the differences in intellectual behavior, appearance, skin color, and hair color among human beings. These variations are attributed to the differences in genetic composition, primarily DNA and RNA. Genetic level biodiversity refers to the diverse combinations of genes found within organisms, leading to variability. Ultimately, the chapter highlights the critical role genetic diversity plays in the broader context of biodiversity.
• 78:30 - 83:35: Regional Biodiversity Assessment The chapter explains the concept of genetic variability which is observed when genes within the same species show different versions due to new combinations. This variability is not restricted to humans but is also seen in other species such as plants. For instance, roses can exist in different colors due to genetic variation. Similarly, there is genetic diversity within species like rice.
• 83:35 - 84:30: Conclusion and Next Topics The chapter discusses the variations within the species 'Oryza sativa' or rice species. It highlights how gene combinations contribute to the diversity observed in rice, with grains appearing in different colors such as white, pale white, and brown. This genetic variation is part of the biodiversity observed within a species. Furthermore, the chapter touches upon the broader concept of biodiversity existing at the species level, encouraging readers to observe their surroundings to understand these concepts better.

EVS UNIT 4 (Part 1) - BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello everyone in this video we are going to learn biodiversity which is chapter number 4 of environment course biodiversity means variability of living organism existing on our earth so this variation and variability of life form is actually biodiversity and the main content of this chapter are definition of biodiversity along with different levels like genetic species
• 00:30 - 01:00 ecosystem level biodiversity second india as a mega bio diverse nation different kinds of biogeographical zones of our country biodiversity hottest spot endemic and endangered species of india iucn red list criteria value of biodiversity that means importance of biodiversity threats to biodiversity like habitat loss poaching biological invasion
• 01:00 - 01:30 biodiversity conservation strategy like mc2 xa2 methods which are used for protecting plants and animals along with different terms like keystone flagship umbrella indicator species and different case studies like project tiger project elephant vulture breeding program project great indian bastard crocodile conservation project etc so biodiversity is variation in life form that exists on earth we find variations in life form at all
• 01:30 - 02:00 level on land there are different types of plants and animal same way in aquatic ecosystem diversity of life is really important so biodiversity means variations and variability of living organism from all sources including terrestrial marine and other aquatic ecosystems along with ecological complexes of which they are part biodiversity that means variation in
• 02:00 - 02:30 life form exists at three levels first genetic level second there are variations at the level of species and third variations in life form are also observed at the at this third level that is ecosystem level biodiversity so first is genetic level biodiversity so within a particular species we find lot of variations let us take our own species humans or homo sapiens we all are different in
• 02:30 - 03:00 intellectual behavior we are different in appearance and we have different skin color hair color etc so these variations are possible only because of different genetic composition that means our dna rna varies from each other so genetic level biodiversity means the genes which are found in organism show different kinds of combination and these combinations result in variability genes are basically dna rna they are the
• 03:00 - 03:30 basic hereditary information which are transmitted from one generation to another so when genes within the same species show different version due to new combination it is called genetic variability not only in humans these genetic variations are present in other species too so within the members of any other species for example let's say rose roses are of different color and that is possible due to genetic variation same way rice are different in
• 03:30 - 04:00 appearance some of the rices are white some rice grains are pale white and some are brown so these variations in uraisa sativa or rice species is taking place due to different gene combinations so gene combination result in lot of variations in life form and these variations are within the member of same species second type of biodiversity exist at the level of a species see around yourself you are
• 04:00 - 04:30 surrounded by numerous species for example there are many types of producers like grass flowering plant trees there is also variation in species like herbivore birds etc so in an area different types of species comprise of species level biodiversity so species level biodiversity is the variability found within the population
• 04:30 - 05:00 of species or between different species of a community community is a subunit of ecosystem where we only consider living organism so if population of different living organism is considered then it is community and we do find in community different types of population belonging to different species like in this picture you can see population of tree population of grass flowering plant herbivore carnivore and bird so overall species level biodiversity
• 05:00 - 05:30 represent species richness and their abundance in the community we can even calculate a species richness by using shannon wiener index and simpson index so scientists use the complex equation to find out exact biodiversity of a place and this index is known as shannon wiener diversity index as per estimate by one of the famous scientist wilson in 1992 it is predicted
• 05:30 - 06:00 that on earth we have around 10 million to 50 million species that is really a huge number but we have explored only few of them so we only knows about 1.5 million living species and we do do know about three lakh fossil species so these are the species for which we have done scientific analysis and we have named them but however at the rate by which we are causing harm to the environment it is
• 06:00 - 06:30 quite likely that large fraction of these species may become extinct even before they are discovered or enlisted third level of biodiversity exists at ecosystem so ecosystem that means a place where we have living organism interacting with a biotic component ecosystem can also be defined as a place which is a subunit of biosphere and we find living non-living components interdependent on each other for example
• 06:30 - 07:00 forest is an ecosystem grassland desert they are all ecosystem so in any ecosystem we find lot of variations in life form for example in aquatic ecosystem we find fishes along with water so there is variations in the number of species present in aquatic ecosystem the life form which occur in aquatic ecosystem is totally different from what is present in desert ecosystem so in desert we find more of cactus species
• 07:00 - 07:30 and an abiotic component we find sand so the species differ from ecosystem to ecosystem same way there are grassland ecosystem which have lot of herbivores and forest ecosystem which have tall trees and also many carnivorous and herbivorous species so each ecosystem is unique in terms of their own biotic and abiotic composition there is also uniqueness in terms of food chain and food web
• 07:30 - 08:00 so we can say that ecosystem level biodiversity is important because it include complexity in ecological niche ecological niche means the place where an organism live and what role that organism play in ecosystem for example tiger is in forest and it is a carnivorous species so each ecosystem has its unique organism with their own niche and each species is playing a particular role in ecosystem
• 08:00 - 08:30 so all the ecosystem also are complex in terms of food chain so there is a set food chain which operate in forest which differs from desert ecosystem every ecosystem is also unique in terms of trophic structure so every ecosystem has trophic structure means that these are the stages at which energy exchange take place for example in aquatic ecosystem we find phytoplanktons occupying first trophic level so these
• 08:30 - 09:00 are algae or small plants that are at first trophic level and they capture sunlight directly phytoplanktons are consumed by zooplanktons so zooplanktons occur at trophic level number two trophic level number three is occupied by small fish and trophic level four is occupied by big fish so at every trophic level we are finding set organisms now what organism we are observing in aquatic ecosystem they will be completely different from what we have in forest
• 09:00 - 09:30 so ecosystem level biodiversity means variability at the level of ecosystem so every ecosystem is unique in terms of trophic structure food chain ecological niche also there are variations which we observe in abiotic component and biotic components so for example a biotic component of aquatic ecosystem is water but abiotic component in desert is mostly sand same way biotic component vary from
• 09:30 - 10:00 ecosystem to ecosystem so ecosystem level biodiversity means diversity of ecological complexity and there are lot of variation in ecosystem in terms of ecological niche trophic structure food web nutrient cycling etc ecosystem also show variation with respect to physical parameters like moisture temperature altitude precipitation all these parameters differ [Music] thus there occur tremendous diversity
• 10:00 - 10:30 within ecosystem along different physical parameters so we can summarize here that biodiversity exists at three levels first at a very broad level we can say ecosystem level biodiversity within ecosystem we find species level biodiversity where different species are present and within a species for example within humans we find lot of variation so each species also show variations and
• 10:30 - 11:00 differences in life form due to new type of genetic combination so that is genetic level biodiversity biodiversity is very very important let's see the importance of biodiversity in detail so first is direct value so biodiversity play very important role because we are obtaining certain substances from nature plant or animals which we are using directly
• 11:00 - 11:30 and direct value is also easy to associate with monetary benefit we can directly put a price tag on them for example we can say food food is obtained from plant and there is a price tag that can be associated with food so direct value are obtained directly from plants or animals and also they have a price tag attached to them on the other hand second type of value is indirect value indirect value means those benefits which we are obtaining
• 11:30 - 12:00 from plants and animal and those benefits are difficult to be associated with any monetary terms direct value is further of two type consumptive value and second productive value consumptive value means those substances which we directly consume from nature and also we can attach price to them productive means when we convert substances into some kind of commodity and then add price to them
• 12:00 - 12:30 indirect value are difficult to be associated with any kind of monetary gain and these are of following types first social and cultural value second ethical value third aesthetic value fourth optional value and fifth environmental service value let's see the first direct value so direct value means those benefit which we get from plants and animal and the benefits can directly be correlated to monetary terms in this we have two types consumptive
• 12:30 - 13:00 value so consumptive value means those substances which we are getting from nature we are using it in the same manner and we can also attach price to them for example food we are obtaining large number of food fruits etc from nature and there is a price which is attached to all of them second is medicine we get lot of medicines so many medicines are directly extracted from plant leaves or plant parts for example penicillin which is an
• 13:00 - 13:30 antibiotic prepared from fungus penicillium dj telus digitalis is a plant is used for manufacturing digital in and it is a cure for heart diseases catheter although play very important role in curing cancer or another consumptive value which we can note here is fuel wood fuel wood is collected from the forest and it is used for burning and for make for cooking purpose so fuel wood comes under direct value second type of direct
• 13:30 - 14:00 value is productive value productive value include those substances which are obtained from nature and then converted into some kind of commodity and product so this commodity and product has monetary value attached to it for example say the timber play very important role in manufacturing of furnitures like cheer table etc so these cheer and table are the new products so these we can say that biodiversity has a productive value so
• 14:00 - 14:30 the products can be sold in the market and there is a price tag attached to these products same way from cow we extract milk milk is the product which is sold in the market and thereby it comes under productive use value elephant are hunted down for their task tusk is valuable in the market because many statues are made out of it and unfortunately productive use value is sometimes responsible for decline of the species number like in
• 14:30 - 15:00 this case elephant has now been pushed to endangered category just because of hunting for their teeth so after direct value let's learn indirect value indirect value are those benefits which we get from plants and animal and they are difficult to be associated with any kind of monetary terms so that means we cannot put any kind of price tag on them they are of following types social and
• 15:00 - 15:30 cultural value ethical value aesthetic value optional value and environmental service value so first is social value so in different parts of the world plants and animals are in association with society and religious belief for example in india banyan tree is worshipped during bud sabetri festival it is believed that married ladies they have to tie the thread around banyan tree which could lead to
• 15:30 - 16:00 long life of their husband such type of rituals help in propagating the traditional belief from one generation to another same way in india tulsi is considered to be sacred and worshipped in almost every home not only this even in other religion like christianity we consider christmas tree to be sacred and it is decorated during christmas festival rituals also revolve around use of plant parts like flower leaves etc these are
• 16:00 - 16:30 offered to the god even cow is considered to be sacred in india animal like snake are also worshipped in india so these traditional belief which revolve around plant and animal are transferred from one generation to another because of the existence of these animals second is ethical value ethical value refers to the moral value so we consider that animals and plants have
• 16:30 - 17:00 a moral value attached we should live and let live other species so there is propagation of this ethical and moral value from one generation to another only because of existence of these animals not only this we feel really sorry for some of the species which are no longer there like dodo bird or passenger pigeon third is aesthetic value aesthetic value refers to the beauty of the place so a place which is green and clean is always very attractive for
• 17:00 - 17:30 everyone there is some kind of pleasure that we get from the site which is quite green not only this the greenery also affect our psychology many diseases can be cured by staying in a green or peaceful environment so this aesthetic value which is associated with biodiversity cannot be assessed in terms of money but it is there we all are getting benefited by nature not only this many people are willing to
• 17:30 - 18:00 pay for you know entering into wilderness areas like for example national park this mode by which we can earn money from nature is known as eco-tourism for this optional value optional value means potential of plant or animal to be useful in future so this is an indirect benefit which may which we may explore in future right now we not we may not have discovered any plant which might be
• 18:00 - 18:30 there in kerala or in remote parts of the world but in future that species may become really useful to us so we should let that option open for us to explore them in coming years and this is known as optional value fifth is environmental service value environmental service value is associated with plants and animals a place which has lot of plants and animal in it so that place automatically become very rich it becomes very healthy ecosystem a
• 18:30 - 19:00 balanced ecosystem and balanced ecosystem is associated with different types of benefit in such area we can get provisioning service that means some kind of good that we can obtain directly from ecosystem so if ecosystem is healthy due to plants and animal we can get food fuel wood fiber timber etc second we can also get lot of regulating service benefit that means ecosystem which is healthy because of existence of several plant also serves the purpose of
• 19:00 - 19:30 controlling various environmental processes in such a place disaster will be very less there will be less kind of flood issues there will be lot of water purification pests will be regulated climate will automatically be maintained these comes under regulating services third a place where plants and animals are quite rich in number that place also serve for cultural benefits in that place people would like
• 19:30 - 20:00 to go for spiritual needs for recreational for aesthetic beauty and for educational purpose lastly a place where we find lot of plants in animal also have lot of supporting service we can expect hydrological cycle to be maintained soil is formed in right manner nutrient cycle and primary production primary production means photosynthetic process by which organic matter is formed all of these benefits will continue
• 20:00 - 20:30 and thereby we can say that this indirect value is associated with biodiversity now in relation to importance of biodiversity sacred grooves are very important sacred roofs are those places or patch of forests which are worshiped in india just imagine biodiversity is so much connected to human life that we have forest patches which are worship and consider to be sacred so
• 20:30 - 21:00 in many parts of india and also across the world there are places in the forest which are worshiped it is believed that forests have some kind of tree spirit or one devdas and these are spirits or devdas or gods they are worshipped in forested region in fact we can say that sacred groove comprises of patches of forest or natural vegetation that are usually dedicated to local god or tree spirit
• 21:00 - 21:30 van devdas now these forests could be very large and they could be very small also in number these sacred groove spaces are protected by local community because of their religious belief and traditional ritual that run through several generations now degree of sanctity of sacred forest varies from place to place in some part of our country we have complete prohibition of human interference so tribal people or local
• 21:30 - 22:00 people maintain this highest degree of sanctity and they believe that any kind of harm done to the forest will affect them so they are very fearful of god for example garu and khasi tribe of northeast india do not allow any human interference they don't allow any kind of leaf to be picked from forest or any harm done to the forest is not allowed on the other hand there are places where we find partial prohibition of human interference for
• 22:00 - 22:30 example gaunts of central india is the tribe which protect their forest area but the degree of sanctity is little less so they do allow picking up of dead leaves or dried fruit but they don't allow any kind of harm to be done on the trees or the forest area so this degree of sanctity varies but in all sacred fruit forest we do observe that people are fearful of god and they are basically protecting the forest
• 22:30 - 23:00 because they believe that any kind of damage to the forest would lead to some kind of disaster or their crop will fail to grow overall in india we have around 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh sacred groups so this picture clearly tells us how many sacred group we have for example in himachal pradesh 5000 sacred grooves maharashtra has around 2837 sacred groups karnataka has
• 23:00 - 23:30 1531 sacred groups and so on now there is ecological significance attached to sacred groove first a place which is protected will definitely have rich forest cover so in such area we find lot of floral that means plant diversity and fauna that means animal diversity so the sacred grooves are important repositories of floral and faunal diversity that have been conserved by
• 23:30 - 24:00 local community in sustainable manner second these forest groves they also have uh ability to recharge aquifers so a place where we find lot of forest we can expect that soil will be binded properly and amount of water that comes down through rainfall will seep underground and will help in recharging ground water table so a place where we have forests we do expect hydrological cycle is maintained and all pond stream springs are
• 24:00 - 24:30 recharged through rainwater so this helps in meeting the water requirement of local people and vegetative cover also help in recharging the aquifers a place where we have forest cover which is protected and considered to be sacred definitely will have a better soil conservation trees bind soil and therefore the vegetation cover of sacred groove improves soil stability of the area and prevent soil erosion however at present sacred groups are
• 24:30 - 25:00 facing lot of threat so patches of forest which are worshipped are also facing lot of threats first there is gradual disappearance of traditional belief so people are no longer considering sacred grooves seriously they are considering these rituals and system just like a superstition second with rapid urbanization and developmental activity like construction of road railway dam commercial forestry etc we are intruding inside the sacred groove space and many
• 25:00 - 25:30 times we find that these sacred grooves are destroyed in the process of development many groups are also suffering due to the transformation of primitive form of nature worship into formal temple worship so no longer people are going inside forest to worship their god they do have a new mechanism of worshipping inside the formal temple many a times in sacred groove area or in forest patch we do find invasion by exotic weeds exotic weeds or unwanted
• 25:30 - 26:00 plants or you can say invasive species for example lentana gemara prosopis julie flora they are invasive species and they are serious thread to these grooves these invasive species they multiply very fast and secrete toxic substances from their root so these toxic substances do not let growth of native flora so gradually the forest diversity deplete and thereby they are serious threat to the grooves
• 26:00 - 26:30 moreover there is pressure due to increasing livestock and fuel wood collection now let's see the biodiversity or at different areas so we can calculate biodiversity of diet or diversity that exists on our earth at three different level global biodiversity second national level biodiversity and third regional level biodiversity so global biodiversity means variability
• 26:30 - 27:00 of life form that exists overall on earth national level biodiversity means variability of lifeform that exists in our country and regional is at much smaller scale so first global biodiversity global biodiversity is extremely high so at the level of entire world we know that there are around 50 million species out of which we just know about few of them
• 27:00 - 27:30 so we just know about 1.5 million species only so there are different groups which have been identified by scientists like bacteria protozoan algae fungus higher plants sponges jellyfish flat worms snail insect mite fish amphibian reptile bird mammal so there is lot of diversity that exists at the level of world this biodiversity that exists at the level of world is maximum at the region of tropical evergreen forest
• 27:30 - 28:00 temperate forest and aquatic region like ocean biodiversity also exists in india so there is tremendous biodiversity or variation in life form in india in fact india is considered as mega bio diverse country india has extremely rich biodiversity it holds the rank of 10th among plant rich countries of the world it is ranked 11th in terms of endemic species of higher vertebrate it is also at the rank of sixth
• 28:00 - 28:30 among centre of diversity and origin of agricultural crops so let's see few reasons why india is so rich in biodiversity so the first reason why india is rich in biodiversity can be associated with 10 bio geographical zones second reason is india is centre of origin for many plants third india has many endemic species fourth india has four hottest spot of biodiversity so let's study all these factors in
• 28:30 - 29:00 detail so india is mega biodiverse because of 10 biogeographical zones in the country these 10 biogeographical zones are demarcated based on climatic condition vegetation and faunal composition so in india each place is unique for example if we consider jammu kashmir it is extremely cold and if we go to northeast part of the country climatic conditions will vary so in india every corner of our country
• 29:00 - 29:30 has a unique distinct kind of climatic condition which has resulted in evolution of set plants and animals so considering this overall biodiversity of india is extremely high so these 10 biogeographical zones are first trans himalaya so trans himalaya is the region where we have jammu kashmir that means northern part of our country the climatic
• 29:30 - 30:00 condition is extremely cold so only few species which can survive in extremely cold kind of climatic conditions are found in france himalaya for example snow leopard alpine plants himalayan balsam second bio geographical zone is himalayas himalayas include north west part where we have jammu kashmi uttarakhand himachal region himalayas also include northeast part
• 30:00 - 30:30 of our country so himalayan mountain range vary in the temperature and in himalayas we find lot of diversity in himalayas we find large number of species for example pine tree which comes under coniferous forest musketeer and rhododendron species third biogeographical zone is desert desert include parts of rajasthan in india so in desert the climatic condition is
• 30:30 - 31:00 extremely hot so this extremely harsh hot kind of climatic condition can support growth of certain plants for example we find cactus we do find great indian busted species chinkara camel so all these species are somewhat adapted to stay in harsh hot conditions of desert fourth biogeographical zone is semi-arid region which include parts of rajasthan and gujarat in this area we find large number of
• 31:00 - 31:30 species again for example asiatic loyan is endemic to gujarat we find it in gear national park of gujarat second chinkara and there are many other coastal species which are associated with gujarat or this semi-arid region fifth bio biogeographical zone is western ghat western ghat include parts of gujarat maharashtra karnataka kerala and this place has maximum diversity in terms of
• 31:30 - 32:00 species number so western heart is also hottest spot of biodiversity in india and we find large number of unique endemic species of in western heart regions for example in western heart we find evergreen kinds of forest the trees are very dense broad leaf trees are usually found in western heart area we have loyantal mecca which is one of the endemic species in western ghat and asian elephant are also found in
• 32:00 - 32:30 western ghat region sixth biogeographical zone is deccan peninsula so deccan peninsula includes central part of our country it includes parts of andhra pradesh telangana madhya pradesh and this is the region which receive comparatively less rainfall if we compare it with western guard and this rainfall is supporting deciduous kind of trees so in tekken peninsula we find a lot of deciduous trees which have particular characteristic that they are leave
• 32:30 - 33:00 detached from the surface especially during the dry time period we have lot of tears in deccan peninsula seventh seventh bio geographical region is gangetic plane so gangetic plane include parts of uttarakhand uttar pradesh bengal etc through which river river ganga flows so in this gangetic plain we find large number of agricultural crop because gangetic plain is the region which is
• 33:00 - 33:30 very fertile so we find sugarcane cultivation we do have an asian elephant in uttarakhand and buffaloes and other kind of domesticated animals eighth biogeographical zone is the coastal region so the coastal region that means eastern coast of our country include parts of orissa and pradesh tamil nadu and here the coastal diversity is very high so we find large number of coastal or aquatic species for example mangrove trees
• 33:30 - 34:00 fishes etc ninth biogeographical zone is in northeast so this northeast biogeographical zone is again very rich in biodiversity we all know that monsoon enters either from the side of kerala or from northeast region so there are places in northeast which receive extremely high rainfall like chirapunji region so in northeast we do find tropical rainforest and there are animals which are endemic to northeast like one horn rhinoceros
• 34:00 - 34:30 orchids etc 10th biogeographical zone include island like andoman island and lakshadweep island these islands are right in the center of water and thereby there is large diversity in the area of ireland so we do have we do find lot of coral species in island region there are large number of mangrove trees found in island areas and coconut trees so these are the 10 bio geographical
• 34:30 - 35:00 zone in india we have a lot of diversity in terms of climatic condition life form formal diversity and that makes our country quite unique in terms of biodiversity so india is mega bio diverse nation because of 10 biogeographical zones so india is extremely rich in biodiversity because of 10 biogeographical zone and second reason why india is rich in plant and animal species is due to center of origin
• 35:00 - 35:30 so india has been center of a region for many plant and animal species for example rice rice that we eat every day has originated from india and then it got spread to china and other parts of asia it is believed that when alexander the great invaded india then he took various rice samples from our country and this is the reason how rice spread to other
• 35:30 - 36:00 middle east country and from middle east many arab travelers visited europe and then rice got spread to other parts of europe so rice has the main center of origin as india brinjal is another species which has its origin from our own country same black pepper is the main crop which has originated from india and then it got spread to other parts of the world so india is rich in biodiversity and is considered to be mega bio diverse
• 36:00 - 36:30 because of 10 bio geographical zone because of centre of origin and the third reason is endemic species so there are large number of species which are found only in india and nowhere else they are present so that makes the composition of flora and bona quite high in india so these endemic species are those which are restricted to a particular place so species which are restricted only to a particular place are known as endemic
• 36:30 - 37:00 for example loyal tale mecca is endemic to western heart of our country asiatic loin is endemic to gujarat nilgiri tar is endemic to southern india so endemism helps in increasing the diversity of the country and thereby india is mega biodiverse nation now india is also considered to be mega bio diverse country because of the fourth reason that we have four hottest spot of biodiversity in the country
• 37:00 - 37:30 itself so biodiversity hottest spot basically means a place where biodiversity is concentrated overall in the world we have large number of biodiversity hot spot which are marked in red color here in the map so these hottest parts of biodiversity are the places where plant and animal number is concentrated so more of plants and animals are present in this area so we can say that biodiversity is not uniformly present across the world but is more concentrated in certain part of
• 37:30 - 38:00 the world in india we have extremely high biodiversity because there are four hottest spots within our own nation so out of 36 hottest spots which are present in the world four are located in india itself so there are large number of hottest spot for example we have mediterranean basin western african forest brazil atlantic forest and in india we have areas like indo-burma western ghat
• 38:00 - 38:30 himalayas which are part of hottest spots so hot spot means area which exhibit extremely high number of species and there is lot of species endemism that means a place where the number of species is also very high and the number of those species which are only restricted to that place and nowhere else found are also very high so such area are known as hottest spots of biodiversity term hottest spot was introduced by scientist norman mear in the year 1988
• 38:30 - 39:00 and according to norman mayer the criteria of hottest spot include following things first a place must contain at least 1 500 species of vascular plant in that region so out of total vascular plant which are present in the world at least 1500 should be present in that area to be considered as hot spot and those species which are present should be more endemic to the place second
• 39:00 - 39:30 it has to have lost more than 70 percent of its original native habitat so the point is that these hot spots have high species number high number of endemic species also plus there is some kind of threat which is posing the risk to these endemic species and then we can classify that area as hottest spot in india we have four hottest spots so out of 36 hottest spot that exists in the world we have four in india and
• 39:30 - 40:00 these four are first himalayan region so himalayas of north west side which include parts of jammu kashmir uttarakhand himachal area and also himalayas of the eastern side are included in this category second second hottest spot of biodiversity is western ghat so western ghat include parts of maharashtra karnataka kerala tamil nadu and this is extremely rich area in terms of plant animal number
• 40:00 - 40:30 third hottest spot of biodiversity is indo-burma so indo-burma region is extremely high in plant and animal number so since hot spots are recognized internationally indo burma include part of india and also part of other country like myanmar for this sunda land again this is one of the hottest spot which is internationally demarcated so from our country we have a nicobar island included in sunda land but there are
• 40:30 - 41:00 other countries like malaysia philippines which are part of sunderland let's study first himalayan hottest spot of biodiversity so the first area where we find rich composition of plant and animal is known as himalayas so himalayan hot spot stretched in an arc over 3000 kilometers of northern pakistan nepal bhutan north west and northeast state of the country so in northwest we include jammu kashmir himachal uttarakhand in northeast we
• 41:00 - 41:30 include himalayas for example in the place of sikkim so himalayan mountain ridge cover almost 7 lakh 50 000 kilometers square and it is divided into two regions eastern himalayas and western himalayas so eastern himalaya include parts of sikkim and other northeast states western himalayas include parts of jammu kashmir uttarakhand himachal etc so the geographical position
• 41:30 - 42:00 physiography climatic and altitudinal variation of himalayas have contributed to high level of plant diversity and endemism so the climatic condition is such that lot of species have become endemic to this place second western heart so second hottest part of biodiversity is western ghat western ghat include parts of maharashtra karnataka kerala goa etc so in this region of our country we find extremely high level of biodiversity
• 42:00 - 42:30 so western heart extent along 17 000 kilometer square strip of forest which include maharashtra karnataka tamil nadu kerala at least 40 percent of species are endemic plants we also have 62 percent amphibians endemic only to western heart 50 percent of lizard are found only in western garden nowhere else present we do find forest track up to 500 meter elevation and it covered 20 percent of
• 42:30 - 43:00 the forest so forest in western heart include evergreen forest also if you go up on the mountain range which are present in western ghat so at the level of 500 to 1500 meter range there are even semi evergreen forest main center of diversity are a gerstamalai hill and silent valley region lot of area a lot of species which are present in western ghat are endemic but the point is that these western cuts are also facing threat 6.8 percent of original forest
• 43:00 - 43:30 are present today and they are also facing the risk of deforestation because uh and because of rapid urbanization so there is a serious uh risk that these these areas where we have rich number of species might be lost very soon and that will lead to loss of biodiversity third hottest spot is indo burma indo-parma is included in parts of myanmar thailand veithnam
• 43:30 - 44:00 from our country we include two region in indo-burma first northeast part and second anduman region so indo-burma hottest spot covers very high area of tropical asia it include eastern bangladesh it also include northeast part from our own country it include myanmar parts of china laos vietnam cambodia thailand
• 44:00 - 44:30 malaysia and andaman region so this entire stretch is part of indo-burma region from our country we include northeast india and andaman island in this region in this area we find large number of mixed wet evergreen forest dry evergreen deciduous and montane forest we also do find shrub land and woodland in addition a wide variety of this place
• 44:30 - 45:00 also include low land floodplain swamps mangrove vegetation and grassland fourth hottest part of biodiversity in india is sunda land sula sundar land include parts of philippine indonesia singapore from our country india nicobar island is included in sunda land so sundal land include nicobar island but it also include other countries like
• 45:00 - 45:30 indonesia malaysia singapore philippines it is one of the richest biological hottest spot it holds 25 000 species of vascular plant 15 000 of which are present only here and nowhere else but right now these sunderland region is facing lot of destruction lot of industries like rubber production industry pulp industry commercial industries other commercial industries are requiring resources from these forests
• 45:30 - 46:00 and these forests are therefore depleting so threat to the forest of this region is definitely going to affect the biodiversity of the place so in some total we can say that biodiversity of our country is extremely high and the reason why the biodiversity of india is very high is due to following reason first in india we have 10 biogeographical zone second in india there are large number of endemic species third we have center of a region of
• 46:00 - 46:30 plants in india fourth india has four hottest spot of biodiversity not only this india has a long coastline and this coastline adds to the overall bio diversity of the country we have large number of coastal aquatic species included in our biodiversity to summarize we can say that india is extremely rich in biodiversity and thereby it is considered to be a mega bio diverse nation
• 46:30 - 47:00 let's study biodiversity at regional level regional level means at a very small level so at very local or small level we can calculate biodiversity by following ways first alpha richness second beta richness and third gamma richness alpha richness include number of species which are found in homogenous area let's take this as an area so the alpha richness is equal to four species in a particular place
• 47:00 - 47:30 so alpha richness means calculation of the species present in a place beta richness include rate of change of species across an environmental gradient let's take this mountain and if we want to note how with altitude there is variation in species then we can go ahead with beta richness so we for this we can calculate alpha at foothill that means how many species are present at the foothill so if you calculate here there are four so alpha
• 47:30 - 48:00 richness here at foothill is four species per unit area and with altitude that means how with height the species composition is changing we can pick another site let's say mountain top in mountain top we are observing only one species so alpha at the top is just one species per unit area so beta represent rate of change of a species a call across an environmental gradient an environmental gradient in this case is altitude so overall beta is
• 48:00 - 48:30 equal to alpha 1 minus alpha 2 that means it's equal to four minus one that that is three species per unit area in this example let's take another example so beta richness is used as a parameter to judge the local richness of a place now we can also say that if we are interested in understanding how species vary across uh latitude or longitude we can use this parameter for example if we are interested in
• 48:30 - 49:00 latitude let's say at the pole the number of species is just one but at equator we are observing large number of species let's calculate them quickly so there are one two three four five six species so alpha here at equator is six species so to calculate beta we will subtract the two and this will come out to be six minus one that is five species per unit area so beta richness is the parameter which
• 49:00 - 49:30 is used when we are interested in understanding how species composition is changing across a particular environmental gradient last way by which we can calculate species across a large landscape is gamma richness so in gamma richness the landscape or the area is slightly more as compared to beta or alpha so if we are interested in calculating composition of species in entire mountain region then we can use gamma
• 49:30 - 50:00 richness and this will be here if you just analyze it it's equal to five species so these are the ways by which we can calculate regional biodiversity so we have completed first definition of biodiversity that is uh what is biodiversity we have completed genetic species and ecosystem level biodiversity we now know why india is mega biodiverse nation what are the different 10 biogeographical zones of
• 50:00 - 50:30 the country what are the four hottest spots that are present in the country we also know endemic species and endangered species we will be we will be discussing iucn in the next video we have also completed value of biodiversity that means the importance attached to plants and animal so we will be discussing in the next video threads to biodiversity biodiversity conservation strategies and different case studies