Biodiversity - Values, Threats and Conservation

In continuation to my previous blog Biodiversity in Simple Terms, here I've tried to cover the important aspects of Biodiversity including Values, Threats and Conservation.

 

Values of Biodiversity

 

Biodiversity provides a variety of environmental services from its species and ecosystems that are essential at the Global, Regional and Local levels. It is essential for preserving ecological processes, such as fixing and recycling of nutrients, soil formation, circulation and cleansing of air and water, global life support, maintaining the water balance within ecosystems, watershed protection, maintaining stream and river flows throughout the year, erosion control and local flood reduction.

Fig. 1 Values of Biodiversity

 

A. Consumptive Use Value: A straight consumptive use is the direct utilization of timber, food, fuel wood and fodder by local communities. The diversity of organisms provide food, clothing, shelter, medicines, proteins, enzymes, papers, sports goods, musical instruments, beverages, tourism and raw material for business prospects etc.

 

B. Productive Use Value: This category comprises marketable goods. The bio-technologist uses bio-rich areas to prospect and search for potential genetic properties in plants or animals, that can be used to develop better varieties of crops for use in farming and plantation programs or to develop better livestock. To the pharmacist, biological diversity is the raw material from which new drugs can be identified from plant or animal products.

 

C. Social Values: Social value of biodiversity prospects habitat conservation, as  traditional societies value it as a resource. Ecosystem people value biodiversity as a part of their livelihood as well as their cultural and religious sentiments.

 

D. Ethical and Moral Values: Ethical values related to biodiversity conservation are based on the importance of protecting all forms of life against illegal activities like cloning of animals, smuggling of valuable biodiversity instances, bio-piracy, illicit trade etc. In India, several generations have preserved nature through local traditions. Tulsi plant (also known as Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum)), Mango (Mangifera indica) and Neem (Azadirachta indica) are considered as the sacred plants. Cow (Bos taurus), Snake (Serpentes) and Peacock (Pavo cristatus) are also considered holy animals.

Fig. 2 Peacock and Basil (Tulsi) Plant

 

 

Threats to Biodiversity

 

There are several threats to our biodiversity that include:

A. Habitat Loss: From the term, we can analyze that, it leads to the destruction of the habitat of various species of both flora and fauna. The reasons regarding habitat loss are as follows:

 i) Deforestation: Deforestation can be defined as the clearance or felling of trees for commercial purposes, converting them into agricultural lands etc.

Fig. 3 Deforestation

 

 

 

ii) Habitat Fragmentation: In habitat fragmentation, the habitat is divided into small patches which leads to the extinction of species.

iii) Destruction of Wetlands: A Wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water either, permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The destruction of wetlands is destroyed by drilling, filling and pollution which leads to loss of biodiversity.

Fig. 4 Destruction of Wetlands

B. Poaching of wildlife: Poaching refers to the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching can be based on two types

i) Subsidence Poaching: killing animals to provide food for the survival.

ii) Commercial Poaching: Hunting animals for their skin, claws, teeth as products for the manufacture of various products in the market.

C. Introduced Species: An introduced species (also known as an exotic species or alien species) is an organism that is not native to the place or area where it is considered introduced and instead has been accidentally or deliberately transported to the new location by human activity. The negative effects of invasive alien species on biodiversity can be intensified by climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. 

 

 

Conservation of Biodiversity

 

The act or processes of protection, preservation, management or restoration of wildlife and natural resources is defined as conservation. Biodiversity conservation is the protection and management of biodiversity to obtain resources for sustainable development.

 

There are two ways to achieve the  conservation of Biodiversity:

 

A. In-Situ Conservation of Bio-Diversity: In-Situ Conservation of Biodiversity is a method of conserving the species within its natural habitat. In this type of conservation, the natural ecosystem is protected and maintained. The principle of In-situ Conservation is the protection and management of biological diversity through a network of protected areas in their natural habitat. This can be achieved by:

 

i) National Parks: National Parks are areas that are set aside by government for the preservation of the natural habitat. Activities like grazing of livestock, Hunting or Poaching is strictly prohibited. Examples of National Parks can be Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Manas National Park (Assam) and Bandipur National Park (Karnataka).

Fig. 5 Tiger in Kanha National Park

 

ii) Biosphere Reserves: Biosphere Reserves are special entities for humans and nature and are living examples of how human beings and nature can co-exist while respecting each others needs. These reserves contain genetic elements evolved over millions of years that hold key to the future adaptions for survival. These sites have global importance having tremendous potential for future economic development. Examples of Biosphere reserves can be Sunderban Biosphere Reserve (West Bengal), Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (Tamil Nadu) etc.

Fig. 6 Chital in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

 

iii) Wildlife Sanctuaries: A wildlife sanctuary is an area where animal habitats and their surroundings are protected from any sort of disturbance. The capturing, killing and poaching of animals is strictly prohibited in these regions. They aim at providing a comfortable living to the animals. Examples of Wildlife Sanctuaries are Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala), Govind Wildlife Sanctuary (Uttarakhand) etc.

Fig. 7 Himalyan Buck in Govind Wildlife Sanctuary

 

The advantages of the In-Situ Conservation method are:

1. Long Term protection

2. Better opportunity for conservation.

 

The disadvantages of the In-Situ Conservation method are:

1. It requires a large area for the complete protection of biodiversity.

2. Proper protection against environmental pollution may not be enough in natural types of ecosystems.

 

B. Ex-Situ Conservation of Bio-Diversity: Ex-Situ Conservation of Biodiversity is a method of conserving the species outside the natural habitat. This method aims at protecting and preserving endangered species in Zoos, Botanical Gardens, the establishment of gene banks, culture collections etc. 

Fig. 8 Zoo and Botanical Gardens - Ex-Situ Conservation.

 

The advantages of this method are:

1. Controlled supervision of the species survives longer and may breed more offspring than usual.

2. The quality of offspring may be improved by genetic techniques if so required.

3. Long Term Protection

 

The disadvantages of this method are:

1. Not a viable option for the protection of rare species due to human interference.

2. Can be adapted for only a few kinds of species.

3. Over protection may result in loss of natural occurrence.

 

 

Why is Biodiversity important?

1. Biodiversity is essential for the resolution of climate change issues

2. Biodiversity is always beneficial for the economy.

3. Keeping biodiverse ecosystems intact, assists humans stay healthy.

4. Biodiversity is an integral part of our identity and culture.

5. Healthy ecosystems and Wildlife support that we totally rely on.

 

Some important steps that we can take

We as responsible humans can save our valuable Biodiversity by some of the steps mentioned below:

 

a) Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of resources that we use.

b) Educating people about the conservation of biodiversity.

c) Reducing Introduced species (relocating to alien spaces).

d) Habitat Restoration

e) Maintain wetlands by conserving water and reducing irrigation. Avoid draining water bodies on your property.

f) Improving/Rectifying our life style that leads to climate change

In my next blog, tentatively within two weeks, I'll be penning about Biodiversity in tropical rainforest, the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystem in the world.

References:

· Images from Internet

· References from greentumble.com, wikipedia

· References from sustainability.yale.edu, conserve-energy-future.com