Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the varied and differences among living organisms of terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes associated with them. It includes genetic diversity within and between species of ecosystems. It encompasses diversity at three levels: Genetic diversity-genetic variability within a species; Species diversity- variety of species within community; Ecosystem diversity-the organisation of species in an area into distinctive plant and animal communities.

Biodiversity of India

India has great diversity in its Geo-climatic conditions. The diversity in terrain, topography, climate and soils are able to sustain diverse forms of life. Thus, there is great diversity in India's forest, wetlands, mangrove wildlife and marine areas. The richness in fauna and flora makes it as one of the 12 mega-biodiversity countries of the world.

Bio-geographic Zones of India

As stated above, India has great diversity in its fauna and flora. On the basis of natural vegetation and wildlife, India has been divided by the ecologists into bio-geographic regions and 25 bio-geographic provinces. The bio-geographic regions have been shown in judiciously and to conserve the biodiversity. The bio-geographic regions and bio-geographic provinces have been shown in the table below:

Bio-geographic regions and Bio-geographic provinces of India

Summary on Biodiversity Conservation

The Government of India has taken several important steps including enactments of laws for in-situ and ex-situ conservation of endangered and vulnerable plants and animals. Creation of biosphere reserves, national parks, sanctuaries, world heritage sites, zoological parks etc. are some of the important steps in this regard.

Red Data Book

The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) with headquarter at Gland (Switzerland) is the premier co-ordinating body for international conservation efforts. Red Data Book was published from 1970 and according to this book; around 20,000 species are endangered all over the World. According to IUCN (200), 11046 species of plants and animals are facing high risk of extinction. On the global basis, the IUCN estimated that about 10% of the world’s vascular plant species, i.e. 20,000- 25,000 species are threatens.

Environment & Ecology: A Complete Study Material