Untitled Quiz

Biodiversity

• Biodiversity refers to the diverse kinds of living things in a given area.
• Edward O. Wilson is considered the father of biodiversity.

Types of Diversity

• Genetic Diversity: Diversity of genes within a species.
• Species Diversity: Diversity among species in an ecosystem.
• Ecosystem Diversity: Diversity of a habitat in a given unit area.

Importance of Biodiversity

• Promotes soil formation.
• Provides food resources for humans.
• Ensures good health of all living beings.
• Protects natural resources.
• Facilitates fast recovery from natural disasters.
• Maintains food chains.
• Maintains genetic diversity.
• Maintains ecosystem balance.
• Contributes to overall sustainability and growth.

Biodiversity Hotspots in India

• Following criteria for declaring an area as a biodiversity hotspot, India has four major hotspots:
  • The Himalayas
  • Indo-Burma Region
  • The Western Ghats
  • Sundaland

Threats to Biodiversity

• Prioritized industrialization (contributes to greenhouse gases).
• Increasing commercialization.
• Expanding residential spaces.
• Deforestation.
• Unscrupulous usage of natural resources.
• Ignorance towards sustainability.
• Increasing demand for food and resources.
• Pollution.
• Climate change.
• Issue of invasive species.

Invasive Species/Exotic Species

• An organism not native to a particular area.
• Introduced species that expands into a new habitat and causes environmental or economical damage.
• A growing threat to ecosystems globally, with consequences for biodiversity, agriculture, and human health.
• Often introduced unintentionally, they spread and outcompete native species.

Extinct Plants & Animals

• Extinction is the death of all members of a species.
• Examples of extinct animals include:
  • Dodo
  • Saber-toothed cat
  • Tasmanian tiger
  • Woolly Mammoth
  • Passenger Pigeon
  • Stellar's sea cow
  • Labrador duck
  • Rocky mountain locust
  • Thylacine
  • Golden toad
  • Deepwater cisco fish
  • Hawaii chaff flower
  • St. Helena olive tree
• Numerous other plants and animals have also become extinct, both historical and contemporary.

Endangered Plants & Animals

• An endangered species is a type of organism threatened by extinction.
• Examples of endangered species in India include:
  • Bengal Tiger
  • Asiatic Lion
  • Snow Leopard
  • One-horned Rhinoceros
  • Blackbuck
  • Lion-tailed Macaque
  • Resplendent Tree Frog
  • Kashmir Red Stag
  • Nilgiri Tahr -Indian Bison (Gaur)

Conservation Efforts

• Conservation of Biodiversity: Main goals include preserving genetic diversity of plants and animals, conducting research on biological diversity and ecosystem management to aid sustainable development, and managing in-situ and ex-situ conservation of rare, endangered species.
• In-situ Conservation: Involves conservation within natural habitats (e.g., National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Sacred Groves)
• Ex-situ Conservation: Involves conservation outside natural habitats (e.g., Zoological Parks, Botanical Gardens, Gene Banks, Cryopreservation, Sperm Banks)

World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF)

• Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961.
• Dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife by directing its conservation efforts toward protecting endangered species and addressing global threats.
• Red Panda is the symbol of the WWF.

Red Data Book

• Public document recording endangered and rare species of plants, animals, fungi, and local subspecies within specific regions.

Endangered Species

• Endangered species are organisms on the verge of extinction.
• The number of endangered species continues to increase annually.

Endemic Species

• Endemic species are found only in specific geographical regions due to isolation, soil, and climatic conditions.

Pollution

• Environmental Pollution: The introduction of harmful materials into the environment.

• Natural Sources: Volcanic eruptions, windblown dust, sea-salt spray, volatile organic compounds from plants.

• Human-Made/Anthropogenic: Pollution caused by human activities, includes burning fossil fuels in industries, vehicles, and thermoelectric plants; gaseous emissions from industries, mining, processing and stone-crushing.

• Types of Pollution*

• Air

• Water

• Soil

• Noise

• Types of Pollutants*

• Primary

• Secondary

• Causes and Effects of Air Pollution*

• Causes: Industries, automobiles/domestic fuels (high proportions of undesirable gases like sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide), dust (cement, foundry, windblown), mist, smoke, carbon black, aerosols.

• Effects: Human health problems, harm to animals, harms to plants, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain.

• Water Pollution*: Any physical (temperature, oxygen), chemical (mercury), or biological (disease, sewage) change to water that adversely affects its use by living beings. Effects include diseases like cholera, malaria, typhoid, and aquatic life destruction.

• Eutrophication: Nutrient rich runoff leads to algal bloom which deprives aquatic life of oxygen.

• Nitrate Pollution: Nitrate contamination of water can cause methemoglobinemia (Blue Baby Syndrome).

• Fluoride Pollution: Fluoride contamination of water can result in fluorosis.

• How to Avoid Water Pollution: Do not use rivers for washing clothes/bathing animals; harvest rainwater; construct and maintain dams/embankments; do not contaminate rivers; do not dispose bodies in rivers.

• Noise Pollution*: Unwanted sound resulting from various sources (traffic noise, aircraft noise, construction and civil engineering works, industries). Effects include hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance. Prevention involves ensuring noise-proofing of new machinery, positioning airports away from residential areas, controlling noise at its source (equipment choice/design modifications/proper layout/isolation/baffles), and use of ear protection devices.

• Land Pollution*: One-fourth of the area is covered by land, used for human activities such as shelter, occupation, buildings, and farming. Causes include mining, erosion, quarrying, household garbage, urbanization, industrial waste, hazardous waste, uncontrolled land treatment, burning open dumps, forest fires, and deforestation. Effects include a loss of land for construction, agricultural losses, contamination of ground water, and death of land-dwelling animals. Prevention involves bringing more land under farming, planting trees, immediate waste disposal, avoidance of drilling for water, avoiding overuse of fertilizers/pesticides, implementing integrated solid waste management, practicing good agricultural practices, and remediating polluted soils.