Biodiversity and Conservation

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1. Genetic diversity — variation in genes within a species\n2. Species diversity — variety of species in a region\n3. Ecological diversity — variety of ecosystems\n(Popularised by E.O. Wilson)…

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Genetic diversity = variation in genes among individuals of the same species.\nExample: India has 50,000+ varieties of rice and 1,000+ varieties of mango — same species but genetically distinct.

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Described: ~1.5 million species\nEstimated total: 5–50 million species\n(Most undiscovered species are insects and microbes in tropical regions)…

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India harbours 8.1% of the world's species despite occupying only 2.4% of Earth's land area.\nIndia is one of 17 "megadiverse" countries.

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Species diversity INCREASES from poles to tropics.\nTropics have more species than temperate or polar regions.\nReason: longer evolutionary time, climate stability, higher productivity.

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Three reasons (TSE):\n1. Time — stable tropics allowed long uninterrupted speciation\n2. Stability — less seasonal variation → more specialised niches\n3. Energy — high solar radiation → high NPP → mo…

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log S = log C + z × log A\nS = species richness\nA = area\nC = y-intercept (species density of taxon/region)\nz = slope (regression coefficient)\nDeveloped from von Humboldt's observations.

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z = 0.1–0.2 for small areas or islands (species accumulate slowly)\nz = 0.6–1.2 for very large areas/continents (steeper species gain)\nPractical: destroying 90% of habitat → ~50% species loss (z ≈ 0.