How Many Biodiversity Hotspots in The World

Introduction

The variance of plant and animal species in a certain habitat is referred to as "biodiversity." The primary components of biodiversity are species evenness and species richness. India is known for its diverse biodiversity, with forests and trees covering approximately 24.46% of its geographical area. The term "biodiversity hotspots," coined by Norman Myers, refers to areas known for their high species richness and endemism. To qualify as a hotspot, a location must meet the following two requirements, according to Conservation International: The region should have at least 1500 vascular plant species, indicating a high degree of endemism. It must include 30% (or less) of its native habitat, indicating that it is endangered.

Following the criteria required for an area to be designated as a biodiversity hotspot, India has four significant biodiversity hotspots:

1. The Indo-Burman Region

2. Himalayan Region

3. Sundaland's (including the Nicobar Island)

4. The Western Ghats

What is biodiversity conservation?

Biodiversity conservation refers to the protection and management of biodiversity in order to gain resources for long-term development. The protection of biodiversity has three primary goals:

• To conserve species variety.

• Sustainable use of species and ecosystems

• To preserve life-sustaining systems and critical ecological processes.

Ex-Situ Conservation

Ex situ conservation refers to the preservation of life outside of its native habitat or location of occurrence. It is a procedure in which a portion of a population or an entire endangered species is removed from its threatened natural environment, and breeding and maintenance of these species take place in artificial ecosystems. Zoos, nurseries, and botanical gardens are examples of artificial ecosystems. These conservation sites have adjusted their living circumstances, resulting in fewer survival challenges such as a lack of food, water, or space. Ex-situ biodiversity conservation entails breeding and maintaining endangered species in artificial environments such as zoos, nurseries, botanical gardens, gene banks, and so on. The organisms have little competition for food, water, and space. Ex situ conservation has several advantages.

• Climate, food availability, and veterinary care are all essential life-sustaining circumstances that may be changed and are within human control.

• Artificial breeding methods can be implemented, resulting in successful breeding and the production of a large number of offspring of the species.

• Poaching can be avoided, and population management can be carried out effectively.

• Gene methods can be used to boost the population of the species and return it to the wild.

Some ex-situ preserved collections had lower resistance levels, while others demonstrated higher resistance levels, owing to the intense evolutionary drive and complicated nature of the evolutionary context.

The behaviour of animals in zoos may be impacted by the regular entrance of large numbers of unknown humans. Animals kept in artificial environments face a variety of potentially harmful environmental difficulties, including artificial lighting, exposure to loud or aversive sounds, stimulating scents, and unpleasant temperatures or substrates.

Furthermore, confinement-specific stresses such as limited movement decreased retreat space, forced closeness to people, reduced feeding chances, maintenance in deviant social groupings, and other behavioural opportunity constraints are taken into account. However, as knowledge of wildlife biology grew over the twentieth century, zoo animals began to be housed in more natural settings and social groupings, and diets and veterinary care began to improve.

Captive population survival and reproduction rates improved as a result. Evidence from rat and monkey research suggests that prenatal stress might decrease stress-coping skills and affect behaviour in unpleasant or conflict-inducing settings.

Prenatal stress impairs motor development, reduces exploration and play behaviour, and impairs learning ability, social conduct, and sexual and maternal behaviour. Prenatal stress may also have an impact on the sex ratio at delivery and reproductive success.

Although populations of some species managed ex-situ may have the highest chance of long-term survival, they may be jeopardised if not carefully managed during relocation and reintroduction in the face of climate change.

Some species may lose biological integrity, particularly in terms of morphology. Ex situ experiments on black-footed ferrets revealed a 5-10% decrease in body size compared to pre-captive, in situ animals.

In other words, the tiny cage size and uniformity of the environment limit the mechanical stimulation required for long bone formation. In the lack of such a habitat, "abnormal" morphologies might emerge, leading to low fitness or even reintroduction, domestication, and migration.

It would be extremely difficult to restore certain zoo-reared animals to their native habitats since many have lost the basic abilities to live in their ecosystems after decades of captivity. High levels of inbreeding in captivity generally have deleterious impacts on life history features associated with reproduction and survival in naturally out-breeding animals.

It deteriorates the population in captivity due to genetic diversity loss, inbreeding depression, genetic adaptations to confinement, and the accumulation of harmful alleles.

After several generations of ex-situ cultivation, ecological alterations, small population size, genetic drift, inbreeding, and gardener-induced selection may have a deleterious impact on the population structure of plants. These variables may jeopardise the success of ex-situ conservation.

In recent years, captive breeding of vulnerable species has made use of more sophisticated technology and processes. Despite the blurring of the distinction between in situ and ex-situ species management, the effectiveness of captive breeding as a conservation technique remains debatable.

In-situ Conservation

The preservation and protection of species in their native environment are referred to as "in situ conservation." It refers to the preservation of genetic resources in plant or animal populations. In situ conservation is the management of biodiversity in its natural habitat.

1. There are several advantages to preserving biodiversity in situ.

2. It protects both animals and their natural environment.

3. It protects a vast number of people.

4. It is a cost-effective and convenient way of conservation.

5. Organisms don't need to adapt to a new environment.

Biosphere reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biodiversity hotspots, gene sanctuaries, and holy groves are all examples of in-situ conservation strategies.

1. It is described as species conservation inside their natural environment, where the natural ecosystem is safeguarded and maintained.

2. There are various advantages to in-situ conservation. Some of the most significant benefits of in-situ conservation are as follows:

3. It is a low-cost and convenient method of conserving biodiversity.

4. Several live creatures can be saved at the same time.

5. They can evolve faster and adapt to a variety of environmental situations.

6. In-situ conservation takes place in places such as national parks, wildlife refuges, and biosphere reserves.

The following are the benefits of an in-person conversation: It protects both the species and its environment. In-situ conservation has the huge benefit of preserving ecological integrity rather than simply a single species.

Conservationists believe it is more effective as a result. You not only assist the species' growth, but you also help the ecosystem where they thrive. Helpful in the conservation of huge populations of a species.

Ex situ conservation approaches entail propagating and maintaining organisms outside of their natural habitat. This has the potential to help endangered animals. It does not, however, allow enormous populations of a species to flourish. This challenge is more successfully addressed through in situ conservation.

In addition, with in situ conservation, you can conserve many species at the same time. It is a less disruptive conservation approach.

Animals in their native habitats can evolve spontaneously and are more vulnerable to natural hazards. These include their capacity to coexist with predators and rapidly adapt to phenological changes.

Ex-situ conservation initiatives may not have the same ability to adapt to a new habitat as other species. When they are restored to their native habitat, they may require a significant amount of time to recuperate. It is a low-cost conservation approach.

Governments and conservation organisations strive to use cost-effective approaches. In situ conservation is regarded as more cost-effective since it helps save more species. The following are the disadvantages of in situ conservation: Endangered habitats may be fragmented, making the area insufficient to assure the survival of certain species.

Genetic diversity may have already declined drastically. Conditions that harmed the organisms in the region, such as illness or interspecific competition, may still be present.

Why should you care about biodiversity?

A healthy ecology is ensured through several conservation measures. A healthy ecosystem includes a clean and healthy environment, well-functioning food chains, and the availability of resources, among other things.

Humans are also heavily reliant on the environment for their fundamental needs and well-being. For our livelihood, we rely on a wide range of plant and animal species. As a result, it is critical to protect these species and their habitats, which are under threat from a variety of human activities.

A threat to biodiversity endangers humanity. It has the potential to generate a wide range of serious issues, including pollution, habitat loss, resource exploitation, climate change, species extinction, disease outbreaks, and so on. It is critical to safeguard and preserve biodiversity for economic and ecological reasons.

A region with a higher species abundance is thought to have a more stable ecology than an area with a lower species abundance. We might further argue for the importance of biodiversity by analysing our level of reliance on the environment.

For our diverse requirements, we rely directly on numerous plant species. Similarly, we rely on numerous animal and microorganism species for a variety of reasons. Biodiversity is being lost due to habitat loss, resource overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive alien species, illnesses, poaching, and other factors. It is critical to protect biodiversity since it provides several economic and social benefits as well as aesthetic value.

National Parks

The government maintains these modest reserves. Human activities such as grazing, forestry, habitat management, and farming are forbidden inside their bounds. For example, Kanha and Bandipur National Parks. The government maintains these restricted areas for the conservation of animals and the environment. Human activities are restricted in national parks, which are primarily committed to the preservation of the area's natural species. They generally cover an area of 100-500 square kilometres. Right now, India has a total of 104 national parks. National parks may potentially be included in a biosphere reserve. These are minor reserves that the government protects and maintains. Human activities such as grazing, forestry, habitat management, and farming are forbidden inside their bounds.

Notes

• Biodiversity hotspots are biologically distinct areas that are particularly rich in species, making them important conservation objectives. Biodiversity is defined in a variety of ways. They all take into account variation within and between species and ecosystems, and they all select a set of priority locations that span a tiny piece of the Earth yet contain a disproportionately high share of its biodiversity. Because biodiversity is the foundation of all life on Earth, these biodiversity hotspots have great global importance because they include species and ecosystems found nowhere else. Their extinction would result in the extinction of species and habitats that produce wild and farmed food, medicine, and other materials and services like climate regulation, pollination, and water purification, all of which contribute to the health of the ecosystems on which humans rely.

• Biodiversity is essential for global nutrition and food security. Millions of species collaborate to offer us a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, and animal products that are vital to a healthy, balanced diet—yet they are increasingly under threat. Every nation has indigenous products tailored to local circumstances, such as wild greens and grains, making them more resistant to pests and harsh weather. This food is used to give much-needed micronutrients to local inhabitants. Unfortunately, diet simplification, processed meals, and limited availability of food have resulted in poor-quality diets. As a result, one-third of the globe is deficient in micronutrients.

• On-site protection of genetic resources in natural populations of plants or animal species, such as forest genetic resources, in natural populations of tree and animal species, is known as "in situ conservation." In situ conservation refers to the method of safeguarding an endangered plant or animal species in its native environment. Ex situ conservation, on the other hand, refers to the removal of endangered or uncommon animals from their native habitats to protected areas designed for their protection and preservation. When in situ conservation is insufficient, it is a vital alternative option.

• Biodiversity conservation is the preservation, enhancement, and management of biodiversity in order to provide long-term benefits to current and future generations.

1. Trees are being planted: Every year, around 15 billion trees are felled. Trees absorb CO2 in the atmosphere and convert it to breathing oxygen, which can help lessen the harm caused by logging and deforestation practices.

2. Making use of alternate energy sources: Switching to solar or geothermal energy can help lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, lowering the number of greenhouse gases discharged into the environment and the need for mining and drilling.

3. Creating protected places: Protected places (such as national parks and nature reserves) can help safeguard biodiversity from damaging land use and human activities, while also protecting wildlife habitats and animal food resources.

4. Biodiversity preservation: Biodiversity ensures a healthy natural environment in general. Conservation activities targeted at biodiversity can be carried out on a local basis (for example, by promoting native plant growth) or through legislation, such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in the United States. Federal decision-making can help preserve creatures on the verge of extinction from becoming extinct.

5. Hunting regulations: Wildlife conservation programmes enact regulations that limit the time, area, or animal allocation for hunting and fishing, which can help minimise the number of animals killed each year.

Correct planting: Knowing where your plant seeds originate from can aid in the prevention of the spread of invasive species, which can devastate local crops and harm biodiversity.