16 Zoology

Diagrams showing embryonic development in protostomes and deuterostomes.

Protostomes (Spiral and determinate cleavage)

1 cell 2 cells 4 cells 8 cells 16 cells 32 cells

Deuterostomes (Radial and indeterminate cleavage)

1 cell 2 cells 4 cells 8 cells 16 cells 32 cells

1.10 BIODIVERSITY
I. What is Biodiversity?
When we observe our surroundings we find different kinds of organisms which
vary in size, form, feeding habits, behaviour, etc. For example there are more than
20,000 species of ants, 3,00,000 species of beetles, 28,000 species of fishes and
20,000 species of orchids. This variation of life at various levels
of biological organization is termed as biodiversity.

II. Levels Of Biodiversity

Biodiversity exists not only at the species level but at all
levels of biological organization ranging from macromolecules
within the cells to biomes (biotic community in a large area).
The term biodiversity was popularized by the
sociobiologist Edward Wilson to describe the combined
diversity at all levels of biological organization. The three levels
of biodiversity are:
1. Genetic diversity
2. Species diversity
3. Ecological diversity.

1. Genetic diversity
It is the diversity of genes within a species. A single species
may show high diversity at the genetic level over its distributional
Diversity of Living World 17

range. For e.g. Rauwolfia vomitoria, a medicinal plant growing in the Himalayan ranges
shows great genetic variation,which might be in terms of potency and concentration
of the active chemical (reserpine extracted from it is used in treating high blood
pressure) that the plant produces. India has more than 50,000 different strains of rice,
and 1,000 varieties of mangoes. Genetic diversity increases with environmental
variability and is advantageous for its survival.

2. Species Diversity
It is the diversity at the species level. e.g: amphibian diversity in the Western Ghats
is greater than that of the Eastern Ghats.

3. Ecological diversity
Diversity at a higher level of organization, i.e. at the ecosystem level is called
‘Ecological diversity’. e.g: India with its deserts, rain forests, mangroves, coral reefs,
wet lands, estuaries and alpine meadows has greater ecosystem diversity than many
other countries such as the Scandinavian country Norway.
The three indices of ecological diversity are-Alpha, Beta and Gamma diversity
i. Alpha diversity: It is measured by counting the number of taxa (usually species)
within a particular area, community or ecosystem.
ii. Beta diversity: It is the species diversity between two adjacent ecosystems and
is obtained by comparing the number of taxa unique to each of the ecosystems.
iii. Gamma diversity: It is the measure of the overall diversity for different
ecosystems within an ecological region (‘Ecological Region’ is a large area
constituting a natural ecological community with characteristic flora and fauna, bounded
by natural boundaries).

III. Other attributes of biodiversity

A species unique to a given area is called endemic species. Pattern of biodiversity
depends on factors such as i)Latitude and ii)Species –area relationship

1. Latitudinal Gradient in Diversity

Biodiversity is not uniform throughout the world but shows rather uneven
distribution. The most important pattern of biodiversity is latitudinal gradient in
diversity. This means that there is an increasing diversity from the poles to the equator
(terrestrial biodiversity increases from the poles to the equator). There is a vast majority
of species concentrated in the tropics and sub tropical regions. This means localities
at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes.
Tropics harbour more species than temperate or polar areas for e.g. The tropical
Amazon rain forest in south America has the greatest biodiversity on the Earth. Species
diversity is more in the tropics. The following data explains latitudinal gradient :
18 Zoology

Place Number of species of birds Latitude

Colombia 1400 0ON
New York 105 41ON
Green land 56 71ON

From the above data it is clearly evident that as the latitude increases the species
diversity decreases.

Reasons for greater biodiversity in the tropics:

Reason 1: Tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of
years and thus had a long ‘evolutionary time’. As long duration was available
in this region for speciation, it led to the species diversification. (Note: The
temperate regions were subjected to frequent glaciations in the past).
Reason 2: Tropical climates are relatively more constant and predictable than that
of the temperate regions. Constant environment promotes niche
specialization (how an organism responds, behaves with environment and
other organisms of its biotic community), and this leads to greater species
diversity.
Reason 3: Solar energy, resources like water etc., are available in abundance in this
region. This contributed to higher productivity in terms of food
production,leading to greater diversity.

2. Species-Area relationships
Before we learn relation between species richness and the area available to them,
let us learn the term ‘species richness’.

Species Richness is the number of species per unit area.

The more the number of species in an area the more is
the species richness.
Alexander von Humboldt observed that within
a region, species richness increased with increasing
explored area, but only up to a limit. In fact, the
relation between species richness and area for a wide
variety of taxa (angiosperm plants, birds, bats, fresh
water fishes) turns out to be a non-linear curve. On
a logarithmic scale, the relationship is a straight line
described by the equation.
Diversity of Living World 19

log S= log C+ Z log A

where
S = species richness
A = area
Z = slope of the line (regression coefficient)
C = Y-intercept
Ecologists have discovered that the value of Z lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2
regardless of the taxonomic group or the region (whether it is California or New York
or Britain).If you analyse species -area relationship among very large areas like entire
continents the slope of the line is much steeper(Z values in the range of 0.6 to 1.2)
for example for frugivorous (fruit-eating)birds and mammals in the tropical forests of
the different continents, the slope is found to be 1.15.

What do steeper slopes mean in this context ?

A simplified explanation to help

Biology Teachers
Teachers of Biology might find it
difficult to understand and explain the
mathematical expression represented
in this part. The graphic
representation is essentially intended
to explain the relationship between
‘species richness’ and ‘area’. In a
specified area the relation between ‘S’
(species richness) and ‘A’ (area) is
S=CAZ and it is represented by a Non-linear curve.
For easy understanding, to get a linear relation between S and A, ‘log scale’
is taken. Logarithmic relation between A and S is given by log S = log C+Z log A.
The ‘curve’ shows that species richness increases with increase in area to a
certain extent and approaches an equilibrium state/ stable state. It does not
indicate the ‘specific rate’ at which species richness increases with reference to
area. The ‘SLOPE’ of the graph drawn between log A (taken along X axis) and log
S (taken along Y axis) is Z. Increase in the ‘slope’ indicates increase in Z
indicating ‘increase in species richness’, as shown in the graph. For example, if
the log-log scale makes 450 with X axis, Z is 1. If the slope is less, Z is less than ‘1’
and if the slope is more than 450 the value of Z is more than 1. Now it is easy to
understand that the value of Z in a ‘tropical rain forest’ is more than 1, as
represented by the ‘increased slope’.
20 Zoology

Importance of Species Diversity to the Ecosystems

Communities with more types of species (more biodiversity) tend to be more
stable than those with less number of types of species .Stable communities generally
withstand disturbances (natural or man-made). Tilman’s experiments with ‘outdoor
plots’ showed that ‘plots with more species showed less variations in biomass year-
to-year’. He also showed that increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.
What if we lose a few species ? Will it affect man’s life? Paul Ehrlich’s experiments
‘the RIVET POPPER’ hypothesis, taking an aeroplane as an ecosystem, explains
how removal of one by one ‘rivets’ (species of an ecosystem) of various parts can
slowly damage the plane(ecosystem)-shows how important a ‘species’ is in the overall
functioning of an ecosystem. Removing a rivet from a seat or some other relatively
minor important parts may not damage the plane, but removal of a rivet from a part
supporting the wing can result in a crash. Likewise, removal of a ‘critical species’
may affect the entire community and thus the entire ecosystem.

IV. Role of biodiversity

Biodiversity is beneficial to human beings as it plays an important role at various
levels of development and to explain the role played, the different aspects are
categorised into three types,
1. Narrowly utilitarian argument
2. Broadly utilitarian argument
3. Ethical argument
1) Narrowly utilitarian argument: Human beings derive countless economic
benefits from nature as biodiversity is a reservoir of resources. Food (cereals,
pulses & fruits), Firewood, Fibre, Construction material, Industrial products
(tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes, rubber, latex, cork, etc.) and
products of medicinal importance (for example Anticancer drugs – Vinblastin
from Vinca rosea, Digitalin from the ‘fox glove’ plant (Digitalis purpurea) to treat
certain cardiac problems, etc.) are obtained from diverse living organisms which
are economically important. Bio-prospecting nations endowed with rich
biodiversity can expect to reap enormous benefits.
2) Broadly utilitarian argument: It explains that biodiversity plays a major role in
many ecosystem services that nature provides, for which we cannot put a price
tag (we cannot fix its price). To exemplify this, consider the following -
e.g.1 : Amazon produces 20 % of the total oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere.
e.g.2 : Pollination by pollinating agents(bees, birds, bats, etc.,) without which
plants do not produce fruits and seeds. There are other benefits also, the
ones which cannot be measured in terms of money , like aesthetic pleasure
derived by taking a walk in the woods.
Diversity of Living World 21

3) Ethical argument : It relates to what we owe to plants, animals and microbe

species with which we co-exist on this planet. The moral duty to care and pass
on biological legacy to future generations is the need of the hour as every species
has an intrinsic value.

V. Threats to Biodiversity
The following are the ‘four major causes’ (THE EVIL QUARTET) for accelerated
rates of species extinction in the world.
1. Habitat Loss And Fragmentation : These are the most important reasons for
the loss of biodiversity.
a) Deforestration-leads to species extinction in forests e.g: tropical rain forests
once covering 14% of the earth’s land surface is now not more than 4%.
b) Conversion of forest land to agricultural land e.g: the AMAZON RAIN FOREST,
called ‘lungs of our planet’, harbouring innumerable species is cut and
cleared to cultivate SOYA BEANS or conversion to grass lands for raising
beef cattle.
c) Pollution enhances degradation of habitats and threatens the survival of
many species as pollutants change the quality of the environment.
d) Fragmentation of habitat leads to population decline e.g: mammals and birds
requiring large territories and certain animals with migratory habits are
badly affected.
Fragmentation
It is the process of formation of discontinuities in the natural habitats due to
geological processes or human activities. Geological fragmentation may lead to
speciation, but fragmentation caused by man (human activity) mostly leads to
extinction of many species.

2. Over-exploitation: When need turns to greed it leads to over exploitation

e.g., Steller’s sea cow (sea cow named after Steller, a naturalist),passenger
pigeon(which existed in North America)are extinct due to over-exploitation by
humans. The existence of many commercially important marine fishes are
endangered as they are over harvested.
3. Invasion Of Alien Species : When alien species are introduced into a habitat,
they turn invasive and establish themselves at the cost of the indigenous
species(organisms which occur naturally in a particular region).
E.g.1: Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria, in east Africa led to the extinction
of 200 species of cichlid fish in the lake.
E.g.2: Illegal introduction of exotic African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, for
aquaculture purposes is posing a threat to the indigenous cat fishes.
22 Zoology

E.g.3: When exotic and invasive weeds like the ‘carrot grass’ (Parthenium), ‘spanish
flag’ (Lantana), ‘water hyacinth’ (Eichhornia) are introduced into our
ecosystems they not only damaged the environment but also threatened
the very existence of native species.
4. Co-extinctions: In an obligate association between a plant and an animal, if a
plant becomes extinct, the animal also becomes extinct as seen in a parasite and
host association. If the host becomes extinct, parasite meets the same fate. Another
association which explains co-extinction is plant-pollinator mutualism where
extinction of one invariably leads to the extinction of the other.

VI. Methods of Conservation of Biodiversity?

The conservation of biological diversity has become a global concern. There are
basically two main types of conservation options-In-situ conservation and Ex-situ
conservation. In-situ is usually seen as the ‘ideal conservation strategy’. Ex-situ
conservation can provide a backup solution to in-situ conservation projects.

Methods for the conservation of biodiversity



 
In-situ conservation Ex-situ conservation
(on-site conservation) (off-site conservation)
 
     
National Sanctuaries Biosphere Sacred In-vitro Gene
parks reserves groves culture Bank

Cryopreservation

1. In-situ conservation (On-site conservation)

In-situ conservation is the process of protecting an animal species in its natural
habitat. The benefit is that it maintains recovering populations in the surrounding where
they have developed their distinctive properties. Conservationists identified certain
regions by name ‘Biodiversity hot spots’ for maximum protection as they are
characterized by very high levels of species richness & high degree of endemism. By
definition ‘Biodiversity hot spot’ is a ‘Biogeographic Region’ with a significant reservoir
of biodiversity that is under threat of extinction from humans. They are Earth’s
biologically ‘richest’ and ‘most threatened’ terrestrial Ecoregions.

The concept of Biodiversity hot spots swas proposed by Norman Myers. There are
about 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world. As these regions are threatened by
destruction, habitat loss is accelerated e.g. :I) Western Ghats and Srilanka ; II) Indo
Diversity of Living World 23

Burma; III) Himalayas in India. Ecologically unique and biodiversity rich regions are
legally protected as in 1. Biosphere Reserves–18 (18th is PANNA in Madhya Pradesh), 2.
National Parks–90, 3. Sanctuaries-448.

i. Biosphere Reserves
An area which is set aside, minimally disturbed for the conservation of the resources
of the biosphere is ‘Biosphere reserve’. Latest biosphere reserve(17th biosphere reserve
in India) is Seshachalam hills.

ii. National Parks

A National Park is a natural habitat strictly reserved for protection of natural life.
National Parks, across the country, offer a fascinating diversity of terrain, flora and
fauna. Some important National Parks in India are - Jim Corbett National Park (the
first National Park in India located in Uttarakhand), Kaziranga National Park (Assam),
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park, MahavirHarinaVanasthali National Park
(AP), Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Rajasthan), etc.

iii. Sanctuaries
Specific endangered faunal species are well protected in wildlife sanctuaries
which permits eco-tourism (as long as animal life is undisturbed). Some important
Sanctuaries in India (AP) include-Koringa Sanctuary, Eturnagaram Sanctuary,
Papikondalu Sanctuary.

iv. Sacred Groves

1. A smaller group of trees than a forest is called grove.
2. A grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture is called
sacred grove.
3. In these regions all the trees of wild life are venerated (respected) and given
total protection.
The following is a list of Sacred Groves in INDIA

Name State
Khasi and Jaintia Hills Meghalaya
Aravalli Hills Rajasthan and Gujarat
Western Ghat region Karnataka and Maharashtra
Sarguja, Bastar Chhattisgarh
Chanda Madhya Pradesh

In Meghalaya, Sacred Groves are the last refuges for a large number of rare and
threatened species.
24 Zoology

2. Ex-situ conservation:
In ex-situ conservation threatened animals are taken out of their natural habitat
and placed in special settings where they are protected. This includes Zoological Parks.
Advancement in ex-situ preservation techniques such as cryopreservation are helping
us protect endangered species (cryopreservation is the preservation of, for example,
gametes, embryos of threatened species, etc., at -1960 C). Invitro culture, gene banks
are mostly used for plants.

VII. IUCN Red data books

International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
is the world’s main Authority on the issues of conservation status of species.
All the threatened species are listed in the Red Data Books published by the
IUCN. These species are classified into different categories based on degree of risk
and they are chiefly :
a) Critically endangered
b) Endangered
c) Vulnerable

VIII. Conservation of wild life in INDIA

This is through legislation,preservation and organisations

1. Legislation: Under the provision of the Wildlife Act of 1972, killing endangered
wild animals is strictly prohibited. Trading wildlife products (like tusks, rhino’s horns,
etc.) is a punishable offence.
2. Preservation: National Parks, Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Sacred Groves
etc. are different regions which are earmarked to protect diverse fauna and flora.
3. Organisational Protection: Organisations which are set up to prevent
destruction of India’s wild life are
1. Wild life protection society of India (Dehradun)
2. Zoological Survey of India (Kolkata)
Conservation of biodiversity is a global necessity.It is the collective responsibility
of all nations to protect the diverse living forms on the planet. One such step was in
the form of EARTH SUMMIT (1992-Rio de Janiero)and the other being WORLD
SUMMIT on sustainable development (Johannesburg-South Africa). They focussed
on significant reduction in the current rate of loss of biodiversity at the global,
regional and local levels. Efforts must be intensified to pass on our biological legacy
to the future generations.
Diversity of Living World 25

IX. Threatened Species in India

The Asiatic lion Panthera leo persica

The black buck Antelope cervicapra
Red panda Ailurus ochraceus
The lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus
Tiger Panthera tigris
Kashmiri stag Cervus elaphus hanglu
Elephant Elephas maximus indicus
Pygmy hog Sus salvanius
Siberian crane Grus leucogeranus
Slender loris Loris tardigradus

In conclusion-Nature is a repository of diverse life. Intrusion into nature’s domain

distorts its equilibrium. Preserving nature is a collective ‘Global Responsibility’. Man
should conserve and protect nature in his own interest and for the future generations.