The term “biodiversity”, the short form of biological diversity is used to explain all the natural processes
and variegated forms of life found on Earth. The various elements of
biodiversity have an impact on each other. Scientists state that there about 13
million species in the world but certain estimated values range from 3 million to 100 million.
Genetic differences within every species (for e.g. between breeds of livestock
and crop varieties) is evident in biodiversity. Another important feature of
biodiversity is the existence of a number of ecosystems in rivers, lakes,
agrarian landscapes, forests, mountains, wetlands etc. It is our responsibility
to protect the pillars of biodiversity which contribute to a great extent in sustaining
life. Landowners, fishermen, private firms and farmers play a major role when
it comes to determining the general health of the biodiversity in a region as they consume the
most out of it. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the sustainable management
of biodiversity from the part of Governments of nation-states,
Inter-Governmental Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations.
As far as India is concerned,
it is the home to 10% of the world’s species. The relationship between the
species in India and culture is strong owing to how many species were
worshipped among communities who had close ties with Mother Nature since
ancient times. It is only in the recent times that the biodiversity scenario in
India has been facing numerous threats due to increased resource extraction,
climate change, desertification, influence of development projects, invasive
alien species, pollution etc. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) under
the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India which was
established in 2003 is the statutory autonomous body which regulates the implementation
of the provisions under the National Biological Diversity Act, 2002. At a time
when many of the species on Earth are facing extinction, on June 5, 2015 which
was also the World Environment Day, a catalogue of new species was released by
both the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India
(BSI) which revealed the discovery of 349 new species of flora and fauna. The
new findings constituted 176 species of animals and 173 species of plants.
Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas accounted for the regions from where majority of the discoveries
were made which are few of India’s major biodiversity hotspots.
In the video titled “EnE
Biodiversity 2.1 : An Introduction” below, Dr. Roman Saini elaborates on
various concepts of biodiversity which includes the Types of biodiversity, Biosphere, Eco-sphere, Bio-prospecting, Bio-piracy, Biodiversity Hotspot, Mega Bio-diverse
Countries, Number of Species, Species distribution and Vertebrates
distribution.
For more such articles and videos subscribe to the Unacademy YouTube channel and follow Dr. Roman Saini on Facebook.
I am little bit confused about selecting an OPTIONAL SUBJECT.. I have completed my M.Tech in Computer Science from IITM.
ReplyDeleteI found that Geography, History, Polity and IR, Public Administration are in my optional stack.
And I am more looking into either polity & IR or Public Admin but I heard that for Polity and IR, we won't get that much material, classroom coaching, no.of students less to choose. On the other side, I heard that scoring in Public Administration is very hard. Please suggest me.