Biodiversity and Hotspots

Biodiversity is the variety of genes, species and ecosystems. India has about 8 percent of the world's recorded species on about 2.4 percent of the world's land. India has four of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots.

Biodiversity hotspot criteria (Conservation International)

1. At least 1,500 endemic vascular plant species (0.5 percent of the world).
2. At least 70 percent of the original habitat lost.

India's four hotspots

Levels of diversity

• Alpha diversity: species within a habitat.
• Beta diversity: change in species between habitats.
• Gamma diversity: total diversity of a region.
• Endemic species: found only in one area (lion-tailed macaque).
• Keystone species: tiger, elephant; ecosystems depend on them.

Threat categories (IUCN Red List)

Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), Near Threatened (NT), Least Concern (LC), Data Deficient (DD), Not Evaluated (NE).

Laws and conventions

• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and its Schedules (Schedule I and II give the highest protection).
• Biological Diversity Act 2002; National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai.
• CITES, CBD, Ramsar, Bonn convention (CMS), Nagoya Protocol.
• Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022): 30 by 30 target.
• Biosphere reserves are zoned into core, buffer and transition.

Biosphere reserves (examples)

Nilgiri (first, 1986), Gulf of Mannar, Sundarbans, Nanda Devi, Nokrek, Manas, Great Nicobar, Simlipal, Dibru-Saikhowa, Dehang-Dibang, Pachmarhi, Achanakmar-Amarkantak, Kachchh, Cold Desert (Himachal), Seshachalam, Agasthyamala, Khangchendzonga, Panna. (Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve covers Spiti and Lahaul in Himachal; it is not in J&K or Ladakh.)