The term biodiversity was coined in 1985. It is important in natural as well as artificial ecosystems. It deals with nature’s variety in the biosphere. It refers to variabilities among plants, animals and microorganism species.
Biodiversity evolves from two Latin words bios meaning life and diversity meaning variety so biodiversity means a variety of life on the earth. Diversity describes two things firstly variety of species on the earth for example species of snakes, fishes, elephants, etc, and variety within species such as there are many types of fish snake buffaloes, etc.
Time period
4 billion years are passed to evolve the variety of species that are present on the earth. Almost 10 million types of species are present on the earth of which only 2 million species are known so far or studied while 8 million species are unknown so far. in these 2 million species 1.5 Million animals and 0.5 M plants are studied so far.
The distribution of species on the earth is not the same in the whole areas some areas have a large number of species such as forest areas and some areas have a moderate amount of species such as under-cultivated areas some have the least number of species such as desert areas.
Types of Biodiversity
There are several types of biodiversity that can be recognized, including:
- Genetic Biodiversity
- Species Biodiversity
- Ecological Biodiversity
- Functional diversity
- Genetic diversity: This refers to the variety of genes within a species or population. It is important because it allows for adaptability and resilience in the face of changing conditions.
- Species diversity: This refers to the variety of different species within a particular area or ecosystem. A high level of species diversity is important because it helps to maintain the overall health and stability of an ecosystem.
- Ecological diversity: This refers to the variety of different ecosystems and habitats within a region. It includes different types of forests, grasslands, rivers, and oceans, as well as the species and communities that live in them.
- Functional diversity: This refers to the variety of different roles that different species play within an ecosystem. For example, some species may be important as pollinators, while others may play a role in nutrient cycling or seed dispersal.
Significance
- Biodiversity provides us with food in the form of vegetables fruits and meat etc.
- A large amount of medicine directly or indirectly is getting from biodiversity. indirectly their glandular products or nectar from weeds are evolving for the formation of different types of medicine.
- A large amount of natural fibre resin gums evolved from biodiversity.
- The raw material for making buildings, houses, etc. is getting from biodiversity.
- Overall, biodiversity is important because it helps to maintain the balance and stability of ecosystems, and it provides a range of resources and services that humans depend on, such as food, medicine, and natural resources.
References
- https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/biodiversity/
- https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/biodiversity/biodiversity-type%e2%80%a6
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swiss_National_Park_131.JPG
Image Courtesy
- Fig.2. A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park), Showing Plant diversity. Available At