Question

Bio-diversity of India.
Explain.
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Answer 1

Explanation:

$\huge\bf\pink{Question࿐}$Bio-diversity of India. Explain.

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1. India has a diversified relief and climate.

2. Similar diversity is seen in the wildlife in India.

3. In the entire world about 15 lakh species of wildlife is recorded of which 81,251 species are found in India.

4. These include reptiles, mammals, fish and other insects.

5. India has less forest cover compared to that its wildlife diversity is noticeable.

6. Asian elephant in Peninsular rain forests, one homed rhino in Swampy Brahmaputra river, Snow leopards in higher Himalayas. Wild goats and musk deer and found in Jammu-Kashmir.

7. Wild buffaloes are seen in forests of Southern India.

8. Tiger is found in Central India and West Bengal,Ghudkhar in Little Desert of Kutch and Flamingo in water logged Great Desert.

9. Great Indian Bustard is found in the grassland area. In the water lodges area, migratory birds from cold regions come down in great number. These include Siberian crane, Pelican, Tibetian duck, Junk, Karkara etc.

10. Flyingsquirrels are seen in the dense forests of western ghats, Nicobari dove in Nicobar islands, Rare species of corals are seen in the Gulf of Kutch and Lakshadweep island.

11. Various types of reptiles include King cobra, snakes, python, iguana.

12. Along sea coasts and other water bodies variousfishes, sea snakes, dolphin, shark, dugong, octopus, whale etc. are seen.

13. Explorations continue to identify other animals found in different forests. India is at sixth position among the countries rich in bio-diversity

Answer 2

Explanation:

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India is one of the world’s most biologically and culturally diverse countries. It is also one of the poorest in terms of per capita income.

The exist­ence of mass poverty on an enormous scale lies upon two important facts: first that the country exports natural products that command high prices in overseas markets, such as basmati rice and Darjeeling tea, as well as products like medicinal and aromatic plants that are major inputs in rap­idly expanding industries; and second that India has achieved significant capabilities in industrial chemistry and the life sciences

India is one of the world’s ‘mega diversity’ countries. It is ranked ninth in the world in terms of higher plant species richness. At the ecosystem level, India is also well-endowed, with ten distinct biogeographic zones.

It also contains two of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots, because of their extraordinarily high levels of species-richness and endemicity, and threatened status.

India is considered to be the centre of origin for the following crop species pigeon pea, egg plant cucumber, possibly cotton and sesame. But for millennia, numerous other crop species have been introduced to India and adapted to localised conditions.

As a consequence of both the diver­sity of these conditions and of the various eth­nic populations living in India, the country has become an important centre of diversity of a great many domesticated species, including vari­ous cereals, millets, legumes, vegetables, temper­ate and tropical fruits, fibre crops, medicinal and aromatic plants.

India’s biodiversity is threatened by the de­struction and degradation of ecosystems and by over exploitation of species.

More specifically, the threats are inter alia due to the following:

1. Large-scale development projects such as min­ing and dam and road construction.

2. Conversion of biodiversity-rich ecosystems, such as tropical forests to farmlands and in­dustrial and residential sites.

3. Poaching of wildlife and over-harvesting of forest products.

While there has been no comprehensive as­sessment of biodiversity loss, three of four mam­mal species have been lost since 1950, and so also 15-20 plant species have become extinct. By and large over ten per cent of India’s flowering plant species are threatened with extinction. Of par­ticular seriousness is the loss of agro-biodiversity.

In one district of the state of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal, 95 percent of rice vari­eties previously cultivated are no longer found. Although the causes are various, this situation is primarily due to the replacement of low-input poly-cultural agricultural systems with higher-in­put monocultures.