Indian Geography: Biodiversity Pools in India for competitive Exams

Indian Geography: Biodiversity Pools in India

A biodiversity hotspot is a bio geographic region with a rich pool of biodiversity that is threatened by humans. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on Myers 2000 edition of the hotspot-map,

A region must meet two strict criteria:

It must have at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics
It should have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation.

All over the world, at least 25 years qualify under this definition, with nine others as possible candidates. These sites support nearly 60% of the world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a very high share of endemic species. There regions that satisfy these criteria exist in India and are described below.

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The Western Ghats:

The Western Ghats is range of hills that run along the western cost of peninsular India. Their nearness to the ocean and through orographic effect, they receive high rainfall. These regions have moist deciduous forest and rain forest. The region shows high species diversity as well as high levels of endemic. Some of the amphibian and reptile species found here are found nowhere else.

There are over 6000 vascular plants belonging to over 2500 genera in this hotspot, of which over 3000 are endemic. Much of the world's spices like black pepper and cardamom are native of the Western Ghats. The highest concentration of species in the Western Ghats is believed to be the Agasthyamalai Hills in the extreme south. The region also harbours over 450 bird species, about 140 mammalian species, 260 reptiles and 175 amphibians are completely endemic to the hotspot. Remarkable as this diversity is, it is this hotspot originally extended over 190,000 square kms. Today, it has been reduced to just 43,000 sq. km.

The Eastern Himalayas:

The Eastern Himalayas region includes Bhutan, north-eastern India, and southern, central, and eastern Nepal. The region is geologically young and shows high attitudinal variation. The Himalayan system covers over 100 mountains exceeding 7200 metres. Some of the world's major river systems arise here, and their combined drainage basin is home to about 3 billion people almost half of Earth's population) in 18 countries.

The Eastern Himalayan hotspot has nearly 163 globally threatened species including the One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Wild Asian Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis(Arnee)) and in all 45 mammals, 50 birds, 17 reptiles, 12 amphibians, 3 invertebrate and 36 plants species. The Relict Dragonfly (Epiophlebia laidlawi) is an endangered species found here with the only other species in the genus being found in Japan. The region is home to the Himalayan Newt (Tylototriton verrucosus), the only salamander species found within Indian limits. There are an estimated 10,000 species of plants in the Himalayas, of which one-third are endemic and found nowhere else in the world.

Indo-Burma:

It spread out from E. Bangladesh to Malaysia and includes North-Eastern India south of Brahmaputhra river. The Indo-Burma region is spread over 2 million sq. km of tropical Asia. This region is home to several primate species such as monkeys, Jangurs and gibbons with populations numbering only in the hundreds. Many of the species, especially some freshwater turtle species, are endemic. Almost 1,300 bird species exist in this region including the threatened white-eared nigh-heron, the grey-crowned crocias, and the orange-necked partridge. It is estimated that there are about 13,500 plant species in this hotspot, with over half of them endemic. Ginger, for example, is native to this region.

Indian Bio-Geographic Zones:

They are Trans-Himalayan, Himalayan, Indian Desert., Semi-arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plains, Coastas, North-Eastern and Islands. These zones togethr consists of 25 bio-geographic provinches. The aim is to designate one representative site as Biosphere Reserve in each bio-geographic province for long-term conservation. The programme was initiated in 1986 and till date 16 sites have been designated.

Indian Biosphere Reserves:

16 Biosphere Reserve have been designated in India. They are