Biodiversity and Conservation — BIOLOGY STD 12 Science — Question

1. This is an apporach for in sin method of conservation. Eminent conservationists have identified certain regions for the maximum protection, these regions are called biodiversity hotspots.

These are regions with very high levels of species richness, high degree of endemism (species confined to a region and not found anywhere else) and accelerated habitat loss. Initially, 25 biodiversity hotspots were identified. Now, there are 34 hotspots all over the world.

These hotspots are in India, i.e. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Indo-Burma and Eastern Himalaya. If all the biodiversity hotspots are put together, they cover less than 2% of the earth's land area, but harbor extremely high diversity. Ongoing mass extinctions could be reduced by 30% through strict protection of these hotspots.

2. There are two methods of conservation:

1. In Situ (On site) Conservation: It is the conservation and protection of the whole ecosystem and its biodiversity at all levels in order to protect the threatened species. However, it is not economically feasible to conserve all the biological wealth at all the existing ecosystems.

2. Ex-Situ (Off site) Conservation: This approach involves placing the threatened animals and plants in special care units for their protection. Ex-situ conservation includes off site collections and gene bank.