Q.2. Write a note on the ecological diversity of India and examine its significance. (20Marks)

 Ans. The ecological or ecosystem diversity of the country India is enormous, ranging from sea level to the highest mountainous ranges in the world; hot and arid conditions in the northwest to cold arid conditions in the trans-Himalayan region; tropical wet evergreen forests in northeast India and the western Ghats; mangroves of sunder bans and fresh water aquatic to marine ecosystems.

 

India has 12 bio-geographical provinces, 5 biomes and 3 bioregion domains. The country supports a diverse array of habitats or ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal, marine and desert and each with rich and unique floristic diversity. These biological attributes are further enhanced by the geographic location of the country, at the confluence of three major global bio-geographic realms, viz., Indomalesian, Eurasion and Afrotropical, thus allowing the intermingling of floristic elements from these regions as well as making it one of the 17 mega-diversity countries in the world, recognised by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in 2000. The floral diversity in India is majorly concentrated in the 4 biodiversity hotspots, namely Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats, Northeast India and Andaman Islands (Indo-Burma) and Nicobar Island, out of 34 biodiversity hotspots recognised in the World. These floristically significant areas exhibit exceptional concentration of endemic species and also experiencing loss of habitat with higher occurrence of threatened plant species.

 

Over 30% of the geographical area of our country, including that in the Himalayas, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, still remain to be floristically explored and inventoried. Besides, despite the country being bestowed with vast natural as well as man-made wetlands distributed across different altitudinal and climatic zones, our knowledge about the floristic diversity met in these most fragile eco-systems is far from complete.

 

 

SIGNIFICANCE

Forests, with their rich biodiversity are essential for human livelihood and for sustainable development. For example, fuel wood is the primary source of energy for heating and cooking for a estimated 2.6 billion people. The World Bank estimates that forests directly contribute to the livelihoods of some 90% of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. India, with its large population, is poised for rapid economic growth. Large infrastructural and industrial projects, including highways, rural road network and the special economic zones (SEZs) are coming up. With cities and townships expanding often at the cost of agriculture, and agriculture expanding at the cost of tree cover, fresh threats to bio-diversity are emerging. In addition, changing lifestyles of the people with rising incomes, in both rural and urban areas are placing increasing demands on biodiversity. India is endowed with vast forest resources. Forests play a vital role in social, cultural, economic and industrial development of the country and in maintaining its ecological balance. Other land use practices are benefitted by forests. Realizing the crucial role of forests in maintaining the ecological balance and socio-economic developments, the National Forest Policy, 1988 aim 33% of country`s geographical area under forest and tree cover. Currently, total forest cover of India is 6,92,027km² which forms 21.05% of the geographical area of the country (FSI 2011). The state of Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover (50,646km²) in the country, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,410km²), Chhattisgarh (55,674 km²) in terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to total geographical area.

 

 

CONCLUSION

The biodiversity of our country is under considerable degree of threat due to various factors both natural and man-made. Natural causes such as natural calamities, competition between species and biological imparity of a species have contributed to some extent, towards the depletion of certain species. Eg. Eremostachys superba. Man-made threats such as clearance of prime forests for agriculture, mining, urbanisation, industrialisation, grazing, over-exploitation of components of floristic diversity, etc. modify, so they adapt to such conditions for their survival.

Reference:

- IGNOU MHI textbooks

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