Tag: environmental conservation and biodiversity

Species diversity or genetic variation increases as one proceeds from high altitude to low altitude and high latitude to low latitude. Tropical rain forests are wet and dense. They exhibit maximum genetic variations due to increased temperature and rainfall.  They show high animal and plants biodiversity. 

Species diversity is defined as the number of different species in a given community. The species diversity in a community is maintained by predators. Predators are organisms that feed on prey. They can increase, decrease or leave unchanged species diversity. They increase species diversity by preying on competitive dominant species and reduce species diversity by reducing consumer pressure on foundation species.

Isha Upanishad is one of shortest Upanishads, which is embedded as the final chapters of Shukla Yajurveda, the following stanza is found in this upanishad.

• Species diversity increases as one proceeds from high altitude to low altitude and high latitude to low latitude. The temperature and seasonal variability increases with increased altitude and decreased latitude. Hence, this results in higher species diversity in these areas.

Gymnosperms mean naked seeds; their ovules are naked and freely exposed to pollination, and the fertilized seeds are not enclosed by carpels. Great biodiversity exists on our planet. Millions of living plants and animal species are flourishing on Earth. An approximate of 1.7 million organisms are known to exist. 64 gymnosperm species are known from India.

The variety and variability of living organisms (both plants and animals) are known as biodiversity. The variation measured by biodiversity is at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Gene-based diversity is known as genetic diversity. It is a way for populations to adapt to changing environments. A species spread over a large tract with varied environmental conditions will have higher genetic diversity.

Beta diversity is the diversity present between the communities. It is also the rate of replacement of species along a gradient of habitats/communities. Whereas, the local species pool is known as alpha diversity and the diversity present in the ranges of communities is known as Gamma diversity.

The relationship between the area of a habitat, or of part of a habitat, and the number of species found within that area is described by the species-area curve. It says that log S = log C + Z log A. Here S is the number of species, A is the habitat area, and Z is the slope of the species-area relationship. Larger areas tend to contain larger numbers of species.
So, the correct answer is 'log S = log C + Z log A'.

The local species pool is known as alpha diversity. It is also the diversity present within the community. The term was introduced by R. H. Whittaker. Example of such diversity includes high tree diversity throughout the Amazon Rainforests of Ecuador. Generally, gamma diversity = alpha diversity x beta diversity.