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💡 A land of many worlds
Snow-clad Himalayas, the Thar desert, North-East rainforests, southern plateaus, long coastlines — India packs a startling range of habitats, and each shelters life found nowhere else.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity
The enormous variety of living organisms found on the Earth, across all habitats. From microbes to giant trees
- Biodiversity is the enormous variety of living organisms on the Earth.
- It ranges from microscopic organisms to giant trees, across every kind of habitat.
- It is essential for life — every organism plays a role in keeping nature stable, from algae releasing oxygen to fungi and bacteria recycling nutrients.
NCERT Question 6 — How does the diversity of
How does the diversity of organisms contribute to the balance and stability of an ecosystem?
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What are endemic species and biodiversity hotspots?
- Endemic species are restricted to a particular region and are not found naturally anywhere else — e.g. Nilgiri tahr, Lion-tailed macaque, Nepenthes khasiana and Neelakurinji (Fig. 12.1).
- Biodiversity hotspots are regions with many endemic species that have undergone significant habitat loss.
- Global hotspots include the Western Ghats, Indo-Burma (North-East India), the Himalayas and Sundaland (Nicobar Islands); protecting them keeps food webs and ecosystems healthy.
✅ Test Yourself
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What is an endemic species?
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A species that is restricted to a particular region of the world and is not found naturally anywhere else — for example, the Nilgiri tahr and Neelakurinji are endemic to India. -
Name any two biodiversity hotspots.
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The Western Ghats and the Himalayas. (Indo-Burma, including North East India, and Sundaland, including the Nicobar Islands, are also global hotspots.) -
Why is a region called a biodiversity hotspot?
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Because it supports a large number of endemic species and has undergone significant habitat loss, which makes its conservation especially important.
Important Definitions
- Biodiversity — the immense variety of living organisms found on the Earth.
- Endemic species — a species restricted to a particular region and not found naturally anywhere else.
- Biodiversity hotspot — a region that supports a large number of endemic species and has undergone significant habitat loss.
