A Presentation

on
Loss of Diversity.
Made By – Abhishek
IBD-1
 Index
 Introduction
 Factors which cause loss of diversity
 Whaling
 What are the effects
 What can be done
 Bibliography
 Acknowledgment
 Introduction
To start with it is very important that first we
get to know about diversity. Diversity are
the number of different species in one area
and the quantity of each of these species.
There are many problems caused not just
because of the natural problems like earth
quakes , etc. in these type of things many
species of an organism die but the major
destructor of the diversity is the human
being, the host of all components.
 continued..
One of the biggest threats to biodiversity is
habitat destruction or encroachment.  Our
constant development means that we must
destroy  natural ecosystems in the name of
progress.   Sometimes our  development does
not destroy an ecosystem but simply decreases
its size.   This in itself can be destructive.  
Many animals have a certain range that they must
maintain in order to live.  If they do not have
access to this area, their lives are significantly
altered.  Closer quarters causes more 
competition between species,  and this may
lead to the  eventual extinction of one or more
species.  
Blast fishing is practiced in
many areas.   This is the
process whereby dynamite is
placed into an area in order
to catch a large quantity of
fish.  Coral reefs especially
are devastated by this
activity.  It is most prominent
in undeveloped countries
where this practice has
existed for years.
 Factors which cause loss of
diversity.
Now days every body fears that the main cause of
destruction to the environment is the host of
the planet earth “Humans”. This is because
people now in the world do not care about the
environment they just care about them selves
and money they earn from disturbing the
environment.
At large masses this has been going on in the
world it is us who is doing it and it is us only
who can stop our selves of doing it. No body
from anywhere out of the universe is going to
come and stop this destruction which are
taking place here.
 Continued..
 SOLID WASTE
Dumping of garbage at sea.  Plastic in our
garbage causes enormous problems.  It kills
or injures many marine animals and birds
either through accidental entanglement or
ingestion of the material in the mistaken
belief that the plastic is food (sometimes
bags are misidentified as jellyfish). 
 Continued..
 GREENHOUSE EFFECT
The greenhouse  effect will be accelerated  as
rain forests are decimated.   The forests move 
large quantities of water from the soil to the air
through evapotranspiration.  As the earth warms
in greenhouse predictions, the rate of this
process will increase.  
Therefore,  cloud production will increase and aid
in reducing the surface temperature.   While
this is a positive effect,  the more trees  which
are cut,  the more nature’s  capacity to
maintain this temperature is lost.  The
greenhouse effect will increase dramatically as
the forests dwindle.
Deforestation is one
of the cause of
Loss of diversity.
 Continued..
 OTHER PROBLEMS
1.Changing natural resources:  Rerouting rivers and
damming them sometimes interferes with natural
reproduction cycles of fish
2.Overharvesting of specific species
3.Pesticide use and runoff 
4.Depleting nutrients in the soil due to poor farming
techniques 
5.Overpopulation and the need for land for food and
habitat 
6.There is now the threat of mining the seabed for
minerals as we run low on these resources on land. 
There is also talk of burying toxic waste at sea.  Due to
the dispersal quality of water, the toxins would spread
for miles.
 A hundred years ago a whaling ship could capture 35-
40 whales in one three-year trip.  Yet, in the 20th
WHALING
century at the peak of Indus- trial  whaling,  the
same  amount of whales  was  processed in two
weeks. 
This has caused the  collapse of whale populations 
worldwide. Some are  very  near  extinction.   The
International  Whaling  Commission  has imposed 
limits on whale hunting,  and some species are 
slowly recovering  from our acts. 

However,  as the species  count rises again, countries

are perched  on the  brink ready to  lift the ban on 
whaling at the  first moment  that they possibly can. 
If this is done, our efforts will have been in vain for it
will  take very few years  for us to be back  in the
same scenario where we found ourselves earlier this
century.  With more sophisticated technology like
helicopters to track pods and floating factories to 
process the animals,  the  whales have  little chance
against our species.
 What are the effects?

 First, loss of diversity in an ecosystem can cause

environmental changes.  Loss of one species may
cause a chain reaction, resulting in a change to the
ecosystem itself.  As we do not know what each
specific organism contributes to its environment, we
cannot predict how the ecosystem will be affected. 
The whole ecosystem may be weakened by this
process.
Plants and animals produce defense mechanisms which
are often chemicals used to either repel predators
or to aid in elimination of their competition.  These
chemicals are vitally important to humans because
many cures for human diseases have been found in
these compounds.  If a species is lost due to our
interference in its ecosystem, we also lose the
ability to study it for possible benefits to mankind.
 Continued..
 Secondly, the loss of diversity gives us less choice as
humans.  This involves several areas.  If certain species
are lost, they are no longer available to us either as food,
as enjoyment, or as resources for things we may not even
know about yet.  For example, if we deplete all the
yellow fin tuna in the ocean, we no longer have this
species available for our consumption.  If we are divers or
underwater explorers, we no longer can see this fish in
its own environment and receive pleasure from this act.
 Other problems with loss of diversity are more subtle. 
When a species is depleted so that there are only a few
organisms left, the genetic diversity in the species
becomes very low.  This lowers the survival rate of the
species.  If all the individuals left are weak, have some
form of abnormality, or are unable to survive in their
environment, the species is doomed to extinction.
 What can be done !
The biggest thing we can do to
REDUCE limit our waste production is to
reduce the amount of waste we
make. 

REUSE  Another method of reducing

waste is by using items as many
times as possible before
discarding them.

RECYCLE After we have reduced and

reused as much as possible, we
should try to recycle as much of
our waste as possible.
 REDUCE
 You can buy products which are more
durable.   The longer they last,  the less
often they have to be replaced.
 Give away items that you don’t want. 
 Buy products which have been made from
recycled goods.
 Reduction in the mode of transportation.
 Unnecessary use of water during periods of
drought can cause serious problems for a
community. 
 reuse
 There are many products which we buy that can
be used over again if we simply think about it. 
For instance, if you use paper towels, there are
those which are strong enough to be rinsed out
and used again.   Plastic zipper bags for food
storage can be washed after use and re-used for
another food item.  
 If a product can no longer be used for its
intended purpose, consider how else it might be
useful.  Old towels which are tattered  can be 
cut up and made  into cleaning cloths.   Larger
cardboard boxes  which might have contained
appliances can be converted into toys or storage
containers for children.   
 recycle
 By recycling our products, solid waste decreases
dramatically.
 There are  other areas  affected by our 
recycling efforts.   There could be an  estimated
350  million trees saved annually if there were
just a 30% increase in paper recycling .
 It takes 95% less energy to make an aluminum
can from recycled aluminum than it does  to
make one from scratch 
 The government must be instrumental in
educating people and in providing incentives for
its citizens to recycle. 
 bibliography
 www.google.com
 www.askjeeves.com
 www.answer.com
 www.jstor.com
 acknowledgment
I would like to thank our Teacher Mrs. Shweta
Gill, for giving me this topic for the
presentation.
 I got to know a lot about the diversity loss
that is being going on these days in the world
and which is affecting our nature in which we
live .
The End