Biodiversity Resources, Extinction of Species and Conservation Assessment

1
Biodiversity Resources, Extinction of Species and
Conservation Assessment

• Krishna Shrestha
• Central Department of Botany
• Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur
• kksht_at_wlink.com.np

2
Origin of Life

• The Earth and Solar system was formed about 4.6
  billion years ago
• Bacteria-like living organisms originated 3.5
  billion years ago
• Primitive plants (jelly-fish and corals) and
  primitive plants (algae) about 700 million yrs
  ago
• The vascular land plants about 430 m yrs ago
• Flowering plants arose in the early Cretaceous
  period of Mesozoic era, 120-136 m yrs ago, had
  become dominant in the world, about 80-90 million
  years ago.
• Human being (Homo sapiens) appeared only 2.5 m
  yrs ago
• Herbaceous plants (monocots) formed just 2 m yrs
  before.

3
Biological Diversity

• Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth,
  formed due to billions of years of evolution,
  shaped by natural processes.
• Diversity of life forms found on the earth,
  including millions of different kinds of plants,
  animals and microorganisms, the genes they
  contain and the intricate ecosystem they form.

4
Species Diversity

• About 13 million species of living organisms
  exist in the earth (estimates range from 3-100
  million).
• So far, 1.75 million species have been identified
  and described.
• Animals 13,20,000 species (Of the estimated 30
  million species, only 1.3 million are known)
• Microorganisms 8,000 species.
• Plants 325,000 species (flowering plants 250,000
  species)

5
IUCN and Red Data Books

• The World Conservation Union (IUCN), formerly
  known as The International Union for Conservation
  of Nature and Natural Resources, played an
  important role in focussing Worlds concern in
  the loss or extinction of species during the last
  two decades.
• IUCNs Red Data Book (Anonymous 1966) is a
  pathfinder and since then several countries
  published their Red Data Books (Takhtajan 1975,
  Perring Farewell 1977, BSI 1990?)

6
Extinction of Species

• A species once lost can not be recreated and this
  results in the loss of millions of years of
  evolution.
• About 65 million years ago dinosaurs, huge
  mammoth reptiles disappeared from the earth,
  leaving no lineal descendants.

7
Causes of extinction

• The fossil history of plants and animals tells us
  the story of extinction due to geologic and
  evolutionary changes in time and space.
• With the predominance of human being and with the
  advent of agricultural and industrial revolutions
  in 20th century resulting in vast habitat
  destruction, exponential population growth, and
  extinction of some of the vast array of plants
  and animals constituting our worlds rich
  biological diversity.

8
Rate of Extinction of Species

• Of the estimated 10 million plant and animal
  species, not more than 1.7 million species are
  recorded in the scientific literature.
• It is likely that large number of species will be
  disappeared without knowing their identity.
• According to IUCNs Threatened Plants Committee
  about 10 (20,000-30,000) of the worlds
  flowering plants are dangerously under threat or
  rare.
• UNESCO suggests that 10,000,000 hectares of
  tropical forest are being felled each year -
  comparable to an area of Royal Botanical Gardens,
  Kew (126 hectares) in every 6.5 minutes.
• More than 50 of existing species will be lost in
  the next 100 years, if present trends continue.
• Currently, the rate of plant extinction has
  approached ONE species per day.

9
Threat value of species

• According to the proforma of Perring Farwell
  (1977) the following categories have been given
  an index number with arbitrary values and
  uniformly applied
• a. The rate of decline of the species over a
  decade of observation
• 0 decline less than 33
• 1 decline between 33-66
• 2 decline over 66
• Source Endemic Plants of Indian Region. BSI,
  Calcutta.

10

• b. The number of localities known
• 0 over 16 localities or sites
• 1 10-15 localities or sites
• 2 6-9 localities or sites
• 3 3-5 localities or sites
• 4 1-2 localities or sites
• c. Subjective assessment of the species
• 0 not attractive
• 1 moderately attractive
• 2 highly attractive

11

• d. The Conservation Index for that species (an
  arbitrary figure related to the percentage of
  localities of that species which are in nature
  reserves or sanctuaries)
• 0 over 66 in nature reserves
• 1 33-36
• 2 less than 33
• 3 less than 33 and these sites are subject
  to exceptional threat.
• e. The remoteness of the locality
• 0 not easily reached
• 1 moderately easily reached
• 2 easily reached.

12

• f. Accessibility (easy of access once the site
  has been located)
• 0 not easily reached
• 1 moderately easily reached
• 2 easily reached
• g. Species known for local uses especially in
  local medicines but kept secretly and not
  commercially cultivated
• 0 no local or medicinal use
• 1 used by few local tribes or villagers
• 2 used by large number of people in the
  area.

13
Threat value of species

• The category 7 is additional to Perring
  Farwells proforma as this category relates to
  Indian subcontinent conditions.
• The speciesranging between categories 4 17
  comes under Threat as per the values.
• The maximum threat value is 17 (abcdefg).

14
Conservation Assessment Practices in Nepal

• Conservation assessment of
• selected medicinal plants

15

• Assigning IUCN Red List Categories of Threat

16
A. Population Reduction

• Critically Endangered (CR)
• gt90 decline in last 10 yrs or 3 generations
  (whichever is longer)
• Endangered (EN)
• gt70 decline in last 10 yrs or 3 generations
  (whichever is longer)
• Vulnerable (VU)
• gt50 decline in last 10 yrs or 3 generations
  (whichever is longer)

17
B. Geographical Range

• Critically Endangered (CR)
• Extent of occurrence lt100 sq. km.
• Endangered (EN)
• Extent of occurrence lt5,000 sq. km.
• Vulnerable (VU)
• Extent of occurrence lt20,000 sq. km.

18
C. Population estimates

• Critically Endangered (CR)
• Estd. lt250 mature individual and/or
• Continuing decline of gt25 within 3 yrs or 1
  generation.
• Endangered (EN)
• Estd. lt2,500 mature individual and/or
• Continuing decline of gt20 within 5 yrs or 2
  generations.
• Vulnerable (VU)
• Estd. lt10,000 mature individual and/or
• Continuing decline of gt10 within 10 yrs or 3
  generations.

19
D. Number of mature individuals

• Critically Endangered (CR)
• Estd. lt50 mature individuals
• Endangered (EN)
• Estd. lt250 mature individuals
• Vulnerable (VU) Estd.
• lt1000 mature individuals
• Area of occupancy lt20 sq. km or lt5 locations

20
E. Probability of extinction

• Critically Endangered (CR)
• 50 or more within 10 yrs or 3 generations
• Endangered (EN)
• 20 or more within 20 yrs or 5 generations
• Vulnerable (VU)
• 10 or more within 100 yrs.

21
CAMP Workshop

• A Conservation Assessment and Management Plant
  (CAMP) workshop for selected medicinal plant
  species of Nepal was held at Pokhara, Nepal from
  18-20 January 2001.
• The CAMP workshop was organized jointly by MAPPA
  (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Program in Asia)
  and HMG Nepal. It was funded by IDRC, New Delhi.
• The workshop was supported by Medicinal Plant
  Specialist Group (MPSG) of SSC, IUCN.

22

• Forty eight participants from 10 countries that
  included Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Denmark,
  France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the
  UK.
• Of the 77 species proposed at the first CAMP
  workshop in Dhulikhel, Nepal (8-9 December 2000),
  the participants at Pokhara selected 51 species
  for final assessment.
• For threat assessment of the selected 51 species,
  the participants were divided into 5 working
  groups with each group assessing 9-12 species.

23

• The work of each group was reviewed by the next
  group and the final threat categorization made in
  a plenary session after obtaining general
  consensus amongst the participants.
• The IUCN Threat Categories (version 3.1), adopted
  by the Council in February 2001 were used for
  threat assessment.

24

• Fifty one medicinal plant species were assessed.
  The threat categories assigned were
• Critically Endangered (CR) 3 species
• Endangered (EN) 14 spp.
• Vulnerable (VU) 23 spp.
• Near Threatened (NT) 3 spp.
• Least Concerned (LC) 1 spp.
• Data Deficient (DD) 7 spp.

25
Distribution status

• In terms of distribution, of the 51 species
  assessed, 6 are Endemic to Nepal and therefore
  their Red List status/category is Global.
• Eight species assessed are endemic to the Western
  Himalaya, while 17 species are known to occur
  only in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya
• Remaining 20 species have a wider distribution.

26

• Habit-wise, of the 51 species assessed, 9 species
  are Trees, 2 shrubs, 4 annual herbs, 4 biennial
  herbs, 5 climbing herbs, 2 epiphytic herbs and 25
  species are perennial herbs.
• Of the 9 tree species assessed, 2 are Critically
  Endangered, 4 are Endangered, 2 vulnerable in the
  wild in Nepal, and one species is Data Deficient.

27
Critically Endangered (CR) species

• Michelia champaca
• Pterocarpus marsupium
• Rauvolfia serpentina
• Near Threatened (NT) species
• Jurinea dolomiaea
• Meconopsis dhwojii (End)
• Rheum moorcroftianum

28
Endangered (EN) species

• Aconitum balangrense (End)
• Alstonia neriifolia
• Corydalis megacalyx (End)
• Crateva unilocularis
• Dactylorhiza hatagirea
• Dioscorea deltoidea
• Ephedra intermedia

• Gloriosa superba
• Heracleum lallii (End)
• Operculina turpethum
• Oroxylum indicum
• Otochilus porrectus
• Swertia angustifolia
• Taxus wallichiana

29
Vulnerable (VU) species

• Aconitum heterophyllum
• Aconitum spicatum
• Allium hypsistum (End)
• Alstonia scholaris
• Arnebia benthamii
• Asparagus racemosus
• Butea monosperma
• Curculigo orchioides
• Delphinium himalayai (End)
• Ephemerantha macrei
• Fritillaria cirrhosa

• Nardostachys grandiflora
• Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora
• Panax pseudo-ginseng
• Paris polyphylla
• Piper longum
• Podophyllum hexandrum
• Rheum australe
• Rheum nobile
• Rubia manjith
• Swertia chirayita
• Tinospora sinensis
• Valeriana jatamansii

30
Least Concerned (LC) species

• Arisaema costatum
• Data Deficient (DD) species
• Aconitum bisma
• Aconitum ferox
• Lilium nepalense
• Maharanga bicolor
• Maharanga emodi
• Pongamia pinnata
• Swertia multicaulis

31
Taxon Data Sheet

• Latin name
• Synonyms
• Vernacular name(s)
• Family
• Habit
• Habit
• Habitat
• Original Global distribution (country-wise)
• Current Regional distribution
• Endemic to Nepal/W Himalaya/ HKH/ Asia
• Distribution within Nepal

• Population reduction
• Extent of occurrence
• Area of occupancy
• Number of locations or sub-populations
• Threats
• Status IUCN/CITES/HMG protected species
• Trade (local/national/ international), parts
  traded, effect on population decline?
• Existing known cultivation within and outside
  Nepal?
• References for any of above information
• Compilers
• Reviewers