Biodiversity


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Biodiversity refers to the totality of genes, species and ecosystems of a region. Biodiversity differs from place to place. The living world abounds with enormous biodiversity.

Magnitude Of Biodiversity

Systematic work on identifying and naming the many species has been in progress for the last 250 -300 years. But the known and described number of species of all organisms on the earth is between 1.7 and 1.8 million which is just about 15% of the total number existing. New species are being discovered faster than ever before due to the efforts of projects like global biodiversity information facility.

Approximate Numbers of Species

Group Number of Species
Higher plants 2,70,000
Algae 40,000
Fungi 72,000
Bacteria (including cyanobacteria) 4,000
Viruses 1,550
Mammals 4650
Birds 9700
Reptiles 7150
Fish 26,959
Amphibians 4780
Insects 10,25,000
Crustaceans 43,000
Molluscs 70000
Nematodes and worms 25,000
Protozoa 40,000
Others 1,10,000

 

bar graph representation of magnitudes of biodiversity

 

Number of plants and animal species in different groups recorded in India

 

 



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