Conservation of Plants and Animals Notes

Notes of Sc. Class VIIIth Ch. 7 – Conservation Of Plants And Animals

Conservation: The process of keeping and protecting something from damage.

Biosphere: Part of earth in which living organisms exist or which supports life.

Wildlife: All the animals and plants which are found naturally in the forests and other natural habitats.

Biodiversity: Refers to the variety of organisms (plants, animals and micro-organisms, etc.) found in a particular area or habitat.

Ecosystem: Includes all the living organisms (plants, animals and micro-organisms) of an area and the physical environment (soil, air and water) in which they live.

Deforestation: The clearing of forests by cutting down forest trees over a wide area is called deforestation.

Artificial (Man made) causes of deforestation:

1. For obtaining wood for using as fuel.
2. Obtaining wood for furniture.
3. Obtaining wood for making paper.
4. Getting land for cultivation of crops.
5. Getting land for building houses, factories, roads and dams etc.

Natural causes of deforestation:

1. Forest fires
2. Severe droughts
3. Volcanoes
4. Floods
5. Lightning
6. Thunderstorm

Consequences of Deforestation:

1. Shortage of wood and other forest products.
2. Increase in temperature of earth’s atmosphere leading to global warming as carbon dioxide in atmosphere increases and results in more trapping of heat.
3. Causes soil erosion making the soil infertile and leading to desertification (process by which fertile land becomes desert).
4. Frequent flooding of rivers leading to loss of life and property. Deforestation decreases the water holding capacity of soil which leads to floods.
5. Affects water cycle which causes decrease in rainfall and thus leads to lower ground water level and droughts.
6. Leads to extinction (vanishing) of many wild animals and plants.

Measures to be taken for conservation of forests and wildlife:

1. Unauthorised cutting of forest trees for timber trade and fire-wood should be stopped immediately.
2. Reforestation (replanting of trees of the same number and type that are cut).
3. More natural habitats of wild animals should be preserved by establishing conservation areas such as Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Natural Parks.
4. Total ban should be imposed on the poaching (killing) or capturing of any wild animal or bird.

Purpose of establishing several Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks: To conserve wild animals and their natural surroundings such as forests so as to maintain a healthy balance in nature, and to prevent the extinction of endangered (in danger of becoming extinct) wild animals.

Basic design of Biosphere Reserve:

A very large conservation area which is divided into three zones: core zone, buffer zone and transition zone.

The innermost zone of a Biosphere Reserve is known as core zone. The core zone is devoted to strict protection of wildlife, No human activity or economic activity is allowed in the core zone of a Biosphere zone.

The middle zone of a Biosphere Reserve is called buffer zone. It surrounds the core zone. In the buffer zone only limited human activity such as research, environmental education and tourism is allowed.

The outermost zone of a Biosphere Reserve is called transition zone. In the transition zone, several non-destructive human activities such as houses of tribal and cultivation of crops etc. are allowed which are necessary to maintain the life of tribal. No commercial exploitation of natural resources is allowed in a Biosphere Reserve.

A Biosphere Reserve may contain other protected areas in it. For example, a Biosphere Reserve may contain Wildlife Sanctuary and/or National Park in it.

The names and locations of some of the Biosphere Reserves of India are given below:

1. Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.
2. Kaziranga Biosphere Reserve.
3. Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve.
4. Kanha Biosphere Reserve.
5. Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.

Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve contains two Wildlife Sanctuaries and one National Park. The two Wildlife Sanctuaries contained in Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve are Bori Sanctuary and Pachmarhi Sanctuary. The National Park contained in Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve is called Satpura National Park.

Role of Biosphere Reserves:

1. Conservation of wild life
2. Maintain the biodiversity of the area.
3. Preserve ecosystem of the area.
4. Promote the economic development of the area.
5. Maintain the lifestyle of the tribal people living in the area.
6. Prevent the commercial exploitation of the area.
7. Provide opportunities for scientific research, environmental education and tourism.

Flora: Plants that grow naturally in a particular area. Teak, Jamun Fern, Mango and Arjun are the flora of Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.

Fauna: Animals that live naturally in a particular area. Cheetal, Wolf, Leopard, Chinkara, Blue bull, Barking deer and Wild dog are the examples of fauna of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.

Species: A group of same kind of organisms which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Examples are: Human (man), Tiger, Dog, Cat, Cow, Peacock, Mango, Neem, Paddy, Pine, Lotus and Sunflower. There are about 6,00,000 species of animals and 4,00,000 species of plants in the world today.

Endemic Species: Those species of plants and animals which are found exclusively in a particular area. Endemic species are not found naturally anywhere else in other areas. Sal and wild mango are the two examples of the endemic flora (or endemic plants) of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.

Giant squirrel, flying squirrel and bison (looks like Yak and Buffalo) are endemic fauna (endemic animals) of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.

Wildlife Sanctuary: The word sanctuary means a place for safety. So wildlife sanctuary means the place where wild animals remain safe. Wildlife is a protected area of land which is created for the protection of wild animals in their natural environment like forests (in which no hunting is permitted). The names of some of the Wildlife Sanctuaries of India and their locations are given below:

1. Sanjay Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary (Maharashtra)
2. Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary (tamilnadu)
3. Nagarjunsagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Andhra Pradesh)
4. Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary (Rajasthan)
5. Sultanpur lake Bird Sanctuary (Haryana)
6. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka)

National Park: A relatively large area of scenic beauty protected and maintained by Government to preserve flora and fauna (plants and animals), landscape, historic objects of the area and places of scientific interest. Another purpose of establishing National Parks is to provide human recreation and enjoyment. National parks are large and diverse enough to protect whole set of ecosystems.

Some of the prominent National Parks of India and the States in which they are located are given below:

1. Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand).
2. Kanha national Park (Madhya Pradesh).
3. Ranthambore National Park (Rajasthan).
4. Gir national Park (Gujarat).
5. Kaziranga National Park (Assam).
6. Satpura National Park (Madhya Pradesh).

Satpura National Park in Madhya Pradesh is the first Forest Reserve of India. Some of the wild animals found in Satpura National Park are: Tiger, Leopard, Indian giant squirrel, Cheetal, Barking deer, Wild boar, Marsh crocodile and Langur.

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation project which was launched by Government of India in 1972 to protect the tigers in the country.

Extinct species means those species which no longer exist anywhere. These are those species which have died completely. Some of the examples of extinct species of animals are: Dinosaur, Cave lion, Caspian tiger and Irish deer.

Endangered species are the species which are facing the risk of extinction. It means animals and plants which are on the verge of vanishing from earth. For example, the wild animals whose numbers are diminishing to such a low level that they might face extinction soon are known as endangered animals. Some examples of endangered animal species are: Tiger, Snow leopard, Great Indian rhinoceros, Asiatic lion, Desert cat and Kashmir stag.

The small animals are much more in danger or becoming extinct than the bigger animals. Small animals might be small in size but their role in ecosystem is very important which cannot be ignored. The small animals form parts of food chains and food webs which are essential for maintaining a balance in nature.

Red Data Book is the book or publication which keeps a record of all the endangered animals, plants and other species. There are different Red Data books for plants, animals and other species. Red Data Books are being published in many different countries and provide useful information on the threat status of the various species. There is also Red Data Book of India. The advantage of maintaining Red Data Book is that we come to know which species of animals, plants, etc. are very small in number and facing the danger of extinction so that timely remedial steps can be taken by the Authorities concerned to prevent their extinction.

The process of a bird or other animal moving from one place to another according to the season is called migration. Migration of birds or other animals is an adaptation to escape the harsh and cold conditions of their normal habitat in winter so as to survive.

The birds which move from very cold regions to warmer regions in winter, and go back after the winter is over are called migratory birds. One of the most common migratory birds which comes to India every year for a few months is the Siberian crane. Siberian crane flies thousands of kilometres and comes to warmer places in India such as Bharatpur in Rajasthan, Sultanpur in Haryana, some wet lands of North-East, and some other parts of India.

Paper is made from wood pulp that is produced from the wood of forest trees. We should save paper to save the forest trees.

The term ‘recycling of paper’ means to process the waste paper (to make new paper) so that it can be used again. Paper can be recycled from old newspapers, magazines, books, notebooks, and packaging materials after removing ink from them. Paper can be recycled five to seven times for use. We should ‘save paper’, ‘reuse paper’ and ‘recycle paper’. By doing this we will not only save trees but also save energy and water needed for manufacturing paper.

The planting of trees in an area in which forests were destroyed is called reforestation. The term ‘reforestation’ means to cover again with forest by planting new trees. The planted trees should generally be of the same species which were cut down from the forest during deforestation. We should plant at least as many trees as have been cut down.