Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activities around the world. This book is the first volume in the new series Biodiversity Hotspots of the World, which highlights the 36 hotspot regions of the world, regions that were designated as reaping maximum benefit from preservation efforts. This series is our humble attempt to document these hotspots as a conservation and preservation measure. This first volume in the series focuses on the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, construed as forming a community of species because of their shared biogeographical history. The volume explores the diversity and conservation efforts of the extraordinarily rich species found here, including plants, many of which are found nowhere else in the world; forests, which face tremendous population pressure and have been dramatically impacted by demands for timber and agricultural land; as well as the hotspot’s diverse mammals, birds, insects, and amphibian species, and more. The volumes in this series will be essential resources for researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology, and evolution.

Growing human populations and higher demands for water impose increasing impacts and stresses upon freshwater biodiversity. Their combined effects have made these animals more endangered than their terrestrial and marine counterparts. Overuse and contamination of water, overexploitation and overfishing, introduction of alien species, and alteration of natural flow regimes have led to a 'great thinning' and declines in abundance of freshwater animals, a 'great shrinking' in body size with reductions in large species, and a 'great mixing' whereby the spread of introduced species has tended to homogenize previously dissimilar communities in different parts of the world. Climate change and warming temperatures will alter global water availability, and exacerbate the other threat factors. What conservation action is needed to halt or reverse these trends, and preserve freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world? This book offers the tools and approaches that can be deployed to help conserve freshwater biodiversity.

This book offers a comprehensive account of India's four biodiversity hotspots: the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With a focus on tropical rainforests, it includes more than 30 chapters covering different vertebrate fauna e.g. fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as well as topics such as conservation and management aspects. Written by experts in the field of biodiversity conservation and management, it offers ample new insights into a number of subjects related to the faunal communities of tropical forest ecosystems, providing a valuable resource for conservationists and researchers in the field of flora and fauna diversity.

Biodiversity is a vast arena in the sphere of life dealing with many living organisms of botanical and zoological origin and also microbes. Though majority of the research and studies of the biodiversity focus on the macroscopic organisms, but the economic importance of the microbial species present in biosphere cannot be neglected due to its huge importance in ecology as well as pathology. Moreover, air born microbes are also significant as potential pathogens of different diseases. From the beginning of the twenty‐first century, it has become evident that the loss of biodiversity are posing threat, mainly due to loss of forest plants and also extinction of many animals and birds. This also results in the biodiversity loss in a broad sense due to environmental pollution, global warming, human negligence and associated hazards.

This book presents the results of the biodiversity hotspots - those discrete, biogeographic regions that are known to hold at least 1,500 plants as endemics and that have lost at least 70% of their primary native vegetation.

2023-24 TGT/PGT/LDC Biology/Zoology/Botony Solved Papers Vol.02

Ecohydrology of Kerala: River Catchments and Coastal Backwaters presents 20 years of research to provide suggestions for sustainable management solutions for issues surrounding the urbanization of the rivers of Kerala. This helps identify major issues and develop management strategies. Themes explored include biogeochemistry of rivers/estuarine systems, productivity and trophic status, biology: fauna and flora, biodiversity, threats and conservation, invasive species and impact on riverine ecology, landscape/land use/land cover change in the catchment, socioeconomic status of catchment population, economic and livelihood activities along the river courses/estuaries (river and estuarine tourism, sand extraction, fisheries), pollution monitoring and assessment, impacts of climate change, and more. This book can be used as a tool in the holistic management of resources, and to devise proper mitigation measures. The content of the book is a model for other tropical regions and countries with rapidly developing economies and populations - Presents spatial maps and easy to follow figures in each chapter, aiding in a foundational understanding of the topic - Provides a fully comprehensive overview, including biogeochemistry, ecology, productivity, livelihood, socioeconomic aspects, and governance of the rivers - Includes specific cases of ecohydrology in the river basin, especially from rivers and coastal lakes of Kerala

Includes sections on Polynesia and Micronesia, the California coast, the Caribbean, Choco-Darien Western Ecuador, the Mediterranean Basin, Brazilian Cerrado, Tropical Andes, Central Chile, Atlantic Forest Region, the Caucasus, the Mountains of South-Central China, India and Burma, Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya, Guinean Forest of West Africa, Succulent Karoo, Cape Floristic Province, Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Sundaland, Wallecea, Southwest Australia, the Philippines, New Caledonia, and New Zealand.