Biodiversity and Megadiversity : Know the Differences

Biodiversity and Megadiversity : Different types of animals, plants, and microorganisms inhabit our planet. They have unique characteristics and behaviours. They are different in size, colour, their eating habits, defence mechanism and reproduction methods. This is called ‘Biodiversity’. The name is derived from two words ; the first ‘Bio’, which means ‘life’ and the second, ‘diversity’, which means’ ‘variability’. 

There is also ‘Megadiversity’, which means nations that have the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. In this article, we will learn all about biodiversity and megadiversity and what is the difference between the two?

Levels of Biodiversity

Biodiversity can be studied at 3 levels – Genetic biodiversity, Species biodiversity and Ecosystem biodiversity. Let us look at each one of them in a detailed manner.

Genetic Biodiversity

When we think of a tiger, what comes to our mind is a majestic animal with stripes of yellow, blak and white? But, there are different types of tigers like siberian tigers, bengal tigers, malayan tigers and more. This is due to ‘genes’.

Genes may be defined as the fundamental unit of all forms of life on earth, no matter how small or big. It is because of the presence of genes that different species get their similarities and differences. Genetic biodiversity or simply genetic diversity, is the variety of genes within a species.

According to biologists, the degree of genetic biodiversity varies from one species to another and it depends on a lot of factors. There are species that are genetically very similar, for example, kangaroos and there are those that are very diverse, for example maize.

Species Biodiversity

Our planet Earth is vast and interesting. There are particular regions or what you may call a habitat which has an increased population of a specific species. For example, The Great Barrier Reef, Australia is the largest coral reef on the planet. Containing coral reefs. On the other hand, we all know a panda can not survive in a desert. What do these indicate? Some kinds of species can only live in a certain type of habitat and this is called species diversity.

Ecosystem Biodiversity

Before getting into the details of Ecosystem Biodiversity, let us recap our memory for what is an ecosystem? In simple words, an ecosystem can be described as a geographical region where plants, animals, microorganisms and even physical conditions like the altitude and weather, all form a bubble to coexist. 

Ecosystems can be broadly classified into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and there are different subcategories in each.

It so happens that a region can have one or many ecosystems. Best examples we can mention here are oceans which have  low ecological diversity and mountainous areas that have high levels of ecological diversity because they have lakes, grasslands and forests within them. Hope the concept of ecosystem biodiversity is clear to you now !

Definition of Megadiversity

According to recent reports, 70% of the world’s flora and fauna is spread among 17 countries only. That is less than 10% of the total. Megadiverse countries are those that contain the maximum number of species, especially those that are endemic. It is of paramount importance to preserve the diversity of species in these countries otherwise they will be permanently lost to the world.

Top Megadiverse Countries in the World

Here are the top megadiverse countries in the world in the increasing order of diversity.

1. Venezuela
2. United States
3. South Africa
4. Philippines
5. Peru
6. Papua New Guinea
7. Mexico
8. Malaysia
9. Madagascar
10. Indonesia
11. India
12. Ecuador
13. Australia
14. Columbia

The idea of megadiversity is being used to spread awareness amongst the people about why biodiversity is important to the healthy functioning of each and every being on the planet and what is causing it to decline?

For any country to be listed as a megadiverse country, it has to be home to at least 5000 endemic plants and should have marine ecosystems within the borders.

What Is Common Among Megadiverse Countries?

The detailed study of the megadiverse countries has led the biologists to the following observations, which we have tabulated below.

Contributions of Megadiverse Countries For Biodiversity

For more than 15 years, all the countries that have been identified as megadiverse countries have been working closely with the primary objective of maintaining, improving the biodiversity of their nation in particular and the plant as a whole.

Here are some of the common objectives they are working towards:

• Initiating research activities and investing in technologies that help them preserve the biodiversity at a local level
• To make sure their efforts towards conservation support the welfare of the people
• Exchange of information with the other biodiverse countries so that everyone can learn from each other and work as a team
• Coming up with useful initiatives in the field of biodiversity and exchanging the information with other countries towards achieving the common goal

Our Role in Preserving the Biodiversity of Planet Earth

Human beings need biodiversity to sustain on this planet. When it is declining at an unimaginable rate, the responsibility falls on us to act immediately. We are already fighting our battles against climate change, shortage of water, pollution, pandemic and so on. We may not even win some of these battles. At the rate at which we are losing biodiversity, we will soon lose the ability to grow sustainable crops, find clean water, access to nutritious food and so on.

Here are some of the things that we can do to conserve biodiversity.

• Protect our land and sea so that nature can support diversity
• Support your local farmers so that they continue with their occupation and conserve the natural resources
• Bees have a very important role to play in biodiversity. So, start by planting flowering plants in your backyard
• Go local with flowers, fruits and vegetables
• Minimise the wastage of water. Taking shorter showers and washing your car only when it is needed, are some of the simple tricks that can conserve local, freshwater resources.

Most important of all, be vocal about the ideas for conservation of biodiversity and how it can impact our lives positively. Whenever you get an opportunity to spread the message about this topic, do so because not everyone is aware of how big a global issue is biodiversity and megadiversity.

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