10.What are the importance to maintain biodiversity and the conservation of wildlife and their habitats.Suggest ways to protect the endangered species.

Biodiversity,also called biological diversity,is a collective term encompassing species diversity,genetic diversity,and ecosystem diversity.Declining biodiversity and the increasing deterioration of ecosystems are causing concern all over the world.Protective measures

for conservation of biodiversity are becoming an important aspect in environmental protection.Educating the public about the importance of maintaining biodiversity is also important.

For the scope of biology and ecology,the importance of biodiversity is as follows:

-All life forms are parts of the nature and each of them has a specific role in it.The loss of any one life form is irreversible.

-Every species helps scientists understand how life has evolved and how it will continue to evolve.

-The organisms in an ecosystem are interdependent.Each species forms important parts of food chains and plays a specific role in the ecosystem.For example,herbivores consume producers and transfer energy and essential nutrients to carnivores,and detritivores speed up the cycling processes of essential materials.This maintains a self-sufficient ecosystem.

-The diversity of ecosystems is biologically important.It is because organisms usually live in particular types of habitats,where the physical factors are suitable for them to survive.

-Biodiversity is an important part of our heritage,just like art,language and other cultural achievements.Humans have the role of stewardship of the natural world.

The importance of biodiversity to economy and medicine is listed below:

-Nearly 90% of food crops are domesticated from wild tropical plants.Plant breeders and farmers rely on their genetic diversity to improve crop yield,develop new crop strains,and increase the resistance of crops to pests and diseases.

-Most of the wild plants supply oils,dyes,fibre,paper and other useful products.

-About 80% of the world's population relies on plants and plant extracts as medicines,which are called herbal medicines.

As a result,loss of species would mean loss of resources for humans in the production of food,medicines,and many other useful items.

Also,wild plants and animals are a source of beauty,wonder,joy and recreational pleasure for people.Wildlife tourism is a fast-growing way of tourism.It enables people to visit natural environments for relaxation.It also helps to educate people about the importance of conservation of the natural environment.As a kind of business,it can also generate a considerable amount of revenue for private sectors and the government every year.

Every wild species has an inherent right to exist or to struggle for survival without human interference,just like every human being has the right to survive.In other words,each species has its intrinsic value on the Earth,irrespective of its usefulness to human.Therefore,humans have no right to kill wildlife or disturb their survival.

In addition to preserving individual species,attention should also be placed on the whole spectrum of biodiversity.Hence,it is also important to protect entire ecosystems.

There are two main approaches to manage wildlife and save organisms from extinction:the ecological approach and species approach.

Ecological approach

The ecological approach focuses on the maintenance of biological diversity in the natural environment.In practice,this approach involves the establishment of nature reserves.Great attention is placed on the identification and protection of sites with a large variety of organisms.Threatened species are resettled in more secure and protected habitats.The governments have established laws and ordinances to protect wildlife.Hunting of wild animals and collection of wild plants are forbidden unless permission has been obtained from the authorities.

Disturbed lands can be also converted into natural ecosystems after thorough studies of site conditions and planning.Existing native species can then perpetuate and exotic species can also be introduced.The re-establishment of wildlife habitats also has the advantage of regenerating soil damaged by agriculture or mining.

Species approach

The species approach focuses on the conservation of biological diversity in human-controlled settings.The general practices include artificial breeding of endangered species in zoos and cultivating crops seeds that are genetically diversed from the wild species.Many zoos and botanic gardens have been set up for carrying out artificial breeding.This increases the populations of endangered species.

Special technidues such as artificial insemination and host mothering are used to increase the number of offspring of certain endangered species.By using these techniques,the numbers of some of these species have been successfully increased sufficiently for re-establishment as a small population in the wild.

The attempts to save a species from extinction are extremely expensive.Consequently,most of the conservation efforts are concentrated on species that have comparatively better chances of survival,higher ecological values to the ecosystems,and greater potential for agricultural,medicinal and industrial uses.