DIVERSITY OF SPECIES ON EARTH AND IN INDIA

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It is not easy to answer that how many species are on earth.According to IUCN  the total no.of plant and animal species described are slightly more than 1.5million but we have no clear idea of how many species yet to be discovered.The most appropriate estimation given by Robert may shows that global species diversity is about 7millon. 

Let us look at the biodiversity of currently available species.More than 70%of all the species recorded are animals,while plants. Comprise no more than 22%of total. Among animals, insects are the most species rich taxonomic group,making up more than 70%percent of total.That means out of every 10 animals on this planet,7 are insects.

The most fascinating thing is that, the total no.of fungi species in the world is more than the combined total of the species of fishes,amphibians,reptiles and mammals.Also,biologist are not sure about how many prokaryotes species there might be. The problem is that the conventional taxonomic method are not suitable for identifying microbial species and many species are simply cannot be cultured under lab condition. 

Although India has only 2.4% of total world's land area,its shares of the global species diversity is an impressive 8.1%. That is  what makes our country one of the 12 mega diversity countries of the world.  Nearly 45,000 species of plant and 90,000 species of animals have been recorded from India. India with much of its area in tropical latitudes, has more than 1,200 species of birds. 
Still there are many species awaiting to be discovered. Considering the immense manpower and the time required to complete the job, the situation appears more hopeless when we realise that a large fraction of these species faces a threat of becoming extinct even before we discover them.
The biological wealth of our planet declining rapidly and the accusing finger is clearly pointing to human activities.The colonisation of tropical Pacific island led to the extinction of more than 2,000 species of native birds.Adding to grim scenario of extinctions is the fact that more than 15,500 species world wide are facing the threat of extinction.Nature's biological library is burning even before we catalogued the titles of all the books stocked there. 

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