India Biodiversity Profile
India, a megadiverse country with only 2.4% of the world's land area, accounts for 7-8% of all recorded species, including over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals. It is situated at the tri-junction of the Afrotropical, Indo-Malayan and Palaearctic realms, all of which support rich biodiversity. Being one of the 17 identified megadiverse countries, India has 10 biogeographic zones and is home to 8.58% of the mammalian species documented so far, with the corresponding figures for avian species being 13.66%, for reptiles 7.91%, for amphibians 4.66%, for fishes 11.72% and for plants 11.80%. Four of the 34 globally identified biodiversity hotspots, namely the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka and Sundaland, are represented in India. India is an acknowledged centre of crop diversity and harbours hundreds of varieties of crop plants such as rice, maize, millets etc. The diverse physical features and climatic conditions have resulted in a variety of ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, desert, coastal and marine ecosystems which harbour and sustain high biodiversity and contribute to human well-being.
Faunal and floral diversity
Taxonomic group |
Number of species |
| |
World |
India |
Percentage in India |
| Protista (Protozoa) |
31,250 |
3500 |
11.20 |
| Animalia |
1,53,122 |
3,033 |
1 8.51 |
| Mesozoa |
71 |
10 |
14.08 |
| Porifera |
5000 |
500 |
10.00 |
| Cnidaria |
10,105 |
1042 |
10.31 |
| Ctenophora |
100 |
12 |
12.00 |
| Platyhelminthes |
17,511 |
1,650 |
9.42 |
| Rotifera |
2500 |
330 |
13.20 |
| Gastrotricha |
3000 |
100 |
3.33 |
| Kinorhyncha |
100 |
10 |
10.00 |
| Nematoda |
30,028 |
2902 |
9.66 |
| Acanthocephala |
800 |
229 |
28.63 |
| Sipuncula |
145 |
35 |
24.14 |
| Mollusca |
66,535 |
5169 |
7.77 |
| Echiura |
127 |
43 |
33.86 |
| Annelida |
17,000 |
1000 |
5.88 |
| Onychophora |
100 |
1 |
1.00 |
| Arthropoda |
11,81,398 |
74,175 |
6.28 |
| Crustacea |
60,000 |
3549 |
5.91 |
| Insecta |
10,20,007 |
63,423 |
6.22 |
| Arachnida |
73,451 |
5850 |
7.96 |
| Pycnogonida |
600 |
17 |
2.83 |
| Chilopoda |
8000 |
101 |
1.26 |
| Diplopoda |
7500 |
162 |
2.16 |
| Symphyla |
120 |
4 |
3.33 |
| Merostomata |
4 |
2 |
50.00 |
| Phoronida |
11 |
3 |
27.27 |
| Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) |
4000 |
200 |
5.00 |
| Entoprocta |
60 |
10 |
16.67 |
| Brachiopoda |
300 |
3 |
1.00 |
| Chaetognatha |
111 |
30 |
27.03 |
| Tardigrada |
514 |
30 |
5.84 |
| Echinodermata |
6600 |
779 |
11.80 |
| Hemichordata |
120 |
12 |
10.00 |
| Chordata |
64,669 |
5,665 |
8.76 |
| Protochordata |
2106 |
119 |
5.65 |
| Pisces |
32,120 |
3,022 |
9.41 |
| Amphibia |
6771 |
342 |
5.05 |
| Reptilia |
9230 |
526 |
5.70 |
| Aves |
9026 |
1,233 |
13.66 |
| Mammalia |
5416 |
423 |
7.81 |
| Total (Animalia) |
13,99,189 |
92,873 |
6.64 |
| Grand total (Protista + Animalia) |
14,30,439 |
96,373 |
6.74 |
The numbers of Indian plants in various IUCN (2013) threat categories
Plant group |
Number of species described |
| |
India |
| Algae |
7,244 |
|
| Bryophytes |
2,504 |
| Pteridophytes |
1,267 |
| Gymnosperms |
74 |
| Angiosperms |
17,926 |
| Total |
29,015 |
Faunal and floral diversity
Sl. No. |
Category |
Number of Number of
cultivated plants |
Number of
cultivated plants wild relatives |
| |
|
|
|
| 1 |
Cereals |
15 |
37 |
| 2 |
Millets |
13 |
33 |
| 3 |
Grain |
18 |
36 |
| 4 |
Vegetables |
105 |
168 |
| 5 |
Fruits and nuts |
117 |
176 |
| 6 |
Oilseeds |
19 |
13 |
| 7 |
Sugar-yielding plants |
3 |
18 |
| 8 |
Fibre crops |
12 |
23 |
| 9 |
Forage/fodder crops |
96 |
33 |
| 10 |
Spices and condiments |
46 |
123 |
| 11 |
Plantation crops |
20 |
21 |
| 12 |
Medicinal and aromatic plants |
89 |
58 |
| 13 |
Ornamental plants |
182 |
90 |
| 14 |
Agro-forestry species |
35 |
31 |
| 15 |
Other crops |
41 |
42 |
| |
Total |
811 |
902 |
