Article InfoBiodiversity or biological diversity includes all living organisms such as plants, animals and microbes etc. and the genetic differences among them. It exists at species, community ecosystem and landscape scales. It is important for four basic reasons such as morality, aesthetics economics and the service that is provided to society. Biodiversity is considered at three main levels including species biodiversity, genetic biodiversity, functional biodiversity and ecosystem biodiversity. Relative to the variety of habitats, biotic communities and Ecological processes in the biosphere, biodiversity is important in no. of ways such as promoting the aesthetic value of the natural environment, contribution to our natural environment, and maintaining the integrity of the environment. Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before. Medicinal use of plant seems to be developed through observation of wild animals and by trial and error. Medicinal plants play an important role not only as traditional medicines but also as trade commodities meeting the demand of distinct markets. India has 2.4% of world"s area and with 8% of global biodiversity and about one fifth of all the plant found in India are used for medicinal purposes. Methods of folk healing throughout the world commonly use herbs as part of their traditions. DNA banking is considered as means of complimentary method for the conservation of the plant species by preserving their genomic DNA at low temperature. The substantial contribution to human health and well being by medicinal plant species is now widely understood. Therefore plant Biotechnology offers new means of improving biodiversity conservation rather than threatening biodiversity in various ways.

Article InfoFerns are known to be the first type of vascular plants which are generally considered to be simpler than vascular plants that make seeds. Ferns were traditionally classified in the "Filices" but modern classifications assign them their own phylum i.e. division of the plant kingdom, as "Pteridophyta" or "Filicophyta". Ferns are able to reproduce without using seeds and are seedless vascular plants. They range from very short, unimpressive house plants to larger, full grown trees. They are often used in landscaping and decoration but also occur naturally in a variety of environments. Ferns first appear in the fossil record 360 million years ago in the late Devonian period, but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million ago in the early Cretaceous. The fern Osmunda claytoniana is a paramount example of evolutionary stasis. Paleontological evidence indicates it has remained unchanged, even at the level of fossilized nuclei and chromosomes, for at least 180 million years. During this era some fern like groups actually evolved seeds (the seed ferns) making up half of the fern like foliage in Carboniferous forests and much later gives rise to the flowering plants. Most of the ferns of the Carboniferous became extinct but some later evolved into our modern ferns. There are thousands of species in the world today.