Major Threats to

Biodiversity
2018
Cibi.M
1916117
Environmental Science
CE-102

JULY 6

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What is Biodiversity?
Biological Diversity’ or biodiversity represents the difference in genes among the
individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal species at
different scales in various types of ecosystems. Biodiversity is identified by many
levels of organization which includes genetic diversity of populations, the number
and types of species, the distribution and abundance of species communities and
ecosystems, and the interactions between organisms with their physical
environment.

The word Biodiversity derived from Greek words BIOS=life and DIVERSITAS= variety
or difference which gives the meaning Variety of Life.
“If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the
biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.”
-David Suzuki
Environmental Activist

Importance of Biodiversity
Biodiversity doesn’t help in maintaining stability alone in the environment; it is a
resource for food, shelter, clothing and other materials including renewable
economic resources and ecosystem services, medical and scientific benefits. Various
organisms are responsible for containing alien or pest species, preserving soil
fertility, pollinating and maintaining diverse genetic variety, purification of air and
water, detoxifying and decomposition, and adjusting climate.

In each ecosystem, there are countless interactions, all devised from years of
evolution. If unharmed, this will produce a finely balanced, healthy system which
contributes to a healthy sustainable planet.

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Threats of Biodiversity
Major threats include:

➢ Human-Driven Biodiversity loss

• Habitat loss and degradation
• Invasive species
• Over-exploitation
• Pollution
• Climate change

➢ Natural Biodiversity loss

• Seasonal changes
• Natural Ecological Disturbances

1. Habitat loss and Degradation

This factor has played a key role in extinction of many species. Habitat loss
occurs when human activities result in the transformation of natural ecosystem
for human needs which leads to reduce or eliminate the number of species that
were a part of the original
ecosystem.

An estimated 18 million acres of

forest are exhausted each year, a
part of it is due to human
practices, affecting thousands of
species which depend on that
ecosystem. Tropical rainforests in
particular, such as the Amazon, houses majority of world's known species, yet
the regions are fading due to human activities, an immense loss of natural
vegetation. Physically larger species and those living at lower altitudes or in
oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area.

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2. Invasive Species
Globalization is a reason for carrying variety of invasive alien species around
the world. Next to habitat loss, invasive species are categorized as the second
largest threat to biodiversity. The highest threat is that an invasive species has
the ability to alter the entire habitat. This kind of species are well adaptable and
can dominate the area with ease and reduce diversity.

Because most of the natural species survive in a particular environment, the

interactions between the native species are modified or destroyed by the
invasive species can lead to the destruction of native biodiversity. Invasive
species can transverse through natural migration or human introduction.
Invasive species eliminate native species by:
❖ By competing with native species
❖ Causing disease to native species
❖ By using resources of native species

3. Over-Exploitation
Over-Exploitation as threat to Biodiversity is because of excess harvesting
of animals, fish, or other organisms beyond the required capacity making the
population difficult to
replenish their
numbers—resulting to
deduction of number for
some species and others
being driven
to extinction. Mostly
occurs when consumed
at an unsustainable rate.
25% of world fisheries
are now overfished to
the point where their
current biomass is less than the sustainable mass.

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 Occurs in the form of:
❖ Overhunting
❖ Excessive Logging
❖ Poor soil conservation in agriculture
❖ Illegal Wildlife trade.

4. Pollution
Water, air, or land pollution, all pose an immense threat to all life forms on
Earth. Pollution is accumulation of any form of energy to the ecosystem at a
rate faster than it can be controlled, decomposed, eliminated or be contained.
This factor acts as a major threat to loss of biodiversity by causing health
problems to the species in the ecosystem. Some types of pollution, like the
depletion of the ozone layer are reversible. This is possible only when humans
stop or limit the use of various chemicals that leads to the destruction.

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For example, acid rain can infect water and soil, which ultimately affects the
species that live in the environment by modifying their breeding and feeding
habits. Furthermore, the presence of nitrogen compounds in water systems can
cause eutrophication (excessive plant and algal growth). Genetic Pollution is also
a threat under pollution that occurs by uncontrolled hybridization. Genetic
pollution causes:

❖ Replacement of local genomes.

❖ Homogenization of genome individuals.

5. Climate Change

The rise in sea levels, uneven seasonal changes are the effects of climate
change. Climatic change is a long-term change making it irreversible. This is a
repetitive process and some species have been extinct, but instant, artificial
climate change as a result of human activities speeds up the process, without
providing enough time for the species to adapt. For example, temperature rise
in oceans and decrease in Arctic sea ice modify marine biodiversity and could
alter vegetation zones, leading to global consequences.

Because of the increase in temperature, some species have already adapted

by expanding their ranges in latitudes and some have gone extinct. They
impose a great threat for human’s security due to the limitation of natural
resources. At present, global warming and climate change which are
irreversible have certain impacts on biodiversity. These effects can lead to a
higher threat if not prevented in the future.

Higher CO2 concentration can acidify oceans.

Climate change induces change in raining pattern.

It also affects migratory animals and birds.

Biodiversity in polar and mountain region are vulnerable to climate

changes.
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 Coral Bleaching: Warmer sea surface temperatures are responsible for an
increase in a phenomenon called coral bleaching.

6. Seasonal Changes

Seasonal changes like on the onset of spring increases the probability of

breeding and feeding leads to rise in population of the species. On the
contrary, in the onset of winter, a decrease in biodiversity has been noted as
warm-adapted insects dies and migration of some species also is a factor. The
species depending on these insects for food will also get affected.

7. Natural Ecological Disturbances

Wildfire, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, changes ecosystems
significantly by eliminating native populations of some species and
transforming the whole biological communities. These are temporary as
they’re common and some ecosystems are adapted to their challenges.

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Consequences of Biodiversity loss
❖ In terms of ecological effect, the decline in biodiversity affects ecosystem’s
productivity and lowers ecosystem’s services such as soil fertility, purification
of water that runs over it, and food supply, etc.

❖ As parts of ecosystem are being affected, the ability to recover from

catastrophe decreases. Beyond a certain point, the ecosystem gets
completely wiped out.

❖ There are certain economic effects as humans rely on plants, animals and
other organisms for food, medicines, construction material, etc. The loss of
biodiversity threatens global food security and preparation of medicine for
diseases like present situation.

❖ It is known that the ecosystem depends on richness, composition and genetic

diversity of species which is inter-related to biodiversity. Thus, the changes in
biodiversity will lead to changes in ecosystem properties.

❖ The loss of biodiversity has an effect on human health and increase in

diseases. The number of diseases carrying animals in local populations
gradually increases overtime. The species that are adapted to a particular
fragmented habitat are also carriers of pathogens.

❖ The introduction of new species, too, sparks a competition between native

and the alien species and mostly leads to extinction of the native population.
In today’s world, this is observed on farms, where imported breeds of cattle
pushing out natives.

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Solutions to Retain Biodiversity
➢ The solutions to deforestation are government policies — companies and
corporations can take on alternative practices and refuse to use timber and
paper suppliers that contributes to deforestation.

➢ Conservation and awareness on biodiversity loss due to over-exploitation of

resources such as hunting and overfishing can help prevent biodiversity loss.

➢ To reduce pollution, an average person can do a number of things such as

recycling, conserving energy at home and using public transportation.

➢ The Red List of Threatened Species from the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the United States
Endangered Species list helps in monitoring status of individual species and
helps in increasing their population.

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 ➢ According to the National Wildlife Federation, effectively monitoring for new
infestations and swiftly eradication newly detected invaders has proven to
be a good measure to prevent destruction of native species.

Summary
The different types of biodiversity loss are a considerably notable crisis. The
change in one aspect of biodiversity, such as loss of species richness, does not
necessarily reflect the change in another, such as habitat loss. Mostly, some
aspects of biodiversity loss cannot be measured, for example if a same species is
observed to be increasing at different locations but the overall biodiversity is found
decreasing. The division of different species on Earth is becoming more
homogeneous gradually as an outcome of human activities stand for a loss of
biodiversity that is often missed when only considering changes in terms of total
numbers of species.

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