Loss of Biodiversity

Meaning The definition of biodiversity encompasses the degree of variations in organisms and/ or species within an ecosystem. The loss of biodeversity would be the diminishing of dfferent species within that ecosystem. For example, a lake may be the home to many types of fish. A change in the lake’s temperature or chemistry may affect a food source for a certain type of fish. This type of fish may die out and leave the lake with one less species in it. The loss of one fish or food source may impact other populations and furthe diminish species diversity. Cause
Invasive Species – plants or animals which have moved to a habitat where they were not naturally found and are more successful than local species. Habitat loss – Agriculture, housing and industry are destroying the habitats of many plants, animals and microbes. Our development means we must destory or decrease the natural ecosystems. Many animals have a certain range that they must maintain in order to live. If they do not have access to this area, their lives are significantly altered. Pollution – Our oceans, rivers, lakes and lands have become rubbish bins for society’s industrial and organic waste.
Plastic in our garbage causes enormous problems. It kills or injures many marine animals and birds either through accidental entanglement or ingestion of the material in the mistaken belief that the plastic is food. For example, sometimes bags are misidentified as jellyfish. Climate Change – Many plant and animal species are unlikely to survive climate change. For some species there will no longer be anywhere to live. Exploitation – We have drastically reduced some fish populations, hunted some whales to the verge of extinction and destroyed whole forests and their ecosystems.

Blast fishing is another practise which reduces the coral reefs in the sea. It is practiced in many areas. This is the process whereby dynamite is placed into an area in order to catch a large quantity of fish. Coral reefs especially are devastated by this activity. It is most prominent in undeveloped countries where this practice has existed for years. Effect The ecosystems deteriorate to an unsustainable level, at which the results would be incredibly expensive to reverse (ex. in Bangladesh and India, the over-logging of trees and forests makes floods during the monsoon seasons deadly. environmental changes – Loss of one species may cause a chain reaction, resulting in a change to the ecosystem itself. gives us less choice as humans – If certain species are lost, they are no longer available to us either as food, as enjoyment, or as resources for things we may not even know about yet. For example, if we deplete all the yellowfin tuna in the ocean, we no longer have this species available for our consumption. If we are divers or underwater explorers, we no longer can see this fish in its own environment and receive pleasure from this act.
Solution Stop climate change from running out of control. In order to tackle climate change world needs international climate deal that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions on global level. Stop deforestation. Tropical rainforests are the areas of the richest biodiversity in our planet, providing living environment for millions of different species. Reduce environmental pollution. Pollution is not only happening in land but also in our oceans having very negative impact on marine biodiversity. Animals and plants can’t thrive in polluted environment.
Education and the Media Through educating people about the severity of this issue, there will be (hopefully) less exploitations of resources, pollution, and habitat losses. In addition, the media could be used to spread these types of thoughts and again, emphasize the importance of biodiversity, the detrimental effects it has on ecosystems, and how it impacts us. Biodiversity also needs to be more studied in order to give us the necessary knowledge needed to protect animal and plant species from going extinct.