Human Influence on Biodiversity

Human Influence on Biodiversity

Biodiversity and Human Actions

• Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, encompassing the diversity of ecosystems, species, and genes.
• Humans fundamentally influence biodiversity both directly and indirectly through actions such as habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, overexploitation, and the introduction of invasive species.

Habitat Destruction

• Habitat destruction, often driven by human activities like deforestation, draining of wetlands, or mining, is a primary cause of biodiversity loss.
• Habitat fragmentation, a form of habitat destruction, disrupts ecosystems and can lead to loss of species and reduced genetic diversity.

Pollution

• Pollution, whether it be air, water, soil or light pollution, can greatly affect both individual organisms and entire ecosystems.
• For example, excessive nutrients from agricultural runoffs can cause ‘dead zones’ in water bodies, and plastic waste can harm marine life.

Climate Change

• Climate change, prompted by human activities, leads to shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events.
• These changes can affect species’ ranges, behaviour, and timing of life cycle events, potentially leading to population declines or local extinctions.

Overexploitation

• Overexploitation through practices such as overfishing, poaching, and logging can rapidly deplete a species’ population and even drive them to extinction.
• Overexploitation can sometimes be linked to the illegal wildlife trade, which can devastate populations of targeted species.

Invasive Species

• The introduction of invasive species, either intentionally or accidentally, can out-compete native species for resources, alter habitats, or directly prey upon native species.
• Invasive species can radically change the ecosystems they invade and significantly decrease biodiversity.

Conservation Efforts

• Moderating human influence on biodiversity forms a large part of biodiversity conservation efforts.
• This includes creation of protected areas, sustainable resource management, pollution control measures, community conservation projects, and invasive species management.
• Conservation biology also involves the study of social and economic factors, as many threats to biodiversity are linked to human societal and economic activities.

Biodiversity Benefits

• Maintaining biodiversity offers many benefits, from ecosystem services such as pollination and water purification to the genetic resources found in diverse organisms.
• Biodiversity holds cultural significance, and has intrinsic value beyond what it directly provides to humans.