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Introduction
Biodiversity refers to the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microbes such as bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems to preserve balance and support life, much like an endless chain. In addition, it includes the number and variety of organisms within a defined area. Furthermore, Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. There are three types of diversity; Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic features in a species’ genetic composition; it can range from the number of species to variances within species and can be linked to a species’ lifespan; Species diversity involves the number of various species present in an ecosystem, as well as their relative abundance, when all of the species present are equally abundant in the area, diversity is greatest; Lastly, Habitat diversity refers to the range of habitats present in a region.
One of the most significant effects of humans on nature has been an acceleration in the rate of extinction of species well beyond natural levels. This began thousands of years ago, and before the modern era, the loss of global biodiversity due to human activity was already significant. Extinction is on the rise, biodiversity is dwindling, and many ecosystem processes are deteriorating or disappearing. There were fewer than 1 billion people on the planet in 1800, and there are now approximately 6.8 billion. Even if it weren’t for the massive increases in per capita resource consumption that happened during this time, the pressures on biodiversity would have increased due to population expansion.
Climate change
Climate change refers to the long-term and irreversible change that occurs in the Earth’s climate. The increase in the temperature of the atmosphere has major effects on the environment including the weather, rising sea levels, rising CO2 levels, and melting of the polar ice caps. The key causes of rising CO2 emissions in terms of climate change are increased fossil fuel consumption in transportation, industry, and other sectors, as well as land use change and agriculture. These, in turn, are fuelled by rising income and the world’s growing population. Levels have already risen to roughly 417ppm in March 2021, a 50 percent increase above the average in 1750-1800 (Betts, 2021). Recent tragedies and catastrophic events have highlighted how biodiversity loss and climate change are inextricably linked. Tropical coral reefs, one of the most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems, are bleaching (losing color) regularly, and many species within them are dying off. This is due to more than just rising water temperatures. In the first place, these reefs were overfished, overharvested, or over-touristed, resulting in increasingly fragile reef systems that are unable to withstand the added stress of warming water. Another significant effect of climate change is ocean acidification. Oceans have absorbed half of the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels, but as carbon dioxide levels rise, ocean PH levels fall, causing corals to be unable to absorb the calcium carbonate required to maintain their skeletons and stony skeletons. Since 1751, the ocean has become at least 30% more acidic, with serious effects on the ocean’s biodiversity.
Pollution
Toxic industrial chemicals and pollutants released into the environment have a significant impact on species abundance and can lead to extinction. It’s vital to note that ‘natural’ elements can pollute when they become overabundant within a given location. Nitrogen and phosphorus, for example, are necessary minerals for plant growth, but when they accumulate in water systems after being applied as agricultural fertilizers, the habitats become unsuitable for fish and other wildlife. Furthermore, while carbon dioxide is a natural component of the atmosphere, it is classified as a pollution when generated by human industrial activities. Around 80% of nitrogen utilized by humans is wasted and pollutes the environment through food production, transportation, energy, and industrial and wastewater activities. Undetectable by eye, nitrogen pollution, as well as, conifer plantations, and deer all threaten the sustainability of the remaining 30,000 hectares of Scottish rainforest. Furthermore, air, water, and soil pollution have been seen to be rising in some areas, while marine plastic pollution has exponentially increased since 1980 which has affected 44% of seabirds (Greenfield and Weston, 2021). Nitrogen substances from intensive farming and fossil fuel combustion are thrown from the sky on Scotland’s rainforest, destroying lichen and bryophytes that absorb water from the air and are extremely sensitive to atmospheric conditions.
Habitat destruction
Changes in the environment that result in the loss of a certain habitat’s functional value are referred to as habitat loss. The habitat can no longer contain and sustain the lives of the organisms there, causing their population to decline. Habitat loss is mostly caused by industrial activities, agriculture, aquaculture, mining, deforestation, and water exploitation. This involves deforestation to obtain wood for cooking. Dams have fragmented the habitats of aquatic creatures. These habitat fragments may not be large or well-connected enough to support species that require a large territory to find mates and food. Migratory species struggle to find locations to rest and feed along their migration paths due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The deforestation of the Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests is one of the most extreme modern-day examples of habitat degradation. Humans are gradually but steadily removing the rainforests to make space for palm oil plantations and the extraction of precious wood resources. Rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate all around the planet. The degradation of rainforests endangers iconic wildlife such as the orangutan, tiger, and Asian elephant (Wich et al., 2012). Oil spills can have a significant influence on seas, rivers, and other water sources; they can destroy ecosystems, particularly those in mangroves and coral reefs, while also disturbing the natural ecosystem that makes up these environments. Oil can harm, if not kill, birds, fish, and other sea life. For example, they may get coated in oil, impairing their ability to move, thermoregulate, and consume, or they may become entirely engulfed in oil slicks.
Invasive species
An exotic or unnatural species is any organism that has been introduced to a new habitat. This invasion can pose significant threats to native species, as they are frequently subjected to intense competition for resources, disease, and predation. Invasive species can disrupt an ecosystem by altering its habitat and depriving native creatures of food and resources. They may devour or infect native animals with diseases from which they are unable to protect themselves. In terms of nesting places and reproduction rates, they can also outcompete native species. This results in their dominance of the area and the extinction of native species. An example of an invasive species caused by predation is the brown tree snake. When this species was introduced to Guam (an island in the Pacific Ocean), it ate the eggs and young birds from the nests and wiped off 34 of the bird population (Zhang, 2017). The black rat, Rattus rattus, is most frequently associated with catastrophic bird reductions on islands they are one of the most common invading animals on islands and continents, and it is almost universal on Pacific islands, this species thrives in human-dominated habitats, natural areas, and also on islands uninhabited by humans. The Greater short-tailed bat, snipe, and wren were wiped out by the invasion of the black rat in 1962 (Bell and Merton, 2016). Plants can also contribute as an invasive species, Japanese knotweed has been shown to cause issues around it has been imported by Victorians as an ornamental plant in 1825 and is now prevalent throughout and a difficult plant to control (Fennell et al., 2018). In addition, Rhododendron ponticum is a well-established non-native invasive species endangering a wide range of natural and semi-natural habitats, as well as the associated flora and fauna. Rhododendrons are ubiquitous in woodlands and gardens they were first introduced in 1763 and are thought to be hazardous because they spread disease and restrict light from native plant species growing beneath. There is legislation implemented to restrict the growth of this place, The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Hulme et al., 2015).
Overexploitation
Overexploitation refers to the hunting of wild species at a higher rate than natural populations can recover. Overexploitation includes both overfishing and overhunting as examples. Some species may recover and avoid extinction if this is stopped early enough, although this is not always the case. A well-known example of a species that has experienced overexploitation is the Stellers sea cow, Hydrodamalis gigas. Hunters wiped out Steller’s sea cows fewer than 30 years after they were discovered by Arctic explorers in the 18th century. This species’ fat might be used for cooking as well as an odorless oil lamp, and the skin could be utilized to produce garments and boats. Butter could be made from the milk of the female Steller’s Sea cow. Fishing is one of the leading causes of population decreases in marine species. Fishing is not harmful to the ocean; nevertheless, when ships and boats harvest fish faster than the stock can recover, the species suffers, and, in certain cases, extinction occurs. The west coast of South America, off the coasts of Peru and Chile, was formerly home to the world’s greatest fisheries. Catches of Peruvian anchoveta exceeded 10 million tonnes along the coasts of northern and central Peru from the late 1960s to 1971. The Peruvian anchoveta population was severely exploited and collapsed during the 1972 El NiÃo warming. Due to technology advancements such as refrigeration, sonar power, and wider nets, ocean fisheries have been particularly prone to overharvesting in the post-WWII period. For hundreds of years, the cod fishery in the North-western Atlantic Ocean was an important commercial fishery, but only a few decades of intensive harvesting employing this new technology in the late twentieth century resulted in population collapse. The population has decreased by more than 90%, and fishing for the species has been prohibited in both Canada and the United States (Hutchings, 2005).
Solutions to threats
Even though the biodiversity of many habitats is under threat, there are numerous things we can do to help mitigate the threat. Nature preserves, often known as National Parks, are a type of government regulation. They protect a place and the animals that live in it from certain sorts of development and allow people to visit them. This is great since it maintains the natural habitat and serves as a viewing area for the ecosystems. In addition, invasive species are sometimes intentionally introduced into an area, but they are also sometimes introduced by accident. To reduce the number of invasive species accidentally transported, planes, ships, and cargo must be thoroughly inspected before being shipped to a new country. For habitat loss, organizations and companies can practice the reuse of paper and timber products that encourage deforestation. The restoration of species’ habitats by the planting of native vegetation and trees would allow species to reclaim their habitats and minimize the likelihood of their extinction.
Biodiversity, or the variety of living creatures in our world, has been decreasing rapidly, primarily due to a combination of man-made factors such as pollution, climate change, and land usage. Furthermore, climate change has been found to have a large impact on the earth’s biodiversity and to be the cause of numerous species extinctions, particularly in marine plantations. Moreover, habitat loss plays a significant part in the extinction of many species and can lead to the introduction of invasive species in new places, resulting in the loss of species that have been found to hurt biodiversity. There are now several solutions that have been implemented as a viable way of biodiversity protection, such as legislation presented by the government, the creation of nature preserves, a reduction in the number of invasive species, and the restoration of habitats.
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