Threats to Biodiversity

Threats  to Biodiversity

Habitat destruction    The tropical rain forest destruction is mainly due to habitat destruction. The causative factors responsible for habitat destruction are :

·          Overpopulation: it is a condition where an organism number exceeds the carrying capacity of its habitat. This term is used for human population. Overpopulation is the ratio of population to available sustainable resources.

·         Deforestation: It is the removal of a forest and the land is used for other purposes. It leads to multiple environmental problems at atmospheric, hydrological  and soil level which ultimately affect the biodiversity. It causes extinction of many species.

·         Pollution: It is the entry of contaminants into the natural environment. These contaminants cause instabilty, disorder and harm to  the ecosystem or living  organisms. The different forms of pollution are air, light, littering, noise, soil, water, thermal, radioactive and visual.

·         Global warming or climate change: the effect of global climate change and its impact on biodiversity is discussed later in this chapter.