What are the 5 Major Causes of Biodiversity Loss?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 9th, 2023
The 5 major causes of biodiversity loss are overexploitation (extreme hunting and fishing pressure), habitat loss, invasive species, climate change (associated with global warming), and pollution. These causes can be man-made or natural. However, human activities play a direct role in biodiversity loss.
The variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world are all part of biodiversity, which is the term used to describe all the different types of life forms you can find in one place.
Table of content
5 Major Causes of Biodiversity Loss
Biodiversity loss is the disappearance or the decline of biological diversity. It can happen because of the following reasons:
- Habitat loss: It refers to the fragmenting, thinning, or outright destruction of an ecosystem’s plant, nutrient, soil, and hydrological resources. Habitat loss puts plants and animal species at risk as they might not be able to survive in alien environments.
- Overexploitation: The practice of overharvesting large numbers of terrestrial or aquatic animals is known as overexploitation. As a result, some species lose all of their members or go extinct. Overfishing and excessive hunting are two instances of overexploitation.
- Invasive species: Invasive species are also known as non-native species. They are introduced to an environment to put the native species at risk, ultimately leading to extinction.
- Climate change: Climate change associated with global warming is responsible for increasing the global temperature. It is also responsible globally for raising greenhouse gas levels. The increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might affect biodiversity.
- Pollution: Pollution of water, air, and soil lead to many problems that further increase biodiversity destruction.
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