Loss
and Threats to Biodiversity
The loss of biodiversity and the related changes in the
environment are now faster than ever before in human history  and  there  is
no sign of  this process  slowing
down.  Virtually all of Earth’s  ecosystems  have
been dramatically distorted and altered by human activities
and  continuously  be  converted  for  agricultural  and
other uses. Many animal and plant populations have
declined  in  numbers  and  geographical  spread.
However, species extinction is a natural part of Earth’s history
but human activity has increased the extinction rate by at least 100 times
compared to the natural rate. Loss of biodiversity is caused by a range of drivers. A  driver  is  any  natural  or  human-induced  factor  that
directly  or  indirectly  causes  a  change  in an ecosystem.
A  direct  driver unequivocally influences
ecosystem  processes.  An  indirect  driver
operates more diffusely by altering one or more direct drivers. Important
direct drivers affecting biodiversity are habitat alteration, climate change,
invasive species overexploitation and pollution.
 Principal threats to
biodiversity
A threat by definition refers to any process or event
whether  natural  or  human  induced  that  is  likely  to
cause adverse effects upon the status or sustainable use of any component of
biological diversity.  Biodiversity
is  declining  rapidly  due  to  factors  such  as  habitat alteration and destruction by the
land use change, over
exploitation  of  biological  resources,  climate  change,
pollution and invasive species. Such natural or human-induced factors tend to
interact and amplify each other.
Habitat alteration and destruction
Overall, the  main factor  directly driving
biodiversity loss worldwide   is   habitat   alteration 
 and  destruction.
Habitat destruction renders entire habitats functionally unable to
support the species present in the habitat. Biodiversity reduced in this
process when existing organism
in  the  habitat  are  displaced  or  destroyed.
Human destruction of habitats has accelerated greatly in the
latter half of the twentieth century. Natural habitats are often destroyed
through human activity for the purpose of harvesting natural resources for
industry production and urbanization. Clearing forest areas for agriculture,
changes in the riverine habitat to lacustrine (reservoir) habitat by the
construction of hydroelectric projects on the rivers, mining, logging, urban
sprawl, construction of highways are some examples of habitat destruction and
fragmentation. A five-year estimate of global forest cover loss for the years
2000–2005 was 3.1 percent.
In the humid tropics where forest loss is primarily from timber
extraction, 272,000  km
was  lost  out  of  a  global  total  of  11,564,000
km(or 2.4 percent). In the tropics, these losses also represent the extinction
of species because of high levels of endemism. Increased greedy demand for
resources has resulted into land use changes. Hence
loss  to  genetic  diversity,  species  reduction  and
increased  ecosystem  changes  such  as  random population  changes,  disease  outcrop,  and  habitat
fragmentation  among  others  has  resulted  into
biodiversity losses. 
 Over-exploitation of
biological resources
This results when individuals of a particular species are
taken  at a higher  rate than  can  be
sustained by the natural reproductive capacity of the population being
harvested. This can be through hunting, fishing, trade, food gathering etc.
Overexploitation remains a serious
threat  to  many  species,  such  as  marine  fish  and
invertebrates, trees, and animals hunted for meat.  The grazing
pressure on most of the high altitude grasslands of the Uttarakhand state both
from migrant and local
communities, is the extensive extraction of medicinal herbs in
these areas resulting in their over exploitation. Most industrial fisheries are
either fully or overexploited, while destructive fishing techniques harm
estuaries and wetlands. Although the true extent of exploitation is poorly
known,  it is clear that rates of off
take are extremely high in tropical forests. The trade in  wild   plants  and  animals  and  their  derivatives  is
poorly   documented   but  is   estimated 
 at  nearly   $160 billion  annually. It
ranges from live animals  for  the food and pet trade
to  ornamental  plants and timber.
Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses
national  borders,   the   effort   to  regulate  
it  requires international  cooperation  to  safeguard
certain species from overexploitation. 
 Pollution
Over the past five decades, inorganic and organic pollutants have
emerged as one of the most important factor of biodiversity loss in terrestrial, aquatic- marine as
well as freshwater  ecosystems. Thermal
pollution is another threat to biodiversity.  The potential
consequences of organic pollutants in a freshwater ecosystem include
eutrophication of fresh-water body, hypoxia in coastal marine ecosystems,
nitrous oxide emissions contributing to global climate change, and air
pollution by NO in urban areas.
Occurrence of such problems varies widely in different regions. Species in
habitats are  increasingly  being
harmed  by  industrial activities  and
pollution  from excessive  use of agro-chemicals such as
DDT, oil spills, acid precipitation etc.
 For example pesticide
linked decline of fish eating birds and   falcons.   Lead   poisoning 
 is  another   major  cause  of  mortality  of  many  species  such  as  ducks,
swans and cranes as they ingest the spent shotgun pellet that fall into lakes
and marshes.
The vulture was once very common in the Gangetic plains of India,
and often seen nesting on the avenue trees within large cities in the region. Before the 1990s
they   were  even   seen  as   a  nuisance,
  particularly  to
aircraft  as  they  were  often  involved  in
bird strikes. The vulture has suffered a 99% population decrease in India
and become rare due to poisoning by DDT used as pesticides and also by diclofenac which is used as veterinary non
–steroidal anti- inflammatory drug, leaving traces in cattle carcasses which
when fed by vultures leads to thinning of egg shells resulting into premature
hatching and kidney failure in birds.
The dramatic decreases in house sparrow population in India is
experienced in recent past. It is linked with pollution  caused  by  electromagnetic  radiation  from
mobile  phones.  Microwave  towers;  the  excessive  use  of  pesticides,  a
gradual decrease in nesting sites caused by changes in urban building
design. 
 Species invasions    
This can be intentional or accidental.  Species
introduced in an ecosystem will cause changes in the ecosystem. Introduced
species are organisms arising in areas/ habitats in which they were previously
not native. Such
introduced species are usually referred to as biological pollutants. Some of
the ecological impacts of the invasion include hybridization, out competition,
disruption   of  original  ecosystem,  plant  pathogenic
influences,   disease  transmission,   disruption  
of  food-webs, and to some situations extinction. Species may be
introduced intentionally for ornamental concerns, agriculture, hunting and
spotting  activities, biotechnology for scientific research and for
trade.
 Climatic changes
This is of great concern especially when global CO2 increases
in the atmosphere resulting to global warming. Most species originate within a
very narrow physiological limit; hence nature has a range of tolerance
maintained for ecosystem stability. Changes may  be   gradual  or
 abrupt such  that  if  the  limit  is
exceeded the upper or lower, species suffers
extinction.                
Recent  changes  in  climate,  such  as  warmer
temperatures   in   certain   regions,   have  
already  had significant impacts on biodiversity and
ecosystem.  They have affected species distributions, population
sizes, and the timing of reproduction or migration events, as well as the
frequency of pest and disease outbreaks. Projected changes in climate by 2050
could lead to the extinction of many species living in certain limited
geographical regions. By the end of the century, climate change and its impacts
may become  the main direct  driver of overall biodiversity
loss. While the growing season in Europe has lengthened over the last 30 years,
in some regions of Africa the combination of regional climate changes and human
pressures have led to decreased cereal crop production since
1970.  Changes  in fish population
have  also  been  linked  to  large-scale
climate  variations  such  as  "El  Nino"  have  affected
fisheries off the coasts of South America and Africa, and decadal
oscillations  in the  Pacific have affected
fisheries  off  the  west  coast  of  North  America.
As climate change will become more severe, the harmful impacts
on ecosystem services will outweigh the benefits in most regions of the
world.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) project
that the average surface temperature will raise
by  2  to  6.4 levels.  This is
expected to cause global  negative impacts  on
biodiversity  (Millennium  Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).
 Population
From 1950 to 2011, world population increased from 2.5 billion to
7 billion and is forecast to reach a plateau of  more  than  9  billion  during  the  21st  century
(Population   Reference   Bureau).    As  the  human
population is increasing, there exists insatiable demand for raw materials
which is bound to cause changes in biodiversity. The human population has more
impact on biodiversity than any other single factor. According to Dumont,
(2012) until the middle of the 21st century, worldwide losses of pristine
biodiversity will largely depend  on  the  worldwide
human  birth  rate .  It  is therefore
vital to control human population which will result   in
biodiversity conservation.