Wildlife

Human Impact on Biodiversity

Many individuals do not think about the damage they are causing on biodiversity. However, it is
important as humans to realize the impact we have on biodiversity because without it, there would be
no human existence. If no changes are made in the ways humans use resources on earth, there will
continue to be a degradation of biodiversity until human lives can no longer be sustained. Humans
affect biodiversity by their population numbers, use of land, and their lifestyles, causing damage to
habitats for species. It is important for humans to realize how their actions affect biodiversity and the
importance of maintaining what biodiversity is left on the earth. Through proper education, and by
demanding that governments make decisions to preserve biodiversity, the human population will be
able to sustain life on earth longer.
Biodiversity is the term that is given to describe the variety of life on earth and the natural patterns it
forms. It is the result of evolution, natural processes, and human influence. Biodiversity involves
diversity of genes within a species, of species within ecosystems, and of ecosystems in the biosphere
Biodiversity is not determined by only one factor, but rather many factors that differ spatially and
temporally
Although many humans may not realize how important biodiversity is to them, it is clear that without it
humans would not be able to exist. Each day humans use 40,000 species, most of which go totally
unnoticed. Even though only a minority of humans realize it, biodiversity provides humans with food,
water, oxygen, energy, detoxification of waste, stabilization of earth’s climate, medicine, opportunities
for recreation and tourism, and many more things. Simply put, there would be no population of humans
without biodiversity.

Extinction of Species

The most obvious indicator of biodiversity is the number of species on the planet. Currently there are
1.75 million species that have been identified; however, some speculate that there are at least 10 million
living species on earth To look at the loss of biodiversity, the number of extinctions of species should
be examined. Rates of extinction are currently up to 40,000 species per year (that’s 100 per day or 4
per hour) This rate is 50 -100 times the natural rate of extinction and is expected to increase in the
coming years. The extinction rate is of great concern because once a species is extinct, there is no
chance of ever getting that species back on the planet.

Three main problems that cause species extinction are: habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation
Habitat loss is described as the complete destruction of a habitat. An example of habitat loss would be
logging of a forest. Habitat degradation is when a habitat diminishes to a point where it can no longer
support biological communities. An example of this would be habitats that are polluted by industry.
Habitat fragmentation is described as a habitat that is broken into smaller discontinuous segments of
land for development An example of this would be putting a road in the middle of a habitat. All three of
these problems that result in species extinction are directly related to human influence.
Human Actions

There is no clear way of determining the total impact that humans are making on biodiversity; however,
it is obvious that many actions by humans are causing a decrease in biodiversity. To determine the
total impact that humans are making on a given environment, the area of productive land and water
needed to produce the item that is being consumed and the need to account for the waste being
generated by humanity must all be taken into account according to management and production
practices in use during that time.
Direct or indirect actions by humans have resulted in the decrease of biodiversity. Some of the indirect
human drivers are demographic, economic, sociopolitical, scientific and technological, and cultural and
religious factors. Some of the direct human drivers are changes in local land use and land cover,
species introductions or removals, external inputs, harvesting, air and water pollution, and climate
change
Human activity has substantially changed one-third to one-half of the world’s surface. In the next 50
years it is expected that humans will seriously impact 50-90 percent of land in developing countries.
This is a result of growth in population and in over consumption of natural resources. The population of
humans is, what many consider, the root of the biodiversity problem.. The increase in human inhabitants
causes a problem because with it comes a need to convert natural habitats to land for human
consumption.

One way that the humans have been able to sustain their growth is by converting natural habitats to
fields where foods can be produced. At least 23 percent of the earth’s land is being used for agriculture
(31 percent of all land is unfarmable). Internationally, there is half a hectare of tropical forest
disappearing to farmland every second. One of the potential dangers of decreasing the amount of
natural habitats remaining is that species will no longer be present on earth. This directly affects
agriculture because many of the species that are being destroyed for croplands may have been used
for genetically enhancing crop products. In this manner, the increase in agricultural land actually harms
our agricultural future.

Human actions have also played a role in climate change, which is also causing great danger for
biodiversity. The change in climate is due to increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide,
which causes increased land and ocean temperatures, and changes in precipitation and sea level rise.
With the change in climate also comes a change in species. Climate affects the timing of reproduction
and migration, the length of growing seasons, species distributions and population size, and the
frequency of pest and disease outbreaks. It is also expected that the change in climate in the 21st
century will have a much higher rate than the past 10,000 years and create an even bigger impact on
biodiversity. It is expected that 80 percent of biologically rich regions will suffer great losses of plant
and animal species because of global warming. The rate of change of habitats is expected to increase
up to ten times due to global warming