8 Major Threats to Biodiversity and Ecosystem

4. Overexploitation

Overexploitation is fourth on our list 8 major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem. Overexploitation means that people are harvesting natural resources at a faster rate than they can reproduce. While humans have been relying on wildlife as a source of food and clothing for thousands of years, growth of world population, as well as introduction of modern means of capture have brought some species to the verge of extinction.

The case of bluefin tuna is paradigmatic one. The tuna is very popular in Japan where it is used for sushi. In 2013, reports showed that population of this marine predator went down for 96 percent, and, even more disturbingly, that 90 percent of caught bluefin tuna are juveniles that didn’t get the chance to reproduce. Since bluefin tuna is a predator, a decline of its population has caused the increase in the population of prey species such as sardines, and thus disturbed the whole marine ecosystem.

In order to protect species from going extinct, national and international laws that prohibit overhunting and overfishing have been introduced. However, their implementation is still inadequate and many animals get on the list of endangered species due to overhunting.

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