8 Major Threats to Biodiversity and Ecosystem

1. Habitat destruction

The first place on the list 8 major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem occupies habitat destruction. Around 85 percent of all endangered species are near extinction because they lost their natural habitat. While first association when someone mentions habitat destruction is deforestation, one shouldn’t forget about wetlands filling or river draining, activities that also affect biodiversity.

World Wildlife estimates that “some 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year—equivalent to 36 football fields every minute.” Cutting down of rainforests, which are inhabited by half of all species and which have been reduced by 17 percent in last 50 years, has tremendous consequences. Deforestation leaves species without their natural habitat and food resources, and forces animals to change their migration routes. It also plays an important role in growing climate changes. Trees are our first line of defense from carbon dioxide – they absorb the gas and prevent it from going into the atmosphere which is why one-quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions is the result of deforestation.

Filling of wetlands has similar consequences as deforestation. Wetlands are one of the most diverse ecosystems and they also decrease of pollution. Additionally, wetlands are often compared to “giant sponges, which store, and then slowly release ground water, melted snow, and floodwater, thus preventing floods and erosions”.

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