Habitat Destruction and Biodiversity Loss

1326 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects on the environment from loss of biodiversity

"If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us."

-- David Suzuki

Imagine this: bulldozers growl and grind through a local field, while the whine of chainsaws echoes from a nearby grove of trees. The trees crash to the ground, only to be cut up for firewood or sent to a sawmill, and the remaining ground is cleared of stumps and plowed. The tall grasses and brush in the field are demolished, leaving behind churned-up soil. Any birds or other small creatures that lived in the freshly cut trees have long since flown or run away in terror as their homes fell. The moles, mice, and other animals that lived in the field were either killed or forced to abandon the area in search of a new home. Soon to come on this land: a subdivision consisting of huge, two- or three-story houses with pristine front lawns and the occasional small, decorative tree placed by the main door.

The scene painted above is becoming more and more common today; people want more space, more houses, more roads, more big buildings, more cities all over the world. However, what the population does not consider is that construction destroys natural habitat, or “the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). While humans may think nothing of this habitat destruction, it is actually the number one cause of extinction worldwide (Dudley 17) and influences many other species, including humans, that are not endangered or threatened. Habitat loss causes loss of biodiversity, which adversely affects the health and economy of human life. We as humans need to take more ...

... middle of paper ...

...vernment. 08

Nov. 2008

.

"Biodiversity.” Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2007.

Dudley, William, ed. Biodiversity. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2003.

“Habitat.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2007.

Heimlich, Joe E., and Mitchell Smith. "Environmental Impact Statements.” FactSheet. Ohio State University. 09 Nov. 2008

.

Novacek, Michael J., ed. The Biodiversity Crisis. New York: The New Press, 2001.

Primack, Richard B. Essentials of Conservation Biology. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 1993.

David Suzuki Quote

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/biodiversity.html#xFwgQLK5MbhLMRjG.99

Show More
Related

  • M. T Anderson Feed Essay

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Society does not appear to be worried about how nature has vanished. Recently, most humans are only worried about the development in technology and how it benefits them. The world of the feed has become so consumed in their precious technology that oxygen factores need to produce artificial air. For example, when Violet was having a conversation with Titus father on how Jefferson Park was being destroyed to create oxygen factors, Titus father says, “it’s inefficient to have trees next to an air factory” (Anderson 125). Ironically, trees produce oxygen, yet humans are destroying trees to build oxygen factories. Trees clean the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing the oxygen that living creatures breathe in. Ever since humans learned how to utilize an a hatchet, humans constantly cut down trees without seeing the impact it has on the earth and our society. Moreover, due to society’s overpopulation humans utilize the advancement of technology to replace forests with numerous factories and skyscrapers. As Titus father describes, the trees are “nice, and it’s too bad, but like...Do you know how much real estate costs?” (Anderson 125). The earth has slowly deteriorated due to mankind abusing natural resources and transforming them into our everyday

    Read More

  • Rabbits in Australia

    2977 Words  | 6 Pages

    Through millions of years of evolution, well-balanced habitats have co-evolved to provide for the wide variety of species and their needs. Trees have adapted to weeds, weeds have adapted to the predation from herbivores, and so on up the food chain. Similar scenarios are seen throughout the world. Through the process of natural selection, specific species or broad species families will go extinct. However, these occurrences have largely been due to the natural flow and evolution of time. It wasn’t until recently that dominant species, such as humans, have taken the course of nature into their own hands.

    Read More

  • Uncommon Ground Analysis

    246 Words  | 1 Pages

    Goddard et al. elaborate on urban green spaces, with a particular emphasis on private gardens. The authors argue that urban green spaces promote biodiversity and also help to mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. The text stresses that as urbanization increases, so does the importance of urban green space. According to the article, urban growth is occurring at a rapid rate and this is having detrimental impacts on biodiversity. Similar to ideas in William Cronon’s Uncommon ground: Rethinking the human place in nature, Goddard et al. discuss how living in a city might influence how an individual perceives nature. The authors state that city life might create a disconnection from the natural world. The text asserts that urban green spaces

    Read More

  • Overpopulation and the Environment

    2021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Raven, Peter H., Linda R. Berg, and David M. Hassenzahl. "Wiley: Environment, 6th Edition." Wiley: Home. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. .

    Read More

  • Habitat Destruction

    1568 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this new age of technology and advances in every possible field of study, many people forget about the environment. Some will just throw their trash all over the place with no concern for the possible consequences. Of course, there are many consequences, but only one comes to my mind. That is the demolition of species’ homes or habitat destruction. Habitat destruction or habitat loss is the altering or elimination of the conditions that plants and animals need to survive. “The primary threat to the world’s biodiversity is habitat destruction” (Okey p.1). Prairies have been greatly affected. The “loss of prairie habitat ranges from 20 to >99 percent depending on the region” (Benedict, Freeman, & Genoways, p.161). Habitat destruction can be caused by many things. These include:

    Read More

  • Importance Of Biodiversity Conservation Essay

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    That is, the conservation of selected plants and animals in se¬lected areas outside their natural habitat is known as ex-situ con¬servation. The stresses on living organisms due to competition for food, water, space etc. can be avoided by ex-situ conservation there by providing conditions necessary for a secure life and breeding. Such strategies include establishment of botanical gardens, zoos, conservation strands and gene, pollen seed, seedling, tissue culture and DNA

    Read More

  • Endangered Species Act Essay

    2418 Words  | 5 Pages

    Our world is very unique. We share the world with all sorts of creatures from animals of all sizes, and shapes. Creatures that crawl, slide, run, swim, fly, or burrow. As scientists expand their knowledge about the world they unmask many types of species living on this planet. Scientist has discovered about 1.7 million species, and 13,000 more species are being found every year. It is very rare to know that there are many unknown animals, such as large birds or even mammals, but there could be million little creatures wanting to be discovered such as insects, spiders, shellfish, and even worms. As we share our world with many animals is very heartbreaking to know that we are also destroying their habitat and making their way of

    Read More

  • We Must Live A More Sustainable Life

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is no doubt that human activity is having a significant impact on our environment. These environmental impacts include depleting our natural resources, air and water pollution, climate change, destruction of habitats, and loss of biodiversity. Because of these growing concerns, we need to learn how to live sustainably. Living sustainably will allow us to conserve our limited resources more wisely so they will be available for future generations (Withgott & Brennan, 2011, Chapter 1).

    Read More

  • We Must Protect Our Environment

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).

    Read More

  • Human Impact on the Environment

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    = == In this project I aim to explain the contributes to the environment by the actions of humans and display the consequences. I am going to divide the project into different sections and then sub sections to make the project easier to navigate around and keep the information in relevant sections. · Section 1: HABITAT REDUCTION BY HUMANS.

    Read More

  • Urbanization and Its Impact on Habitat Degradation

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    The non-stop conversion of land for housing developments, roads and highways, malls, offices, industrial sites, and other large edifices immensely affects our environment as well as animal species, in different ways. Extreme urbanization may result in adverse effects. These effects include habitat degradation in which the natural habitat of the species is unable to support them. We do not expect the natural habitat to fully do its role if it is already ravaged and devastated. And if the natural habitat is unable to do its role, many species will be lost in this world. The urban development causes the greatest extinction rates that were recorded and eradicates most of the native species. Other species might be found in some man-made habitat, but there is always an exception. Species found in those natural habitats will be missing. The more spaces the world loses, the more organisms diminish from the

    Read More

  • Biodiversity Loss and Extinction

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Biodiversity loss can lead to extinction, and hurt human life. It is our responsibility to take care of the environment. We bring in machines that harm the environment and destroy animal life. We need to limit ourselves on how much land and resources we consume. There are major issues that are causing species to become extinct and hurt our way of life and other animals do to the change in food chain.

    Read More

  • Loss of Biodiversity

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nowadays it is common to read articles in newspapers and magazines regarding biodiversity issues. Human beings have been knowingly and unknowingly destroying biodiversity since their existence. Biodiversity is the measure of the variety of species of animals living in an area. Forests are usually areas with high biodiversity while deserts are the opposite. Human beings have always destroyed biodiversity either by deforestation, or by some other means. Biodiversity depletion is a natural phenomenon. But the present levels of biodiversity depletion are many times higher than the natural rate. Recently the levels of loss in biodiversity have started causing global concern. Some of the main causes for loss in biodiversity are alteration of habitats, increasing levels of pollution and human population growth.

    Read More

  • Biodiversity Loss Essay

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Biodiversity loss can occur in many ways and this cause is very bad for the human , and the other species and the environment. These can lead down the surviving environment and mostly everyone living in that environment will suffer. There will be global warming, causing the earth to get warm and hot.

    Read More

  • Wicked Urban Problems

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    These motives are behind the current world’s 50% urbanization rate. Among all countries, Canada heads the urbanization process with 80% of its total area (Snell par.7). The ever-increasing urbanization rate is characterized by human-related destructive activities, which lead to creation of urban centers by destroying inherent biodiversity. The rate is increasing each passing day. However, one thing to note is that destructive activities embody the causes of urban biodiversity wicked problem. The easy way of identification provides land conversion, climate change, consumerism, land fragmentation, and invasive species as the main causes of the wicked problem of urban biodiversity. These causes constitute every aspect of urban life. For instance, there is no way that people living in urban areas can do without proper infrastructures (such as houses, roads, and communication lines). All kinds of infrastructure need space, and, in creating it, there is clearance of all natural vegetation and conversion of land to other uses. The result is annihilation of nature and predisposition of climatic changes. The only easy approach to identify an appropriate solution to the wicked problem of urban biodiversity is to decrease the rate of urbanization by

    Read More

More about Habitat Destruction and Biodiversity Loss

Open Document