51°30′31.20″N 0°11′16.57″W / 51.5086667°N 0.1879361°W / 51.5086667; -0.1879361
68-585: The Elfin Oak is the stump of a 900-year-old oak tree located in Kensington Gardens , London , carved and painted to look as though elves , gnomes , fairies and small animals are living in its bark. The hollow log, donated by Lady Fortescue, originally came from Richmond Park , and was moved to Kensington Gardens in 1928 as part of George Lansbury 's scheme of public improvements in London. Over
136-480: A decline in marine habitats over the last 60 years. The rising sea levels and temperatures have caused soil erosion , coastal flooding , and loss of quality in the UK marine ecosystem . About one-fifth (20%) of marine coastal areas have been highly modified by humans. One-fifth of coral reefs have also been destroyed, and another fifth has been severely degraded by overfishing , pollution, and invasive species ; 90% of
204-502: A given area or country. This concept, along with many other results of tropical deforestation from the Geist and Lambin study, can easily be applied to habitat destruction in general. Shoreline erosion: Coastal erosion is a natural process as storms, waves, tides and other water level changes occur. Shoreline stabilization can be done by barriers between land and water such as seawalls and bulkheads. Living shorelines are gaining attention as
272-411: A group of art students from Byam Shaw School of Art . Milligan himself personally repainted much of tree. In December 1997 Heritage Minister Tony Banks declared it a Grade II listed structure . Oak See also List of Quercus species . An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus Quercus of the beech family . They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and
340-498: A growth in wood (logging) and food markets. Growth in these markets, in turn, progresses the commercialization of agriculture and logging industries. When these industries become commercialized, they must become more efficient by utilizing larger or more modern machinery that often has a worse effect on the habitat than traditional farming and logging methods. Either way, more land is cleared more rapidly for commercial markets. This common feedback example manifests just how closely related
408-431: A hostile environment/matrix. This process is generally due to pure habitat loss as well as fragmentation effects. Pure habitat loss refers to changes occurring in the composition of the landscape that causes a decrease in individuals. Fragmentation effects refer to an addition of effects occurring due to the habitat changes. Habitat loss can result in negative effects on the dynamic of species richness. The order Hymenoptera
476-424: A lesser extent. Only 10–20% of the world's drylands , which include temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands , scrub , and deciduous forests , have been somewhat degraded. But included in that 10–20% of land is the approximately 9 million square kilometers of seasonally dry-lands that humans have converted to deserts through the process of desertification . The tallgrass prairies of North America, on
544-594: A major source of habitat destruction. Commercial farmers are going to become desperate to produce more food from the same amount of land, so they will use more fertilizers and show less concern for the environment to meet the market demand. Others will seek out new land or will convert other land-uses to agriculture. Agricultural intensification will become widespread at the cost of the environment and its inhabitants. Species will be pushed out of their habitat either directly by habitat destruction or indirectly by fragmentation, degradation , or pollution . Any efforts to protect
612-633: A narrow belt along the Himalayas to cover mainland and island Southeast Asia as far as Sumatra , Java , Borneo , and Palawan . Finally, oaks of multiple sections ( Cyclobalanopsis , Ilex , Cerris , Quercus and related genera like Lithocarpus and Castanopsis ) extend across east Asia including China, Korea, and Japan. Potential records of Quercus have been reported from Late Cretaceous deposits in North America and East Asia. These are not considered definitive, as macrofossils older than
680-893: A natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved to elsewhere or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and species numbers . Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide. Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the use of natural resources , agriculture, industrial production and urbanization ( urban sprawl ). Other activities include mining , logging and trawling . Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change , introduction of invasive species , ecosystem nutrient depletion , water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation . Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of
748-404: A new stabilization method. These can reduce damage and erosion while simultaneously providing ecosystem services such as food production, nutrient and sediment removal, and water quality improvement to society Preventing an area from losing its specialist species to generalist invasive species depends on the extent of the habitat destruction that has already taken place. In areas where the habitat
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#1732787667971816-863: A nut called an acorn , borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere; it includes some 500 species, both deciduous and evergreen . Fossil oaks date back to the Middle Eocene . Molecular phylogeny shows that the genus is divided into Old World and New World clades , but many oak species hybridise freely, making the genus's history difficult to resolve. Ecologically, oaks are keystone species in habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to subtropical rainforest . They live in association with many kinds of fungi including truffles . Oaks support more than 950 species of caterpillar , many kinds of gall wasp which form distinctive galls , roundish woody lumps such as
884-485: A range of flavours, colours, and aromas. The spongy bark of the cork oak is used to make traditional wine bottle corks. Almost a third of oak species are threatened with extinction due to climate change, invasive pests , and habitat loss . In culture, the oak tree is a symbol of strength and serves as the national tree of many countries. In Indo-European and related religions, the oak is associated with thunder gods . Individual oak trees of cultural significance include
952-601: A reason for change to more sustainable practices. Education about the necessity of family planning to slow population growth is important as greater population leads to greater human caused habitat destruction. Habitat restoration can also take place through the following processes; extending habitats or repairing habitats. Extending habitats aims to counteract habitat loss and fragmentation whereas repairing habitats counteracts degradation. The preservation and creation of habitat corridors can link isolated populations and increase pollination. Corridors are also known to reduce
1020-540: A result of habitat destruction include watershed management , nitrogen fixation , oxygen production, pollination (see pollinator decline ), waste treatment (i.e., the breaking down and immobilization of toxic pollutants), and nutrient recycling of sewage or agricultural runoff . The loss of trees from tropical rainforests alone represents a substantial diminishing of Earth's ability to produce oxygen and to use up carbon dioxide. These services are becoming even more important as increasing carbon dioxide levels
1088-508: A single oak tree produces both staminate ('male') flowers in the form of catkins , and small pistillate ('female') flowers, meaning that the trees are monoecious . The fruit is a nut called an acorn , borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule ; each acorn usually contains one seed and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on the species. The acorns and leaves contain tannic acid , which helps to guard against fungi and insects. There are some 500 extant species of oaks. Trees in
1156-557: A small area of the west of Cuba ; in Mesoamerica it occurs mainly above 1000 metres. The genus crossed the isthmus of Panama when the northern and southern continents came together and is present as one species, Q. humboldtii , above 1000 metres in Colombia. The oaks of North America are of many sections ( Protobalanus , Lobatae , Ponticae , Quercus , and Virentes ) along with related genera such as Notholithocarpus . In
1224-429: A universal policy for controlling tropical deforestation would not be able to address the unique combination of proximate and underlying causes of deforestation in each country. Before any local, national, or international deforestation policies are written and enforced, governmental leaders must acquire a detailed understanding of the complex combination of proximate causes and underlying driving forces of deforestation in
1292-605: Is a diverse group of plant pollinators who are highly susceptible to the negative effects of habitat loss, this could result in a domino effect between the plant-pollinator interactions leading to major conservation implications within this group. It is observed from the worlds longest running fragmentation experiment over 35 years that habitat fragmentation has caused a decrease in biodiversity from 13% to 75%. Habitat destruction can vastly increase an area's vulnerability to natural disasters like flood and drought , crop failure , spread of disease , and water contamination . On
1360-488: Is becoming better understood is climate regulation . On a local scale, trees provide windbreaks and shade; on a regional scale, plant transpiration recycles rainwater and maintains constant annual rainfall; on a global scale, plants (especially trees in tropical rainforests) around the world counter the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by sequestering carbon dioxide through photosynthesis . Other ecosystem services that are diminished or lost altogether as
1428-1177: Is directly correlated to the poverty status of the local people, most of whom lacking an education and family planning. According to the Geist and Lambin (2002) study, the underlying driving forces were prioritized as follows (with the percent of the 152 cases the factor played a significant role in): economic factors (81%), institutional or policy factors (78%), technological factors (70%), cultural or socio-political factors (66%), and demographic factors (61%). The main economic factors included commercialization and growth of timber markets (68%), which are driven by national and international demands; urban industrial growth (38%); low domestic costs for land, labor, fuel, and timber (32%); and increases in product prices mainly for cash crops (25%). Institutional and policy factors included formal pro- deforestation policies on land development (40%), economic growth including colonization and infrastructure improvement (34%), and subsidies for land-based activities (26%); property rights and land-tenure insecurity (44%); and policy failures such as corruption , lawlessness, or mismanagement (42%). The main technological factor
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#17327876679711496-452: Is from Old English ac (seen in placenames such as Acton , from ac + tun , "oak village" ), which in turn is from Proto-Germanic *aiks , "oak". Oaks are hardwood ( dicotyledonous ) trees, deciduous or evergreen, with spirally arranged leaves , often with lobate margins ; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous species are marcescent , not dropping dead leaves until spring. In spring,
1564-711: Is lost, a catastrophic event such as an earthquake, flood, or volcanic eruption could cause an ecosystem to crash, and humans would obviously suffer from that. Loss of biodiversity also means that humans are losing animals that could have served as biological-control agents and plants that could potentially provide higher-yielding crop varieties, pharmaceutical drugs to cure existing or future diseases (such as cancer), and new resistant crop-varieties for agricultural species susceptible to pesticide-resistant insects or virulent strains of fungi , viruses , and bacteria . The negative effects of habitat destruction usually impact rural populations more directly than urban populations. Across
1632-488: Is one of the main contributors to global climate change . The loss of biodiversity may not directly affect humans, but the indirect effects of losing many species as well as the diversity of ecosystems in general are enormous. When biodiversity is lost, the environment loses many species that perform valuable and unique roles in the ecosystem. The environment and all its inhabitants rely on biodiversity to recover from extreme environmental conditions. When too much biodiversity
1700-543: Is one such example, with irreversible reclamation proceeding prior to environmental impact assessments and approvals. Other such areas include the eastern coasts of Asia and Africa, northern coasts of South America , and the Caribbean Sea and its associated islands . Regions of un sustainable agriculture or unstable governments, which may go hand-in-hand, typically experience high rates of habitat destruction. South Asia , Central America , Sub-Saharan Africa , and
1768-401: Is relatively undisturbed, halting further habitat destruction may be enough. In areas where habitat destruction is more extreme ( fragmentation or patch loss), restoration ecology may be needed. Education of the general public is possibly the best way to prevent further human habitat destruction. Changing the dull creep of environmental impacts from being viewed as acceptable to being seen
1836-564: Is that shifting cultivation is not the primary cause of deforestation in all world regions, while transport extension (including the construction of new roads ) is the largest single proximate factor responsible for deforestation. Habitat size and numbers of species are systematically related. Physically larger species and those living at lower latitudes or in forests or oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area. Conversion to "trivial" standardized ecosystems (e.g., monoculture following deforestation) effectively destroys habitat for
1904-597: The Amazonian tropical rainforest areas of South America are the main regions with unsustainable agricultural practices and/or government mismanagement. Areas of high agricultural output tend to have the highest extent of habitat destruction. In the U.S., less than 25% of native vegetation remains in many parts of the East and Midwest . Only 15% of land area remains unmodified by human activities in all of Europe. Currently, changes occurring in different environments around
1972-643: The Paleogene , and possibly from before the Eocene are mostly poorly preserved without critical features for certain identification. Amongst the oldest unequivocal records of Quercus are pollen from Austria, dating to the Paleocene -Eocene boundary, around 55 million years ago. The oldest records of Quercus in North America are from Oregon , dating to the Middle Eocene, around 44 million years ago, with
2040-585: The Philippines , and Japan . South and East Asia—especially China , India , Malaysia , Indonesia , and Japan—and many areas in West Africa have extremely dense human populations that allow little room for natural habitat. Marine areas close to highly populated coastal cities also face degradation of their coral reefs or other marine habitat. Forest City , a township in southern Malaysia built on Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Rank 1 wetland
2108-853: The Royal Oak in Britain, the Charter Oak in the United States, and the Guernica Oak in the Basque Country . The generic name Quercus is Latin for "oak", derived from Proto-Indo-European *kwerkwu- , "oak", which is also the origin of the name " fir ", another important or sacred tree in Indo-European culture. The word "cork", for the bark of the cork oak , similarly derives from Quercus . The common name "oak"
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2176-473: The expanding human population ; rate of population increase over time; spatial distribution of people in a given area ( urban versus rural), ecosystem type, and country; and the combined effects of poverty, age, family planning, gender, and education status of people in certain areas. Most of the exponential human population growth worldwide is occurring in or close to biodiversity hotspots . This may explain why human population density accounts for 87.9% of
2244-436: The oak apple , and a large number of pests and diseases. Oak leaves and acorns contain enough tannin to be toxic to cattle, but pigs are able to digest them safely. Oak timber is strong and hard, and has found many uses in construction and furniture-making. The bark was traditionally used for tanning leather . Wine barrels are made of oak; these are used for aging alcoholic beverages such as sherry and whisky , giving them
2312-706: The Old World, oaks of section Quercus extend across the whole of Europe including European Russia apart from the far north, and north Africa (north of the Sahara) from Morocco to Libya. In Mediterranean Europe, they are joined by oaks of the sections Cerris and Ilex , which extend across Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan , while section Ponticae is endemic to the western Caucasus in Turkey and Georgia . Oaks of section Cyclobalanopsis extend in
2380-561: The Philippines' coral reefs alone have been destroyed. Finally, over 35% of the mangrove ecosystems worldwide have been destroyed. Habitat destruction through natural processes such as volcanism, fire , and climate change is well documented in the fossil record. One study shows that habitat fragmentation of tropical rainforests in Euramerica 300 million years ago led to a great loss of amphibian diversity, but simultaneously
2448-1187: The attention concerning the destruction of habitat. From the approximately 16 million square kilometers of tropical rainforest habitat that originally existed worldwide, less than 9 million square kilometers remain today. The current rate of deforestation is 160,000 square kilometers per year, which equates to a loss of approximately 1% of original forest habitat each year. Other forest ecosystems have suffered as much or more destruction as tropical rainforests . Deforestation for farming and logging have severely disturbed at least 94% of temperate broadleaf forests ; many old growth forest stands have lost more than 98% of their previous area because of human activities. Tropical deciduous dry forests are easier to clear and burn and are more suitable for agriculture and cattle ranching than tropical rainforests; consequently, less than 0.1% of dry forests in Central America's Pacific Coast and less than 8% in Madagascar remain from their original extents. Plains and desert areas have been degraded to
2516-515: The balance of species keeping up with the extinction threshold leading to a higher likelihood of extinction. Habitat loss is one of the main environmental causes of the decline of biodiversity on local, regional, and global scales. Many believe that habitat fragmentation is also a threat to biodiversity however some believe that it is secondary to habitat loss. The reduction of the amount of habitat available results in specific landscapes that are made of isolated patches of suitable habitat throughout
2584-556: The complexity of the natural world and express concern at the loss of natural habitats and of animal or plant species worldwide. Probably the most profound impact that habitat destruction has on people is the loss of many valuable ecosystem services . Habitat destruction has altered nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and carbon cycles , which has increased the frequency and severity of acid rain , algal blooms , and fish kills in rivers and oceans and contributed tremendously to global climate change . One ecosystem service whose significance
2652-430: The country, as a result of widespread deforestation in the 20th century. As habitat destruction of an area occurs, the species diversity offsets from a combination of habitat generalists and specialists to a population primarily consisting of generalist species . Invasive species are frequently generalists that are able to survive in much more diverse habitats. Habitat destruction leading to climate change offsets
2720-464: The crows' nest. Innes also illustrated a 1930 children's book written by his wife Elsie and based on the Elfin Oak . In it, Elsie wrote: for centuries now it has been the home of fairies, gnomes, elves, imps, and pixies. In the nooks and crannies they lurk, or peer out of holes and crevices, their natural windows and doorways. It is their hiding-place by day, their revelry place by night, and when
2788-538: The destruction of the surrounding landscape. Over the past 50 years, the destruction of habitat surrounding agricultural land has degraded approximately 40% of agricultural land worldwide via erosion , salinization , compaction , nutrient depletion , pollution , and urbanization . Humans also lose direct uses of natural habitat when habitat is destroyed. Aesthetic uses such as birdwatching , recreational uses like hunting and fishing , and ecotourism usually rely upon relatively undisturbed habitat. Many people value
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2856-898: The drier climate spurred on a burst of diversity among reptiles. Habitat destruction caused by humans includes land conversion from forests, etc. to arable land , urban sprawl , infrastructure development , and other anthropogenic changes to the characteristics of land. Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and pollution are aspects of habitat destruction caused by humans that do not necessarily involve over destruction of habitat, yet result in habitat collapse. Desertification , deforestation , and coral reef degradation are specific types of habitat destruction for those areas ( deserts , forests , coral reefs ). The forces that cause humans to destroy habitat are known as drivers of habitat destruction. Demographic , economic, sociopolitical, scientific and technological, and cultural drivers all contribute to habitat destruction. Demographic drivers include
2924-413: The first factor—in those areas (25%). Geist and Lambin (2002) assessed 152 case studies of net losses of tropical forest cover to determine any patterns in the proximate and underlying causes of tropical deforestation. Their results, yielded as percentages of the case studies in which each parameter was a significant factor, provide a quantitative prioritization of which proximate and underlying causes were
2992-404: The genus Quercus consisted of Old World and New World clades. The entire genome of Quercus robur (the pedunculate oak) has been sequenced , revealing an array of mutations that may underlie the evolution of longevity and disease resistance in oaks. In addition, hundreds of oak species have been compared (at RAD-seq loci), allowing a detailed phylogeny to be constructed. However,
3060-641: The genus are often large and slow-growing; Q. alba can reach an age of 600 years, a diameter of 13 feet (4.0 m) and a height of 145 feet (44 m). The Granit oak in Bulgaria, a Q. robur specimen, has an estimated age of 1637 years, making it the oldest oak in Europe. The Wi'aaSal tree, a live oak in the reservation of the Pechanga Band of Indians , California, is at least 1000 years old, and might be as much as 2000 years old, which would make it
3128-463: The globe, poor people suffer the most when natural habitat is destroyed, because less natural habitat means fewer natural resources per capita , yet wealthier people and countries can simply pay more to continue to receive more than their per capita share of natural resources. Another way to view the negative effects of habitat destruction is to look at the opportunity cost of destroying a given habitat. In other words, what do people lose out on with
3196-482: The great moon tops the bare branchless tree the Elfin Clans come out to play and frolic in the moonlight. The inside cover of Pink Floyd 's 1969 album Ummagumma features a picture of David Gilmour in front of the Elfin Oak . The comedian Spike Milligan was a lifelong fan of the tree, and in 1996 personally financed a successful campaign to have it restored. The team was led by sculptor Marcus Richards and
3264-1191: The high signal of introgressive hybridization (the transfer of genetic material by repeated backcrossing with hybrid offspring) in the genus has made it difficult to resolve an unambiguous, unitary history of oaks. The phylogeny from Hipp et al. 2019 is: CTB lineage [REDACTED] Cyclobalanoides Glauca [REDACTED] Acuta [REDACTED] Semiserrata East Asian Cerris [REDACTED] West Eurasian Cerris [REDACTED] Early-diverging Ilex [REDACTED] East Asian Ilex [REDACTED] Himalaya-Mediterranean [REDACTED] Himalayan subalpine [REDACTED] Agrifoliae [REDACTED] Palustres [REDACTED] Coccineae (Rubrae) [REDACTED] Phellos (Laurifoliae) [REDACTED] Texas red oaks [REDACTED] Erythromexicana [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Dumosae [REDACTED] Prinoids [REDACTED] Albae [REDACTED] Roburoids [REDACTED] Stellatae [REDACTED] Texas white oaks [REDACTED] Leucomexicana [REDACTED] Habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction ) occurs when
3332-519: The largest number of oak species, with approximately 160 species in Mexico, of which 109 are endemic, and about 90 in the United States. The second greatest area of oak diversity is China, with approximately 100 species. In the Americas, Quercus is widespread from Vancouver and Nova Scotia in the south of Canada, south to Mexico and across the whole of the eastern United States. It is present in
3400-524: The more diverse species. Even the simplest forms of agriculture affect diversity – through clearing or draining the land, discouraging weeds and pests , and encouraging just a limited set of domesticated plant and animal species. There are also feedbacks and interactions among the proximate and underlying causes of deforestation that can amplify the process. Road construction has the largest feedback effect, because it interacts with—and leads to—the establishment of new settlements and more people, which causes
3468-597: The most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species . Biodiversity hotspots are chiefly tropical regions that feature high concentrations of endemic species and, when all hotspots are combined, may contain over half of the world's terrestrial species. These hotspots are suffering from habitat loss and destruction. Most of the natural habitat on islands and in areas of high human population density has already been destroyed (WRI, 2003). Islands suffering extreme habitat destruction include New Zealand , Madagascar ,
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#17327876679713536-678: The most significant. The proximate causes were clustered into broad categories of agricultural expansion (96%), infrastructure expansion (72%), and wood extraction (67%). Therefore, according to this study, forest conversion to agriculture is the main land use change responsible for tropical deforestation. The specific categories reveal further insight into the specific causes of tropical deforestation: transport extension (64%), commercial wood extraction (52%), permanent cultivation (48%), cattle ranching (46%), shifting ( slash and burn ) cultivation (41%), subsistence agriculture (40%), and fuel wood extraction for domestic use (28%). One result
3604-438: The negative impacts of habitat destruction. The biggest potential to solving the issue of habitat destruction comes from solving the political, economical and social problems that go along with it such as, individual and commercial material consumption, sustainable extraction of resources, conservation areas , restoration of degraded land and addressing climate change. Governmental leaders need to take action by addressing
3672-572: The next two years the illustrator Ivor Innes carved the figures of the "Little People" into it. These included Wookey the witch, with her three jars of health, wealth and happiness, Huckleberry the gnome, carrying a bag of berries up the Gnomes' Stairway to the banquet within Bark Hall, and Grumples and Groodles the Elves, being awakened by Brownie, Dinkie, Rumplelocks and Hereandthere stealing eggs from
3740-560: The oldest oak in the US. Among the smallest oaks is Q. acuta , the Japanese evergreen oak. It forms a bush or small tree to a height of some 30 feet (9.1 m). The genus Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas , Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America has
3808-877: The oldest records in Asia from the Middle Eocene of Japan; both forms have affinities to the Cyclobalanopsis group. Quercus forms part, or rather two parts, of the Quercoideae subfamily of the Fagaceae , the beech family. Modern molecular phylogenetics suggests the following relationships: Fagus (beeches) Trigonobalanus (3 evergreen species) Lithocarpus (stone oaks) Chrysolepis (chinquapins) Quercus pro parte Notholithocarpus (tan oak) Quercus pro parte Castanopsis (also called chinquapins) Castanea (chestnuts) Molecular techniques for phylogenetic analysis show that
3876-482: The other hand, a healthy ecosystem with good management practices can reduce the chance of these events happening, or will at least mitigate adverse impacts. Eliminating swamps—the habitat of pests such as mosquitoes —has contributed to the prevention of diseases such as malaria . Completely depriving an infectious agent (such as a virus) of its habitat—by vaccination , for example—can result in eradicating that infectious agent. Agricultural land can suffer from
3944-517: The other hand, have less than 3% of natural habitat remaining that has not been converted to farmland. Wetlands and marine areas have endured high levels of habitat destruction. More than 50% of wetlands in the U.S. have been destroyed in just the last 200 years. Between 60% and 70% of European wetlands have been completely destroyed. In the United Kingdom, there has been an increase in demand for coastal housing and tourism which has caused
4012-814: The proximate and underlying causes are to each other. Climate change contributes to destruction of some habitats, endangering various species. For example: When a habitat is destroyed, the carrying capacity for indigenous plants, animals, and other organisms is reduced so that populations decline , sometimes up to the level of extinction . Habitat loss is perhaps the greatest threat to organisms and biodiversity. Temple (1986) found that 82% of endangered bird species were significantly threatened by habitat loss. Most amphibian species are also threatened by native habitat loss, and some species are now only breeding in modified habitat. Endemic organisms with limited ranges are most affected by habitat destruction, mainly because these organisms are not found anywhere else in
4080-404: The reduction of genetic diversity and perhaps the production of infertile youths, as these organisms would have a higher possibility of mating with related organisms within their population, or different species. One of the most famous examples is the impact upon China's giant panda , once found in many areas of Sichuan . Now it is only found in fragmented and isolated regions in the southwest of
4148-492: The removal of a given habitat? A country may increase its food supply by converting forest land to row-crop agriculture, but the value of the same land may be much larger when it can supply natural resources or services such as clean water, timber, ecotourism, or flood regulation and drought control. The rapid expansion of the global human population is increasing the world's food requirement substantially. Simple logic dictates that more people will require more food. In fact, as
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#17327876679714216-413: The underlying driving forces, rather than merely regulating the proximate causes. In a broader sense, governmental bodies at a local, national, and international scale need to emphasize: It is argued that the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation can be counteracted by including spatial processes in potential restoration management plans. However, even though spatial dynamics are incredibly important in
4284-416: The variation in numbers of threatened species across 114 countries, providing indisputable evidence that people play the largest role in decreasing biodiversity . The boom in human population and migration of people into such species-rich regions are making conservation efforts not only more urgent but also more likely to conflict with local human interests. The high local population density in such areas
4352-436: The world are changing the specific geographical habitats that are suitable for plants to grow. Therefore, the ability for plants to migrate to suitable environment areas will have a strong impact on the distribution of plant diversity. However, at the moment, the rates of plant migration that are influenced by habitat loss and fragmentation are not as well understood as they could be. Tropical rainforests have received most of
4420-449: The world's population increases dramatically, agricultural output will need to increase by at least 50%, over the next 30 years. In the past, continually moving to new land and soils provided a boost in food production to meet the global food demand. That easy fix will no longer be available, however, as more than 98% of all land suitable for agriculture is already in use or degraded beyond repair. The impending global food crisis will be
4488-817: The world's remaining natural habitat and biodiversity will compete directly with humans' growing demand for natural resources, especially new agricultural lands. Attempts to address habitat destruction are in international policy commitments embodied by Sustainable Development Goal 15 "Life on Land" and Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water". However, the United Nations Environment Programme report on "Making Peace with Nature" released in 2021 found that most of these efforts had failed to meet their internationally agreed upon goals. Tropical deforestation: In most cases of tropical deforestation , three to four underlying causes are driving two to three proximate causes. This means that
4556-423: The world, and thus have less chance of recovering. Many endemic organisms have very specific requirements for their survival that can only be found within a certain ecosystem, resulting in their extinction. Extinction may also take place very long after the destruction of habitat, a phenomenon known as extinction debt . Habitat destruction can also decrease the range of certain organism populations. This can result in
4624-519: Was the poor application of technology in the wood industry (45%), which leads to wasteful logging practices. Within the broad category of cultural and sociopolitical factors are public attitudes and values (63%), individual/household behavior (53%), public unconcern toward forest environments (43%), missing basic values (36%), and unconcern by individuals (32%). Demographic factors were the in-migration of colonizing settlers into sparsely populated forest areas (38%) and growing population density—a result of
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