Sama elsayed 5/1/12 9 grade girls What threats lead to the loss of biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the variability of species and living things within an ecosystem. Moreover, biodiversity can prevent disease from spreading in an ecosystem. On the other hand, if one kind of organism is found in a ecosystem and is attacked by a disease or insect, the entire population is damaged.

Rainforests are an essential example of biodiversity in human life. According to experts, rainforests have large amounts of species diversity that can cure cancer and AIDS. For instance, the Madagascar rose periwinkle helped cure Hodgkin's disease and leukemia. Survival rates for leukemia rose from 10% to 90% with the use of this plant. This species is currently extinct due to deforestation.

 Deforestation is an important cause of animal extinctions. As deforestation progresses in forests it can cause mass extinctions in different species caused by this human activity.

 Scientists believe that global warming is one of the most important threats to our planet’s biodiversity. Plants and animals are now endangered due to global warming because from increasing carbon dioxide and released into the atmosphere. The extinction rates of global warming compared with rates of biodiversity loss due to deforestation. Species extinctions involved with global warming exceeded those due to deforestation.

 Pollution is unusual level of a substance which disturbs the environment, especially biodiversity. Many species can’t tolerate with the rapid changes of their habitat due to pollution. Moreover, numerous human made substances have large impacts on different species. Pollution destroys and disturbs ecosystems which leads to the loss of biodiversity.

 Over- hunting has been a serious cause of the extinction of hundreds of species, such as whales. The first picture shows dead pilot whales that are killed because of a tradition in a island near Denmark called Faroe island. Ever since 1584, Faroenese people kill 950 whales every year. Due to this tradition and many other reasons, whales are becoming extinct.

 The least known cause of biodiversity loss is the invasion of non-native species in particular areas. When a non-native species invades a region, it either feeds on the native species or feeds on the food meant for the native species. In the picture above, is a Indo-Pacific Lionfish that has invaded the Atlantic Ocean. The lionfish is feeding on the native species and is reproducing other lionfish, today lionfish surpassed native species by 1000 lionfish per acre. This non-native species is killing other species which leads to the loss of biodiversity.

 A limnic eruption is when a gas, usually carbon dioxide erupts from deep lake water. In the picture above, it shows the result of limnic eruption and how its related to the loss of biodiversity. This cow has suffocated by gases that were let out from Lake Nyos. In 1986, a large eruption of gases occurred and resulted in mass extinctions of species diversity.

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