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The diversity of species and genes in ecological communities affects the functioning of these communities. These ecological effects of biodiversity in turn are affected by both climate change through enhanced greenhouse gases, aerosols and loss of land cover [citation needed], and biological diversity, causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and extinctions of species and local populations.
Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. [2] Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment [3] (suspected of being one of the ...
Habitat destruction. Map of the world's biodiversity hot spots, all of which are heavily threatened by habitat loss and degradation. Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved to elsewhere or ...
The effects of climate change on plant biodiversity can be predicted by using various models, for example bioclimatic models. [5][6] Habitats may change due to climate change. This can cause non-native plants and pests to impact native vegetation diversity. [7] Therefore, the native vegetation may become more vulnerable to damage.
Biodiversity is commonly measured in terms of taxonomic richness of a geographic area over a time interval. In order to calculate biodiversity, species evenness, species richness, and species diversity are to be obtained first. Species evenness[ 181 ] is the relative number of individuals of each species in a given area.
The ecological footprint measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. [1][2][3] It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biologically productive area people use to satisfy their consumption to the biologically ...
Global biodiversity is the measure of biodiversity on planet Earth and is defined as the total variability of life forms. More than 99 percent of all species [1] that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. [2][3] Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 2 million to 1 trillion, but most estimates are around 11 ...
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. [1] [2] Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in The Environmentalist in 1988 [3] and 1990, [4] after which the concept was revised following thorough analysis by Myers and others into "Hotspots: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered ...