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Overexploiting sea otters resulted in cascade effects which destroyed kelp forest ecosystems. Overexploitation of species can result in knock-on or cascade effects. This can particularly apply if, through overexploitation, a habitat loses its apex predator. Because of the loss of the top predator, a dramatic increase in their prey species can ...
Jungle burned for agriculture in southern Mexico. Tropical rainforests have received most of 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. [7]
Mass extinctions are characterized by the loss of at least 75% of species within a geologically short period of time (i.e., less than 2 million years). [18] [51] The Holocene extinction is also known as the "sixth extinction", as it is possibly the sixth mass extinction event, after the Ordovician–Silurian extinction events, the Late Devonian extinction, the Permian–Triassic extinction ...
Additionally, the effects of afforestation and reforestation will be farther in the future than keeping existing forests intact. [171] It takes much longer − several decades − for the benefits for global warming to manifest to the same carbon sequestration benefits from mature trees in tropical forests and hence from limiting deforestation ...
Biodiversity loss has bad effects on the functioning of ecosystems. This in turn affects humans, [ 45 ] because affected ecosystems can no longer provide the same quality of ecosystem services , such as crop pollination , cleaning air and water, decomposing waste, and providing forest products as well as areas for recreation and tourism .
[5] [6] This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes. This anthropogenic extinction may have started toward the end of the Pleistocene, as some studies suggest that the megafaunal extinction event that took place around the end of the last ice age partly resulted from overhunting. [7]
Deforestation in the United States was affected by many factors. One such factor was the effect, whether positive or negative, that the logging industry has on forests in the country. Logging in the United States is a hotly debated topic as groups who either support or oppose logging argue over its benefits and negative effects.
Beavers may benefit birds frequenting their ponds in several additional ways. Removal of some pondside trees by beavers increases the density and height of the grass–forb–shrub layer, which enhances waterfowl nesting cover adjacent to ponds. [3]