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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 ...
Other scientists have criticized the assertion that population growth is a key driver for biodiversity loss. [13] They argue that the main driver is the loss of habitat, caused by "the growth of commodities for export, particularly soybean and oil-palm, primarily for livestock feed or biofuel consumption in higher income economies."
The illegal wildlife trade is the illegal trading of plants and wildlife. This illegal trading is worth an estimate of 7-23 billion [30] and an annual trade of around 100 million plants and animals. [31] In 2021 it was found that this trade has caused a 60% decline in species abundance, and 80% for endangered species. [31]
These include building materials, fibers, dyes, rubber, and oil. Biodiversity is also important to the security of resources such as water, timber, paper, fiber, and food. [175] [176] [177] As a result, biodiversity loss is a significant risk factor in business development and a threat to long-term economic sustainability. [178] [179]
A 2021 report in Frontiers in Conservation Science proposed that population size and growth are significant factors in biodiversity loss, soil degradation and pollution. [38] [39] Some scientists and environmentalists, including Pentti Linkola, [40] Jared Diamond and E. O. Wilson, posit that human population growth is devastating to biodiversity.
If climatic factors such as temperature and precipitation change in a region beyond the tolerance of a species phenotypic plasticity, then distribution changes of the species may be inevitable. [13] There is already evidence that plant species are shifting their ranges in altitude and latitude as a response to changing regional climates.
An important aspect of energy use in livestock production is the energy consumption that the animals contribute. Feed Conversion Ratio is an animal's ability to convert feed into meat. The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is calculated by taking the energy, protein, or mass input of the feed divided by the output of meat provided by the animal.
Liebig's law states that growth only occurs at the rate permitted by the most limiting factor. [ 2 ] For instance, in the equation below, the growth of population O {\displaystyle O} is a function of the minimum of three Michaelis-Menten terms representing limitation by factors I {\displaystyle I} , N {\displaystyle N} and P {\displaystyle P} .