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Deforestation causes many threats to wildlife as it not only causes habitat destruction for the many animals that survive in forests, as more than 80% of the world's species live in forests but also leads to further climate change. [8] Deforestation is a main concern in the tropical forests of the world.
Free-range animal production, particularly beef production, has also caused tropical deforestation because it requires land for grazing. [34] The livestock sector is also the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all deforested land being used for cattle farming.
Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced). [14] Deforestation and forest area net change are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a given period. Net change, therefore, can be positive or ...
Land use change, especially in the form of deforestation, is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, after the burning of fossil fuels. [4] [5] Greenhouse gases are emitted from deforestation during the burning of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon.
Many [quantify] people value the complexity of the natural world and express concern at the loss of natural habitats and of animal or plant species worldwide. [ 53 ] Probably the most profound impact that habitat destruction has on people is the loss of many valuable ecosystem services .
A 2018 study from the University of East Anglia team analyzed the impacts of 2 °C (3.6 °F) and 4.5 °C (8.1 °F) of warming on 80,000 plant and animal species in 35 of the world's biodiversity hotspots. It found that these areas could lose up to 25% and 50% of their species, respectively: they may or may not be able to survive outside of them.
Deforestation in Europe. France is the most deforested country in Europe, with only 15% of the native vegetation remaining. Deforestation in Bolivia, 2016. Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. [2]
As go the forests, so goes the plant and animal species that they embrace – 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity. Most importantly, forests play a critical role in climate change: deforestation results in 12-18 percent of the world's carbon emissions – almost equal to all the CO 2 from the global transport sector.