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Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment.This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migration, leading to an overabundant species and other animals in the ecosystem competing for food, space, and resources.
Indeed, some analysts claim that overpopulation's most serious impact is its effect on the environment. [142] Some scientists suggest that the overall human impact on the environment during the Great Acceleration , particularly due to human population size and growth, economic growth , overconsumption, pollution , and proliferation of ...
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 ...
Deforestation, particularly in large swaths of the Amazon, where nearly 20% of the rainforest has been clear cut, has climactic effects and effects on water sources as well as on the soil. [ 32 ] [ 33 ] Moreover, the type of land usage after deforestation also produces varied results.
Tropical deforestation: In most cases of tropical deforestation, three to four underlying causes are driving two to three proximate causes. [19] This means that a universal policy for controlling tropical deforestation would not be able to address the unique combination of proximate and underlying causes of deforestation in each country. [ 19 ]
However, attributing overpopulation as a cause of environmental issues is controversial. Demographic projections indicate that population growth is slowing and world population will peak in the 21st century, [34] and many experts believe that global resources can meet this increased demand, suggesting a global overpopulation scenario is unlikely.
The cause of most of the biodiversity loss is, generally speaking, human activities that push the planetary boundaries too far. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] These activities include habitat destruction [ 21 ] (for example deforestation ) and land use intensification (for example monoculture farming).
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 ...