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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 ...
The environmental impacts of nuclear power plant disasters such as the Chernobyl disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Three Mile Island accident, among others, persist indefinitely, though several other factors contributed to these events including improper management of fail safe systems and natural disasters putting ...
Phytotoxicity describes any adverse effects on plant growth, physiology, or metabolism caused by a chemical substance, such as high levels of fertilizers, herbicides, heavy metals, or nanoparticles. [1] General phytotoxic effects include altered plant metabolism, growth inhibition, or plant death. [2]
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 ...
Humans are versatile enough to remediate adverse effects of species invasions. [ 142 ] [ 8 ] [ 143 ] The public is motivated by invasive species that impact their local area. [ 144 ] The control of alien species populations is important in the conservation of biodiversity in natural ecosystem.
Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event, caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. [124] It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years ...
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. [8]
Human-caused climate change and the rise in invasive species are directly linked to changing of ecosystems. [6] [7] The destabilization of climate factors in these ecosystems can lead to the creation of a more hospitable habitat for invasive species, thus allowing them to spread beyond their original geographic boundaries. [8]