Coastal estuaries and marshes provide breeding grounds for the majority of marine species. As they, along with inland wetlands, are dredged and filled, species are less able to birth and support their young. Pollution and effluents from the land travel easily through streams and rivers to the ocean, where they impact the health of fish, birds, and marine plants.
Deforestation far from shore can cause erosion that enters the water and deposits silt into the shallow marine waters, blocking the sunlight that coral reefs need to survive.
Regions of unsustainable agriculture or unstable governments, which may go hand-in-hand, typically experience high rates of habitat destruction. Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Amazonian tropical rainforest areas of South America are the main regions with unsustainable agricultural practices or government mismanagement.
Areas of high agricultural output tend to have the highest extent of habitat destruction. In the U. 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.
Other forest ecosystems have suffered as much or more destruction as tropical rainforests. Tropical deciduous dry forests are easier to clear and burn and are more suitable for agriculture and cattle ranching than tropical rainforests; consequently, less than 0.
Plains and desert areas have been degraded to a lesser extent. Wetlands and marine areas have endured high levels of habitat destruction. Habitat destruction caused by humans includes conversion of land to agriculture, urban sprawl, infrastructure development, and other anthropogenic changes to the characteristics of land.
Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and pollution are aspects of habitat destruction caused by humans that do not necessarily involve overt destruction of habitat, yet result in habitat collapse. That means less space for animals to feed, breed, and raise their young.
Finding a balance between what humans and animals need will help prevent habitat destruction. In the meantime, your everyday actions can build a better planet. All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. Funny Fill-In. Pollution: Freshwater wildlife are most impacted by pollution. Pollutants such as untreated sewage, mining waste, acid rain, fertilizers and pesticides concentrate in rivers, lakes and wetlands and eventually end up in estuaries and the food web.
Climate change: The emerging driver of habitat loss is climate change. Wildlife that need the cool temperatures of high elevations, such as the American pika , may soon run out of habitat.
Coastal wildlife may find their habitat underwater as sea levels rise. Plant native plants and put out a water source so that you can provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young that wildlife need to survive. Stein, B. Adams and L. Oxford University Press, New York: A groundbreaking bipartisan bill aims to address the looming wildlife crisis before it's too late, while creating sorely needed jobs.
More than one-third of U.
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