Habitat Loss

 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐬 occurs when a 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭 is 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 to 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 its 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬. The organisms once living there have either 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, or are 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝, leading to a 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 in 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 and 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬. Habitat destruction is in fact 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞.Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 and 𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Other activities include 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 and 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞,𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 are some examples.

Most of the natural habitat on 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 and 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 has already been destroyed. Islands suffering extreme habitat destruction include 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐙𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, and 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧.𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 and 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚—especially 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐚, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚, and 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧—and many areas in 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 have 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 that allow 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 close to 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 also face 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧  of their 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐟𝐬 or 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭.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.The current rate of deforestation is 𝟏𝟔𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, which equates to a loss of approximately 𝟏% 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.Deforestation for 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 and 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 have severely disturbed at least 𝟗𝟒% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬.𝐖𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 have endured high levels of habitat destruction. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟓𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. have been destroyed in just the 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟔𝟎% 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟕𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 have been completely destroyed.𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡 (𝟐𝟎%) 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 have been highly modified by humans.𝐎𝐧𝐞-𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐟𝐬 have also been destroyed, and 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡  has been 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 by 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, and  𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬. Finally, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 have been destroyed.

Habitat loss is perhaps the 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 to 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 and 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲.𝟖𝟐% 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 are significantly threatened by habitat loss. 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 are also threatened by native habitat loss, and some species are now only breeding in 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭. 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 with 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬  are most affected by habitat destruction, mainly because these organisms are 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, and thus have less chance of recovering. Many endemic organisms have very 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 for their survival that can only be found within a 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, resulting in their 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.One of the most famous examples is the impact upon 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚, once found in many areas of 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐚𝐧. Now it is only found in 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 and 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 in the 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 of the 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, as a result of 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 in the 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲.