Background | Biodiversity and Human Health | Extramural Research | Research. Humans have always depended on services provided by ecosystems, such as the provision of food, clean air, and water and the stabilization of climate. Conserving biodiversity is a primary means of sustaining these services, especially in response to changing conditions (Loreau 2001; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Yet our actions in the past 50 years have changed these systems to an unprecedented degree, reducing biodiversity, altering habitats, and putting these provisioning services at risk. In fact, biodiversity loss may threaten to outweigh all environmental efforts: observed rates of species extinction are as much as a thousand times higher than average in the fossil record (Pimm et al. 1995). At the same time, infectious diseases appear to be emerging and reemerging at a faster rate (Daszak and Hyatt 2000; Wilcox and Gubler 2005).
EPA has contributed to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) References Global Statement of Need Top of page. Www.sustainabledairyfarming.com Worries about biodiversity and deforestation. The Food Industry and Deforestation, Loss of Biodiversity. The Brazilian rainforest : Caught between biodiversity and business. Brazil is exporting more and more agricultural produce: soya beans and beef in particular, but also corn, rice and sugar.
Taken together, these exports represent half of Brazil's total today. The increase in the export of commodities brings both a higher degree of economic dependency and a threat to the Amazon rainforest, as outlined by an IRD geographer and his Brazilian counterparts (1). Agricultural produce is actually the cause of almost all deforestation in Brazil, where 750,000 km² of forest have disappeared -- and 80% of that was converted into grazing land for cattle. Recently, the increase of single-crop farming, especially of soya beans, has pushed herds further and further into forested areas, and so accelerated the process of deforestation. These studies demonstrate the dangers of economic growth that depends on exporting agricultural produce, which may be appealing but is not sustainable. Growth 'at any price' Grazing harms forests The growth of agribusiness Notes :
Impact of Deforestation on the Sustainability of Biodiversity in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Impacts of Climate Change related to Biodiversity and Deforestation. There is growing recognition within the international community that deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries play a significant role as ‘cause and effect’ of climate change. When trees are growing, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but when they are destroyed they release all the carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere, causing global warming. Deforestation is responsible for about 20% of global warming. Forests are also a major repository of biodiversity; supply a wide range of goods and ecosystem services and provide livelihood to millions of forest-dependent communities. Unsustainable exploitation of forest resources in Pakistan has resulted in degradation of forest to the tune of 0.2 to 0.4% per annum during the past two decades.
Land Degradation Land degradation is brought about by processes that turn the soil unsuitable or less suitable for optimum crop cultivation, or which result in physical loss of fertile soil material. Water Erosion: 17% 1. 2. 3. Why is deforestation the biggest threat to Earth's biodiversity. Before we do a biodiversity threat assessment of deforestation, let's define the term. Deforestation is just what it sounds like: the destruction of large areas of forest lands or rainforests. There's no single or leading reason why deforestation happens.
Lots of activities can lead to leveled forests. It can result from logging, mining, urbanization, agricultural practices or many other reasons. Burning and clear-cutting are the most common methods used to clear forests. Although deforestation is a pressing issue around the world -- threatening forests in Central America, Africa, Asia and Australasia -- the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is particularly threatened.
Deforestation poses a tremendous threat to Earth's biodiversity largely because of where it primarily takes place: those selfsame rainforests. Forests - Environment. Additional tools Deforestation: forests and the planet's biodiversity are disappearing Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests and woodlands. While the phenomenon is not new, the current scale and pace of destruction is alarming. Tropical forests are disappearing at a rate of about 13 million hectares per year (approximately the size of Greece).
This magnitude of destruction has an impact not only at a local level, but also globally. Tropical forests are home to much of the planet's biodiversity, hosting about half of all known species. Cutting down forests not only threatens the extinction of a diverse range of plants and animals, but also causes climate disruption: deforestation is responsible for around 20% of global CO2 emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. Forests cover roughly 30% of the world's land area. Stopping the loss of forest cover worldwide Documents: Tropical Deforestation: Biodiversity Impacts. An Introduction to Tropical Rainforests Tropical rainforests are the most biologically diverse regions on the planet, home to approximately 70% of the worlds species on average (Landbrukshoegskole, 1995) This is illustrated in Figure 1 below.
This is very impressive considering tropical rainforests only cover 6% of the Earths land area (Mongabay, 2012). They are located within the equatorial region of the planet so the climate is very humid. This is due to a combination of high levels of sunlight and their global position in relation to the Hadley cell, making the areas receive very high levels of rainfall. Tropical rainforests exist in five major regions of the planet today: tropical America, central Africa, Madagascar, South East Asia and Australia (Landbrukshoegskole, 1995).
Figure 1: Number of species present in each biome of the world (Nasa, 2007) Deforestation in Tropical Rainforests Biodiversity Impacts Solutions to Tropical Rainforest Destruction and Biodiversity Loss.