Question

Why is habitat loss considered as the cause of biodiversity loss? Explain with the help of an example.

Answer 1

Uncontrolled and unsustainable human activities including deforestation, slash-and-burn agriculture, mining, and urbanization change or destroy the habitat of many creatures. This causes the habitat to break up into tiny pieces, which affects migratory animals’ movement and reduces genetic exchange between populations, ultimately resulting in a decline in species. Tropical rain forests, for example, have seen a 14% to 6% decline. Within hours, thousands of hectares of rain forests are disappearing. In a similar vein, the Amazon rain forest is being cleared for soy bean farming or to make way for cattle on grasslands. Animals that need wide areas and migratory species suffer greatly from fragmentation.