“Habitat destruction is recognised as most significant threat to global biodiversity?” Elucidate the statement in present context with suitable examples in about 250 words.

 Habitat destruction is recognised today as the most significant threat to global biodiversity and bears responsibility for much of the species loss worldwide. This includes:

·         felling of forests for land use (e.g. clear felling for development, agriculture), large scale logging and small scale patchwork agriculture. Shifting cultivation alone is believed to be responsible for 70% of deforestation inAfrica, 50% of deforestation inAsia, and 35% of forest loss in theAmerica.

·         destruction of mangrove sites for aquaculture

·         mining and destruction of corals

·         conversion of wetlands for land uses

·         over-extraction of timber and fuel wood

·         human-induced burning of habitats(e.g. forest firing for shifting cultivation and firing grasslands to improve fodder for cattle)

·         damming of rivers

·          siltation and sedimentation of freshwater bodies

·         pollution also disturbs the natural habitat considerably. Industrial wastes cause severe impact, particularly on the aquatic habitats. For example, during the 1950s and 1960s, insecticides particularly chlorinated hydrocarbons (such as DDT), reduced the population levels of several birds such as the bald eagle and brown pelican.

In many countries there are very few pristine areas left that have not been modified in some way by humans. When habitats are not completely destroyed, they are fragmented into smaller patches, creating islands of habitats in a sea of development. Fragmentation exposes species to more light, wind and temperature effects than are natural, thus affecting the species survival as food and water sources are lost and few mates remain. In fragmented landscapes many species soon become isolated from others of their own kind resulting in inbreeding, loss of genetic diversity and local extinction.

More than three quarters of the species that are in danger of extinction today are due to the destruction of their forest habitats.Alarge number of these species are from the tropics, where human population growth has been most explosive and habitats have been destroyed most rapidly. Tropical rain forests cover a mere 7 per cent of the earth’s surface, yet they house about three quarters of the total species. Today these forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate.

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