Why biodiversity is decreasing, the harm of biodiversity reduction

Wildlife reserves, which cover 15% of the world's land area, are threatened and biodiversity is reduced.

The harms of biodiversity reduction are, first, affecting food and industrial and agricultural resources, and then affecting the quality of human life, second, destroying and reducing soil fertility and water quality, third, affecting the ecological balance development of nature, and fourth, reducing medicinal materials**, and then affecting human health.

The dangers of biodiversity loss

Biodiversity refers to a stable ecological complex composed of a variety of organisms within a certain range, which is composed of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity.

Biodiversity is affected by the rapid increase in human population, environmental pollution, ecosystem imbalance, invasion of alien species, etc., and the degree of biodiversity loss depends on the structure of the ecosystem or the degree of disturbance.

The significance of biodiversity to human beings is mainly reflected in its value, which is divided into direct value, indirect value and potential value, and direct value refers to the fact that organisms provide food, fiber, materials, raw materials and other substances for human beings.

The measures to address the loss of biodiversity are as follows:

1) Establish protected areas: The establishment of nature reserves and wildlife habitats can slow the degradation of ecosystems, protect biodiversity and avoid the extinction of endangered species.

2) Promote eco-tourism: By promoting proper eco-tourism, it can increase the public's understanding and concern for the environment and biodiversity, and at the same time, it may create many jobs.

3) Reduce hunting and deforestation: We need to better protect and manage timber and forestry resources to reduce ecological disasters caused by deforestation. It is also necessary to strictly prohibit illegal hunting, harvesting, and ** behavior, and relevant parties should organize crackdown actions to ban related bad business practices.

4) Scientific and rational planning and development: In the process of urbanization, many cities will implement scientific and rational planning and development, respect ecological construction, cultural inheritance, etc., in order to achieve sustainable development goals.

5) Reduce the proportion of land suitable for development: On land suitable for development, excessive reclamation and exploitation of resources should be restricted, ecosystems should be ensured, and the principle of reducing environmental harm should be followed for projects that must be developed.

6) Public education and awareness: educate the public about maintaining ecological balance, promoting biodiversity, and choosing sustainable consumption patterns, so that the public is fully aware of their responsibilities in the rental calendar.

These measures are just a few of the measures that will achieve better and longer-lasting results if people around the world work together to take more effective and ineffective measures to simplify the conservation of biodiversity.

Biodiversity refers to the diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, and can measure the number and richness of species within a system or area. But now facing many threats, the current state of biodiversity is as follows:

Species extinction rate is accelerating: Many species are at risk of being threatened, with about 1,000 species currently disappearing each year, more than 100 times faster than natural extinctions.

Damage to the ecological environment: Due to the overexploitation and use of chemical pesticides and gases, it has led to serious damage and pollution of biological habitats, thus affecting the living space and number of many rare species.

Threat of invasive species: The continuous spread and invasion of some alien species have led to a certain degree of threat to the original species, such as the rapid occupation of land by alien plants.

Climate change can alter the habitat of species, which can directly affect their survival, ultimately leading to a dychondria.

Direct damage to biodiversity by human activities without a balanced response.

There is no doubt that in the context of rapid changes in the global environment, the protection of biodiversity is a very important topic and task. In order to slow down the extinction of organisms and maintain the stability of the ecosystem, it is necessary to adopt strong environmental protection policies, isolate the invasion of new species, strengthen the construction and maintenance of nature reserves, and other concrete measures, so that precious species can continue and better coexist with the natural ecology for a long time.

Biodiversity is being destroyed like never before, with one species disappearing every hour in the world. The world's largest tropical rainforest is declining at an alarming rate, and marine biodiversity is rapidly declining. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have cleared natural landscapes and cut down forests, which is undoubtedly bad news for species conservation.

Although species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate across the globe, at the local level, scientists have not always been able to detect a reduction in diversity. Some species, populations and ecosystems are indeed in the process of collapse, while others are collapsing more slowly, or have remained stable, and some are even thriving.

As a result, scientists say, there is a clear crisis in biodiversity, with many details to be answered. Which species will disappear? Is the new community healthy and in line with expectations?

Can fast-changing ecosystems cope with climate change? What goals should be set for action to protect species? These questions still need to be further studied and answered.

Status of Biodiversity:

Statistics show that China's biodiversity ranks eighth in the world and first in the northern hemisphere. It is also one of the countries most seriously threatened by biodiversity. long-term indiscriminate deforestation and deforestation of primeval forests; Widespread destruction and degradation of ecosystems, as well as the degradation or loss of structure and function, have made many of the species that survive them endangered or threatened.

Problems:

1. Wildlife consumption.

Wildlife consumption, large, slow-growing, easily spotted species are threatened by overexploitation.

2. The problem of invasive alien species.

The invasion of alien species is one of the second leading causes of biodiversity destruction after habitats. Freshwater systems are disrupted by introduced alien weeds; The introduction of certain fish species has caused great harm to local endemic fish stocks, etc.

3. The establishment of the legal system.

The entire existing legal system is still in the process of being revised.

4. Lack of relevant funds.

The funds for the management of nature reserves are very small, and a large part of them is used for the construction of some infrastructure, and it is difficult to apply for funds for daily resource maintenance and survey.

China is one of the 12 countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, with forests, shrubs, meadows, grasslands, deserts, wetlands and other terrestrial ecosystems, as well as the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and black current basin large marine ecosystems. It has 34,984 species of higher plants, ranking third in the world; 6,445 species of vertebrates, accounting for the total number of species in the world; More than 10,000 species of fungi have been identified, accounting for 14% of the world's total species.

Status of biodiversity threatened.

1. The continuous degradation of some ecosystem functions. China's plantations have a single tree species and poor resistance to diseases and pests. 90% of grasslands are degraded to varying degrees.

Inland freshwater ecosystems are threatened, and some important wetlands are degraded. Marine and coastal species and their habitats are being lost, and marine fishery resources are decreasing.

2. The degree of endangerment of species has intensified. It is estimated that the proportion of wild higher plants in China is endangered by 15%-20%, of which gymnosperms and orchids are as high as more than 40%. The endangerment of wild animals is increasing, with 233 species of vertebrates facing extinction, about 44% of wild animals showing a downward trend, and the population of wild animals not under national key protection is declining significantly.

3. Continuous loss and loss of genetic resources. The living environment of some wild relatives of crops has been damaged, habitat has been lost, and 60%-70% of the original distribution points of wild rice have disappeared or shrunk. Some precious and unique crops, trees, flowers, livestock, poultry, fish and other germplasm resources have been seriously lost.

In some places, traditional and rare species resources have been lost.

, species diversity and genetic diversity are under serious threat.

Xinjiang tigers and wild horses have become extinct or extinct in China; Wild plants such as the hairy fern have also long been extinct.

The distribution area of wild animals and plants such as giant pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, wild camels, silver fir trees, dove trees, and ginseng has shrunk significantly, and the population has plummeted, and they are on the verge of extinction.

Ecosystem diversity is under serious threat.

Many lakes in the Yangtze River basin have been converted into farmland. As of 1994, the lakes in the four provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui alone had been reclaimed.

In 1981, the area of natural forests in China decreased by 51 square kilometers compared with 1976, accounting for 51 square kilometers of the total area.

By 1997, the area of degraded grassland in a certain region of China accounted for about 50% of the available grassland area in the whole region.

China is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, with 34 984 species of higher plants, ranking third in the world. 6,445 species of vertebrates, accounting for the total number of species in the world; About 10,000 fungal species have been identified, accounting for 14% of the world's total species; According to incomplete statistics, there are 1,339 cultivated crops and 576 domestic animal breeds.

There are both natural and anthropogenic causes of biodiversity loss. Human activities are the most important cause of biodiversity loss.

Natural causes: 1. The biological characteristics of the species themselves, the formation and extinction of species is a natural process; Species have poor adaptability to the environment, or variability and adaptability, and are difficult to adapt to when the environment changes greatly, so they are in danger of extinction;

2. Natural disasters due to sudden environmental changes.

Anthropogenic causes: 1. Insufficient understanding of the importance of biodiversity to human beings, too much attention to economic development, and weak awareness of the protection of pure biological diversity;

2. The development of biological resources is excessive, and some of them are even predatory and quiet;

Biological resources support human survival and development, and enable people to adapt to changes in the environment and needs, and biodiversity is the sum of the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems within a region. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, there are about 5 million to 30 million species of organisms in the world, and there are currently more than 1.4 million species described by humans, and only about 150 species are used. 90% of human food is domesticated and cultivated by 20 species of plants and animals.

Biological resources are a huge treasure trove of human wealth. However, at present, due to the excessive deforestation of human beings, especially tropical rainforests, resulting in the loss of biological habitats, coupled with the overexploitation of biological resources, environmental pollution, global climate change, and the impact of industry and agriculture, the number of biological species is decreasing sharply, and now more than 100 to 200 species are disappearing every day. Experts estimate that 1 in 4 species will disappear in the next 20 30 years, posing a huge potential threat to human survival and development.

The loss of biodiversity is due to land and sea use change, use of biological resources, climate change, pollution and invasion of alien species.

Land use change has been the largest direct driver of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem degradation since the 70s of the 20th century, mainly including reclamation, infrastructure construction, urban expansion, mining, road expansion, hydropower dams and pipeline construction. The over-utilization of biological resources is an important reason why some species have become rare and endangered, or even extinct or resource species are reduced. Among them, poaching and ** directly push many wild animals to the brink of extinction.

Climate change has had a clear and increasingly severe impact on species distribution, rock fissures, phenology, population dynamics, and species assemblages or ecosystem structure and function. Pollution not only directly affects species and community structure, but can also have a profound impact on biodiversity by polluting habitats. Increasing international** and human movements have accelerated the invasion of alien species and exacerbated biodiversity loss in economically disadvantaged but biodiversity-rich areas.

Diversity encompasses all plants, animals and microorganisms, as well as all their genes, as well as the variety of ecosystems in which they live. The richer and more diverse they are, the more vibrant the planet becomes.

Diverse ecosystems such as forests and grasslands, rivers, lakes and seas, wetlands and deserts provide the earth with functions such as water conservation, windbreak and sand fixation, carbon sequestration, and climate regulation. What is even less known is that the rich and diverse genes of each species have become an indispensable resource for the sustainable development of human society.