Factors Affecting Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to all living things, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. In other words, biodiversity refers to any species in a region or ecosystem. There are three types of biodiversity – species biodiversity, genetic biodiversity and ecosystem biodiversity. In this article, we will be studying the factors affecting biodiversity, factors influencing biodiversity and factors that increase biodiversity. 

Factors affecting biodiversity

There are various factors that affect biodiversity. Biodiversity loss is caused by habitat loss, invading species, overfishing, pollution, and climate change associated with global warming. In any case, people and their activities play a direct role. The loss of species, whether in a single region or globally, is due to natural causes. Still, the impact of humans and their activities is much more predominant when compared with nature.

The key factors affecting biodiversity are as follows:

Pollution

Air pollution is harmful to humans and other living beings. It affects the respiratory system and health, including changes in spawning ability and behaviour. Massive emissions of greenhouse gases such as nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane rapidly change the Earth’s climate.

Water pollution has adversely affected biodiversity. Chemical fertilisers generally contain nitrogen and phosphorus, which are added to the soil to increase crop productivity. These then flow down to the lakes and water bodies and pollute them.

Soil pollution is another factor that negatively impacts biodiversity. Soil contaminated with heavy metals has a great impact on the health of microorganisms essential for sustaining the life of living organisms.

Climate change

Global warming is a long-term rise in the Earth’s average temperature over the past two centuries. This increase in the temperature is due to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global warming has led to changes in the climate of regions as it has disturbed the cycle of seasons.

Habitat loss

Habitat destruction is the massive destruction of a species’ natural habitat, making it impossible to maintain its native ecosystem and species. This ultimately leads to the extinction of the species. Deforestation is the main reason for this extinction. Forests are cleared to create residential and commercial areas, resulting in the loss of habitat to a large extent.

Natural disasters

Droughts, floods and storms damage ecosystems and destroy habitats and food. They may also change the food web, making it difficult for plants and animals to repopulate the area. Droughts can also rapidly destroy vast areas and promote fires that can seriously damage biodiversity. Natural disasters such as volcanoes, forest fires, floods, hurricanes, droughts, plagues and tsunamis can be devastating to biodiversity.

After detailing the factors affecting biodiversity, let’s discuss the factors influencing aquatic biodiversity.

Factors influencing aquatic biodiversity

Aquatic biodiversity is a rich and wonderful variety of flora and fauna. Many species of flora and fauna live in the water. For example, fish spend their entire life underwater, while toads and salamanders only use surface water during the spring breeding season. Aquatic ecosystems include rivers and streams, ponds, lakes, seas, wetlands, and associated animals. Now, let’s look at the factors influencing aquatic biodiversity. 

Dams

Dam construction can have a negative impact on the ecosystem. This can lead to the flooding of limited habitats. Dams also impede the movement of fish species, resulting in the loss of certain species, some of which may be endemic.

Habitat moderation

Physical changes in habitat can lead to species extinction. Damming, deforestation, diversion of irrigation water, and conversion of wetlands and small bodies of water to other uses are significant reasons. Building a dam in the river impedes the migration of fish upstream, moving the population from its normal spawning ground and dividing the population into two smaller groups.

Pollution

Pollution is another factor influencing aquatic biodiversity. Pollution of water areas by various pollutants from many sources of pollution (mining activity, industrial wastewater, domestic wastewater, agricultural wastewater) is considered a major threat to aquatic biodiversity. Pollution causes many illnesses and even deaths around the world.

What factors increase biodiversity?

After knowing the meaning, problems and threats to diversity, let’s jump on what factors increase biodiversity. A few ways through which biodiversity can be enriched are:

Sustainable farming

Agriculture has had a great impact on biodiversity. Sustainable farming practices will secure and manage farmland with a diverse combination of crop diversity, traditional farming techniques to control pests and increase productivity, pastures, farmlands, orchards and wetlands. 

Green zone

A green infrastructure is an approach aimed at combining modern development and infrastructure projects with biodiversity conservation. Assessing the impact of building roads, railroads, and bridges on local biodiversity and adjusting plans to minimise it can significantly help improve biodiversity. 

Likewise, green bridges and eco-ducts can benefit biodiversity and reduce wildlife and car-related accidents.  

Organic method

Urban biodiversity can be supported by avoiding fertilisers and pesticides, which are not selective, and one cannot distinguish between good and bad insects.

Conclusion

The leading cause of biodiversity loss is human influence on the world’s natural systems. Humans have changed the environment significantly. Several factors discussed in the overview, such as pollution, habitat loss, natural disasters, and depletion of natural resources, contribute to biodiversity loss.