OVEREXPLOTAITION
MSc. Chiara Guidino
Expected outcomes
•Definition
•Causes of exploitation
•Types of exploitation
•Overfishing
•Causes
•Effect
•Solutions
•Conclusions
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Overexploitation
• Overhunting and over-harvesting of food resources has led to
overexploitation of the environment. If we exceed the maximum
sustainable yield of any species, then the population is no longer
sustainable.
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CAUSES OF
OVERPLOITATTION
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Overpopulation
• The total global population is more than seven billion people.
• Still, there is a consistent increase in the overall earth populace and this
has been a critical factor in accelerating the depletion of natural resources.
• An increase in the populace expands the need for resources and
conditions necessary to sustain it.
• It contributes to increased ecological contamination.
• Research indicates that developing countries are using more and more
resources to industrialize and support their ever-increasing population.
• The depletion of natural resources will continue as long as the world
population increases.
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Poor Farming Practices
• Humans are causing a lot of stress to land resources due to the over-
reliance on food production for daily nutritional requirements.
• Poor irrigation practices, for example, is a key contributing factor to
salinization and alkalization of the soil that sustains plant growth.
• The use of heavy machinery and farming equipment also destroy the soil
structure making it unsuitable for plant growth.
• Excessive use of pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides equally kill
important soil micro-organisms that are essential in replenishing nutrients
in the soil.
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Logging
• Tropical deforestation is estimated to occur at a rate of one percent
annually, especially in Latin America regions.
• People are clearing forests primarily for agricultural reasons due to the
increase in the population pressure.
• Humans are also cutting down trees to make space for residential
complexes and multiplexes.
• Through deforestation, the planet not only loses tress but also thousands
of animals and great plant biodiversity due to the destruction of their
natural habitats.
• Increased logging activities lead to soil erosion that degrades natural soil
minerals.
• The World Bank reported that the net loss of global forest between 1990
and 2016 was 1.3 million square kilometers
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Pollution
• An increase in population and modern anthropogenic activities is a major
contributor to the disposal of pollutants into the natural environment and as
such, the value of natural environments is gradually exposed to
degradation.
• The soil, air, lakes, and seas are being contaminated with sewage,
radioactive, materials, and toxic chemicals among other pollutants.
• Uncontrolled release of carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide, and
carbon dioxide, for example, have resulted in the degradation of the ozone
layer and global warming – environmental changes with their resultant
depletive impacts on different natural habitats.
• Millions of different animal and plant species have thus lost their natural
habitats and are on the verge of extinction.
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Industrial and Technological Development
• As technological advancements continue, there is similarly a considerable
growth in industries that release toxins and chemical by-products which are
eventually deposited in lakes, soils, and lands. As a result, the by-products
and toxic materials alter natural habits such as aquatic systems
and wildlife.
• Example: acidic lakes, dead zones, and the death of wildlife as well as
aquatic life.
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Types of exploitation
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Types of exploitation
• Commercial: is the motivating force behind the exploitation of wildlife.
• Diversity of products: food, fiber, medicine, fuel, construction material, etc.
• A resource that is rare on earth due to depletion has a higher value than a
natural resource which is in abundance.
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Types of exploitation
• Subsistence: most rural populations exploit free living resources to supply
personal needs ( food, clothing, fuel, shelter).
• Recreational: wildlife observers. It is considered in this category who
protect free life species as sports hunters, natural collectors, and people
that cause impact on wildlife during irregulated ecotourism.
• Incidental: in the process of exploitation of certain sp, other species are
accidentally exploited.
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Types of exploitation
• Indirect Exploitation: it covers a set of human activities that indirectly kill
other organisms such as roads, fences, antenas, introduction of exotic
species, e.g. domestic animals
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Consequences of
overexploitation
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Consequences of overexploitation
• Water shortages: approximately one billion people lack access to clean water
because of the effects of deforestation and contamination of water
sources and groundwater.
• Oil depletion: due to the high rate of oil exploitation, the amount of oil
remaining would last for only 25 years. Oil is an essential commodity in
manufacturing, planting, mining, and transportation.
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Consequences of overexploitation
• Loss of forest cover: devastating effects of deforestation include soil
erosion, an increase in the greenhouse gases leading to global
warming, loss of biodiversity, increased flooding, and drought.
• Depletion of minerals: exploitation of minerals such as phosphorus,
gasoline, copper, and zinc among others to sustain the seven billion people
on earth.
• Extinction of Species: Due to the changes in the living conditions of
animals as a result of resource overexploitation and habitat degradation,
some species may go extinct.
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Consequences of overexploitation
• The basic consequence is: if many individuals of a population are
removed, we will obtain a reduced population.
• Effects on populations: not all individuals in the population are
vulnerable, there will be differences influenced by age, sex, phenotype,
location. Therefore, the population structure (age, sex and genetic
composition) can also be modified by exploitation.
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Consequences of overexploitation (examples)
• Age: fishes most likely to be caught are the largest individuals, therefore
sexually mature.
• On the other hand, the Wood industry harvests the trees that take longer to
grow.
• Sex: males are more exploited in comparison to females, because they
are larger and move in larger áreas, with greater probability of contacting
people.
• Genetic structure : overexploitation acts as an artificial form of natural
selection and changes the genetic composition of a population.
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Ecosystems effects
• If overexploitaiton occurs on keystone species in the ecosystem.
• We can not extract a subsantial portion of the population of a dominant
species without affecting the rest of the ecosytem to some degree.
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Degradation of an ecosystem
Edwards and Gomez,
2007
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Possible
solutions
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Controlling Deforestation
• Programs aimed at checking against deforestation such as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation) created by the World Bank, the New York Declaration on Forests, and the United Nations are initiatives
that could help reduce the depletion of natural resources.
Protecting wetlands and coastal ecosystems
• Wetlands are regions saturated with groundwater that serve a significant role in sustaining plant and animal biodiversity.
• Also when coastal ecosystems are protected, they aid in controlling marine overfishing and protect coral reefs.
More exploration and use of renewable sources
of energy
• Renewables such as solar and wind power can be explored more and utilized to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel,
which is a major cause of environmental pollution, climate change, global warming, and destruction of natural habitats.
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Reducing oil, mineral, and material consumption
• Oil-rich countries together with the World Bank, state, and consumables’ regulatory bodies should join hands towards a
common international objective of discussing how oil and mineral consumption, as well as exploitation, can be reduced.
• Manufactures can, for instance, be trained on lean manufacturing (recycling, re-use, and reducing wastage) while
consumers sensitized on how to adopt re-use, reducing wastage, and recycling techniques.
Sensitization and awareness creation
• People need to be educated on how their daily practices put a strain on the scarce natural resources and their individual
contributions to the depletion of natural resources.
• The main purpose of creating awareness would be to encourage people to preserve and restore the natural environment
by getting involved in conservation efforts.
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OVEREXPLOITATION
OF MARINE
ECOSYSTEMS
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Overexploitation -> Overfishing
DEFINITION
Removal of living (marine) natural resources to levels
that cannot sustain their viable populations.
DEPLETION
THREAT
EXTINCTION
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OVERFISHING:
Causes
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OVERFISHING: Causes
World population size, 1950 - 2050
1.18% year, 83
millons
Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population
Prospects, the 2012 Revision 33
OVERFISHING: Causes
- 123 countries, 70% cities à coast
- 37% lives ≤ 100 km of the sea
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OVERFISHING: Causes
World marine capture fisheries production
ü Overexploitation
ü Population
Technology
?
Fuente: FAO 2014
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THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS
Garrett Hardin, 1968
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THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS
Garrett Hardin, 1968
OVERFISHING
If I don't catch another
one will come fishing
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THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS
Garrett Hardin, 1968
• Common good (air, sea, land ...)
• If I stop using it ... someone else will use it for me
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Common fishing methods
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Disaster: bottom trawler
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OVERFISHING:
Effects
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OVERFISHING: Effects
DIRECT
• Target species / population.
• Adult overfishing and overfishing of recruits
• Species / population incidental
• Physical environment
• Erosion
• Substrate re-suspension
Brian Skerry
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The collapse of the Atlantic Cod
40 000
fishers
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“It is obvious that the fishery must impact
ecosystems, impacting the populations of target
species. It is less obvious, but very well
demonstrated, that fishing also impacts non-target
species, incidental fishing or accompanying fauna.
It is even less obvious, at least for many fisheries
managers, that fishing also affects species that are
not caught, either by alteration of habitats or by the
appropriation of biological productivity”.
Pauly y Palomares (2001)
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Incidental Capture
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Fishing not reported
Illegal fishing not reported
Discards
Discards, or discarded catch is
that portion of the total organic
material of animal origin in the
catch, which is thrown away, or
dumped at sea for whatever
reason. The discards may be
dead, or alive.
Bycatch is the total catch of non-
target animals. Discards are not a
subset of bycatch since the target
species is often discarded.
Pauly et al. 2002
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OVERFISHING: Effects
INDIRECT
• Trophic Cascade
• Other trophic levels of
the target species.
• Ghost fishing
• gear without owner
• Not registered
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OVERFISHING : Ghost fishing
Lost or abandoned gear that continues to trap animals at sea.
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OVERFISHING: vulnerable zones
University of British Columbia, 2012 52
Otter predation and effects
Estes et al, 1998
• Orcas feeding otters
• Decline of otter population
• Protected à no
hunting
• Abundance of food
• Sea urchins
increases
• Kelp forests decline
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Solutions
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Conclusions
• The depletion of natural resources occurs when resources are consumed
at a faster rate than that of replacement.
• Due to the increasing global population, the levels of natural resource
degradation is also increasing.
• Consequently, the world’s eco-footprint is estimated to be one and a half
times the ability of the earth to sustainably provide each individual with
enough resources that meet their consumption levels.
• Overfishing and overhunting are examples of a common pool resource
being depleted by individuals acting in their own self-interest.
• There are possible solutions to overexploitation but everything demands a
change of how humans live and education of the youth.
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