Over Exploitation & Threat to Biodiversity
Index
1. What is Biodiversity?
2. Types of Biodiversity
3. Threats to Biodiversity
4. How are food chains affected?
5. Types of plastic
6. How much plastic goes into the ocean?
7. How plastic usage has increased over the period of time?
8. What can we do to reduce the use of plastic?
What is
Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the various variety of
plants and animal species
Types of Biodiversity
• Ecological
• Ecological diversity is the intricate network of different species present
in local ecosystems and the dynamic interplay between them.
• Genetic
• Every species on Earth is related to every other species through genetic
connections.
• Species
• Species diversity is the variety of species within a habitat or a region.
Habitat-
Deforestation fragmentation
Threats to
Poaching Biodiversity Over-exploitation
Plastic Usage Invasive Species
What is Over-exploitation
• Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to
harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing
returns.
• Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the
resource.
• The term applies to natural resources such as: wild medicinal
plants, grazing pastures, game animals, fish stocks, forests,
and water aquifers.
Impact on Fisheries
• In wild fisheries, overexploitation or overfishing occurs when a fish stock has been
fished down "below the size that, on average, would support the long-term maximum
sustainable yield of the fishery". However, overexploitation can be sustainable.
• When a fishery starts harvesting fish from a previously unexploited stock,
the biomass of the fish stock will decrease, since harvesting means fish are being
removed.
• For sustainability, the rate at which the fish replenish biomass through reproduction
must balance the rate at which the fish are being harvested. If the harvest rate is
increased, then the stock biomass will further decrease.
• At a certain point, the maximum harvest yield that can be sustained will be reached,
and further attempts to increase the harvest rate will result in the collapse of the fishery.
This point is called the maximum sustainable yield, and in practice, usually occurs
when the fishery has been fished down to about 30% of the biomass it had before
harvesting started.
Impact on Water resources
• Water resources, such as lakes and aquifers, are usually
renewable resources which naturally recharge (the term fossil
water is sometimes used to describe aquifers which do not
recharge).
• Overexploitation occurs if a water resource, such as
the Ogallala Aquifer, is mined or extracted at a rate that
exceeds the recharge rate, that is, at a rate that exceeds the
practical sustained yield. Recharge usually comes from area
streams, rivers and lakes. An aquifer which has been
overexploited is said to be over drafted or depleted.
Impact on Forest resources
• Forests are overexploited when they are logged at a rate faster
than reforestation takes place.
• Reforestation competes with other land uses such as food production,
livestock grazing, and living space for further economic growth.
• Historically utilization of forest products, including timber and fuel
wood, have played a key role in human societies, comparable to the
roles of water and cultivable land.
• Today, developed countries continue to utilize timber for building
houses, and wood pulp for paper. In developing countries almost
three billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking.
Impact on biodiversity
• Over-exploitation is one of the main threats to global biodiversity.
• One of the key health issues associated with biodiversity is drug
discovery and the availability of medicinal resources.
• A significant proportion of drugs are natural products derived,
directly or indirectly, from biological sources.
• Marine ecosystems are of particular interest in this regard.
• However, unregulated and inappropriate bioprospecting could
potentially lead to overexploitation, ecosystem degradation
and loss of biodiversity.
Cascade effects
• Over-exploitation of species can result in
knock-on or cascade effects.
• This can particularly apply if, through
overexploitation, a habitat loses its apex
predator.
• Because of the loss of the top predator,
a dramatic increase in their prey species
can occur.
• In turn, the unchecked prey can then
overexploit their own food resources until
population numbers dwindle, possibly to
the point of extinction.
What are the measures to control over
exploitation?
a) Hunting by greedy hunters for commercial purposes should be
stopped at all cost.
b) Reckless cutting of the forests to bring land under cultivation and
inhabitation should be minimized.
c) Pollution due to chemical and industrial waste, and acid deposits
should be checked.
