Explain the term ‘biodiversity’. Enumerate the major threats to biodiversity and its causes.
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Biodiversity describes the richness and variety of life on earth. It is the most complex and important feature of our planet. Without biodiversity, life would not sustain.
The term biodiversity was coined in 1985. It is important in natural as well as artificial ecosystems. It deals with nature’s variety, the biosphere. It refers to variabilities among plants, animals and microorganism species.
Biodiversity includes the number of different organisms and their relative frequencies in an ecosystem. It also reflects the organization of organisms at different levels.
The 5 major threats posed to biodiversity are by –Climate change
Habitat change
Nutrient pollution and loading
Invasive alien species
Overexploitation
The effect of these factors on biodiversity can cause a loss of biodiversity components, having a negative impact on the ecosystem and its integrity.
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