Habitat Loss-Environment in Danger

Habitat loss has a more detrimental effect on the wildlife than we may think, and animals are adapting to their habitat loss in all the wrong ways...some cannot even handle the frightening situation or the lack of food and die immediately of stress.

In an article from the Britannica database, it is explained in detail how habitat loss, mostly in forests and rainforests, is contributing in a negative way to the wildlife and is becoming an increasingly bigger challenge for them to face.

http://static.guim.co.uk/

“At the scale of the individual organism, habitat loss occurs frequently because of competition. Nests, dens, hunting territories, breeding sites, and food resources routinely shift between species or between members of the same species.”

(Terrestrial Habitat Loss and Fragmentation)

While I was reading this excerpt from the article, I began to think of the habitat loss that the animals are experiencing. I began to wonder briefly about how habitat loss started, and I came to the conclusion that it is OUR fault. Humans have been the initial cause of this habitat loss and destruction to wildlife, and there isn't any arguing it. Companies chop down entire acres of rainforests at a time, making way for their new factories or using the trees and vegetation for paper and other products. Deforestation is one of the main causes of habitat loss and it is the number one contributor to animal extinction today. 

This excerpt says how nests, dens, and territories, even FOOD resources are shifted between species. This is not a good adaptation for the wildlife, and will continue to become an even bigger problem when there soon is no more land for them to shift out with one another. Competition also can be dangerous for many species because they sometimes will fight brutally in attempt to keep their land free of invaders. This can lead to stress on the animals without a proper living environment, and can cause many deaths due to fights. In my opinion, this chain reaction needs to be stopped and the cycle that the species have adapted to is just going to cause greater issues in the future, all due to our “needs”.

“Most of the world’s plant and animal species live in tropical rainforests, areas that have declined by roughly 50 percent since pre-Columbian times owing to the clearing of land for agriculture and unrestricted hunting. As a result, each year tens of thousands of species go extinct, many of which are yet to be identified. With the looming specter of global warming on the horizon, this situation is made even more serious.” (Terrestrial Habitat Loss and Fragmentation)

I found this passage upsetting and very unfair. If the rainforests have declined roughly 50 percent since pre-Columbian times, why isn't this destruction being stopped? Of course, there are wildlife preservation groups by the thousands, yet the rainforests and forests continue to shrink. Also, I thought it was very interesting and shocking to hear that tens of thousands of species go extinct, and many were not even known to man. I find this very unfair because those species were killed off because of humans and deforestation/industrialization, and they never were even heard of. We could have new scientific studies and new forms of research that could greatly benefit the society from those species, it could even be possible that new medicines could be invented, for example using snake venom and other toxins we use from animals. Also on the subject of global warming, it seems that it is discussed more than there is anything being done about it, which is becoming even more detrimental to our environment.


Question for further research:  How does captivity affect animals' behavior?