Soil erosion can expose tree roots and uproot forests.
An endangered ecosystem is a natural environment that is threatened with collapse and disappearance due to human activity, pollution and species extinction, or overpopulation, among other factors. Living and nonliving entities interact, form interdependent relationships, and exchange energy and matter in ecosystems that can be as large as the planet or as small as an aquarium. When the interdependence between species in an environment and physical and chemical factors is disrupted, the ecosystem is in danger and can completely disintegrate. The consequences of ecosystem collapse include mass extinction, the uncontrolled increase in the populations of species, the interruption of the food supply for humans, erosion, floods, the acceleration of climate change and the disintegration of large regions of the world. natural environment.
Ecosystems can be degraded by construction, hunting, and other human activities.
There are many natural and human causes for an ecosystem in peril, causes that often alter the food web and physical environment of an ecosystem. Overfishing of a particular aquatic species, such as sharks or bluefin tuna, can have a negative impact on the food chain, depleting large predators that keep populations of smaller species from getting out of control. Without large predators, many species will reproduce beyond the ability of the immediate environment to support them, resulting in diminished food and resources and an endangered ecosystem.
Contaminants introduced into an aquatic ecosystem can kill plants eaten by larger fish, causing the fish to die as well.
When the resources of the current ecosystem are depleted, an overbred species can move to a new environment where it can become invasive and destructive. Humans can also introduce species into an ecosystem in an effort to control the population of a native animal or insect, but instead have a disruptive effect.
Pollutants can have a ripple effect on a threatened ecosystem, destroying the physical environment and killing or mutating species. For example, a pollutant introduced into an aquatic ecosystem can kill plants that are consumed by larger fish and crustaceans. These herbivore species begin to die off and thus deplete the food sources of carnivorous predators in the system which either die off in large numbers or migrate to a new ecosystem in search of sustenance. Additionally, pollutants can cause mutations in an ecosystem’s species, resulting in everything from infertility to extra limbs and crippling physical defects.
Construction, development, and other human activities, including hunting, can result in an endangered ecosystem. Inadequate or overhunting can weaken a species’ population, wiping out animals faster than they can reproduce and thus disrupting the food chain. Construction and development can destroy the physical environment of an ecosystem that living species depend on for survival. Unless species in endangered ecosystems can be successfully relocated, they could be threatened with extinction.