Threats to Biodiversity
The main threats to biodiversity are habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, invasive species and overexploitation.
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The main threats to biodiversity are habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, invasive species and overexploitation.
- Deforestation removes habitats
- Invasive species outcompete natives
- Overfishing reduces stocks
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Threats to Biodiversity?
Within Earth & Environmental Science, which covers our planet, its resources and ecosystems, and how people can protect the environment, this topic explains Threats to Biodiversity. Earth and environment topics show how the planet’s systems shape landscapes, climate and life, with models that make these processes visible.
Check that you can explain Threats to Biodiversity in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Threats to Biodiversity helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
Threats to Biodiversity in detail
The main threats to biodiversity are habitat loss and fragmentation (from farming, logging, building and mining), overexploitation (hunting, fishing and the wildlife trade), pollution, invasive alien species (which compete with or prey on native ones) and climate change.
Together they are causing extinction at rates far above natural levels, so some scientists speak of a sixth mass extinction. Island species and specialised species are especially vulnerable. Loss of one species can affect others in food webs. Addressing the threats needs action on land use, pollution, trade and emissions.
How the interactive helps you understand Threats to Biodiversity
Watch the bar chart in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the bar chart responds.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Threats to Biodiversity.
Real-life uses and examples
- Discuss how human activity changes Threats to Biodiversity, using a named example.
- Explain how Threats to Biodiversity affects the landscape or climate near you.
- Link Threats to Biodiversity to a real environmental problem and a possible solution.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Presenting one cause as the only cause of an environmental change.
- Describing a process without the timescale it works over.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Threats to Biodiversity
What is Threats to Biodiversity?
The main threats to biodiversity are habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, invasive species and overexploitation.
What are the most important points about Threats to Biodiversity?
The main points are: Deforestation removes habitats; Invasive species outcompete natives; Overfishing reduces stocks.
Why is Threats to Biodiversity useful?
Understanding Threats to Biodiversity helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
How can I practise Threats to Biodiversity?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Threats to Biodiversity?
Related topics in Earth & Environmental Science include Forests and Deforestation, Wetlands and Coasts, Fossil Fuels.