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Q.What is the impact of loss of Biodiversity?

Haryana BsehBSEH Intermediate Board 2023Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Loss of biodiversity destabilises ecosystems, reduces their productivity and resilience, and permanently removes genetic resources and ecosystem services humans rely on.

Biodiversity loss has wide-ranging negative impacts:

  1. Reduced ecosystem productivity and stability: According to the rivet-popper hypothesis (proposed by Paul Ehrlich), each species in a community is like a rivet holding together an aircraft's parts (the ecosystem). Removal of species (rivets), even a few at a time, may seem to have little effect initially, but beyond a threshold the ecosystem's stability declines sharply and it may collapse. In general, communities with more species tend to be more stable and productive than those with less biodiversity.

  2. Extinction of species and loss of genetic resources: As habitats degrade and species go extinct, the unique genetic diversity present in wild species — a valuable resource for future crop and medicinal improvement — is permanently lost.

  3. Loss of ecosystem services: Biodiversity underpins many ecosystem services such as oxygen production, pollination, natural pest control, water purification, soil fertility, and climate regulation; loss of species can degrade or eliminate these services.

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