Threats to biodiversity Flashcards
Exploitation
The harvesting of natural resources for food and raw materials to make best use of it
Over-exploitation
When resources are removed from an environment at a rate that cannot be sustained - occurs when the resources are harvested at a rate greater than the species reproductive rate
How to avoid over exploitation
Ensure there are enough species members remaining to reproduce and continue the species
Population recovery
If over exploitation is haled soon enough population may be able to recover, however population is too low the population may not be able to recover.
Bottleneck effect
When only small populations survive over exploitation genetic diversity tends to be low, this means the entire species is susceptible to negative change in the environmental conditions
Exception of bottleneck effect
Some species naturally have low genetic diversity yet remain viable - like wandering albatross for example