User:Chall562/Wildlife conservation

Threats to wildlife

A forest burned for agriculture in southern Mexico.

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction decreases the number of places where wildlife can live in. Habitat fragmentation breaks up a continuous tract of habitat, often dividing large wildlife populations into several smaller ones. Human-caused habitat loss and fragmentation are primary drivers of species declines and extinctions. Key examples of human-induced habitat loss include deforestation, agricultural expansion, and urbanization. Habitat destruction and fragmentation can increase the vulnerability of wildlife populations by reducing the space and resources available to them and by increasing the likelihood of conflict with humans. Moreover, destruction and fragmentation create smaller habitats. Smaller habitats support smaller populations, and smaller populations are more likely to go extinct.The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant shift in human behavior, resulting in mandatory and voluntary limitations on movement. As a result, people have started utilizing green spaces more frequently, which were previously habitats for wildlife. Unfortunately, this increased human activity has caused destruction to the natural habitat of various species.

Deforestation

Deforestation is the clearing and cutting down forests on purpose. Deforestation is a cause of human-induced habitat destruction, by cutting down habitats of different species in the process of removing trees. Deforestation is often done for several reasons, often for either agricultural purposes or for logging, which is the obtainment of timber and wood for use in construction or fuel. Deforestation causes many threats to wildlife as it not only causes habitat destruction for the many animals that survive in forests, as more than 80% of the world's species live in forests but also leads to further climate change. Deforestation is a main concern in the tropical forests of the world. Tropical forests, like the Amazon, are home to the most biodiversity out of any other biome, making deforestation there an even more prevalent issue, especially in populated areas, as in these areas deforestation leads to habitat destruction and the endangerment of many species in one area. Some policies have been enacted to attempt to stop deforestation in different parts of the world, like the Wilderness Act of 1964 which designated specific areas wilderness to be protected.

Overexploitation

Overexploitation is the harvesting of animals and plants at a rate that's faster than the species' ability to recover. While often associated with Overfishing, overexploitation can apply to many groups including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and plants. The danger of overexploitation is that if too many of a species offspring are taken, then the species may not recover. For example, overfishing of top marine predatory fish like tuna and salmon over the past century has led to a decline in fish sizes as well as fish numbers.

Confiscated animal pelts from the illegal wildlife trade.

Poaching

Poaching for illegal wildlife trading is a major threat to certain species, particularly endangered ones whose status makes them economically valuable. Such species include many large mammals like African elephants, tigers, and rhinoceros (traded for their tusks, skins, and horns respectively). Less well-known targets of poaching include the harvest of protected plants and animals for souvenirs, food, skins, pets, and more. Poaching causes already small populations to decline even further as hunters tend to target threatened and endangered species because of their rarity and large profits.

Culling

Main article: Culling

Culling is the deliberate and selective killing of wildlife by governments for various purposes. An example of this is shark culling, in which "shark control" programs in Queensland and New South Wales (in Australia) have killed thousands of sharks, as well as turtles, dolphins, whales, and other marine life. The Queensland "shark control" program alone has killed about 50,000 sharks — it has also killed more than 84,000 marine animals. There are also examples of population culling in the United States, such as bison in Montana and swans, geese, and deer in New York and other places.

Aerial view of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

Ocean Acidification

Main article: Ocean Acidification

As carbon dioxide levels increase concentration in the atmosphere, they increase in the ocean as well. Typically, the ocean will absorb carbon from the atmosphere, where it can be sequestered in the deep ocean and sea floor; this is a process called the biological pump. Increased carbon dioxide emissions and increased stratification (which slows the biological pump) decrease the ocean pH, making it more acidic. Calcifying organisms such as coral, are especially susceptible to decreased pH, resulting in mass bleaching events, inevitably destroying a habitat for many of corals diverse habitants. Research (conducted through methods such as coral fossils and ancient ice core carbon analysis) suggests ocean acidification has occurred in the geological past (more likely at a slower pace), and correlate with past extinction events.

Pollution

A wide range of pollutants negatively impact wildlife health. For some pollutants, simple exposure is enough to do damage (e.g. pesticides). For others, its through inhaling (e.g. air pollutants) or ingesting it (e.g. toxic metals). Pollutants affect different species in different ways so a pollutant that is bad for one might not affect another.

• Air pollutants: Most air pollutants come from burning fossil fuels and industrial emissions. These have direct and indirect effects on the health of wildlife and their ecosystems. For example, high levels of sulfur oxides (SO_x) can damage plants and stunt their growth. Sulfur oxides also contribute to acid rain, harming both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Other air pollutants like smog, ground-level ozone, and particulate matter decrease air quality.
• Heavy metals: Heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury naturally occur at low levels in the environment, but when ingested in high doses, can cause organ damage and cancer. How toxic they are depends on the exact metal, how much was ingested, and the animal that ingested it. Human activities such as mining, smelting, burning fossil fuels, and various industrial processes have contributed to the rise in heavy metal levels in the environment.
• Toxic chemicals: There are many sources of toxic chemical pollution including industrial wastewater, oil spills, and pesticides. There's a wide range of toxic chemicals so there's also a wide range of negative health effects. For example, synthetic pesticides and certain industrial chemicals are persistent organic pollutants. These pollutants are long-lived and can cause cancer, reproductive disorders, immune system problems, and nervous system problems.

Climate change

Main article: Climate change

Humans are responsible for present-day climate change currently changing Earth's environmental conditions. It is related to some of the aforementioned threats to wildlife like habitat destruction and pollution. Rising temperatures, melting ice sheets, changes in precipitation patterns, severe droughts, more frequent heat waves, storm intensification, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels are some of the effects of climate change. Phenomena like droughts, heatwaves, intense storms, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels, directly lead to habitat destruction. Meanwhile, a warming climate, fluctuating precipitation, and changing weather patterns will impact species ranges. Overall, the effects of climate change increase stress on ecosystems, and species unable to cope with the rapidly changing conditions will go extinct.While modern climate change is caused by humans, past climate change events occurred naturally and have led to extinctions.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

The illegal wildlife trade is the illegal trading of plants and wildlife. This illegal trading is worth an estimate of 7-23 billion and an annual trade of around 100 million plants and animals. In 2021 it was found that this trade has caused a 60% decline in species abundance, and 80% for endangered species.

This trade can be devastating to both humans and animals. It has the capacity to spread zoonotic diseases to humans, as well as contribute to local extinction. The pathogens to humans may be spread through small animal vectors like ticks, or through ingestion of food and water. Extinction can be caused due to non-native species being introduced that become invasive. An example of how this may happen is through by-catch.These new species will outcompete the native species and take over, therefore causing the local or global extinction of a species.

Due to the fittest animals in the species being hunted or poached, the less fit organisms will mate, causing less fitness in the generations to come. In addition to species fitness being lowered and therefore endangering species, the illegal wildlife trade has ecological costs. Sex-ratio balances may be tipped or reproduction rates are slowed, which can be detrimental to vulnerable species. The recovery of these populations may take longer due to the reproduction rates being slower.

The wildlife trade also causes issues for natural resources that people use in their everyday lives. Ecotourism is how some people bring in money to their homes, and with depleting the wildlife, this may be a factor in taking away jobs.

Article Additions

(Under Conservation methods)

Vaccine administration

Distributing vaccinations to wildlife who are particularly vulnerable is useful in conservation to prevent or decelerate extreme population declination in species due to disease and the risk of a zoonotic spillover to humans. A pathogen that has never once been exposed to a specific species' evolutionary pathway can have detrimental impacts on the population. In most cases, these risks escalate in conjunction to other anthropogenic stressors, such as climate change or habitat loss, that ultimately lead a population to extinction without human intervention. Methods of vaccination varies depending on both the extent and efficiency of limiting the transmission of disease, and can be applied orally, topically, intranasally (IN), or injected either subcutaneously (SC) or intramuscularly (IM). Conservation efforts regarding vaccinations often only serve the purpose of preventing disease related extinction. Rather than completely cleansing the population of the pathogen, infection rates are limited to a smaller percentage of the population.

Ethiopian Wolf

The Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) is a canid native to Ethiopia is an endangered species with less than 440 wolves remaining in the wild. These wolves are primarily exposed to the rabies virus by domestic dogs and are facing extreme population declines, especially in the southern Ethiopia region of the Bale Mountains. To counter this, oral vaccinations are administered to these wolves within favorable bait that is widely distributed around their territories. The wolves consume the bait and with it end up ingesting the vaccine, developing an immunity to rabies as antibodies are produced at significant levels. Wolves within these packs who did not ingest the vaccine will be protected by herd immunity as fewer wolves are exposed to the virus. With continued periodic vaccinations, conservationists will be able to spend more resources on further proactive efforts to help prevent their extinction.