BRAINCAKEHuman Causes of Extinction
Most extinctions today are caused, directly or indirectly, by human activity. The main causes are:
Habitat destruction: the greatest threat. Forests, wetlands and grasslands are cleared for farming, logging, mining and building. For example, clearing rainforest in Borneo and Sumatra for oil palm plantations threatens orangutans.
Over-exploitation: hunting, fishing and collecting faster than species can reproduce. The passenger pigeon, once the most numerous bird in North America with billions of individuals, was hunted to extinction; the last one died in 1914. Poaching for ivory, rhino horn and traditional medicines threatens elephants, rhinos and pangolins.
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More in Human Influence on Ecosystems
- Problems with Conservation
- Fish Farming and Aquaculture
- Endangered Species
- Extinction
- Conserving Biodiversity
- CITES
- CITES Successes
- Limitations of CITES
All 29 lessons in Human Influence on Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics