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Biodiversity & the effect of human interaction on ecosystems - EdexcelDeforestation

Biodiversity is a measure of how many different species live in an ecosystem. Human activities like changing land use, deforestation and peat bog destruction reduce this.

Part of Combined ScienceEcosystems and material cycles

Deforestation

For thousands of years humans have been deforesting small areas of woodland to build their own houses or grow crops to feed their families. However, in recent years the increase in the human and development of industrial machinery has meant that much larger areas have been cleared. This is often by large companies who deforest to provide land for cattle, rice fields and growing crops for .

Deforestation destroys the of the organisms that live there and through this kills individuals of many . Scientists estimate that several hundred species of plant, animal and insect are lost each day partly as a result of deforestation. This means that deforestation is causing extinctions and dramatically reducing biodiversity.

It is estimated that nearly twenty percent of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down in the last fifty years, and the rate of this deforestation has increased in recent years.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 2, World map showing areas of forest in 8000 BCE, The world's forests 8000 BC