News tagged with habitat loss

Hunters, not climate change, killed giant beasts 40,000 years ago

The first Australians hunted giant kangaroos, rhinoceros-sized marsupials, huge goannas and other megafauna to extinction shortly after arriving in the country more than 40,000 years ago, new research claims.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

Study documents widespread extinction of lizard populations due to climate change

A major survey of lizard populations worldwide has found an alarming pattern of population extinctions attributable to rising temperatures. If current trends continue, 20 percent of all lizard species could ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 13, 2010 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (10) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Endangered Philippine hawk-eagle bred in captivity

A Philippine hawk-eagle feared to be heading for extinction has been bred in captivity for the first time, its breeders said Thursday.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Unexpected crustacean diversity discovered in northern freshwater ecosystems

Freshwater ecosystems in northern regions are home to significantly more species of water fleas than traditionally thought, adding to evidence that regions with vanishing waters contain unique animal life.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fungi-filled forests are critical for endangered orchids

When it comes to conserving the world's orchids, not all forests are equal. In a paper to be published Jan. 25 in the journal Molecular Ecology, Smithsonian ecologists revealed that an orchid's fate hinges ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists discover 12 new frog species in India

Years of combing tropical mountain forests, shining flashlights under rocks and listening for croaks in the night have paid off for a team of Indian scientists which has discovered 12 new frog species plus ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 17, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 0

Loss of large predators disrupting multiple plant, animal and human ecosystems

The enormous decline of large, apex predators and "consumers" ranging from wolves to lions, sharks and sea otters may represent the most powerful impacts humans have ever had on Earth's ecosystems, a group ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (14) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Borneo rainbow toad seen for 1st time in 87 years

Scientists scouring the mountains of Borneo spotted a toad species last seen in 1924 by European explorers and provided the world with the first photographs of the colorful, spindly legged creature, a researcher ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3

NY biologists map strategy to save spruce grouse

Genetic analysis at the state museum confirms what biologists squishing through Adirondack bogs already knew: New York's population of the spruce grouse, a chicken-like bird of the boreal forest, is nearing extinction.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 04, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Fungus destroying amphibian populations at higher rate than habitat destruction

(PhysOrg.com) -- According to a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, human development and habitat loss are not the main contributor to the population decline of man ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 01, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Species extinction rates have been overreported, new study claims

The most widely used methods for calculating species extinction rates are "fundamentally flawed" and overestimate extinction rates by as much as 160 percent, life scientists report May 19 in the journal Nature.

Biology / Ecology

created May 18, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Planting trees arrests koala decline, study finds

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Sydney researchers have gained a rare insight into the habits of koalas, discovering simple tree planting may be the solution to expanding their habitat and allowing their populations ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 02, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New study shows over one-fifth of the world's plants are under threat of extinction

A global analysis of extinction risk for the world's plants, conducted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew together with the Natural History Museum, London and the International Union for the Conservation of ...

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 29, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Stopping the loss of biodiversity

Next month, representatives from more than 190 nations will gather in Japan at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit to develop a global strategy for staunching habitat and biodiversity loss around the world.

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 14, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Latest suspect in colony disorder: Australian honeybees

Disease-carrying honeybees imported from Australia may be responsible for a mysterious disorder that's decimated bee hives around the country, and federal regulators say they'd consider import restrictions if necessary.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 22, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 8

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, plants and animals which previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Agriculture is the principal cause of habitat destruction. Other important causes of habitat destruction include mining, logging, trawling and urban sprawl. Habitat destruction is currently ranked as the most important cause of species extinction worldwide. It is a process of environmental change important in evolution and conservation biology. Additional causes include habitat fragmentation, geological processes, climate change, invasive species, ecosystem nutrient change and human activities mentioned below.

The terms "loss of habitat" and there is also a "habitat reduction" are also used in a wider sense including loss of habitat from other factors, such as water and noise pollution.

For more information about Habitat destruction, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: plos one , species , climate change