Factors affecting biodiversity

a) Rainfall:

  • Influences the composition of the flora and fauna.

 

b) Overexploitation:

  • Poses the most immediate threat to large animals that reproduce slowly, including elephants, antelopes, rhinoceroses, jaguars and primates.

 

c) Habitat Loss:

  • Cause direct loss of species and increased threat of global warming.

 

d) Invasive Species:

  • pose a threat to biodiversity when they possess adaptations that help them out-compete, prey upon or interbreed with native species in their new ecosystem, especially in isolated ecosystems such as islands or freshwater habitats.

 

e) Climate Change:

  • Influences the kinds of organisms that have adapted to each ecosystem.
  • Jeopardize food and water sources, negatively impact breeding and nesting habits, change species’ geographic ranges, increase drought in some areas and flooding in others, alter competition patterns in species.