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Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
Human population growth and the consumption of open space and resources destroy habitat required by wildlife for survival. Human development can disturb whole ecosystems, often irreparably.
Direct and Indirect Damage
Important wildlife habitat is rapidly lost or fragmented in the course of urban development, oil and gas exploration and extraction, and the conversion of land to agricultural uses. Some of the damage to wildlife is visibly the result of humans encroaching on wildlife habitat. For example, reptiles and rodents—including their nests and young—may be destroyed during the construction of a new subdivision; birds and rodents are routinely poisoned on agricultural lands and in suburban yards; and individual animals are killed by vehicles on roads that increasingly crisscross wildlife habitat.
The indirect consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation may be less obvious but often carry grave consequences for animal welfare and for conservation. Maintaining functional ecosystems often requires the protection of vast expanses of land to meet the minimum habitat requirements of the largest, most widely roaming members of the ecosystem, including top carnivores such as eagles and cougars or large migrating herd animals such as elk.
Wildlife Corridors
To help mitigate the effects of human population growth and land consumption, many scientists and conservationists urge governments to establish protected corridors, which connect patches of important wildlife habitat. These corridors, if planned correctly, allow wildlife to move between habitats and allow individual animals to move between groups, helping to restore or maintain genetic diversity that is essential both to the long-term viability of populations and to the restoration of functional ecosystems.
Some people argue that
the protection of large areas of wildlife habitat will have negative
consequences for local or regional economies. But research suggests that,
with careful planning, environmental protection and economic development can
be complementary goals.
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