Sometime because we only focusing about our own life, we don’t care about the environment surround us. There are some threats to aquatic biodiversity that come from the nature and also human. And here today I’d like to share you with some threats toward the biodiversity in the ocean.
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1. Habitat damage
First up, we have habitat damage that become the first threats to aquatic biodiversity. Habitat damage can have many form such as mining, coastal development, and etc. When there is a coastal development to build some facilities such as hotel, resort, and or footpath surely during the development some certain habitat will be destroyed.
2. Disease
Just like human, both animal and plant also can have some disease. In the ocean there are some disease that become the threat toward the biodiversity it self. Since marine animal and plant live in the wild it means that human can’t always control and cure the disease that exist. One example of the fish disease is the salmon anemia virus.
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3. Alteration of sediment loads
What will happen if a river has so many waste both organic and non organic waste? Surely, there will be a flood when the rainy season come. And this is affecting the river water flow. Just like the river analogy, if there is a loads of sedimentation in the seafloor this sedimentation will affecting many things moreover coral reef. It can kill coral reef.
See also: Ocean Sediments
4. Contamination from toxic substance
Toxic substance that contaminates the ocean and the sea usually come from the ship. Because the animal and plants are food to human no wonder that many people become a sailor to catch the marine animal and plants such as fish, seaweed, and etc. And because of this fishery activities many ship are sailing and many of them drop the oil to the ocean because there is a leakage in the ship pipe.
5. Overfishing
Because the ocean become one of the food source place, many people or fisherman doing fishery activities in the ocean. What is wrong about their fishery activity is that they catch fish too much or we can say it as overfishing. Overfishing caused many species of fish become endangered because the fisherman catch many fish in a short period of time meanwhile the fish needs sometime to reproduce and grow.
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6. Waste
We know that everything that we throw to the river, lake, or another waterways will end to the sea. The waste can has so many form starts from liquid to solid waste. Such as, detergent waste, plastic, household waste, and etc. Let’s just see the impact from the detergent waste. Detergent waste may cause the algae blooming which can cover the water surface and by this fish and another marine living being can’t have enough sunlight and also oxygen to live, so they will die in the end.
7. Agriculture run off
Agriculture industry will always associated with water and pesticide. The farmer using pesticide in form of liquid to make it easier to distribute the pesticide to the plants. Pesticide will never vanish, it just going to move to one place to another places. During the rainy season, the pesticide will move together with the rain water to the sea and affecting the ocean pH which can cause the death of the coral reef.
8. Trawling
Trawling is a part of fishery. So basically trawling is one kind of method of fishery where you can catch even the small fish that should not be catch such as juveniles. This kind of activity may cause the fish and another marine living being threatened. The juveniles that should stay in the ocean and grow up is also being catch and can’t grow up as an adult. And that is why trawling become the threat for the biodiversity.
9. Bombing
Bombing also another method that is being used by fisherman to catch more fish. The problem is that when they use the bombing they will destroy the habitat and kill many species of marine living being. Not only fish or coral reef but many species will die starts from the juvenile up to the adult.
10. Doping
Even though the effect caused by doping is not as big as the bombing, but the impact to the marine animal is also big. Sometime because the people want to create a greater effect they just put a higher dose of doping and in the end the dope poisoning the ocean and kill many living beings.
11. Climate change
The changes of climate also can affecting the aquatic biodiversity. Just taking an example, if the climate change and the dry season is longer than it used to be then there will be drought everywhere that can kill many living being. In the ocean, the impact of the long dry season because of the global warming may melt the ice in the polar and this will create an unbalance ecosystem that can destroy a certain habitat with its living beings. (See also: Climate of the Ocean)
12. Global warming
Global warming is a changes of the earth temperature that become warmer. This event is may caused by many things such as pollution, development, and etc. And what is bad from this temperature changes is that the ocean water temperature will be changed too. The temperature change affecting the ocean living being that has a certain requirement about their habitat temperature and this is can kill them.(See also: Global Warming in Ocean)
13. Storm
Natural disaster just like storm is usually happens. And storm also become the threats to aquatic biodiversity. Storm can destroy the habitat of many marine species such as coral reef and kelp forest and this will be affecting the species life. Many species rely on their habitat as a place to find their food. (See also: Types of Ocean Storms)
14. Coral bleaching
Coral bleaching is one of the most important thing that should be our concern about the ocean ecosystem. When the coral experience the bleaching, it means that the algae and phytoplankton inside it are vanish and the coral will die. This will not only affecting the coral reef species and population but also another species that rely on coral reef for food, oxygen, and etc. (See also: Effects of Coral Reefs Destruction)
15. Predation
A natural competition such as predation also can affect the bidiversity in the ocean. When the carnivour in the sea is higher than the herbivore, by the time goes by the carnivore will extinct.
Others (16-20)
Another threats toward aquatic biodiversity,
- Tsunami : Different natural disaster has a different impact. Unlike strom, tsunami also create a huge impact toward the aquatic biodiversity.
- Landslides: When the mass of soil from mountain or cliff is sliding down to the ocean it is called as landslides. This is surely will be like a sudden attack that destroy and cover a certain aquatic habitat.
- High wind intensity: Wind can move the ocean water surface and creating the ocean water current. The problem is that when the intensity of the wind is too high, the wind can caused the coastal flooding that wash away some species of aquatic beings. (See also: Effects of Greenhouse)
- Earthquake: Beneath the ocean earthquake also still can happen. The threat from the earthquake can kill the species in the ocean because it used to create a hole and crack on the ocean floor.
- Wildfire: Many sea is located near the mountains. And in the mountain exist forest and tree. When the temperature around the sea is high sometime wildfire happens. The smoke created by the fire affecting the oxygen precentage in the sea.
Protection
To prevent the extinction of the biodiversity that exist in the ocean there are some act that we can do and follow. The government already made such a regulation to protect some species of marine living being to increase their number. Besides that, government also already made such a facility such as conservation area where the endangered marine living beings are protected. There is also exist some limitation to catch a certain species of fish that is threatened.
See also:
- Conservation of Dolphins
- Conservation of The Great Barrier Reef
- Conservation of Coral Reef
- Conservation of Oceans
So that’s all for today’s article about the threats to aquatic biodiversity. Hopefully this article can help you to know more about the deep ocean and its thing surround it. Thank you for being our loyal follower and reader!