User:Gnmahon18/Wildlife conservation

Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife trade is the illegal trading of plants and wildlife. This illegal trading is worth an estimate of 7-23 billion and an annual trade of around 100 million plants and animals. In 2021 it was found that this trade has caused a 60% decline in species abundance, and 80% for endangered species.

This trade can be devastating to both humans and animals. It has the capacity to spread zoonotic diseases to humans, as well as contribute to local extinction. The pathogens to humans may be spread through small animal vectors like ticks, or through ingestion of food and water. Extinction can be caused due to non-native species being introduced that become invasive. An example of how this may happen is through by-catch.These new species will outcompete the native species and take over, therefore causing the local or global extinction of a species.

Due to the fittest animals in the species being hunted or poached, the less fit organisms will mate, causing less fitness in the generations to come. In addition to species fitness being lowered and therefore endangering species, the illegal wildlife trade has ecological costs. Sex-ratio balances may be tipped or reproduction rates are slowed, which can be detrimental to vulnerable species. The recovery of these populations may take longer due to the reproduction rates being slower.

The wildlife trade also causes issues for natural resources that people use in their everyday lives. Ecotourism is how some people bring in money to their homes, and with depleting the wildlife, this may be a factor in taking away jobs.

'''Illegal wildlife trade has also become normalized through various social media outlets, such as Tik Tok. There are a number of TikTok accounts that have gone viral for their depiction of exotic pets, such as various monkey and bird species. Wild species are not meant to live in domestic environments, and keeping them as pets can cause many problems. These accounts only show the cute and fun side of owning exotic pets, therefore indirectly encouraging illegal wildlife trade. TikTok made a signifiant stride in combatting this problem on March 30th, 2021, when they joined the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online. They, along with other big social media companies supposably work together to protect species from illegal, harmful trade online. But joining this coalition doesn't mean social media is wildlife trade free. Many accounts involved with illegal wildlife ownership are still popular, and many users do not realize they aren't getting the full story. But there is now research that shows machine learning can filter through social media posts to identify indications of illegal wildlife trade. This filtration system is able to search for keywords, pictures, and phrases that indicate illegal wildlife trade, and reports it. '''

Climate change[edit]
Main article: Climate change

Humans are responsible for present-day climate change currently changing Earth's environmental conditions. It is related to some of the aforementioned threats to wildlife like habitat destruction and pollution. Rising temperatures, melting ice sheets, changes in precipitation patterns, severe droughts, more frequent heat waves, storm intensification, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels are some of the effects of climate change. Phenomena like droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, intense storms, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels, directly lead to habitat destruction. '''For example, longer dry seasons, warmer springs, and dry soil has been observed to increase the length of wildfire season in forests, shrublands and grasslands. Increased severity and longevity of wildfires can completely wipe out entire ecosystems, causing them to take decades to fully recover. Wildfires are a prime example of the direct negative effect climate change has on wildlife and ecosystems'''. Meanwhile, a warming climate, fluctuating precipitation, and changing weather patterns will impact species ranges. Overall, the effects of climate change increase stress on ecosystems, and species unable to cope with the rapidly changing conditions will go extinct. While modern climate change is caused by humans, past climate change events occurred naturally and have led to extinctions.