Skip to main content
Biology LibreTexts

11.8: Data Dive- Threats to Biodiversity

  • Page ID
    70854
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Overview

    Starting in 1998, the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) began publishing the Living Planet Report. This report analyzes the health of the plant relative to the impact humanity has on it, and is updated every two years. This report continually urges humanity, especially world leaders, to work together to build a more sustainable, resilient, and healthy future for people and nature. In the 2018 update, there was an overview of the major threats to biodiversity for several animal families of concern. See the graph of their results below:

    Stacked horizontal bar graph displaying percent impact of biodiversity threats on species in various animal categories.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{a}\): Percent of biodiversity threats to various animal groups. Graph by Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC) modified from data in Living Planet Report 2018 Aiming Higher.

    Questions

    1. What is the independent (explanatory) variable and the dependent (response) variable?
    2. What animal category above is most affected by habitat destruction? What about exploitation?
    3. What category above has the largest impact (on average) on all species?
    4. What is different for the fish data patterns compared to the other animal categories? Why?
    5. How can the results of this graph to inform future conservation efforts?
    6. Based on what you have learned in the chapter, list two other categories of life that you think should be added to the graph. Provide at least one reason for each as to why you think it should be added.

     

    Raw Data From Above Graph(s)

    Table \(\PageIndex{a}\): Raw data for percent of biodiversity threats to various animal groups. Graph by Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC) modified from data in Living Planet Report 2018 Aiming Higher.

    Animal Group Habitat Degradation Exploitation Invasive Species And Disease Pollution Climate Change
    Birds 49 18 10 11 12
    Reptiles/Amphibians 47 23 12 11 7
    Mammals 45 38 9 5 3
    Fish 28 55 5 4 8

     

    Attribution

    Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC)


    This page titled 11.8: Data Dive- Threats to Biodiversity is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Melissa Ha and Rachel Schleiger (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .

    • Was this article helpful?