1250
Throughout Part Ten we have described the dramatic ways in which the biosphere is changing as a result of human activities. The causes of these changes have been varied, and include habitat destruction and degradation, overharvesting of species, species invasions and emerging diseases, and now climate change. One of the largest ecological consequences of these changes has been the rapid decline of biodiversity, or the loss of diversity at genetic, population, species, ecosystem, and global scales.
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Various factors decrease effective population size, eventually leading to extinction.
Biodiversity connects species at all levels; its loss affects population, metapopulation, species, ecosystem, and global levels.
It is very difficult to track and predict extinctions.