The establishment of remote mines and their associated road networks can facilitate human migration and settlement, triggering habitat degradation, hunting, and further infrastructural development. Offshore, there is the threat of marine pollution, and the potential impacts of wave and tidal energy devices on seabirds ( ). The resulting impacts are wide-ranging: in some areas, high density oil and gas drilling fragments and disturbs natural habitats, in others mountain top removal for coal results in wholesale destruction ( ). Consequently, extractive development is taking place in areas never before exploited, many of them important for biodiversity. The global demand for energy and for minerals and metals is experiencing unprecedented growth. The encroachment of development into coastal habitats is also becoming a major concern for wetland-dependent birds ( ).Įnergy production and mining is a threat in some areas It has been identified as a key threat to many bird species, with residential and commercial development posing a particular concern for globally threatened birds (, ). The expansion of the human-built environment into the natural one-infrastructure development-has a significant impact on biodiversity, mainly through the destruction, degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats. Infrastructure development, notably for residential and commercial purposes, threatens biodiversity Artificial structures of many kinds also pose a direct threat to birds, particularly those on migration. Expansion and upgrading of infrastructure facilitate the spread of other activities, such as agriculture and logging, which can themselves be damaging unless properly managed.
Our ever-spreading infrastructure of housing, industry, water, energy and transport networks is destroying and degrading natural habitats. Threats to biodiversity have much deeper causes.Human-induced climate change may pose the greatest challenge.Overexploitation threatens many bird species.Infrastructure development is a growing problem.Seabirds are in serious danger from fisheries bycatch.Forest loss is one of the major threats to biodiversity.Unsustainable agricultural practices are the greatest threats to bird species.Human actions are putting pressure on species, sites and habitats.The uniqueness of Lake Natron prompted Tanzania to add the lake to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on July 4, 2001. Depending on rainfall, its alkalinity can approach that of straight ammonia, and when the lake is flooded with water that has heated underground, its temperature can reach a scalding 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Flamingoes must exercise caution, however, because the lake can turn deadly even to them. This forbidding environment enables Lake Natron to serve millions of flamingoes as the ideal nursery would-be predators avoid the saline lake and leave young birds in peace. Volcanic ash from the Great Rift Valley has collected in local lake basins, creating a network of soda lakes hostile to most organisms. The salt crust changes over time, giving the lake a slightly different appearance each time it is photographed by astronauts or imaged by satellites. This image simulates natural color, showing where the salt-loving microorganisms have colored the lake’s salt crust red or pink. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) flying on the Terra satellite captured this image on March 8, 2003.
Spirulina, a blue-green algae with red pigments, passes its pigments along to the Lesser Flamingoes that feed on the algae and raise their young here. An endemic species of fish, the alkaline tilapia, lives along the edges of the hotspring inlets, and the lake actually derives its color from salt-loving microorganisms that thrive in its alkaline waters. This bright red lake is the world’s most caustic body of water, but not to everything. Lake Natron, in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, practically sends a warning with its color.
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