Impact of wildlife on the environment.

ABSTRACT

Wildlife has a considerable and highly varied impact on the environment. Furthermore, in transforming the environment, man has indirectly altered some of the many links which associate animals with the environment. Food chains are an essential link, for they associate animals to plants (in the case of depredators such as herbivores, fruit- and grain-eaters) and to other animals (in the case of predators). Food chains determine the equilibrium of populations in their habitat. The various roles and activity of animals within different ecosystems are described. Birds are discussed at some length, given their role in pollination and the dissemination of plants, and also their potential for acting as reservoirs or carriers of pathogens. Mention is also made of disturbances to the environment resulting from the introduction, by humans, of various species which can threaten the ecological balance of the host region. These topics form a basis for further reflection on the conservation of particularly endangered natural resources.