section_path: Environmental issues/Biodiversity loss
section_name: Biodiversity loss
paragraph_text: Biodiversity loss
  
  The biodiversity of Earth — the variety and variability of life — is threatened by climate change, human activities, and invasive species. Due to an increase in the rate of extinction, biodiversity loss is increasing. Agriculture can cause biodiversity loss as land is converted for agricultural use at a very high rate, particularly in the tropics, which directly causes habitat loss. The use of pesticides and herbicides can also negatively impact the health of local species. Ecosystems can also be divided and degraded by infrastructure development outside of urban areas.
  
  Biodiversity loss can sometimes be reversed through ecological restoration or ecological resilience, such as through the restoration of abandoned agricultural areas; however, it may also be permanent (e.g. through land loss). The planet's ecosystem is quite sensitive: occasionally, minor changes from a healthy equilibrium can have dramatic influence on a food web or food chain, up to and including the coextinction of that entire food chain. Biodiversity loss leads to reduced ecosystem services, and can eventually threaten food security. Earth is currently undergoing its sixth mass extinction (the Holocene extinction) as a result of human activities which push beyond the planetary boundaries. So far, this extinction has proven irreversible.