Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
8th International Congress on Contemporary Scientifis Research ISKANDINAVYA , Soro, Danimarka, 1 - 08 Temmuz 2025, ss.56-57, (Özet Bildiri)
The rapidly growing world population from the past to the present has significantly increased the need for food and agricultural production. As a result, humanity has fundamentally altered the Earth's landscape on a global scale, often to the point of exploitation, in order to sustain food production, housing, and industrial activities. In this context, it is estimated that natural ecosystems continue to be rapidly fragmented, degraded, and even destroyed by human activities. One of the main triggers of this striking damage is agriculture, as indicated by numerous research findings and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global authority on assessing the risk of extinction of wildlife, which works with thousands of experts worldwide. Agricultural production, which is expanding and spreading to untouched habitats, and which is carried out using intensive chemical and irrigation water use to maximize yield per unit area, has led to dangerous levels of pollution in aquatic and terrestrial habitats, pushing many species that are components of global biodiversity to the highest levels of extinction in millions of years. According to IUCN data for 2025, 41% of amphibian species, 27% of mammal species, 21% of reptile species, 14% of fish species, and 12% of bird species are at risk of extinction. Among invertebrate species, 36% of coral species, 27% of mollusks, 20% of crustaceans, and 19% of insect species are at risk of extinction. Among plant species, 39% of ferns, 34% of conifers, 33% of Malpighiales, 47% of Asparagales, and 38% of Liliales are at risk of extinction, while 32% of species in the fungi kingdom are also at risk of extinction. The IUCN has identified 11 primary threats that trigger the risk of extinction for species within all these groups of organisms. Now, considering the cumulative threat to the total number of species posed by habitat degradation caused by the expansion of livestock and crop production areas and pollution from agricultural chemicals, as well as the decline in surface and groundwater due to irrigation, let us evaluate the role of agriculture among the 11 fundamental threats for all the above-mentioned groups of organisms. The threat posed by agriculture within the 11 primary threats: It is the most significant threat for frogs, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, ferns, Malpighiales, Asparagales, and Liliales groups, while it ranks second threat for mammals, birds, fish, conifers, and fungi kingdom. For corals, it is ranked fourth but is effective at a level that will affect 82% of coral species. The richness of biological diversity is of vital importance for humanity and all other living beings in areas such as agricultural productivity, health protection, adaptation to climate change, resistance to disease and natural disasters, and ensuring air, water, and soil quality. If this richness is not protected, the basic services provided by nature may be irreversibly damaged. Since agriculture accounts for the highest or second-highest share of factors triggering these dangerous biodiversity losses across all major groups of organisms, it is considered imperative to adopt comprehensive and multifaceted measures related to the selection and management of appropriate agricultural practices to ensure a healthy and quality life, food security, and access to clean air and water.