China has lost 27,000 rivers, mostly as a result of over-exploitation by farms or factories.Water shortages impose big costs.
Huge populations of pelagic fish such as shark and tuna live and travel between the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef and are at risk of over-exploitation by commercial fishers.
As climate change, pollution, and over-exploitation by humans puts this precious resource at risk, it is more important than ever that we understand and appreciate the nature and history of oceans.
Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukWHEN the Scottish-born American naturalist, John Muir, encountered a pristine wilderness where the soaring mountains touched the open sky, birds sang in the pine trees and fish spawned in the free-flowing rivers, he was determined to protect it from over-exploitation by the settlers who succeeded the native American presence.
Off New Guinea, the epaulette shark has been assessed as Near Threatened, as there it faces habitat degradation, destructive fishing practices, and over-exploitation by artisan fishers.
Over-exploitation by communities in contrast usually results in small losses per hectare spread thinly over very large areas, often manifested below canopy, which are therefore hardly discernible.
The globeflower cannot respond to over-exploitation by Chiastocheta larvae with the selective abortion of parasitized fruits, as it only produces one to three flowers per blooming, whereas yucca and senita cactus produce hundreds of flowers.
In Mexico City, subsidence rates reach up to 40 cm/yr mainly due to soil compaction led by the over exploitation of the Mexico Basin aquifer.
Large geographic areas tend to be affected either by commercial logging or by community over-exploitation, rarely by both, although both may also be subject to manmade fire.
