Topic > Amphibian Diversity of Sri Lanka - 669

The degradation of biodiversity is becoming one of the worst global environmental catastrophes. Given the state of the world's biological resources on which much human life depends, biodiversity loss is one of the world's most pressing crises, and there is growing global concern about slowing population decline and extinction (Wilson 1988; WHO 2005; McKinney et al. 2009; The current estimate of the extinction rate is between 1,000 and 10,000 times the natural rate (Kumar and Khanna 2008). Unsustainable human activities, in particular the extremely high rate of land development, have resulted in a drastic decline in the population of many species reaching critical levels, the destruction of crucial habitats, the fragmentation of existing habitats, the destabilization of ecosystems, the loss of ecosystem functions and alteration of biologically critical ecosystems. structure (Bengtsson et al. 2000; Pimm and Raven 2000, Scott and Helfman 2001, Kremen et al. 2008). Climate changes preceded by global warming, environmental pollution and invasive species are exacerbated...