What is Over-harvesting?
[[File:Surexploitation morue surpêcheEn.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Atlantic [[cod]] stocks were severely overexploited in the 1970s and 1980s. This lead to their abrupt collapse in 1992.<ref name=Frank>{{cite journal|author=Frank, Kenneth T. ''et al'' 2005. |title=Trophic cascades in a formerly cod-dominated ecosystem|journal=Science|year=2005|volume=308 |pages=1621–1623|doi=10.1126/science.1113075|pmid=15947186|issue=5728|bibcode=2005Sci...308.1621F|s2cid=45088691}}</ref>]] '''Over-harvesting''' means taking more from the land (or sea) than it can replace. It includes extreme [[farming]], [[grazing]], [[fishing]], and using [[fresh water]]. Over-harvesting is harmful in the long term. [[Forests]] or [[wetland]]s are hard to replace. Damage to nature hurts [[animal]]s and humans. Most wetlands are damaged by overuse as a source of drinking water, and are sometimes drained to make farmland or land for building. A thriving and diverse [[ecosystem]] is destroyed. Over-harvesting also applies to animals. [[Population]] numbers may drop as a result, and [[species]] may become [[extinct]]. [[Overfishing]] is a typical example. Nowadays, you can only fish, shoot [[deer]] or birds at certain times of the year. The season when they mate, reproduce and lay eggs or have the young are protected. Areas of especial natural beauty or scientific interest are also protected. Now, in the [[United Kingdom]], it is illegal to take bird eggs. One thing which acts against [[conservation]] is the [[overpopulation]] of the world. The greatest single reason why the world loses forests is that some people want the land for other purposes. A few people gain, but everyone shares the cost. This is called the [[tragedy of the commons]]. == References == {{reflist}} == Related pages == *[[Overfishing]] [[Category:Environmental issues]] [[Category:Ecology]]