overharvests
Strips resources bare
Overharvests means to harvest beyond sustainable levels, depleting a natural resource faster than it can replenish itself.
The term applies especially to fishing, logging, and wildlife: Decades of overharvesting collapsed the cod fishery.
The noun overharvest refers to the practice or an instance of it: The overharvest of old-growth forests continues.
Reduction of supply
- stocksOwnership stakes or inventory
- quotasMandated numerical limits
- bycatchNon-target species caught accidentally
- trawlingNet-dragging fishing method
collapse · cod · bluefin · sardines · anchovies · spawning · biomass · catch limits
Unlawful wildlife capture
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- ivoryTusk-derived material
- bushmeatHunted tropical wildlife flesh
- peltsFurred animal skins
endangered · population decline · trafficking · rhino horn · pangolin · shark fins · sea cucumber · abalone
Large-scale woodland elimination
- loggingRecording system events
- timberWood for construction
- clear-cuttingRemoving all trees completely
- old-growthLong-undisturbed forest
replanting · erosion · habitat loss · sawmills · pulpwood · rainforest · mahogany · teak
Loss of ground fertility
- monocultureSingle-crop agricultural system
- yieldsGives forth results
- crop rotationAlternating field plantings yearly
- fallowUnplanted field recovering
nutrients · exhaustion · intensive farming · sustainability · erosion · groundwater · aquifer · irrigation
depletion
Reduction of supply
- stocksOwnership stakes or inventory
- quotasMandated numerical limits
- bycatchNon-target species caught accidentally
trawling · collapse · cod · bluefin · sardines · anchovies · spawning · biomass · catch limits · gill nets
poaching
Unlawful wildlife capture
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- ivoryTusk-derived material
- bushmeatHunted tropical wildlife flesh
pelts · endangered · population decline · trafficking · rhino horn · pangolin · shark fins · sea cucumber · abalone · traditional medicine
deforestation
Large-scale woodland elimination
- loggingRecording system events
- timberWood for construction
- clear-cuttingRemoving all trees completely
old-growth · replanting · erosion · habitat loss · sawmills · pulpwood · rainforest · mahogany · teak · rosewood
soil depletion
Loss of ground fertility
- monocultureSingle-crop agricultural system
- yieldsGives forth results
- crop rotationAlternating field plantings yearly
fallow · nutrients · exhaustion · intensive farming · sustainability · erosion · groundwater · aquifer · irrigation · cotton