Question

How does environmental degradation affect domestic animals? Plzz ans in long.

Answer 1

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution
Effects of Pollution on Animals - Air Pollution 
• Acid rain  destroys fish life in lakes and streams 
• Excessive ultraviolet radiation may cause skin cancer in wildlife 
• Ozone in the lower atmosphere may damage lung tissues of animals 
Effects of Pollution on Animals - Water Pollution 
• Nutrient pollution (nitrogen, phosphates etc) causes overgrowth of toxic algae eaten by other aquatic animals, and may cause death. 
• Chemical contamination can cause declines in frog biodiversity and tadpole mass. 
• Oil pollution can negatively affect development of marine organisms can also cause gastrointestinal irritation, liver and kidney damage, and damage to the nervous system 
• Mercury in water can cause abnormal behavior, slower growth and development, reduced reproduction, and death 
• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may cause declines, deformities and death of fish life 
• Too much sodium chloride (ordinary salt) in water may kill animals 
Effects of Pollution on Animals - Soil Pollution  
• Can alter metabolism of microorganisms and arthropods in a given soil environment; this may destroy some layers of the primary food chain, and thus have a negative effect on predator animal spcies 
• Small life forms may consume harmful chemicals which may then be passed up the food chain to larger animals; this may lead to increased mortality rates and even animal extinction. 

Answer 2

INTRODUCTION

Our planet is currently suffering a staggering rate of dramatic environmental change. Around the world, ecosystems are increasingly subjected to the negative effects of human population growth and its expanding ecological footprint (Jackson et al. 2001; Hughes et al. 2003). Be it in the form of habitat loss or alteration, the introduction of invasive species, pathogen spill-over, accumulation of persistent pollutants, climate change or stratospheric ozone depletion, global environmental change has altered physical and biological systems and is becoming of increasing concern for the well-being and survival of many species (Thomas et al. 2004; Hoffmann & Willi 2008).

Predicting the consequences of global environmental change on biodiversity is a complex task mainly because the effects encompass multiple and complex dynamic processes that rarely have single and clear-cut actions. Rather, the effects appear to interact and can even have additive costs, and these can manifest at several levels. For instance, habitat degradation and fragmentation not only may decrease food availability and restrict the movement of animals, thus impairing nutritional status and limiting gene flow, but also may increase the opportunity for contact among humans, domestic livestock and wildlife (Deem et al. 2001), potentially enhancing disease transmission rates (Smith et al. 2009). Furthermore, pollutants can alter habitat quality, reduce nutrient availability and encourage toxic algae blooms along coastlines (Smith 2003; Havens 2008; Paul 2008), all of which can indirectly affect the survival of sensitive species; furthermore, pollutants can directly impact reproductive parameters (Sonne et al. 2006, 2007), sex ratios (Reusch & Wood 2007) and immunocompetence (Selgrade 2007). Because of this very complexity, environmental change is likely to seriously impair the viability of wildlife.

It could be argued that living organisms have long been subject to a myriad of evolutionary pressures arising from the environment (Reusch & Wood 2007) and are consequently well adapted to respond to such pressures. However, the current pace of environmental change is unprecedented (Thomas et al. 2004) and it is unknown whether the capacity of species to adapt to such changes and counteract their harmful and often combined effects may be exceeded. Regrettably, published data on this subject are still extremely limited, making it difficult to understand the full extent of the effects of environmental change on wildlife health.

In the hope that this paper will stimulate the research much needed for assessing wildlife health in the context of a rapidly changing environment, we (i) review the key role of an optimally functional immune system for survival, (ii) examine the effects that exposure to fast-paced change might exert on immunocompetence, (iii) discuss the direct consequences that various drivers of environmental change can exert on health and (iv) identify some of the levels at which these effects might impinge on reproductive parameters. We conclude the paper by proposing avenues of research that we consider to be necessary for a more complete understanding of the effects of environmental change on wildlife health.