Editing Ecosystem (section)

===Degradation and decline===
{{see also|Ecosystem collapse|Biodiversity loss|Effects of climate change on biomes}}
As human population and per capita consumption grow, so do the resource demands imposed on ecosystems and the effects of the human [[ecological footprint]]. Natural resources are vulnerable and limited. The environmental impacts of [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]] actions are becoming more apparent. Problems for all ecosystems include: [[Pollution|environmental pollution]], [[climate change]] and [[biodiversity loss]]. For terrestrial ecosystems further threats include [[air pollution]], [[Soil retrogression and degradation|soil degradation]], and [[deforestation]]. For [[aquatic ecosystems]] threats also include unsustainable exploitation of marine resources (for example [[overfishing]]), [[marine pollution]], [[microplastics]] pollution, the [[effects of climate change on oceans]] (e.g. warming and [[Ocean acidification|acidification]]), and building on coastal areas.<ref name="Alexander-1999">{{cite book| last = Alexander| first = David E.| title = Encyclopedia of Environmental Science| publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]| date = 1 May 1999| isbn = 978-0-412-74050-3 }}</ref>

Many ecosystems become degraded through human impacts, such as [[Erosion|soil loss]], [[Air pollution|air]] and [[water pollution]], [[habitat fragmentation]], [[Interbasin transfer|water diversion]], [[Wildfire suppression|fire suppression]], and [[introduced species]] and [[invasive species]].<ref name="Chapin-2011l" />{{rp|437}}

These threats can lead to abrupt transformation of the ecosystem or to gradual disruption of biotic processes and degradation of [[Abiotic component|abiotic]] conditions of the ecosystem. Once the original ecosystem has lost its defining features, it is considered ''[[ecosystem collapse|collapsed]]'' (see also [[IUCN Red List of Ecosystems]]).<ref name="Keith-2013">{{cite journal|last1=Keith|first1=DA|last2=Rodríguez|first2=J.P.|last3=Rodríguez-Clark|first3=K.M.|last4=Aapala|first4=K.|last5=Alonso|first5=A.|last6=Asmussen|first6=M.|last7=Bachman|first7=S.|last8=Bassett|first8=A.|last9=Barrow|first9=E.G.|last10=Benson|first10=J.S.|last11=Bishop|first11=M.J.|last12=Bonifacio|first12=R.|last13=Brooks|first13=T.M.|last14=Burgman|first14=M.A.|last15=Comer|first15=P.|last16=Comín|first16=F.A.|last17=Essl|first17=F.|last18=Faber-Langendoen|first18=D.|last19=Fairweather|first19=P.G.|last20=Holdaway|first20=R.J.|last21=Jennings|first21=M.|last22=Kingsford|first22=R.T.|last23=Lester|first23=R.E.|last24=Mac Nally|first24=R.|last25=McCarthy|first25=M.A.|last26=Moat|first26=J.|last27=Nicholson|first27=E.|last28=Oliveira-Miranda|first28=M.A.|last29=Pisanu|first29=P.|last30=Poulin|first30=B.|last31=Riecken|first31=U.|last32=Spalding|first32=M.D.|last33=Zambrano-Martínez|first33=S.|title=Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems|journal=PLOS ONE|date=2013|volume=8|issue=5|page=e62111|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0062111|pmid=23667454|pmc=3648534|bibcode=2013PLoSO...862111K|doi-access=free}}</ref> Ecosystem collapse could be reversible and in this way differs from [[species extinction]].<ref name="Boitani-2014">{{cite journal|last1=Boitani|first1=Luigi|last2=Mace|first2=Georgina M.|last3=Rondinini|first3=Carlo|title=Challenging the Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems|journal=Conservation Letters|doi=10.1111/conl.12111|volume=8|issue=2|date=2014|pages=125–131|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1443166/1/conl12111.pdf|hdl=11573/624610|s2cid=62790495|hdl-access=free|access-date=2021-01-06|archive-date=2018-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722080846/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1443166/1/conl12111.pdf|url-status=live}}{{open access}}</ref> Quantitative assessments of the [[IUCN Red List of Ecosystems|risk of collapse]] are used as measures of conservation status and trends.