Habitat conversion and sprawl

One of the greatest threats to biodiversity is the loss of natural communities from development and agriculture. Large areas of forests, cropland and open space have been converted to urban uses. As a result, different types of natural communities have greatly declined. The destruction of previously intact ecosystems results in a loss of habitat for many species and breaks down an ecosystem's ability to function. In CIRALI beach - Turkey, the number of turtles have been reduced to a great extent because the beach was occupied with many pensions and restaurants, destruction of the forest area next to the beach, illegal sand extraction, etc.

Sprawling development leads to habitat and biodiversity loss. Urban sprawl also exaggerates air and water pollution, both of which degrade environments and further reduce biodiversity. New construction often increases erosion of land cleared for development. This in turn increases siltation in waterways. As the land for natural ecosystems shrinks, there is less natural capacity to filter pollutants and detoxify waters and less capacity to recycle nutrients and compost organic wastes. As urban sprawl increases, so the diversity of species and ecosystems decrease.