Intrusion into habitats

Direct impact of men intruding ecosystems can affect the species in different ways. Some examples:

Simply by walking through a dune covered by vegetation, young sprouts of rare plants can be trampled, nests of ground-breeding birds can be destroyed or eggs can be broken to pieces. The plain presence of men, who tend to be loud and not aware of the fact that they disturb local wildlife, can cause birds not to approach their nest to feed their offspring, which might cause the death of hatchlings.

In a similar manner ducks, coots and other birds that nest in the vegetation on the waterside can be harassed by canoeing or playing in shallow water.

In deeper water, diving and snorkeling can lead to damage in submarine habitats, such as sea grass meadows, which house the spawn of numerous fish including commercially exploited species. A single stroke of a diver's fin can detach thousands of herring eggs from sea grass leaves, causing them to sink down to the bottom and die.

All these actions increase the effort that an individual has to undertake in order to maintain or restore a population. Thus, the likeliness that the offspring will survive decreases. This results in a depletion of biodiversity.