3.2.1—Threats to biodiversity

Direct threats remove organisms; indirect threats change the conditions they need to survive.

Overharvesting, poaching and capture for the illegal pet trade remove organisms directly. Habitat loss, pollution, climate change and invasive alien species alter space, resources or interactions indirectly. Both groups can be human-driven.

Poaching kills elephants directly; road building fragments the habitat and indirectly lowers breeding success.

Direct if it kills them; indirect if it first changes habitat or food conditions. State the first effect.

‘Human-caused’ is not the direct/indirect distinction; classify the immediate mechanism.