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Human Influences On Ecosystems

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Human influences on

ecosystems
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE HAVING NEGATIVE
EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEM
Effects affecting the ecosystem :-

Food production
Monoculture
Intensive livestock production
Habitat destruction
Deforestation
Pollution by greenhouse gases
Non-biodegradable plastic
Food Production
Most of the world’s food supply is produced by growing
crops or by keeping animals . And also we still do harvest
fish in large quantities . Its necessary to increase the quantity
of food that we produce , so that world’s increasing
population shouldn’t face lack of food for eating.

Lets discuss about the ways to increase food production .


Agricultural machinery

Machinery such as tractors and harvesters have


given a big contribution in growing food. Working
with machineries is much more faster , time saving
and productive than ploughing simply.
Agricultural chemicals

Chemicals can be useful for a good growth and more


yield of the crops. Although the chemicals are
expensive but its worth to buy for a good amount of
quantity and quality of crops.
Advantages of agricultural chemicals

Chemicals can help to provide mineral ions where


required .
Insecticides can be used to kill insects that might
reduce yields .
Herbicides can be used to kill weeds (unwanted
plants) .
Selective breeding

Choosing parents with desired features /


characteristics , generation and generation , to
produce new and improved varieties of animals and
plants . Choosing parents with desired
feature/characteristics can also results to produce
more beneficial animals and plants . For example
cattle produced after choosing the desired parents
yields more milk with a good quality comparing to
the normal cattles .
Monoculture

An area of ground covered by single crop/single variety


of crop with almost no other species present .
Monocultures made farming more efficient . This is
because :-
Using machinery to cultivate an uninterrupted land can be done
more quickly and efficient
As it will be a same kind of crop it can all be harvested at once
using machineries .
As the crops are same so only one type of herbicide or pesticides
can be sprayed in the same way and at the same time .
Easier for the farmer to marker.
However , monocultures also do have some disadvantages :

Reduction in biodiversity :- In the areas where


there are many different species of crops offers
higher diversity compared to the place where there is
only one kind of species of crops leads to low
diversity .

 Increase in pests :- If a large area of land is covered


with same kind of species then the pests of the crop
have so much food available to them to increase their
population .
Farmers can prevent the increase in pests by :-

Spraying insecticides onto the crop but its expensive and


resistant pests will not be affected by them.

Mixed cropping so that it becomes more difficult for


insect pests to spread from one crop field to another .

 Reduction in soil fertility :- As the all the crop plants


need the same mineral ions so growing the same crop all
the land for years and years the mineral ions which are
needed are removed from the soil . Farmers have to keep
adding fertilisers to replace those removed minerals .
Intensive livestock production

In many parts of the world, livestock is kept outside


who graze on grass or are fed by people, bringing
freshly cut vegetation for them to eat. This is called
extensive livestock production. The livestock does
not affect the environment very much. In developed
countries, livestock is often farmed intensively. This
means a large number of livestock in a small area.
Farmers use high inputs such as high-energy foods,
and medications, provide optimum temperature to
maximise their growth rates .
Advantages of intensive farming :-

More food for people as well as sometimes more


cheaper than extensive .
Takes up less land than extensive farming which
means there is more land available for other
species .

As there are some advantages there are some


disadvantages too :-
In the crowded conditions there can be welfare
issues for the livestock.
Diseases can be spread easily among them because
of their crowded conditions .
The waste from the intensive farming unit can
pollute land and waterways nearby.
Giving the animals the food that we need is wasteful
because we would get more energy from the food
themselves , rather than feeding them to animals.
o Use of excess amount of energy , as energy is used to:-
• transport feed to the livestock .
• If animals are kept inside the buildings energy is
required for maintaining temperature (heaters or air
conditioners.

o Large amount of water may need to be provided for large


number of animals kept in a place . Sometimes leading to
lack of water in the surroundings for other animals and
plants .
Habitat destruction

Each species has adaptations that help it survive in


its particular habitat . If we (humans) destroy it then
its difficult for the species to survive in the new
environment that results . The reasons of the
destruction can be :-
 We cut down native vegetation to make land available for
growing crops , for farming , for industrial and personal
uses .
 We damage the habitants when we mine for natural
resources . The mine itself destroys the habitants by
removing the soil and vegetation , and toxic run-off
(water that flows away from the mine) can enter rivers or
the soil in the surrounding area.
 We sometimes knowingly and unknowingly pollute land
and water.
 Habitants can also be damaged if we remove key species
from them this means that if the species disappear from the
ecosystem, no other species would be able to fill its
ecological niche.

 If we damage the food webs in a habitat, we can affect


habitats of the plants and animals that live there.

Ecological niche : the role of an organism in the natural


environment , the way it interacts with the environment.
Deforestation

Humans have always cut down trees as wood is an


excellent building material . But cutting down large
number are trees is not good for the environment .
And cutting down of large numbers of trees is called
deforestation . Recently , most concern about
deforestation has been loss of tropical rainforests . In
the tropics there are the ideal conditions for growth
of many plants as well as topic region is a home to a
lot of different species of plants and animals .
After deforestation in rainforests the soil under the
trees becomes exposed to the rain . The soil of a
rainforest is very thin . If the topmost layer is
removed the soil erosion can make it difficult for
the forest to grow back again . Deforestation ,
especially in rainforest , threatens many species of
animals and plants with extinction . Deforestation
also leads to disturbance in the water cycle and
higher chances of floods .
Pollution by greenhouse gases

Pollution means ‘addition to the environment of


something that harms it’. And the gases present in
the earth’s atmosphere which act like a blanket
keeping the earth warm are sometimes called
greenhouse gases. For example :- carbon and
methane .
Greenhouse gases causes greenhouse effect . The
heating effect on the earth of the trapping of heat by
greenhouse gases is called greenhouse effect.
However, we need the greenhouse effect . If it did not
happen then the earth would be frozen and lifeless .
The increased heating effect caused by an increase of
greenhouse gases caused by an increase of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere .
Sources of greenhouse gases

Factories , industries and vehicles .


Deforestation (fewer trees / plants will be available
for the photosynthesis and removing CO2 . Burning
of trees leads to combustion which leads to release of
CO2 ).
Increasing amount of rubbish we throw (when the
rubbish starts to decompose it releases methane
gas.)
Results of greenhouse effect

 Floods :- As the earth’s temperature rises , the glaciers


starts melting . The melting ice releases a lot of water into
oceans . Leading to rise in the sea level . Resulting into
floods .

 Extreme weathers:- A rise in temperature will also affect


the climate in many parts of the world . Higher temperature
means more energy in the atmosphere which can lead to
different wind patterns and arise of different weather
systems . For example : stronger cyclones , more droughts
and many more.
Non-biodegradable plastics

Non biodegradable means not able to be broken


down by decomposers .

If you look around you now , you will be able to see
several items made from plastics . But , one big
problem with the plastic is that it is non-
biodegradable . As plastic does not decompose easily
its also a big reason for land pollution as well as its
dangerous for the aquatic life .
Conservation

A PROCESS OF LOOKING AFTER THE


NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND TO MAINTAIN
OR TO INCREASE THE BIODIVERSITY OF AN
AREA .
Conserving forests

Conserving forests (rainforests) also means


protecting the habitant living in those forests .
Forests also works as useful resources . They can
provide a sustainable resource – a resource that will
not run out even if we keep on using it .
Ways to use forests sustainably :

 Governments can refuse to grant license for cutting the


down the valuable forests .
 Disadvantage : money loss of the government as they can
make large amount of money from selling the rights to
harvest.
 Instead of cutting down all the tree , just a small proportion
of the trees can be cut down . This is called selective felling .
 Disadvantages:- There will be a lot of damage to the
forest’s habitat because of :
 the roads that are built to allow access ,
 Large machineries ,
 Disturbance caused by the machines and people .
Trees can be cut down about one meter or less and
left to regrow . This is called coppicing. Usually, only
a part of wood or a forest is coppiced at a time rest
remains untouched . This might take 12 years to re-
grow.
When a large numbers of tree are cut down new one
should be planted to replace them. This is almost
done in the cases of papers . However, planting new
trees cannot replace the primary forest .
Education can help to make sure that people
understand importance of conserving the forests or
trees .
Some parts of the forests can be protected by law, so
that people would not cut those prohibited areas .
Conserving Endangered Species :

A species that no longer has any living individuals on


Earth is said to be extinct ! . A species whose
numbers have fallen so low that it is at risk of
becoming extinct is endangered .
Species can become extinct for many reasons such as :-

Climate change , habitat destruction and pollution,


Hunting by humans ,
Overharvesting-such as species of fish or a species of
tree ,
Introduction of new species to an ecosystem .
Tactics that can be used to conserve endangered species :

Monitoring and protecting the species in its natural


habitats,
Using captive breeding programmes ,
Educating locals about the importance of conservation .

In the same way we can protect plant species .

Captive breeding : keeping animals in captivity (confinement) and allowing


them to breed , in order to increase numbers in the population .
THANK YOU
EVERYONE !

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