FAITH MONTESSORI SCHOOL

BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

NAME: ………………………………………… FORM 5……… DATE: ……….…………

TOPIC 20: HANDOUT ON HUMAN INFLUENCE ON THE ECOSYSTEM

TOPIC OUTLINE

1.FOOD SUPPLY

2.HABITAT DESTRUCTION

3.POLLUTION

4.CONSERVATION

1. FOOD SUPPLY/PRODUCTION

Improving Food Production

• Modern technology has increased food supply substantially in the following ways:
o Agricultural machinery has replaced humans and improved efficiency due to the
ability to farm much larger areas of land
o Chemical fertilisers improve yields - fertilisers increase the amount of nutrients in
the soil for plants, meaning that they can grow larger and produce more fruit
o Insecticides and herbicides - these chemicals kill off unwanted insects and weed
species, meaning that there is less damage done to plants and fruit lost to insects
(insecticides), as well as reducing competition from other plant species (herbicides)
o Selective breeding - animals and crop plants which produce a large yield are
selectively bred to produce breeds that reliably produce high yields
Modern agricultural processes allow for cultivation of much larger areas of land for crop plants

Monocultures

• Monoculture farming means that on a given area of agricultural land only one type of crop is
grown (eg trees for palm oil grown in Indonesian rainforest)
• This large scale growth of a single variety of plant does not happen naturally in ecosystems,
where there are usually many different species of plants growing which, in turn, support
many species of animals (high biodiversity)
• In monocultures, biodiversity is much lower
• Another issue with monocultures is the increase in pest populations – if a particular pest
feeds on a crop, farming it in large areas repeatedly means there is an ample supply of food
for the pest, causing the population to increase
• Often farmers will spray insecticides onto crops in order to control the pests. This leads to:
o harmless insects being killed as well
o pollution by pesticides (which are often persistent chemicals which accumulate in
food chains)
o in many instances where they are used repeatedly for specific pests, the pests may
eventually become resistant to them, reducing their effectiveness

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 Intensive Livestock Farming

• In developed countries, large numbers of livestock are often kept in an area that would not
normally be able to support more than a very small number
• They are often fed high energy foods, regularly given medication such as antibiotics as a
preventative measure against disease and kept in artificially warm temperatures and small
spaces that do not allow for much movement
• Ecological issues with intensive farming include:
o reduction in biodiversity in areas where large amounts of land are used to graze
cattle (as only grass is grown so in effect it becomes a monoculture)
o overgrazing can lead to soil erosion
o large numbers of cattle produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas

Global Food Supply

• When people do not receive enough food, famine occurs

• This can be caused by a variety of factors, including natural disasters, such as drought and
flooding, increasing population, poverty, and unequal food distribution
• As the global human population increases, food production must also be increased to support
the increasing population
• This is a problem as more land is required to grow crops and animals, meaning
that deforestation is happening at an increasing rate, and there is also an increasing amount
of greenhouse gases emitted from animal production
• Greenhouse gases cause global warming, which is a worldwide issue that leads to increased
natural disasters, such as tropical storms and drought, as well as rising sea levels, which
floods homes and decreases the amount of habitable land

2. HABITAT DESTRUCTION

Reasons for Habitat Destruction

• The increasing human population of the planet is causing destruction of many habitats from
rainforest to woodland to marine
• Many habitats are destroyed by humans to make space for other economic activities, or by
pollution from these activities, and this reduces the biodiversity of these areas
• This interrupts food chains and webs, meaning that more species may die because their prey is
gone
• The main reasons for habitat destruction include:

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Deforestation

• Deforestation is the clearing of trees (usually on a large scale)

• If trees are replaced by replanting it can be a sustainable practise
• Generally the trees are being cleared for the land to be used in a different way (for building,
grazing for cattle, planting of monocultures such as palm oil plantations etc) and therefore it is
not sustainable
• As the amount of the Earth’s surface covered by trees decreases, it causes increasingly
negative effects on the environment and is a particularly severe example of habitat
destruction
• Undesirable effects of deforestation include:
o Extinction of species
o Loss of soil
o Flooding
o Increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

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Consequences of Deforestation

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 3. POLLUTION

Causes & Effects of Pollution

• Human activities have led to the pollution of land, water and air
• Pollution comes from a variety of sources, including industry and manufacturing processes,
waste and discarded rubbish, chemicals from farming practices, nuclear fall-out, and untreated
sewage

Types of Pollution

Plastic Pollution

• Plastics have a large negative impact on both land and water habitats due to their non-
biodegradability
• In marine habitats:
o Animals often try to eat plastic or become caught in it, leading to injuries and death
o As the plastic breaks down it can release toxins that affect marine organisms
o Once it has broken down into very small particles, it is commonly ingested by
animals and enters the food chain
• On land:
o Plastic is generally disposed of by burying in landfills
o As it breaks down, it releases toxins into the surrounding soil and as such the land is
no good for growing crops or grazing animals and can only be used for building on
several decades after burial

Female Hormones

• Female contraceptive hormones are excreted from the body in urine and then make their
way into the water supply, as they are not filtered out by sewage treatment plants
• If they reach male aquatic organisms, such as fish and frogs, which are very sensitive to the
hormones, it causes feminisation
• This is where male organisms begin to produce eggs and lose the ability to reproduce
• Consequently, a smaller amount of offspring is produced which can harm the species
survival and also disrupts food chains for animals that usually feed off these organisms
• In addition, these hormones can reduce the sperm count in human males, which
causes fertility problems

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Eutrophication

• Runoff of fertiliser from farmland enters the water and causes increased growth of algae and
water plants
• The resulting ‘algal bloom’ blocks sunlight so water plants on the bottom start to die, as does
the algae when competition for nutrients becomes too intense
• As water plants and algae die in greater numbers, decomposing bacteria increase in
number and use up the dissolved oxygen whilst respiring aerobically
• As a result there is less oxygen dissolved in water, so aquatic organisms such as fish and
insects may be unable to survive

Sequence of events causing eutrophication in lakes and rivers

Acid Rain

• Combustion of fossil fuels that contain sulfur impurities creates sulfur dioxide
• This is released into the atmosphere where it combines with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide
• Sulfur trioxide dissolves in water droplets in clouds and forms acid rain

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 Climate Change

• A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs infrared radiation from the Sun so it remains
trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere
• This is important to ensure Earth is warm enough for life, however if levels of these gases in
the atmosphere increase it leads to an increase in the greenhouse effect which causes
the Earth’s average temperature to rise
• There are many greenhouse gases, the most important are:
o Water vapour
o Carbon dioxide
o Methane
o Nitrous oxides
o CFCs
• The greenhouse effect works in the following way:
o The Sun emits rays that enters the Earth’s atmosphere
o The heat bounces back from the Earth’s surface
o Some heat is reflected back out into space
o Some heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases and is trapped within the Earth’s
atmosphere - this is normal
o However, as the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rise due to human
activities the Earth’s average temperature rises beyond normal (an enhanced
greenhouse effect), causing global warming or climate change

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 How the greenhouse effect works

Consequences of global warming due to an enhanced greenhouse effect

• Ocean temperatures increase which causes melting of polar ice caps / rising sea levels /
flooding / coral bleaching
• Increasing temperatures can cause extreme weather like super storms, flooding, droughts
• These extreme weather events can lead to changes in or loss of habitats
• This means that there will be a decrease in biodiversity as food chains are disrupted and
extinction rates increase
• There could also be increases in migration of species to new places, increased spread of
pests and disease

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 4. CONSERVATION (Sustainability)

Sustainable Resources

• We use many resources from the Earth; some, such as food, water and wood, are sustainable
resources
• A sustainable resource is one which is produced as rapidly as it is removed from the
environment so that it does not run out
• Some resources, such as fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), are non-renewable because
what we use cannot be replaced
• These resources, once used, cannot be produced anymore and so they need to
be conserved by reducing the amount we use and finding other, sustainable resources to
replace them
• Fossil fuels are being used as an energy source in increasing amounts
• In addition, they are the raw materials for many other products we make - eg almost
all plastics that are made start with oil as a raw material
• Some products, especially those made from paper, plastic, glass or metal, can be reused
and recycled - this reduces waste in the environment and reduces the amounts of raw
materials and energy needed to make new products
• Some resources, such as forests and fish stocks, can be maintained - enabling us to harvest
them sustainably so that they will not run out in the future

Sustaining Forests

• Forests are needed to produce paper products and provide wood for timber
• Much of the world’s paper is now produced from forests which replant similar trees when
mature trees are cut, ensuring that there will be adequate supply in the future
• Tropical hardwoods such as teak and mahogany take many years to regrow but are highly
desirable for furniture
• Using these types of wood has now been made more sustainable due to the introduction of
several schemes designed to monitor logging companies and track the wood produced (eg
the Forestry Stewardship Council)
• Education helps to ensure logging companies are aware of sustainable practices and
consumers are aware of the importance of buying products made from sustainable sources
• Ways of sustaining the forest are summarized as:
o Educaton, protected areas, quotas and replanting.

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 More efforts are being made to manage forests sustainably so consumers know they are not
causing damage to forests

Sustaining Fish Stocks

• Managing fish stocks sustainably includes:

o Controlling the number of fish caught each year (quotas)
o Controlling the size of fish caught (to ensure there are enough fish of a suitable age for
breeding remaining)
o Controlling the time of year that certain fish can be caught (to prevent large scale
depletion of stocks when fish come together in large numbers in certain areas to breed)
o Restocking (breeding and keeping offspring until they are large enough to survive in
their natural habitat then releasing)
o Educating fishermen as to local and international laws and consumers so they are
aware of types of fish which are not produced sustainably and can avoid them when
buying fish

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The process of eutrophication of water:

• increased availability of nitrate and other ions

• increased growth of producers
• increased decomposition after death of producers
• increased aerobic respiration by decomposers
• reduction in dissolved oxygen
• death of organisms requiring dissolved oxygen in water

Sewage Treatment

• As human population grows, the need for fresh water increases

• A significant amount of water we consume is used to flush away human waste (sewage) into
pipes
• The pipes carry the sewage and water to treatment plants where the organic waste is
removed and the water cleaned so it can be returned to natural water sources without
causing eutrophication

Water containing sewage goes through several stages of treatment before being returned to natural
water systems * Details of processes is not a syllabus requirement

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 Endangered Species

• An endangered species is at risk of becoming extinct

• There are several reasons why a species can become endangered - the population of the
species may fall below a critical level due to
o hunting
o climate change
o pollution
o loss of habitat
o introduction of non-native species that outcompete native species
• Endangered species can be helped by conservation measures such as:
o education programmes
o captive breeding programmes
o monitoring and legal protection of the species and of their habitats
o seed banks as a conservation measure for plants - seeds of endangered plant species
are carefully stored so that new plants may be grown in the future

• A species may be at risk of becoming extinct if there is not enough genetic variation in the
population as random changes in the environment may quickly cause extinction because
the remaining organisms are all very similar and may not have the adaptations to
survive such changes

Reasons for conservation programmes

• There are moral, cultural and scientific reasons for conservation programmes, including:
o reducing extinction rates of both plant and animal species
o keeping damage to food chains and food webs to a minimum and protecting
vulnerable ecosystems (eg the rainforests)
o protecting our future food supply and maintaining nutrient cycles and possible
sources of future medical drugs and fuels
o maintaining ecosystem functions, such as to nutrient cycling and resource provision,
including food, drugs, fuel and genes.

Use of AI and IVF in captive breeding programmes

• Artificial insemination (AI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) are techniques used to improve
fertility rates in captive breeding programmes.

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Artificial insemination (AI)

• Sometimes animals are reluctant to mate in captivity.

• Artificial insemination involves collecting sperm samples from the male animal then
artificially introducing them into a female’s reproductive system to fertilise her eggs. The
sperm can be used immediately, or be frozen and stored.
• Being able to store the samples also means that the sperm can be sent to other centres where
captive breeding programmes are being run.
• Being able to transport frozen sperm between geographically isolated populations can also
greatly increase the genetic diversity of species.

Vitro fertilisation (IVF)

• ‘In vitro’ means literally ‘in glass’.

• The fertilisation is allowed to take place in laboratory glassware (hence the term ‘test-tube
babies’).
• In humans, this technique may be used where it is not possible to repair blocked oviducts.
• Sometimes females will not breed naturally, but are still able to produce viable eggs.
• Similarly, males may not produce adequate amounts of viable sperm.
• The female may be given fertility drugs, which cause her ovaries to release several
mature ova at the same time.
• These ova are then collected and then mixed with the male’s seminal fluid for fertilization to
occur.
• One or more of the dividing zygotes are then introduced to the female’s uterus by
means of a tube inserted through the cervix.

Risks to a species of decreasing population size

• The population of a species may decrease in size because of an increase in:

o predation, disease, shortage of food, or because of emigration.
• If the population is large, then there will be minimal reduction in the genetic variation
present.
• However, a smaller population would be affected because the genetic
variation in the gene pool would be reduced. This would affect the ability of the
species to cope with environmental change and put it at greater risk of extinction.

End of handout.

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