10.3 Flashcards
What human activities can decrease species diversity?
Agriculture and deforestation
What is the impact of agriculture on species diversity?
Inc agriculture = less species diversity.
Humans control agricultural ecosystems. Only a few productive plant species are selected / planted. These species are separated into different areas. Areas can only support a certain amount of biomass.
Therefore, farmers use herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides to eliminate unwanted species. Reduced farmland increases competition between species for habitat and food, reducing survival/population numbers.
How can we balance food production with conservation?
- Financial incentives from governments to introduce buffer strips
- Financial incentives such as tax relief for restoring woodland in regions previously depleted
- Restricting the expansion of the area of agricultural land in favour of improving productivity in current areas
- removing subsidies in areas for production in favour of financial incentives.
- Education to avoid poor farming practices.
What are the benefits of conservation?
- Maintain habitats/niches/shelter
- Maintain diversity / avoid loss of species / protect endangered species;
- Maintain food chains/webs/supply
- Reduce flooding
- Act as a carbon sink / maintain O2, CO2 balance to reduce GHE
- Reduce global warming
What is a hedgerow? What are its benefits?
A hedgerow is a line of closely placed shrubs/trees. Used to maintain a habitat for pests and plants around farmed land.
Why leave a strip of bare ground before
the hedgerow? (3)
Prevents disease / pest organisms from reaching crop plants; prevents herbicides from reaching hedgerow; enables machinery to manoeuvre without damaging crop/hedgerow.
Why allow some seeds to grow in the
heathland?
Some weeds provide habitats/niche for beneficial insects/animals; allow insects/pest predators to survive; conserve
common weed plants; weeds are producers
in food chains/food source
What is deforestation? What is its impact on biodiversity?
Deforestation is the removal of forests or trees to clear up land for other uses. Forests contain a lot of species, so deforestation reduces biodiversity.
