11.7

Question 1

What are the reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

Answer 1

• presence of different plants and animals in our environment enriches our lives
• Provides Inspiration for people such as musicians and writers
• Patients recover more rapidly from stress and injury when they are supported by plants and a relatively natural environment
• improves the quality of life

Question 2

What is the economic reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

Answer 2

• soil erosion as a result of deforestation can reduce the countries ability to grow crops and feed its people which can result in economic and resource dependence on other nations
• Non sustainable removal of resources can lead to the collapse of industry in an area
• Large scale habitat and biodiversity losses means that species with potential economic importance may become extinct before even being discovered
• Continuous monoculture results in soil depletion as nutrients are gradually used up, resulting in increased expenditure on fertilisers and decreased yield
• High biodiversity provides protection against abiotic stresses
• Creates a pleasing, attractive environment that people can enjoy. High bio diverse environments can promote tourism in the region, with associated economic advantages
• Greater diversity in an ecosystem, the greater the potential to manufacture different products in the future
• Plant varieties are needed for cross breeding which can lead to better characteristics such as disease resistance or increased yield

Question 3

What are the ecological reasons?

Answer 3

• all organisms are interdependent on others for survival. The removal of one species would have a significant effect on others eg plants relies on bees for pollination, a decrease in the wild bee population would reduce crop yield
• Some species, called keystone species have a key role in maintaining the structure of the ecological community- they have a disproportionately large effect on their community relative to their size
• When one keystone species is removed the habitat is drastically changed, therefore it is important/essential to protect keystone species to maintain biodiversity

Question 4

What are the genetic resources?

Answer 4

• genetic resources refers to any material from plants, animals and microorganisms with genes we find valuable
• Could be used for crops, plants used for medicines and microorganisms used in industrial processes
• They provide us with a variety of everyday products such as
• Food and drink
• Clothing
• Drugs
• Fuels

Question 5

What are the ethical reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

Answer 5

We need to maintain biodiversity since it is our fault their habitats are destroyed