Human impact - habitat destruction Flashcards
Q: What are the leading causes of habitat destruction?
A: The leading causes of habitat destruction are agriculture, logging, mining, trawling, urban sprawl and land conversion, natural disasters, overexploitation, and pollution.
Q: What is habitat fragmentation?
A: - parts of a habitat are destroyed, leaving behind smaller unconnected areas surrounded by an inhospitable matrix.
- can occur naturally or due to human activity such as building roads or railways.
Q: What are some of the impacts of habitat fragmentation?
A:
1. disturbance of species within the habitable fragments
increased inbreeding.
2. Species that can’t move across the matrix can become isolated and extinct.
3. the edge is subject to fluctuating temperature, wind speeds, and light levels.
4. Results of extinction
Q: What is HS2, and what is its environmental impact?
HS2 is a high-speed trainline.
- construction poses a significant risk to designated protected wildlife sites and ancient woodlands.
- impacts a number of scarce and protected species, including barn owls, Bechstein’s bats, white-clawed crayfish, and the dingy skipper butterfly.
Q: What is mitigation, and what are some examples of it?
Mitigation refers to the measures taken to reduce or prevent negative impacts on the environment.
Some examples of mitigation include:
1. replanting trees,
2. creating alternative habitats,
3. building wildlife crossings.
Q: What is deforestation, and what are some reasons for it?
A: Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land.
Why? Forests have been cleared to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction.
Q: What is the Amazon Rainforest, and why is it important?
A: The Amazon Rainforest:
- considered the ‘lungs of the planet’ because it takes in large quantities of carbon dioxide and releases large quantities of oxygen.
- Cutting and burning its biomass contributes to global climate change.
Q: What are some reasons for the clearing of the Amazon Rainforest?
A: Economic opportunity (for workers from poverty), mining, and industrial agriculture for palm oil, plantation of bananas, pineapples, and sugar cane are some reasons for the clearing of the Amazon Rainforest.
Q: What is the impact of palm oil plantations on orangutans?
A: - occurs due to forest conversion and peatland draining for palm oil and other plantations,
- turns vast areas of land into fire-prone degraded ecosystems.
- Fires on peatlands = lead to large greenhouse gas and toxic smoke emissions with a negative impact on wildlife.
Q: What is urbanisation, and what are its effects on habitats?
- process of population concentration in urban areas.
- effects on habitats include:
loss of greenspace,
loss of habitats and habitat fragmentation,
increased non-native species,
spread of zoonotic diseases e.g covid 19 and Lymes disease
Q: What is a sustainable city, and how can it mitigate the impact of urbanisation on habitats?
A: A sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for social, economic, and environmental impact.
It can mitigate the impact of urbanisation on habitats by creating more greenspace,
limiting development to reduce habitat fragmentation, promoting biodiversity through the use of native plants and sustainable urban planning.
Q: What are some problems associated with mining, and what is the supply timeline?
A: Some problems associated with mining include:
1. hidden costs such as infrastructure,
2. dealing with waste,
3. noise pollution, and habitat destruction.
Coal mining will increase global warming when the fuel is burnt, and will run out until 2030 the latest
What is the impact of wind turbines on sustainable energy?
- wind energy provides approx 2% of the global electrical demand
- carbon footprint is high (construction and trenching cables)
- Placed in migration pathways can decimate bird populations
What is the impact of solar panels on sustainable energy?
- Construction creates large carbon footprint
- are sustainable and don’t contribute
to greenhouse gas emission - Only work in the day so supply is inconsistent
