The impacts of land cover change on local and regional environments Flashcards
Ecosystem services
The benefits people and communities derive from an ecosystem including flood and disease control, food and water, cultural services and supporting the nutrient cycle
Monoculture
Where one type of crop is produced in an anthropogenic biome
Watershed area
Area of land where the water drains into rivers and dams
Impact of land cover change on ecosystem services
A loss of food security; a loss of energy security; difficultly in providing clean water; a loss of social relations; a loss of freedom of choice; invasion by non-native species; the lack of pollination of plants; and an impact on climate regulation
Impact of land cover change on the water cycle
-Damming increases the amount of evaporation and infiltration
-Irrigation depletes rivers and water tables and potentially increases the nutrient run-off from agricultural areas due to the use of fertilisers
-Deforestation reduces evapotranspiration by plants; this can lead to rises in the water table as plants are no longer using the water
-Air bourne pollutants from large scale industrial production processes can change the nature of precipitation
-Overuse of ground water for drinking, irrigation and industrial use has the potential to significantly lower the water table
Impact of land cover change on soil erosion and degradation
-Great demand for agricultural commodities comes the need for land cover change as agricultural production expands; this means that grasslands/forests become crop lands
-The impact of croplands includes soil erosion, soil compaction, loss of soil structure, nutrient degradation and soil salinity
-The impact of soil erosion is that there is less fertile land and increased soil acidity from fertilisers
-As a result of farming processes there are clogged waterways from sediment and soils become more prone to flooding
Impact of land cover change on loss of habitat and biodiversity
-At the local/regional level - deforestation and degradation of forests which has occurred due to the expansion of agricultural land, increase in demand for timber and other forest products, and overgrazing
-Over the past 500 years human activity is known to have decimated hundreds of species and has placed a large number of species at brink of extinction
-Tropical rainforests are most at risk of exploitation, such as the Amazon rainforest
Impact of land cover change on the degradation of aquatic and marine environments
-People living near water sources have had an impact on the quality and flow of the water when they changed land cover
-The quality of watershed areaas and run-off into oceans has impacted aquatic and marine flora and fauna
-Pollution causes damage to habitats and therefore animals
-Eutrophication can occur when excess nutrients (e.g., fertiliser) enter the water courses and cause an algal bloom causing marine and aquatic life to die
-Ocean acidification can occur as a result of the dramatic rise in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere created from the processes of land cover change - pH levels and acidity impacts from ocean acidification impact the health and safety of marine and aquatic life
Regional climates and urban heat islands
-The urban heat island effect is the warming of temperatures in an urban area due to the man-made environment
-This is caused due to the removal of natural surfaces which absorb and use a greater level of heat, whereas built environment uses materials that are non-reflective and water resistant (which radiates more heat)
-Estimated that deaths from heat would double by 2050 due to climate change and the urban heat island effect
