Discuss how intensive food production may affect wildlife, and how farming practices can enhance biodiversity.
Discuss how intensive food production may affect wildlife, and how farming practices can enhance biodiversity Intensive farming is a method characterised by obtaining the largest possible yield from the smallest possible area, and involves the use of many modern farming practices designed to help achieve this level of productivity. Intensive farming is prominent throughout Europe. Although this has provided adequate supplies of cheap, safe and nutritious food, it has lead to the endangering of many wild flowers and animals. This problem became evident to such an extent that a European Commission directive was passed titled 'Natura 2000' explaining how traditional, unintensive agriculture served as a way of managing semi-natural habitats. The abandonment of these activities has led to general decline in biodiversity for example loss of hedges, ditches, ponds, fallow land and uncultivated stands of wild plants and weeds. Crops and pastures of non-uniform height and density, and weed patches within them support a diversity of insects, which in turn support spiders, birds and other predators. But crop rotations have been simplified, and improved crop and pasture breeding and more efficient agri-chemical use have allowed growing and grazing times to be extended. Crop rotation replaced by same crop each year, reduces diversity of invertebrates including butterflies and birds.
What determines the abundance of organisms?
What determines the abundance of organisms? Abundance can simply be defined as the relative representation of a species in a particular ecosystem; or rather the average density of a particular species across all occupied areas, and thus average abundance excludes unoccupied areas. There are fundamental questions one must ask when studying abundance of organisms; firstly, why are some species common and others are rare, why are species at low population densities in some places and higher in others, and finally what factors cause these fluctuations on abundance of species? These questions face us with a problems as we require huge amounts of data to answer these for one species in one location alone; we would need to know levels of all available resources across the range, physiochemical conditions of the environment, details of the organisms life cycle, impact of competition, parasites and predation, and a general understanding of how all these factors impact upon birth and death rates and rates of movement, and thus abundance. This highlights the difficulty of approximating the determinacy of abundance, as ultimately it is an incredibly vast interaction of factors which determines the abundance of organisms. In this essay I shall examine the differing theories of abundance and closely focus on density-dependent effects on abundance of organisms. In order to examine what
Discuss the major factors contributing to current reductions in global biodiversity.
Olivia Finch Discuss the major factors contributing to current reductions in global biodiversity. Biodiversity is the blanket term for the natural biological wealth that undergirds human life and well-being. Global biodiversity therefore covers a huge range of factors that occur on a vast spatial and temporal scale, making any assessment of biodiversity loss a complicated matter. The term biodiversity represents a complex interplay of species, genes and ecosystems, all three of which are necessary for the continued survival of species and natural communities (Primack, 2000). Any loss of biodiversity is therefore most usually manifested in species extinction and thus knowledge of extinction patterns is essential for determining rates of biodiversity loss. In 1993 the US Nature Conservancy stated that 'today, species are becoming extinct at a rate faster than at any time in the Earth's history - one species per day'. Such unprecedented and irreversible loss of species has had the effect of reducing global biodiversity. Throughout human history, species richness and global biodiversity has decreased as human populations have grown, and for this reason current reductions in global biodiversity are blamed almost exclusively on human actions. It is necessary, therefore, first to identify which human activities have affected the stability of biological populations and driven
Vegetation response to management practice. The area surveyed was an area of chalk grassland which is managed in three different ways.
Vegetation responses to three management practices Introduction The area surveyed was an area of chalk grassland which is managed in three different ways. Chalk grasslands are characterised by shallow soil which is lime rich and overlies limestone rocks such as chalk. The grasslands are home to a wide range of plant communities and lime-loving plants are abundant in the huge variety of flora, many of whom are considered rare (UK Biodiversity Plan, 1998). This richness of flora species supports diverse invertebrate species and provides feeding or breeding habitat for a wide range of birds. Because of the huge amount of diversity supported in these areas it is important to understand the plants strategies such as the habitat requirements of the young plants and seeds, in order to manage the grasslands appropriately (Rorison and Hunt, 1980). These plants competing for space and light above ground and nutrients and water underground develop tall with high biomass and a reduction in this competition intensity can be limited by stress and disturbance (Rorison and Hunt, 1980). Stress includes the factors which restrict production such as a lack of essential water, light and nutrients and disturbance includes partial or semi-destruction of plants by such outside factors as man, herbivores or weather related causes (Rorison and Hunt, 1980). Many forms of stress come from the
Does biodiversity increase inland at Crymlyn Burrows?
AS Geography Coursework Adam Mulley Does biodiversity increase inland at Crymlyn Burrows? This investigation is intended to determine whether or not the hypothesis that biodiversity increases inland at the sand dunes in Crymlyn Burrows. Biological diversity is the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur Diversity can be defined as the number of different items and their relative frequency. For biological diversity, these items are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the chemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity. Thus, the term encompasses different ecosystems, species, genes, and their relative abundance. Sand dunes are formed naturally over a period of time so long as there is a good supply of sand and powerful onshore prevailing winds to blow dried sand from a large tidal range. The sand dunes develop during a process of psammoseral succession whereby the whole ecosystem eventually develops into a Climax Community. It must be taken into account whilst doing the hypothesis that there is a possibility that biodiversity would be different if it had not been for external interference. Nevertheless the primary information needed for the basis of this investigation was the type and individual quantity of plants distributed over a selected area. We sampled herbs and grasses of
Is Sustainable development compatible with human welfare?
Libuse Weinerova Fall 2009 - Seminar 1 Is Sustainable development compatible with human welfare? The problem solving relates to sustainable development. I would like to define sustainable development at the start. Our common future is to: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."On this question, there are basically two answers yes and no. Professor of management Dinah M. Payne and professor of accounting Cecily A. Raiborn responded positively. They answer that: "environmental respodsibility and sustainable develipment are essential parts of modern bussiness ethics and that only through them can both bussiness and humans thrive." They put 4 questions: the future currenrly be ascertained, economically viable, socially just, social equity and environmentally appropriate. The questions gave different answers. He also worked on sustainable development as an ethical issue. It gave an interesting answer: "sustainable development would create the greatest good or least harm by allowing those inhabitants to exist in a world where the air is breathable, the water is drinkable, the soil is fertile, and renewable resources thrive." They be taken also on level of sustainable development effirts for businesses. From the standpoint of businesses, it is important to ascertain which sustainable
Impacts of Climate Change on Loggerhead Turtles
The Impact of Climate Change on Loggerhead Sea Turtles on the Atlantic Coast of Florida Lauren DeGeorge, Kristin Spiess, Chelsea Linman, Jake Fitzgerald, Kate Forsmark , & El Lorenz \ Introduction Loggerhead sea turtles are an iconic beach reptile. In the face of climate change there is a possibility that this species could be lost without proper mitigation techniques. Loggerheads rely on temperature of both water and air and the availability of beaches in order to properly reproduce, nest, provide nutrients to costal ecosystems, and continue life in the ocean functioning as an important species in sea grass, coral reef, and beach ecosystems (Hawkes, L. A., Broderick, A. C., Godfrey, M. H., & Godley, J., 2007, Wilson, E. G., Miller, K. L., Allison, D., & Magliocca, M., 2003). Climate change threatens Loggerhead sea turtles reproduction processes because of changes in sea temperature, increased storm activity and sea level rise. This can be prevented, however; with proper mitigation measures which include educating the public, continued practice of current conservation methods and increasing the amount of protected shorelines. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview and analysis of the current literature and to present an estimate of the future populations Loggerhead sea turtles in a changing climate without mitigation. We will also provide a suggestion of the