Why biodiversity matters, pollution of land water and air, deforestation and peat destruction, global warming and its effects, and programmes to protect species.
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1.What is biodiversity?
The variety of all the different species of organisms on Earth, or within an ecosystem.
2.Why is high biodiversity important?
It makes an ecosystem more stable, because species are less dependent on any one other species for food, shelter and maintaining the environment.
3.Why do humans depend on biodiversity?
The future of the human species relies on maintaining a good level of biodiversity, and many resources and medicines come from other species.
4.What is the main reason human activity is reducing biodiversity?
A rapidly growing human population and an increasing standard of living, which increase the use of resources and the waste produced.
5.Why does more waste get produced now?
A larger population using more resources per person produces more waste, and unless it is properly handled it pollutes the environment.
6.Give three ways water can be polluted.
Sewage, fertiliser running off farmland, and toxic chemicals from industry.
7.Give three ways land can be polluted.
Landfill waste, toxic chemicals, and pesticides and herbicides washing into the soil.
8.Give two ways air can be polluted.
Smoke and acidic gases such as sulfur dioxide released by burning fuels.
9.What effect does pollution have on biodiversity?
It kills plants and animals directly, and can make habitats unusable, which reduces the number of species that can live there.
10.Give four reasons humans use land that reduces biodiversity.
Building, quarrying, farming, and dumping waste.
11.Why is destroying peat bogs a problem?
Peat bogs are habitats for many species, so destroying them reduces biodiversity. Decay or burning of the peat also releases carbon dioxide.
12.Why are peat bogs destroyed?
The peat is dug up to produce cheap compost for gardening and farming, and the land is drained for agriculture.
13.Give three reasons for large scale deforestation in tropical areas.
To provide land for cattle, to grow crops for biofuels, and to grow crops for food.
14.Give two environmental effects of deforestation.
Less carbon dioxide is absorbed by photosynthesis, more is released by burning trees, and habitats and biodiversity are lost.
15.Name two greenhouse gases.
Carbon dioxide and methane.
16.What is the link between greenhouse gases and global warming?
Increasing levels of these gases in the atmosphere trap more energy, causing global warming.
17.Give four possible consequences of global warming.
Rising sea levels and flooding of low lying land, changes in the distribution of species, changes to migration patterns, and reduced biodiversity.
18.Why would rising sea levels reduce biodiversity?
Coastal habitats would be flooded and lost, along with the species that depend on them.
19.How does global warming change species distribution?
Species may move to cooler areas or higher altitudes as their current range becomes unsuitable, and some may have nowhere to go.
20.Give four programmes that help maintain biodiversity.
Breeding programmes for endangered species, protecting rare habitats, replanting hedgerows and field margins on farms, and reducing deforestation.
21.How does recycling help biodiversity?
It reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and the need to extract new raw materials, so less habitat is destroyed.
22.Why are field margins and hedgerows useful?
They provide habitat and food for a wide range of species on land that would otherwise be a single crop with very low biodiversity.
23.What is a breeding programme?
A scheme, often in zoos, to breed endangered species in captivity and increase their numbers, sometimes releasing them back into the wild.
24.Why do governments sometimes not act to protect biodiversity?
Conservation measures can conflict with the economic pressures of jobs, farming, development and cost.
25.What is eutrophication?
Fertiliser washing into water causes algae to grow rapidly, blocking light. Plants die, decomposers multiply and use up the oxygen, so fish and other organisms die.
26.Why does untreated sewage in a river reduce oxygen levels?
Decomposers break the sewage down and respire aerobically as they do so, using up dissolved oxygen that other organisms need.
27.How can carbon dioxide levels be reduced?
By using fewer fossil fuels, using renewable energy, planting more trees, and improving energy efficiency.
28.Why is it difficult to reduce global carbon emissions?
It needs international cooperation, and many countries rely on fossil fuels for their economies, so agreements are hard to reach and enforce.
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