Species diversity and human activities

• Reasons for deforestation = agriculture, grazing, fuel, oil and mining, highways and housing, acid rain
• Consequences of deforestation = erosion of soil, loss of potential medicines, loss of diversity, trees take in carbon dioxide
• Why deforestation reduces species diversity

  • lower variety of habitats
  • less variety of food sources -> monoculture
  • fewer species able to eat the single crop
• Conservation is the concept of preserving the natural resources of the world for future generations
• The aim of conservation is to maintain diversity and maintain an organism's habitat/ecosystem
• The aim of monoculture is to cultivate a single species over a large area for profits
• Why tropical rainforests should be conserved

  • aesthetics
  • ethical
  • economic
  • environmental services
• Impacts of farming = removing hedgerows, creating monocultures, overgrazing
• Examples of conservation = maintain hedgerows, plant hedges, maintain existing ponds, reduce pesticides, crop rotation