value of the biosphere

• what does the biosphere provide?

  • wood - from trees and shrubs
  • fish and meat
  • sustainable harvesting - berries, fruits and nuts
  • periwinkle plants used to treat leukaemia
  • timber essential for construction
• large areas of biomes are cleared for

  commercial farming - cattle ranching or fodder crops ie. soybeans

  mining metals

  timber

  construction of dams for HEP and water supplies

  commercial exploitation provides profits for TNCs, jobs and people but many ecosystems and their services are destroyed.
• biosphere as a life-support system

  • regulates the gases which make up the atmosphere - plants absorb co2 and produce oxygen
  • regulates water cycle - slow flow of rivers etc
  • keeps soil healthy for new plants to grow
• carbon sink


  a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores the atmospheres carbon - regulates our air and water cycle
• how do humans affect the nutrient cycle through deforestation?

  there will be less leaf litter and less decomposition of those leaves which will lead to less nutrients seeping back into the soil in order to grow more vegetation

  no trees = unhealthy soil and decrease in our vegetation and biodiversity
• we have more people than ever before meaning we need more food and resources

  there is more industries to provide for these people as there is a higher standard of living and we nee more energy and materials
• boserup

  • we will be able to adapt our behaviour to adapt to those to what the biosphere gives to us
  • technology will provide resources for our growing population
  • NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION
• malthus

  • a natural check will help bring the population back down eg. pandemic, disease, natural disaster
  • there will not be enough resources to met the demands of the growing population
• boserup example paragraph


  boserupian theory stated that technology will provide resources for our growing population. boserup believed that necessity is the mother of invention believed that we will be able to adapt our behaviour to what the biosphere gives us and believed that there is enough food in the world for everyone it is just not always distributed where it needs to be
• malthus


  malthusian theory states that there wont be enough resources to meet the demands of the growing population as the population was growing faster than the food and resource supplies. malthus stated that every couple of years there would be a natural check which would put all resources back into the correct scale through things such as famine, war or pandemic