Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the number of different species within a specific area. The more specie live in an area, the more bio-diverse it is. Human activities in the past have affected biodiversity;

• Increase in industry- more land is used for industry so deforestation occurs causing destruction of habitats and reduced biodiversity
• Attitudes change- over time many countries have destroyed land and habitats to improve their economies
• Global temperature rise due to pollution causes; seasonal changes (migration patterns change), increased spread of disease

(Ricardo Braham)

The higher the biodiversity of an ecosystem, the more stable the ecosystem is because species are less dependent on a single food source or shelter. This means that complex food chains will be more stable and relatively constant. An ecosystem with low biodiversity and fewer species would be more affected if one species was removed. 

Biodiversity is affected by disruption and pollution. A dominating issue with pollution is bioaccumulation and eutrophication where marine life is disrupted due to industrial activities. We can measure water pollution levels by;

• Measuring oxygen levels in the water
• Testing pH levels
• Using specific water testing kits 
• Using bio-indicators (some species are only present in certain conditions)

An example to help consolidate this is the example of two rivers (you don't need to know this). If we had river A that was well oxygenated and found lots of salmon but not many blood worms then we could say that salmon thrive well in oxygenated water. If we has river B which was not well-oxygenated and contained few salmon but many blood worms, then we could say that blood worm thrive well in not well-oxygenated water. Therefore if we had river C that contained many salmon and few blood worms, we could use the bioindicators (of salmon and blood worms) to prove that river C was well-oxygenated. 

We can also look at land pollution;

• nuclear waste
• human waste- which can pollute land with bacteria and diseases
• industrial waste
• fertilisers (run-off can lead to bioaccumulation and eutrophication)

And air pollution;

• burning of fossil fuels- leads to global warning and sometimes acid rain
• deforestation- reducing carbon sequestration (trees taking in carbon), habitat and loss of biodiversity, for landfill, for food production and to grow crops for biofuels

Peat bog destruction is an issue because it is causing rises in levels of carbon dioxide. A peat is un-decayed plant materials formed in conditions where decay rates are very slow. Peat bogs store carbon and have very high biodiversity. Peats are often burned as a fuel or used by gardeners to enrich soil. 

To manage the destruction and damage of biodiversity there are a number of things we can do;

• Breeding programmes for endangered species
• Protection and regeneration of endangered habitats
• Increasing recycling rather than dumping waste in landfill
• Reducing and controlling deforestation