Biodiversity & Humans (AQA A Level Geography)

Ecosystem Services

• Maintaining biodiversity is important for human well-being as they provide:

  • Provisioning services - food, medicines, water, fuel etc.

  • Supporting services - photosynthesis, nutrient cycling etc. 

  • Cultural services - non-material benefits such as spiritual experience, pleasure, exercise etc.

  • Regulating service - water and air quality, flood regulation etc. 

• Changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services are due to:

  • Natural causes - volcanic eruptions, storm hazards etc.

  • Culture and religion - use of plant and animals in traditional medicines

  • Science and technology - demand for new types of medicines etc.

  • Economics - deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

  • Socio-political factors - understanding of how biodiversity is used within regions

  • Demographics - size and age of a population

• Present changes are driven by pressures of increased population and consumption of goods

Ecosystems & Development

• Over the last 500 years, there has been an explosion in the global population; which now stands at 8 billion people as of 15 November 2022

• Agricultural productivity has had to increase to avoid famine and starvation

• This has been achieved through:

  • Intensive farming practices

  • Using chemicals - fertilisers, weed killers and pesticides

  • Mechanisation 

  • Use of marginal land 

  • Genetically modified organisms (GMO) - wheat that is resistant to certain moulds or drought resistant crops etc. 

• Pollution, climate change, desertification, deforestation and biodiversity loss, have led to degraded ecosystems and irreversible change

• Sustainable development needs to be balanced with population size and conservation

• Responses to this environmental footprint, can either positive or negative 

• Economic and population growth can become problematic, as it can potentially destroy biodiversity, which is unsustainable

• Although, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), suggests that economic development initially leads to a deterioration in the environment

• As economic growth peaks, society turns to improving environment management and levels of degradation reduces 

• It does appear the curve suggests that economic growth is beneficial to the environment

• Certainly, countries such as the UK are more conscious of their environmental impacts through recycling, regulation on emissions etc.)

• However, there is no guarantee that economic growth will lead to environmental management

• To be effective, targeted policies and management is needed to ensure economic growth is aligned with environmental needs to secure sustainability in the long term

• Limitations of the EKC includes:

  • Pollution is not a product of income but many factors such as:

    • Government regulations

    • Population levels

    • Level of a country's development - many HDEs have reduced industrial pollution and strict emission regulations, but import from overseas

      • This can be viewed as exporting environmental degradation 

      • Deforestation is halted in many HDEs, but imports of meat and wooden goods from LDEs that create farmland from deforested areas e.g. Amazon Rainforest

  • Not all HDEs reduce their environmental degradation post industrialisation, particularly if the economy continues to grow

    • Resources are still needed and usually in greater amounts

    • Leading to continued or worsening of environmental degradation

  • HDEs tend to have highest levels of CO2 emissions, leading to greater levels of environmental degradation

• Whilst there is a link between development and environmental degradation, the link of improved development leads to improving the environment is tenuous

• It only becomes viable if there are government polices and a willingness to produce energy and goods in an environmentally sustainable way to reduce the ever growing footprint