Ch3 - Ecology and Sustainable Development - Ecosystem Funtions and Human Impact

Numbers of insect species: 10.000, 100.000, 1 million or 10 million insects

1 million insect species

Numbers of plant species: 100.000, 300.000, 750.000 or 1 million.

300 000 plant species

Biodiversity hotspots are the grain belt in the Midwest of the USA, the boreal forests in Russia, the Atlantic forest of Brasil, the Rhine valley, the island of Madagascar or the Alpine regions of Austria.

Atlantic Forest of Brazil - island of Madagascar

Benefits of biodiversity:

resistance of crops diseases - provision of food and drink - provision of medicine - ecosystem services - industrial materials - cultural, aesthetic and intellectual value

Areas needed for production of 1 kg of beef 10, 50, 250, 500 m2

250 m²

The important agreement for the liberalisation of global trade has been concluded in 1995 under the umbrella of the..

WTO

The key scientific achievement of the 20th century leading to an in-depth understanding of the biological processes is the elucidation of the structure of..

DNA

Persistent threats to biodiversity:

land use change - pollution of air, water and soil - agricultural fertilisers and pesticides - climate change - hunting and fishing

The IUCN red list of endangered species contains 10, 25, 40, 75% of all 105.000 species investigated.

25%

The conservation of biological diversity has become a global concern and is addressed in the ..., which is an international treaty of 1992 (Rio).

convention on Biological Diversity

The most important radioactive elements released in the Chernobyl accident were:

iodine 131 - caesium 137 - strontium 90

Nearly one fifth of the land in the EU is protected under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive and is commonly known as … areas.

natura 2000

Since 1970 ca 150, 200, 300 or 500 pieces of EU environmental legislation have been produced.

500 pieces

Presently about 1, 15, 300 or 1.000 million chemical substances have been registered by Chemical Abstracts Service.

300 million

Presently about 1.000, 10.000, 100.000 or 1 million chemical substances are regularly produced and enter the environment.

100 000 chemical substances

The most important classes of chemical substances in relation to pollution of the environment are:

fertilisers - plant protection chemicals or pesticides - detergents - waste material such as plastics, heavy metals and POPs - pharmaceuticals and agropharmaceuticals

Pollution of the environment with heavy metals mostly originates from fertilisers, industrial waste, plant protection chemicals, or urban effluents.

industrial waste

The most important chemical substances in relation to pollution of the environment are nitrogen, rubber, fertilisers, detergents, wood, paper, iron ores, natural gas, coal, limestone minerals, cement products.

fertilisers - detergents

The persistent pesticide … is the most effective mean to combat the spreading of malaria.

DDT

The persistent pesticide DDT is the most effective mean to combat the spreading of ... in developing countries.

malaria

Among the most important classes of pesticides are … for the control of weeds.

herbicides

The EU Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for pesticides in ground and drinking water is 1, 10, 100 or 1000 ng/L.

100 ng/L

The UN Codex Alimentarius sets maximum levels for ... residues in food

pesticide

Major suspected causes for the widespread disease of bees called “colony disorder” are the lack of food, heavily polluted water, the enhanced use of pesticides, excessive air pollution, infection by the Varroa Destructor mite.

enhanced use of pesticides - varroa destructor mite