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Goods are tangible products which can be taken from the ecosystem
Timber, food and water are all examples of goods
These can be sold or used to sustain communities in the ecosystem
They are one of the four services ecosystems provide
The services provided by ecosystems are essential for life to survive
There are four groups of services:
Provisioning
Regulating
Cultural
Supporting
Examples of Goods and Services
Services | Tropical Rainforest |
Provisioning (Goods) | Timber Fruit/nuts Medicine Water Fuel Animal products (meat/skin) |
Regulating | Climate Water quality Waste decomposition Soil quality Disease and pest control Air quality |
Cultural | Health and spiritual benefits Leisure and recreation Employment Cultural heritage Education |
Supporting | Soil formation Nutrient cycling |
Minerals are used in many industries
May lead to deforestation and clearance for access roads and the mines
Toxic chemicals are a waste product and end up in the water systems
This affects the river ecosystem and human health
Examples of Mined Minerals
Mineral | Use | Locations of some mining operations |
Copper | Construction, cables, machinery | Chile, Peru, China |
Gold | Jewellery, medicine, dentistry | China, Australia, Brazil |
Aluminium | Cars, packaging, machinery | Brazil, Guyana, Guinea |
Manganese | Steel, construction, machinery | Brazil, Australia, China |
Large areas are cleared to make way for grazing and crops
Monocultures reduce biodiversity and impact on the food web
Use of pesticides may affect other animals as well as the ones targeted
Use of fertilisers can lead to eutrophication
Felling of trees leads to:
Reduced interception and increased soil erosion
Impact on the nutrient cycle due to a lack of organic matter to add nutrients back to the soil
Loss of habitats and food sources for wildlife
Construction of dams and reservoirs provides electricity but impacts on the biomes in a number of ways including:
Clearance of forests to make way for the dam and reservoir
Flooding of habitats
Loss of food sources
Affects the river wildlife as the dam can form a barrier to fish that migrate such as salmon
Prevents the movement of sediment downstream which affects ecosystems
Most human activities involve the clearance of biomes
Once they have been cleared it is difficult to restore them
They cannot provide the goods and services as effectively or at all
To maintain the balance of gases in the atmosphere gas exchange happens continuously between the atmosphere, plants, animals and water
An example of this is the carbon cycle
The plants and soils in biomes are carbon sinks
Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis
When plants are eaten the carbon moves from the plant to the animal
Some CO2 is then returned to the atmosphere through respiration
When the plants and animals die and decompose the carbon becomes part of the soil and over millions of years may be converted into fossil fuels
As human activity increases, CO2 in the atmosphere increases, this may be from:
Burning of biomass or fossil fuels
Deforestation: meaning less CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere
Carbon cycle
The nutrient cycle maintains the health and fertility of the soil
Tropical rainforest nutrient cycle
Soils require nutrients from dead organic matter (plants and animals) to remain fertile and healthy
Removal of the biomass means the supply of nutrients is disrupted
The lack of vegetation cover also leads to increased leaching and the litter may be washed away, further reducing the nutrient supply
Tropical rainforests biomes are particularly vulnerable because most of the nutrients are held in the biomass
When trees and plants are cleared from a biome it impacts on the hydrological cycle and increases flood risk
Interception is decreased
Soil erosion increases and soil is washed into rivers reducing their capacity
There is more surface run off, decreasing the length of time it takes rainfall to reach rivers
Infiltration decreases further increasing surface run off
The lack of trees and plants also reduces transpiration which may then lead to less frequent and reliable rainfall
In 2022 the world's population reached 8 billion, this increases the demand for, and pressure on, natural resources
Increasing areas of biomes are cleared for:
Settlements
Economic activities (farming, mining, manufacturing, logging)
Increased numbers of animals are hunted or their habitats/food sources are destroyed
Rivers, land and the atmosphere are polluted by waste
More people leads to greater demand for food and water
Land is cleared for both grazing and crops
Commercial agriculture is increasing using larger areas across the world and more water
Use of pesticides and fertilisers increases pollution of land and water
Increasing numbers of countries have industrialised
Recent industrial growth has been mainly in Asia - China and India
Industrialisation increases wealth and resources consumption, as well as transport use
Average wealth has increased meaning that people have more money to spend on:
Food
Water: appliances such as dishwashers/washing machines, more industries using water
Homes: larger homes taking up more land
Energy: production of energy uses large areas of land for power stations, extracting energy sources, wind and solar farms
Consumer goods: the demand increases industrial production and waste
Malthus proposed his theory in 1798
A pessimistic view on the relationship between population and resources (specifically food) which states:
Population growth is increasing at a faster rate than the food supply
There will be times when there is not enough food to sustain the population
As a result, population growth will stop as a result of a Malthusian catastrophe - famine, disease or war
These are known as positive checks as they increase the death rate
Preventative checks are factors which decrease the birth rate
These limiting factors maintain the balance between population and resources
Malthus's predictions were incorrect as they came before much of the technological developments which have enabled food supply to be increased
Neo-Malthusians today base their views on Malthus' theory. They argue that:
We have now used most of the available agricultural land
The amount of fertile land is in decline
Food prices are increasing
The population continues to increase
They suggest that famines are one example of how Malthusian theory has proved to be correct
Neo-Malthusians argue that population control is essential to avoid Malthusian catastrophe
Graph to demonstrate Malthus's theory
A Danish economist, Ester Boserup put forward her theory in 1965
An optimistic view of the relationship between population and resources (specifically food) which states that:
Population growth will stimulate developments in technology to increase food production
More efficient resources will be discovered/used
Renewable resources will replace non-renewable
Graph to demonstrate Boserup's theory
