Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

Growing Pains
How do humans negatively affect
ecosystems?
• An ecosystem is all of the living and nonliving
things within a given area.

• Changing one thing in an ecosystem can affect

many other things, because everything in an
ecosystem is connected.

• Humans can affect ecosystems through pollution.

Pollution is caused by any material or condition
that harms the environment.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans negatively affect

ecosystems?
• The growing human population has created a
greater need for natural resources, leading to
changes in ecosystems.

• The overuse of resources causes them to be

depleted, or used up.

• Resource depletion occurs when a large fraction of

a resource has been used up.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans negatively affect

ecosystems?
• Compare the time it took for the human
population to grow from 1 billion to 2 billion, and
from 3 billion to 6 billion.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans negatively affect

ecosystems?
• Human population growth in and around cities is
called urbanization.

• Urban growth within ecosystems often destroys

natural habitats and can bring humans and wildlife
into contact.

• Every habitat has its own number and variety of

organisms, or biodiversity. If a habitat is
damaged or destroyed, biodiversity is lost.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

Water, Water Everywhere

How do humans impact oceans?
• Oceans support various ecosystems that together
contain nearly half of Earth’s species. Pollution
damages these ecosystems and threatens
biodiversity.

• Point-source pollution comes from one source,

such as an oil spill.

• Nonpoint-source pollution comes from many

sources, such as when chemical fertilizers and
pesticides are washed into oceans.
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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans impact oceans?

• A greater demand for seafood from the growing
human population has led to overfishing of some
ocean species.

• If a fish population cannot reproduce fast enough,

it may become locally extinct.

• The local loss of a species can disturb ocean food

webs and threaten ecosystem stability.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans impact oceans?

• The growing human population has led to
increased coastal development and has increased
pollution on shore and in coastal waters.

• In some places, development has almost

completely replaced natural coastlines, destroying
mangrove forests that protect coastlines.

• Human activity has also damaged coral reefs, but

scientists and others are working to correct this
damage.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans affect freshwater

ecosystems?
• In many river ecosystems, human activities have
decreased the amount of water, or water quantity.

• Dams block the flow of river water, leading to less

water downstream.

• If the natural course of a river is changed by

channelization, it changes the water quantity,
temperature, and chemistry. This affects river
species.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans affect freshwater

ecosystems?
• Human activities can also decrease water quality,
or how good the water is. Fertilizers contain
nutrients that can enter ponds and lakes as runoff.

• An increase in the amount of nutrients, such as

nitrates, in an aquatic ecosystem is called
eutrophication.

• Excess nutrients in ponds and lakes cause

overgrowth of algae, using up the pond’s dissolved
oxygen and causing fish to die.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans affect freshwater

ecosystems?
• Water quality is also affected by air pollution.

• Burning fossil fuels releases chemicals into the air,

and some of the chemicals combine with rain to
produce acid rain.

• Acid rain can damage both aquatic and land

ecosystems.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

Exotic Species
• An organism that makes a home for itself in a new
place outside its native home is an exotic species.

• Exotic species that outcompete native species are

called invasive exotic species.

• When European rabbits were introduced into

Australia, their population exploded because they
had plenty of space and food, but no predators.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

Save It!
How do humans protect ecosystems?
• The careful and responsible management of a
resource is called stewardship.

• The organisms in an ecosystem depend on each

other and interact to form a vast food web. The
loss of a species can leave gaps in the web.

• Humans can protect habitats and help species

survive, thereby protecting the biodiversity and
health of an ecosystem.

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Unit 2 Lesson 5 Human Activity and Ecosystems

How do humans protect ecosystems?

• Conservation is the protection and wise use of
natural resources.

• Practicing conservation means using fewer natural

resources and reducing waste. It also helps
prevent habitat destruction.

• There are “three Rs” for conserving resources:

reduce what you buy and use; reuse what you
already have; and recycle by recovering materials
from waste.

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