Biodiversity and Land Quality

Biodiversity and Land Quality

Human society's progression through time has resulted in many environment-altering effects, particularly those brought about by industrialization and rapid population growth. The combination of increased numbers of humans and improved technology has created the need for better management of resources and transportation across the globe. This need has produced great leaps in infrastructure, such as roads and dams. However, the introduction of this infrastructure into the natural world has adversely affected the environment. Biodiversity is often drastically altered, resulting in changes in breeding and predation patterns which, in turn, lead to species extinction and degradation of soil and vegetation. The complex intertwining of many facets of the environment create the potential for humans to have tremendous impact upon the world in which they live, and the effects of infrastructure upon biodiversity and land quality have a far-reaching influence on the environment that calls for critical evaluation.

As global population increases, a more economically efficient use of resources is necessary to sustain demand for fuel, food, and water. Cities, and the huge populations that they contain, "are parasitic on the surrounding landscape," requiring large amounts of resources to be imported into them (Southwick 169). Thus, more reliance is being placed upon technological innovations and industrialization in order to efficiently support the world's growing numbers, and concentrations, of humans. As a result, infrastructure, particularly dams and roads, are becoming prominent features of the modern landscape. Natural ecosystems are often adversely affected by the environmental modification infrastructure ...

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...if industrial activities are not kept at bay.

Works Cited:

Balmford, Andrew, Georgina M. Mace, and Joshua R. Ginsberg. "The challenges to conservation in a changing world: putting processes on the map," in Conservation in a Changing World, ed. Mace, Balmford, and Ginsberg. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998.

GLOBIO. www.globio.info. UNEP 2001.

Myers, Norman. "The Rich Diversity of Biodiversity Issues," in Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources, ed. Reaka-Kudla, Wilson, and Wilson. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 1997.

Southwick, Charles. Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.

Steadman, David W. "Human-Caused Extinction of Birds," in Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources, ed. Reaka-Kudla, Wilson, and Wilson. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 1997.