Explain how human activities have contributed to the condition of ecosystem goods and services.
Ecosystem goods such as wild fisheries are very degraded because of human activities. Due to a lack of policies, regulation and an ever increasing demand, overfishing has contributed to the degraded conditions. This is because fishermen are catching fish at an unsustainable rate which is not allowing the fish to reproduction, thus resulting in a decreasing number of fishes. In addition to this, fish stocks are also in the decline due to the unconventional methods with people use for fishing. For instance, explosives and poisons are often used to obtain fish at a faster rate; this in turn kills species of fish which were not even wanted by the fishermen. Also, methods like this damage coral reefs. Damaging these reefs reduces the growth and reproduction of many fish species as they rely on the coral as a food source.
Another very degraded ecosystem good is fresh water, this is because of a process called eutrophication. Fertilizers are commonly used in the agricultural industry, however the run off from the fertilizers find their way into nearby water systems which pollutes the fresh water, thus the whole ecosystem declines. Also, the plants near the water system overgrows which blocks sunlight from getting into the water, so photosynthesis cannot occur in the aquatic plants so they do not grow or release oxygen, leading to the organisms and species within the water to die. In addition, industrialisation also degrades fresh water supplies. For example, the burning of fossil fuels releases harmful gases which spill into fresh water, thus contaminating it.
Better regulation and laws has made the timber ecosystem degraded. Law and rules like the one which now state that when a tree is cut down, a new tree/s must be replanted, also big businesses like Ikea now ensure that all it wood comes from managed forests. This has made the process somewhat more sustainable. However, deforestation is needed in order to advance in the agricultural sector. Forests are cut down or burned to make more room to grow plants or graze livestock. This reduces our natural carbon sink, which makes it harder for the remaining trees to regulate the climate because the emissions will exceed what they can absorb. With rapid urbanisation and the growing demand for wood, this is likely to worsen.
Flood protection is classes as a degraded area. This may be because of it reliance on other sources which are at risk. For example, coral reefs are a natural defence against flooding, however, climate change and tourist activities as resulting in the reefs bleaching. Also, due to the ever growing population, flood plains have been used to build upon which lives that area vulnerable to flooding as the plains can longer absorb water.
Arguable crops are classed as improved ecosystem. Due to genetic modification some crops can now grow in extreme temperature, thus increasing annual yield and usage, making it a more reliable source of food. However, this has a knock on effect on the ecosystem for insects that rely on the natural crop.