Module 10 – Learning Activity

Question 1: In 150 – 200 words, describe the biodiversity in your hometown and describe how this attributes to ecosystem services.

I come from a small town with many rural surroundings. Being surrounded by many farms and forests, I believe that the biodiversity from my hometown is relatively high. There are a plethora of wild animals that include deer, rabbit, coyote, birds, etc. By having these animals, one of the services of these is a source of food for many of the locals during hunting season. With the predators such as coyotes, it provides population control during the offseason for many prey that would otherwise become overpopulated. In addition to these wild animals provided by the forests, there are plenty of rivers and cricks nearby that provide the same service with the fish. The farms in the area provide many crop and food services to the locals by providing beef, eggs, and vegetables. One farm that is nearby provides the potatoes that are used in Lay’s chips. The trees and other plants that are abundant in my provide cleaner air for the people to breath. These are some of the services that are provided by the large biodiversity in my hometown.

Question 2. In 150-250 Words, describe at least two threats to biodiversity in your hometown and how can they be prevented?

One of the biggest threats to biodiversity in my hometown would be the agricultural farming that I described in the above paragraph. Although I believe that it could help with diversity with feeding of animals and growing of other vegetables, the habitat loss caused from it can be devastating to the biodiversity in the ecosystem. One way that I believe that this can be stopped from harming the ecosystem is by limiting the number of farms that are being developed in the nearby surroundings. This will prevent the habitat loss to the ecosystem and allow the naturally occurring plants and animals thrive. Another threat in my nearby surroundings is pollution. There are many fracking wells all around western PA that have the potential to pollute the groundwater and thereby, leading to pollution in many regions. This can be extremely harmful to the biodiversity nearby my hometown. There are many ways that this can be stopped. One is to have regulations on the fracking to make sure there are no contaminants leaking into the environment. Another is to have the frac jobs being closely monitored by the EPA to make sure they are meeting standards as well. These are some ways that the threats to diversity in my hometown can be stalled and hopefully stopped one day.

3 thoughts on “Module 10 – Learning Activity

  1. Hi! My name is Micaelie. Recently I have been thinking about wanting to live in a place surrounded with more wildlife and less pollution and people… I feel as though I would be much healthier physically and mentally around nature by being in cleaner air, like you are, and being able to provide for myself from the nature instead of buying at big box stores. Do you feel like your health is better living in a place with more wild life or do you think being in a busier place is worth it for other reasons like socially or educationally?
    Heres a link to my post: https://wp.me/p3RCAy-fjG

  2. Justin, here is a link to my post, if you are interested. http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/04/15/a-little-goes-a-long-way/
    I agree with that there is a dilemma when it comes to farming and protecting natural habitat. On one hand you have about 1% of the population attempting to provide food for 100% of the population. In order to do that they need land to cultivate. When they cultivate this land they inherently change it and change the balance to the ecosystem. They fertilizer they use, which they must use in order to harvest enough crops to feed people and animals, has a high potential for run-off and polluting water ways. This is a difficult situation to try and find an answer for. Do we cut back and restrict farmers on how much and where they can farm? Do we do this at a cost of not being able to provide enough food for everyone? Do we sacrifice biodiversity and let ecosystems collapse and be destroyed so we can feed ourselves? If we choose this option, how long will we last if the natural habitats around us die off?
    I believe that sustenance farming is something that should be highly encouraged. What I mean is that people should have their own small gardens that they produce food for themselves. Those who can not have farms can get together and have co-op’s or community gardens. The imprint would be smaller and more sustainable over time.

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