SMK KAJANG UTAMA

BIOLOGY
PAPERWORK

ENDANGERED
ECOSYSTEM
~HOW WE CAN HELP THE WORLD?~

Prepared by:
DAYANA AZHAR
From 4 Amanah
 OBJECTIVES

The reasons why this paperwork is being

done is due to several objectives as
stated below:-

>to instill awareness among humans about

the significances of preservation and
conservation of the ecosystem.

>to make humans realize how bad are the

effects of humans’ activities towards the
environment.

>to increase efforts on creating a safer

environment for ourselves and for the
future generations.

>to deduce the time for the depletion and

destruction of the environment due to
various environmental problems caused
by human beings.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to introduce myself. I am Dayana

binti Azhar from Form 4 Amanah and I am glad indeed to be
studying biology which is the most intriguing subject ever.

I, now, have completed a paperwork or a folio on the topic

“Endangered Ecosystem” based on the last chapter in the
Form 4 Biology syllabus. I have gone through many laughs
and sobs throughout the progression in completing this folio.
Nevertheless, I felt relief and grateful of having such wonderful
companions whom are my lovely Biology teacher, herself,
Puan Julaina, my parents, my helpful friends and my siblings.

I would like to thank the mentioned people whom have been very
supportive and helpful in giving me extra information, tips and
ideas to make this work a satisfying piece. Not to forget, my
headmistress, Puan Hidayah Mokhtar, for giving us, the
students, this opportunity to do this folio.

Last but not least, thank you once again for all the commitments
and supports. May all of you live in a blissful life.
 Human Activities That
Endanger An Ecosystem
Human activities that threaten the ecosystem.

The world’s population might reach to 10 billion in the next fifty

years. Hence, when there are increments in the number of the
world’s population, it generally means that there is an
increasing demand for shelter, food, medicine, transport and
raw materials.

Today, due to expectation of modern living and industrial

revolution, the world has to confront the destruction of forests to
build more houses, to being use as plantation areas and to build
roads; just to fulfill humans’ needs.

Unplanned developments and mismanagement of ecosystem

give rise to vast amounts of environmental crisis. Among those
environmental problems are greenhouse effect, global warming,
pollution, soil erosion, landslide, flashflood and ozone depletion.

The human activities that we are talking about are like

agriculture, burning or combustion, industrialisation,
urbanisation and last but not least, deforestation.
 Impact of Human
Activities on The
Ecosystem

Human activities made

many drawbacks to the
environment. Whether we
like them or not, these cons
of the human activities
have made all of us now
leaving in a hardship. The
impacts can now be clearly
seen by looking at our
devastating environment
conditions.
What are the impacts?
Let us see for ourselves….
 THE IMPACT OF
HUMAN ACTIVITIES
TOWARDS THE
ECOSYSTEM

DEFORESTATION CAUSED:
-soil erosion
-landslides INDUSTRIALISATION
-flashfloods CAUSED:
-extinction of flora -various types of
and fauna pollutions
-global warming
-greenhouse effect

FARMING CAUSED: URBANISATION CAUSED

-pollution -pollution

BURNING CAUSED:
-pollution
-greenhouse effect
Large areas of forests are cleared for extracting timber or fuel wood,
agriculture needs, and for the sake of urbanisation. The impacts are
enormous and outrageous. Let see what are the drawbacks of
deforestation.
a) Soil erosion flow is blocked. Thus, water flows inland and
causes flash floods in, flash floods and landslides.
~When it rains for a long time especially during rainy seasons, the top
layer of soil loosens and slides down, thus causing landslides.
~Clearing of trees causes the loss of tree leaves that protect the soil
from a massive impulsive force of heavy raindrops and also causes
the loss of tree roots to hold the soil in place.
~The wide exposure to the raindrops’ forces, give arise to soil erosion.
Here, the top layer of soil is easily being washed away by heavy
rainfall. The eroded soil, is then, deposited in rivers or streams.
~During heavy rains, rainwater flows harshly into rivers because there
is a non-existence of retention of water by plant roots as well as proper
water catchments areas.
~Due to silting in the rivers, the water flow is blocked. Thus, water
flows inland and causes flash floods in low areas.
~In addition, soil erosion contributes in the depletion of minerals in the
soil, causing the land trouble to be used as a place for cultivation.
b) Extinction of flora and fauna
~The most worrying disadvantage from deforestation is the loss of habitats
for many species flora and fauna.
~When this happens, there will be an increment in the rate of extinction
of plants and animals. As a result, it reduces biodiversity and the source of
food together with the sources of valuable medicines for humans.

c) Greenhouse effect and global warming

~Generally, deforestation causes weather and climatic changes.
~When enormous scales of trees are cut and burnt, rainfall will be reduced,
the rate of transpiration as well as the rate of using carbon dioxide during
Photosynthesis by plants.
~Clearing and burning of forests release vast amounts of greenhouse
gases
including carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere, which is said
about
20% to 30% of all carbon dioxide gas emission into the atmosphere for
every year.
~Everyone knows that carbon dioxide can prevent heat from escaping from
the atmosphere. Thus, when the level of carbon dioxide increases, so
does the global temperature. Increasing of global temperature, giving rise to
the greenhouse effect, and not to mention, global warming too.
~Increasing global temperature may results in an imbalanced ecosystem.
~In order to fulfill the demands of today’s food supplement, large areas of
lands have been used and will be used for farming purposes.
~Excessive use of land for farming and stock rearing lead to infertile land
and may expose the soil to erosion by wind or heavy rainfalls.
~Inorganic fertilisers usage in farming also results to eutrophication.

~Dumping of domestic waste as well as sewage discharge from houses

cause pollution.
~Waste materials in landfills act as toxic substances which pollute nearby
water sources.

~Industrial plants give off industrial waste and heated waste water causing
water pollution and thermal pollution.
~Toxic gases released by industries contribute to a major concerning
problem; air pollution.
~Human activities like open burning of rubbish, farms and
forests release more carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere
which aggravates greenhouse effect.
~Burning of fossil fuels causes air pollution as well as increase
the carbon dioxide content. As the final result, global warming
will also need to be comprehended.
Pollution is defined as an undesirable change in the
chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the
natural environment. When there is pollution, there must
be its pollutants. Now, what is pollutants?

On the other hand, pollutants are substances, any

substances that is present in an excessive amount in the
environment due to human activities. They hold damaging
effects on living organisms. They might be toxic, like
pesticides or natural constituents, such as carbon dioxide.
They affect the soil, water sources as well as our
atmosphere.

Generally, there are four main types of pollution which

disturb our used-to-be safe environment. What are they?
They are, air pollution, water pollution, thermal pollution
and noise pollution. Let us go briefly to every each of
them.
M.D Norhayatee, et al,
2005 Science
Textbook.