Anthropogenic environmental factors include. Anthropogenic factors

Conditions of existence

Definition 1

The conditions of existence (Conditions of life) are the totality of elements necessary for organisms, with which they are inextricably linked and without which they cannot exist.

The adaptation of organisms to the environment is called adaptation. The ability to adapt is one of the most important properties of life, which provides the possibility of its life, reproduction and survival. Adaptations are manifested at various levels - from the biochemistry of the cell and the behavior of an individual organism to the functioning and structure of the community and ecosystem. Adaptation arises and changes during the evolution of species.

Some elements of the environment or properties that affect the body are called environmental factors. Environmental factors exist a large number of. They have a different nature and specificity of action. All environmental factors divided into three major groups: biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic

Definition 2

An abiotic factor is a complex of conditions of an inorganic environment that affects a living organism indirectly or directly: light, temperature, radioactive radiation, air humidity, pressure, salt composition of water, etc.

Definition 3

The biotic factor of the environment is a set of influences that are exerted on plants by other organisms. any plant does not live in isolation, but in interconnection with other plants, fungi, microorganisms, animals.

Definition 4

The anthropogenic factor is a set of environmental factors determined by the intentional or accidental activities of mankind and causing a significant impact on the functioning and structure of ecosystems.

Anthropogenic factors

The most important group of factors in our time, which intensively changes the environment, is directly related to the many-sided human activity.

Development and formation of a person on the globe have always been associated with environmental impacts, but now this process has accelerated significantly.

The anthropogenic factor includes any impact (both indirect and direct) of mankind on the environment - biogeocenoses, organisms, the biosphere, landscapes.

modifying nature and adapting it to personal needs, people change the habitat of plants and animals, thereby influencing their existence. Impacts can be direct, indirect and accidental.

Direct impacts are directed directly at living organisms. For example, irrational hunting and fishing have drastically reduced the number of many species. The accelerated pace and the growing force of the modification of nature by mankind awaken the need for its protection.

Indirect impacts are carried out through changes in climate, landscapes, chemistry and physical condition water bodies and the atmosphere, the structure of soil surfaces, animal and flora. A person unconsciously and consciously displaces or exterminates one type of plant or animal, while spreading another or creating favorable conditions for it. For pets and cultivated plants humanity created new environment to a large extent, increasing the productivity of the developed land a hundredfold. But this made the existence of many wild species impossible.

Remark 1

It should be noted that many species of plants and animals disappeared from planet Earth even without anthropogenic activities person. Like a separate organism, each species has its youth, flowering, old age and death - this is a natural process. But under natural conditions, this happens very slowly, and usually the outgoing species has time to be replaced by a new one, more adapted to the living conditions. Mankind, on the other hand, accelerated the processes of extinction to such a pace that evolution gave way to irreversible, revolutionary reorganizations of ecosystems.

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Anthropogenic factors: examples. What is the anthropogenic factor?

The scale of human activity in the last few hundred years has increased immeasurably, which means that new anthropogenic factors have appeared. Examples of the impact, the place and role of humanity in changing the environment - all this later in the article.

What is a living environment?

Part of the nature of the Earth in which organisms live is their habitat. The resulting relationships, lifestyle, productivity, number of creatures are studied by ecology. Allocate the main components of nature: soil, water and air. There are organisms that are adapted to living in one or three environments, such as coastal plants.

Separate elements interacting with living beings and among themselves are ecological factors. Each of them is irreplaceable. But in recent decades, anthropogenic factors have acquired planetary significance. Although not enough attention was paid to the influence of society on nature half a century ago, 150 years ago the science of ecology itself was in its infancy.

What are environmental factors?

Terms natural environment can be very diverse: space, information, energy, chemical, climatic. Any natural ingredients physical, chemical or biological origin - environmental factors. They directly or indirectly affect a separate biological individual, population, the entire biocenosis. There are no less phenomena associated with human activity, for example, the anxiety factor. On the vital activity of organisms, the state of biocenoses and geographical envelope influenced by many anthropogenic factors. Examples:

• increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to climate change;
• monoculture in agriculture causes outbreaks of individual pests;
• fires lead to a change in the plant community;
• deforestation and the construction of hydroelectric power stations change the regime of rivers.

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What are environmental factors?

Conditions that affect living organisms and their habitats can be classified into one of three groups according to their properties:

• inorganic or abiotic factors (solar radiation, air, temperature, water, wind, salinity);
• biotic conditions that are associated with the cohabitation of microorganisms, animals, plants that affect each other, inanimate nature;
• anthropogenic environmental factors - the cumulative impact of the Earth's population on nature.

All of these groups are important. Every environmental factor is irreplaceable. For example, an abundance of water does not make up for the amount of mineral elements and light necessary for plant nutrition.

What is the anthropogenic factor?

The main sciences that study the environment are global ecology, human ecology and nature conservation. They are based on the data of theoretical ecology, widely use the concept of "anthropogenic factors". Anthropos in Greek means "man", genos is translated as "origin". The word "factor" comes from the Latin factor ("doing, producing"). This is the name of the conditions that affect the processes, their driving force.

Any human impact on living organisms, the entire environment are anthropogenic factors. There are both positive and negative examples. There are cases of favorable changes in nature in connection with conservation activities. But more often society has a negative, sometimes destructive effect on the biosphere.

The place and role of the anthropogenic factor in changing the face of the Earth

Any kind economic activity population affects the relationship between living organisms and natural habitat, often leads to their violation. On site natural complexes and landscapes arise anthropogenic:

• fields, orchards and orchards;
• reservoirs, ponds, canals;
• parks, forest belts;
• cultural pastures.

Man-made similarities of natural complexes are further influenced by anthropogenic, biotic and abiotic factors. environment. Examples: the formation of deserts - on agricultural plantations; overgrowing of ponds.

How does man influence nature?

Mankind - part of the Earth's biosphere - for a long period was completely dependent on others natural conditions. As the nervous system, in particular the brain, thanks to the improvement of the tools of labor, man himself has become a factor in evolutionary and other processes on Earth. First of all, we must mention the mastery of mechanical, electrical and atomic energy. As a result, the upper part has changed significantly. earth's crust, increased biogenic migration of atoms.

All the diversity of society's impact on the environment is anthropogenic factors. Examples of negative influence:

• reduction of mineral reserves;
• deforestation;
• soil pollution;
• hunting and fishing;
• extermination of wild species.

The positive impact of man on the biosphere is associated with environmental protection measures. Reforestation and afforestation, landscaping and landscaping are underway settlements, acclimatization of animals (mammals, birds, fish).

What is being done to improve the relationship between man and the biosphere?

The above examples of anthropogenic environmental factors, human intervention in nature indicate that the impact can be positive and negative. These characteristics are conditional, because a positive influence under changed conditions often becomes its opposite, i.e., acquires a negative connotation. The activities of the population often do harm to nature than good. This fact is explained by the violation natural patterns operating for millions of years.

Back in 1971, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the International Biological Program called "Man and the Biosphere". Its main task was to study and prevent adverse changes in the environment. AT last years adult and children's environmental organizations, scientific institutions very concerned about the preservation biodiversity.

How to improve environmental health?

We found out what the anthropogenic factor is in ecology, biology, geography and other sciences. It should be noted that the well-being of human society, the life of present and future generations of people depend on the quality and degree of influence of economic activity on the environment. It is necessary to reduce the environmental risk associated with the ever-increasing negative role anthropogenic factors.

According to the researchers, even the conservation of biological diversity is not enough to ensure the health of the environment. It can be unfavorable for human life with its former biodiversity, but strong radiation, chemical and other types of pollution.

There is an obvious connection between the health of nature, man and the degree of influence of anthropogenic factors. To reduce them negative impact it is required to form a new attitude towards the environment, responsibility for the prosperous existence of wildlife and the conservation of biodiversity.

The scale of human activity in the last few hundred years has increased immeasurably, which means that new anthropogenic factors have appeared. Examples of the impact, the place and role of humanity in changing the environment - all this later in the article.

life?

Part of the nature of the Earth in which organisms live is their habitat. The resulting relationships, lifestyle, productivity, number of creatures are studied by ecology. Allocate the main components of nature: soil, water and air. There are organisms that are adapted to living in one or three environments, such as coastal plants.

Separate elements interacting with living beings and among themselves are ecological factors. Each of them is irreplaceable. But in recent decades, anthropogenic factors have acquired planetary significance. Although not enough attention was paid to the influence of society on nature half a century ago, 150 years ago the science of ecology itself was in its infancy.

What are environmental factors?

All the diversity of society's impact on the environment is anthropogenic factors. Examples of negative influence:

• reduction of mineral reserves;
• deforestation;
• soil pollution;
• hunting and fishing;
• extermination of wild species.

The positive impact of man on the biosphere is associated with environmental protection measures. Reforestation and afforestation, landscaping and improvement of settlements, acclimatization of animals (mammals, birds, fish) are being carried out.

What is being done to improve the relationship between man and the biosphere?

The above examples of anthropogenic environmental factors, human intervention in nature indicate that the impact can be positive and negative. These characteristics are conditional, because a positive influence under changed conditions often becomes its opposite, i.e., acquires a negative connotation. The activities of the population often do harm to nature than good. This fact is explained by the violation of natural laws that have been in force for millions of years.

Back in 1971, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the International Biological Program called "Man and the Biosphere". Its main task was to study and prevent adverse changes in the environment. In recent years, adult and children's environmental organizations, scientific institutions are very concerned about the conservation of biological diversity.

How to improve environmental health?

We found out what the anthropogenic factor is in ecology, biology, geography and other sciences. It should be noted that the well-being of human society, the life of present and future generations of people depend on the quality and degree of influence of economic activity on the environment. It is necessary to reduce the environmental risk associated with the ever-increasing negative role of anthropogenic factors.

According to the researchers, not even enough to ensure the health of the environment. It can be unfavorable for human life with its former biodiversity, but strong radiation, chemical and other types of pollution.

There is an obvious connection between health and the degree of influence of anthropogenic factors. To reduce their negative impact, it is necessary to form a new attitude towards the environment, responsibility for the prosperous existence of wildlife and the conservation of biodiversity.

Anthropogenic factors (definition and examples). Their influence on biotic and abiotic factors of the natural environment

anthropogenic soil degradation natural

Anthropogenic factors are changes in the natural environment that have occurred as a result of economic and other human activities. Trying to remake nature, in order to adapt it to his needs, man transforms natural environment habitats of living organisms, influencing their lives. Anthropogenic factors include the following types:

1. Chemical.

2. Physical.

3. Biological.

4. Social.

Chemical anthropogenic factors include the use of mineral fertilizers and poisonous chemical substances for processing fields, as well as contamination of all earthly shells transport and industrial waste. Physical factors include the use of nuclear energy, increased levels of noise and vibration as a result of human activities, in particular when using a variety of vehicles. Biological factors are food. They also include organisms that can inhabit the human body or those for which a person is potentially food. Social factors determined by the coexistence of people in society and their relationships. Human impact on the environment can be direct, indirect and complex. Direct influence anthropogenic factors is carried out with a strong short-term impact of any of them. For example, when arranging a highway or laying railway tracks through a forest, seasonal commercial hunting in a certain area, etc. Indirect impact is manifested by a change natural landscapes with economic activity of a person of low intensity over a long period of time. At the same time, climate, physical and chemical composition reservoirs, the structure of soils, the structure of the Earth's surface, the composition of fauna and flora are changing. This happens, for example, during the construction of a metallurgical plant next to the railway without the use of the necessary treatment facilities, which leads to pollution surrounding nature liquid and gaseous wastes. In the future, trees in the nearby area die, animals are threatened with heavy metal poisoning, etc. The complex impact of direct and indirect factors entails the gradual appearance of pronounced changes in the environment, which may be due to rapid population growth, an increase in the number of livestock and animals living near human habitation (rats, cockroaches, crows, etc.), plowing of new lands, the ingress of harmful impurities into water bodies, etc. In such a situation, only those living organisms that are able to adapt to the new conditions of existence can survive in the changed landscape. In the 20th and 11th centuries, anthropogenic factors have become of great importance in changing climatic conditions, soil structure and composition atmospheric air, salt and fresh water bodies, in the reduction of forest area, the extinction of many representatives of the flora and fauna. Biotic factors (as opposed to abiotic factors, covering all possible actions inanimate nature), is a set of influences of the vital activity of some organisms on the vital activity of others, as well as on the inanimate habitat. In the latter case, we are talking about the ability of the organisms themselves to a certain extent influence the living conditions. For example, in the forest, under the influence of vegetation cover, a special microclimate or microenvironment is created, where, in comparison with an open habitat, its own temperature and humidity regime is created: in winter it is several degrees warmer, in summer it is cooler and wetter. A special microenvironment is also created in trees, in burrows, in caves, etc. It should be noted the conditions of the microenvironment under the snow cover, which already has a purely abiotic nature. As a result of the warming effect of snow, which is most effective when it is at least 50-70 cm thick, at its base, approximately in a 5-cm layer, small animals live in winter - rodents, because. temperature conditions for them are favorable here (from 0 ° to - 2 ° С). Thanks to the same effect, seedlings of winter cereals - rye, wheat - are preserved under the snow. Large animals - deer, elks, wolves, foxes, hares - also hide in the snow from severe frosts, lying down in the snow to rest. To abiotic factors(factors of inanimate nature) include:

The totality of physical and chemical properties soils and inorganic substances (H20, CO2, O2) that participate in the cycle;

Organic compounds that bind the biotic and abiotic part, air and water environment;

Climatic factors (minimum and maximum temperature, at which organisms can exist, light, geographical latitude continents, macroclimate, microclimate, relative humidity, Atmosphere pressure).

Conclusion: Thus, it has been established that anthropogenic, abiotic and biotic factors of the natural environment are interrelated. Changes in one of the factors entail changes both in other environmental factors and in the ecological environment itself.