Natural and anthropogenic environmental factors. Environmental factors

The most significant group of factors currently intensively changing the environment is directly related to diverse human activities.

Human development on the planet has always been associated with impact on the environment, but today this process has accelerated significantly.

Anthropogenic factors include any impact (both direct and indirect) of humans on the environment - organisms, biogeocenoses, landscapes, etc.

By remaking nature and adapting it to his needs, man changes the habitat of animals and plants, thereby influencing their lives. The impact can be direct, indirect and accidental.

Direct impact directed directly at living organisms. For example, unsustainable fishing and hunting have sharply reduced the numbers of a number of species. The growing force and accelerated pace of change in nature by man necessitates its protection.

Indirect Impact carried out by changing landscapes, climate, physical condition and the chemistry of the atmosphere and water bodies, the structure of the earth's surface, soils, vegetation and wildlife. Man consciously and unconsciously exterminates or displaces some species of plants and animals, spreads others or creates for them favorable conditions. Man has created a largely new environment for cultivated plants and domestic animals, greatly increasing the productivity of developed lands. But this excluded the possibility of the existence of many wild species.

To be fair, it should be said that many species of animals and plants disappeared from the face of the Earth even without human intervention. Each species, like an individual organism, has its own youth, flowering, old age and death - natural process. But in nature this happens slowly, and usually the departing species have time to be replaced by new ones, more adapted to the living conditions. Man has accelerated the process of extinction to such a pace that evolution has given way to revolutionary, irreversible transformations.

Environmental factors Based on their origin, environments are divided into:

1. Biotic.

2. Abiotic.

3. Anthropogenic.

Changes in the natural environment that have occurred as a result of economic and other human activities are caused by anthropogenic factors. Trying to remake nature in order to adapt it to his needs, man transforms the natural habitat 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 mineral fertilizers and poisonous chemical substances for the cultivation of fields, as well as the pollution of all the earth's shells with transport and industrial waste. Physical factors include the use of nuclear energy, increased noise and vibration levels as a result of human activity, in particular when using a variety of vehicles. Biological factors- These are food products. These also include organisms that can live in the human body or those for which humans are potentially food. Social factors determined by the coexistence of people in society and their relationships.

Human influence on the environment can be direct, indirect and complex. The direct influence of anthropogenic factors occurs with strong short-term exposure to any of them. For example, when developing a highway or laying railway tracks through a forest, seasonal commercial hunting in a certain area, etc. Indirect impact is manifested by changes in natural landscapes when economic activity person of low intensity for long period time. At the same time, climate, physical and chemical composition reservoirs, the structure of soils, the structure of the Earth's surface, and the composition of fauna and flora change. This happens, for example, during construction metallurgical plant next to the railway without using the necessary treatment facilities, which entails pollution of the environment with liquid and gaseous waste. Subsequently, trees in the nearby area die, animals are at risk of being poisoned by heavy metals, etc. Complex impact direct and indirect factors entails the gradual appearance pronounced changes environment, which may be due rapid growth population, an increase in the number of livestock and animals living near human habitation (rats, cockroaches, crows, etc.), plowing of new lands, the entry of harmful impurities into water bodies, etc. In such a situation, only those living organisms that are able to adapt to new conditions of existence can survive in a changed landscape.

In the 20th and 10th centuries, anthropogenic factors acquired great value in change climatic conditions, the structure of soils and the composition of atmospheric air, salt and fresh water bodies, the reduction of forest area, the extinction of many representatives of the flora and fauna.

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

anthropogenic degradation soil natural

Anthropogenic factors are changes in the natural environment that occurred as a result of economic and other human activities. Trying to remake nature in order to adapt it to his needs, man transforms the natural habitat 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 toxic chemicals for processing fields, as well as the pollution of all earth's shells with transport and industrial waste. Physical factors include the use of nuclear energy, increased noise and vibration levels as a result of human activity, in particular when using a variety of vehicles. Biological factors are food. These also include organisms that can live in the human body or those for which humans are potentially food. Social factors are determined by the coexistence of people in society and their relationships. Human influence on the environment can be direct, indirect and complex. The direct influence of anthropogenic factors occurs with strong short-term exposure to any of them. For example, when developing a highway or laying railway tracks through a forest, seasonal commercial hunting in a certain area, etc. Indirect impact is manifested by changes in natural landscapes due to human economic activity of low intensity over a long period of time. At the same time, the climate, physical and chemical composition of water bodies are affected, the structure of soils, the structure of the Earth's surface, and the composition of fauna and flora change. This happens, for example, during the construction of a metallurgical plant near a railway without the use of the necessary treatment facilities, which leads to pollution of the environment with liquid and gaseous waste. Subsequently, trees in the nearby area die, animals are at risk of being poisoned by heavy metals, etc. The complex impact of direct and indirect factors entails the gradual appearance of pronounced environmental changes, 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 entry of harmful impurities into water bodies, etc. In such a situation, only those living organisms that are able to adapt to new conditions of existence can survive in a changed landscape. In the 20th and 10th centuries, anthropogenic factors became of great importance in changing climatic conditions, the structure of soils and the composition of atmospheric air, salt and fresh water bodies, reducing the area of ​​forests, and the extinction of many representatives of the flora and fauna. Biotic factors (as opposed to abiotic factors, which cover all possible actions inanimate nature), is a set of influences of the life activity of some organisms on the life activity of others, as well as on the inanimate environment. In the latter case, we are talking about the ability of the organisms themselves to influence their living conditions to a certain extent. For example, in a 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 more humid. A special microenvironment is also created in trees, burrows, caves, etc. It should be noted the conditions of the microenvironment under the snow cover, which is already of a purely abiotic nature. As a result of the warming effect of snow, which is most effective when its thickness is at least 50-70 cm, small animals - rodents - live in the winter at its base, in about a 5-centimeter layer. The temperature conditions for them here are favorable (from 0° to - 2°C). Thanks to the same effect, seedlings of winter cereals - rye and wheat - are preserved under the snow. Large animals - deer, elk, wolves, foxes, hares - also hide in the snow from severe frosts - lying down in the snow to rest. Abiotic factors (factors of inanimate nature) include:

A set of physical and chemical properties soil and inorganic substances(H20, CO2, O2), which participate in the cycle;

Organic compounds that connect the biotic and abiotic parts, air and aquatic environments;

Climatic factors (minimum and maximum temperatures at which organisms can exist, light, latitude of continents, macroclimate, microclimate, relative humidity, atmospheric 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 in both other factors of the natural environment and in the ecological environment itself.

 Anthropogenic factors – This is a combination of various human impacts on inanimate and living nature. Human action in nature is enormous and extremely diverse. Human impact can be direct and indirect. The most obvious manifestation of anthropogenic influence on the biosphere is environmental pollution.

Influence anthropogenic factor in nature it can be like conscious , so and accidental or unconscious .

TO conscious include - plowing virgin lands, creating agrocenoses (agricultural land), settling animals, and environmental pollution.

TO random These include impacts that occur in nature under the influence of human activity, but were not foreseen and planned in advance by him - the spread of various pests, accidental importation of organisms, unforeseen consequences caused by conscious actions (draining swamps, building dams, etc.).

Other classifications of anthropogenic factors have been proposed : changing regularly, periodically and changing without any patterns.

There are other approaches to classifying environmental factors:

in order(primary and secondary);

by time(evolutionary and historical);

by origin(cosmic, abiotic, biogenic, biotic, biological, natural-anthropogenic);

by environment of origin(atmospheric, aquatic, geomorphological, edaphic, physiological, genetic, population, biocenotic, ecosystem, biosphere);

by degree of impact(lethal - leading a living organism to death, extreme, limiting, disturbing, mutagenic, teratogenic - leading to deformities during individual development).

Population L-3

Term "population" was first introduced in 1903 by Johansen.

Population - This is an elementary group of organisms of a certain species, which has all the necessary conditions to maintain its numbers for an indefinitely long time in constantly changing environmental conditions.

Population - This is a collection of individuals of the same species, which has a common gene pool and occupies a certain territory.

View - This is a complex biological system consisting of groups of organisms - populations.

Population structure characterized by its constituent individuals and their distribution in space. Functions population – growth, development, ability to maintain existence in constantly changing conditions.

Depending on the size of the occupied territory allocate three types of populations :

elementary (micropopulation)- This is a collection of individuals of a species occupying a small area of ​​homogeneous area. The composition includes genetically homogeneous individuals;

environmental - is formed as a set of elementary populations.

These are mainly intraspecific groups, weakly isolated from other ecological populations. Identifying the properties of individual ecological populations is an important task in understanding the properties of a species in determining its role in a particular habitat; geographical -

cover a group of individuals inhabiting an area with geographically homogeneous living conditions. Geographic populations occupy a relatively large area, are fairly demarcated and relatively isolated. They differ in fertility, size of individuals, and a number of ecological, physiological, behavioral and other features. The population has biological features (characteristic of all its constituent organisms) and group characteristics

TO (serve as unique characteristics of the group). biological features

TO refers to the presence of a population’s life cycle, its ability to grow, differentiate and self-sustain. group characteristics

include fertility, mortality, age, sex structure of the population and genetic adaptability (this group of characteristics applies only to the population).

The following types of spatial distribution of individuals in populations are distinguished: 1. uniform (regular) ,

- characterized by equal distance of each individual from all neighboring ones; the distance between individuals corresponds to the threshold beyond which mutual oppression begins - 2. diffuse (random)

found in nature more often - individuals are distributed in space unevenly, randomly, is expressed in the formation of groups of individuals, between which there remain quite large uninhabited territories .

A population is an elementary unit of the evolutionary process, and a species is its qualitative stage. The most important are quantitative characteristics.

There are two groups quantitative indicators :

static – characterize the state of the population at this stage;

dynamic – characterize processes occurring in a population over a certain period (interval) of time.

TO statistical indicators populations include:

number,

density,

structure indicators.

Population size - this is the total number of individuals in a given territory or in a given volume.

The number is never constant and depends on the ratio of reproduction intensity and mortality. During the process of reproduction, the population grows, mortality leads to a reduction in its number.

Population density determined by the number of individuals or biomass per unit area or volume.

Distinguish :

average density- is the number or biomass per unit of total space;

specific or environmental density- number or biomass per unit of inhabited space.

The most important condition for the existence of a population or its ecotype is their tolerance to environmental factors (conditions). Tolerance in different individuals and to different parts spectrum is different, therefore The tolerance of the population is much wider than that of individual individuals.

Population dynamics – these are processes of changes in its main biological indicators over time.

Main dynamic indicators (characteristics) of populations are:

birth rate,

mortality,

population growth rate.

Fertility - the ability of a population to increase in size through reproduction.

Distinguish the following types of fertility:

maximum;

environmental.

Maximum, or absolute, physiological fertility - the appearance of the theoretically maximum possible number of new individuals under individual conditions, i.e., in the absence of limiting factors. This indicator is a constant value for a given population.

Ecological, or realizable, fertility denotes an increase in population under actual, or specific, environmental conditions. It depends on the composition, size of the population and actual environmental conditions.

Mortality - characterizes the death of individuals in populations over a certain period of time.

There are:

specific mortality - the number of deaths in relation to the number of individuals making up the population;

environmental or marketable, mortality – death of individuals in specific environmental conditions (the value is not constant, varies depending on the state of the natural environment and the state of the population).

Any population is capable of unlimited growth in numbers if it is not limited by factors external environment abiotic and biotic origin.

This dynamic is described by A. Lotka's equation : d N / d t ≈ r N

N– number of individuals;t- time;r- biotic potential

News and society

Anthropogenic factors: examples. What is the anthropogenic factor?

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

What is the living environment?

The part of the Earth's nature in which organisms live is their habitat. The relationships that arise in this case, the way of life, productivity, and number of creatures are studied by ecology. The main components of nature are distinguished: soil, water and air. There are organisms that are adapted to live in one environment or three, for example, coastal plants.

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

What are environmental factors?

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

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

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What are the environmental factors?

Conditions affecting living organisms and their habitat can be classified according to their properties into one of three groups:

• inorganic or abiotic factors (solar radiation, air, temperature, water, wind, salinity);
• biotic conditions that are associated with the cohabitation of microorganisms, animals, and plants that influence each other and 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, the abundance of water does not replenish the amount needed for plant nutrition mineral elements and light.

What is the anthropogenic factor?

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

Any human impact on living organisms and the entire environment are anthropogenic factors. Examples exist both positive and negative. There are cases of favorable changes in nature due to environmental 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 appearance of the Earth

Any type of economic activity of the population affects the connections between living organisms and natural environment habitats, often leads to their disruption. In place of natural complexes and landscapes, anthropogenic ones arise:

• fields, gardens and vegetable gardens;
• reservoirs, ponds, canals;
• parks, forest belts;
• cultivated pastures.

The similarities of natural complexes created by man are further influenced by anthropogenic, biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Examples: formation of deserts - to agricultural plantations; overgrowing of ponds.

How does man influence nature?

Humanity - part of the Earth's biosphere - for a long period was completely dependent on those around it. natural conditions. As the nervous system, in particular the brain, thanks to the improvement of tools, 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 top part earth's crust, biogenic migration of atoms has increased.

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

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

The positive impact of humans on the biosphere is associated with environmental 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 and 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, that is, it acquires a negative connotation. The activities of the population more often cause harm to nature than benefit. This fact is explained by the violation of natural laws that have been in effect 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 last years Adult and children's environmental organizations and scientific institutions are very concerned about the preservation of biological diversity.

How to improve the health of the environment?

We found out what the anthropogenic factor is in ecology, biology, geography and other sciences. Let us note 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 increasingly negative role of anthropogenic factors.

According to researchers, even preserving biodiversity is not enough to ensure a healthy environment. It may be unfavorable for human life with its previous biodiversity, but strong radiation, chemical and other types of pollution.

The connection between the health of nature, humans and the degree of influence of anthropogenic factors is obvious. To reduce them negative impact it is necessary to form a new attitude towards the environment, responsibility for the safe existence of wildlife and the conservation of biodiversity.