Chapter 8. Chapter 8: Community Ecology

In what ways do human actions affect ecological communities...?

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Guiding Question 8.4

In what ways do human actions affect ecological communities, and how can we take steps to help restore damaged ecosystems?

Why You Should Care

Often, human activity disrupts the relationships between organisms in ecosystems and reduces their function, and it can take decades to determine what went wrong, why it happened, and how to correct the problem. Sometimes the effects of human activities are enough to make area uninhabitable. Sometimes, they jeopardize important resources and ecosystem services that usually aren’t fully appreciated until they are lost. Billions of dollars are now being spent to correct past mistakes, from the draining of the Everglades, to deer overpopulation, to the introduction of invasive sport fish. Billions more could be spared by understanding better how to avoid the problems in the first place.

Question 8.1

Much of the water that once flowed into the Everglades from Lake Okeechobee was diverted in the last century to supply water for growing nIXpTOtn9BqAQV4AXkaJxcUgNhiSPgoxC/19YC/FgS0WeMgNAV2oYEt67Mc=.

999
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Correct. Most of the drainage projects in the Everglades involved creating farm land for sugar cane. The sugar industry has vehemently opposed environmental restoration projects in the Everglades for years.
Incorrect. Most of the drainage projects in the Everglades involved creating farm land for sugar cane. The sugar industry has vehemently opposed environmental restoration projects in the Everglades for years.

Question 8.2

Most of the water that does not go to sugar-cane production goes to z0xsSQUEPaEBlnrxNat9oJEE9ggbbb6yU5jLxaewxLBmwZT+2h9KwUrX1s426NiAL9MtKxxuX71x9jwzX5UQUoD7+vz+xY9lxRll3fmNTxgBxFYSZnZ2DtDjNBPwvueLrp0zEl4gxWDkyHOZpG0yrF96RZiLgxBVe1ZGm1IkYhmcq3QWVnzpAqDDl3QWTjNc+B/WURYEOxImt5XuZifw/Nd6iJwXtEsXCPUUGcxPz2rCopfLaxd63hZCHVjsKrwfwkZL6Eoi1355cdpuX6wRefDPK0mv6TClDmu11mwWQwqMo7OHVGmqEw2hKBlH5hP1IOkq5A==.

999
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Correct.
Incorrect.

Question 8.3

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The most obvious answer is that the water decontamination that was once performed by the intact wetlands of the Everglades has been lost. Another is that the health habitat for commercial fish to breed was lost when the estuaries feeding Florida Bay dried up.

Question 8.4

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You could choose a number of reasons why, including politics, funding, and the rights of citizens living in the area to be restored, among others.

Question 8.5

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No, the Everglades will not be completely restored back to the way they were before drainage and development. Nevertheless, parts will be restored back to functioning as they once did. They will be smaller, but they will be back.