PREVENTING HABITAT POLLUTION AND DESTRUCTION Chapter 8

POLLUTION AND POLLUTANTS Pollution – the presence of harmful substances in the environment. Pollutant – any substance that causes pollution. Air pollutant – any material that gets into the air and degrades its quality (may be gases or small particles). Water pollutant – any liquid or tiny solid material that gets into the water. Soil pollutant – any material that gets into the soil and degrades its quality.

DEGRADATION OF POLLUTANTS Degradable pollutant – one that can decompose, be removed, or consumed by natural processes (paper, leaves, plastic). Nondegrabable pollutant – one that is not easily broken down by natural processes (heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium)

DANGEROUS POLLUTANTS Pesticides – used to control pests…mostly insects. Persistent pesticides – slow to degrade and sometimes degrade into more toxic compounds (DDT). Engine emissions – burning fossil fuels produces carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxides. Oil spills – from old leaky engines, leaking pipelines, tanker wrecks, oil well blowouts. Lead shot – shotgun shell pellets accidently eaten by waterfowl. Thermal pollution – usually cooling water from factories and powerplants.

SOURCES OF POLLUTION Daily living – garbage, flushing toilet, etc. Storm Water – parking lot and street runoff. Manufacturing – smoke, wastewater. Combustion engines – burning fossil fuels produces hazardous pollutants. Power generation – burn oil, coal, or natural gas or run on nuclear materials (all generate hazardous air pollutants) Point-source pollution – released from an identifiable source (pipe) Non-point source – released from broad areas such as parking lot.

EFFECTS OF POLLUTION ON WILDLIFE Bioaccumulation – some pollutants get stored in animals and they can’t get rid of them. Biomagnification – some pollutants get in food chain and levels increase at each trophic level. Some pollutants may cause disease or even death. Some pollutants cause infertility, defects, or mutations. Natural pollution – volcanoes may put large amounts of gas and ash into air, natural oil seeps in the Gulf.

HABITAT DESTRUCTION Cutting timber – improper harvest without replanting Clearing land – without anti-erosion measures Storing waste – without leak prevention Mining – strip mining Animal production – without proper animal waste disposal Crop production – without conservation practices