Cause/Effect of Human Interactions
- Poor Soil Management- The effect of poor soil management is erosion, nutrient depletion, and desertification. Erosion carries away the soil and doesn't allow plants to grow there. Nutrient depletion also causes this problem. The soil becomes unfertile and plants can't grow. Poor soil management also leads desertification or the advance of desert-like conditions into areas that previously were fertile. All of these things can lead to a decreases in an organisms population.
2. Deforestation and Urbanization- Deforestation is when people cut down woodlands to harvest timber or clear the land for farms or ranches. Urbanization is when large areas of land are developed as more and more people move into cities and suburbs. Both of these problems destroy animal's habitat and cause them to lose their homes. this decreases population and increases competition for shelter
3. Air Pollution- Air pollution is the release of emissions into the atmosphere . This causes many problems like acid rain which damages the environment with its acid. Air pollution also increases the size of the hole in the ozone layer. In the freshwater swamps the air pollutes the water when it rains because it polluted rain gets into the water.
4. Water Pollution- Water pollution is the result of human activities. These human activities are caused by agriculture, household, industry and mining wastes, sediments, heat, and oil or gasoline wastes. Agricultural, household, industry and mining wastes are all results of human activities that end up in the water. The heat kills organisms in the water and the sediment clogs up the natural cleaning system of the fresh water swamps. Oil and gasoline can kill organisms and can end up in the aquifer, permanently damaging the water.
Effects On Population
The American alligator's population can be affected by all of the things mentioned above. Competition can also affect the size of the population along with human interactions. humans can completely affect the ecosystem with their daily activities. Most of these activities involve in polluting the environment. Competition for food and shelter can limit the population size of the American alligator if it can't beat its competitor, the wood stork. Both of these organisms eat the same things and live in the same place. An increase of the wood stork could result in a decrease of the population because the wood stork would eat all the food. All of these things could increase the death rate of the American alligator's population.