How Does Agriculture Affect Biodiversity?

NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE: LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH TASK

How does agriculture affect biodiversity?

By Merisa Van Schellebeck

Table of Contents
Abstract 2
Literature review 3
Aim and Hypothesis 4
Methodology 5:6
Representation of Results: Table……………………………………………………………………………………...........……….7
Representation of Results: Graph 8:9
Interpretation of Results………………………………………………………………….................................………………10
Conclusion 11
Reference..…………………………………………………………………………………………….12
Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………13

Abstract:
The research conducted investigates how agriculture affects the biodiversity of an area. The areas investigated included five different ecosystems namely the indigenous forest, rehabilitated

The surrounding areas of the forest have been turned into a gum tree plantation. This gum tree plantation is what Mondi uses to produce paper. The gum trees are not indigenous to South Africa. They are indigenous to Australia. The leaves from the Gum Tree contain eucalyptus oil which are undesirable to animals indigenous to South Africa to eat but in Australia these leaves form the diet of Koala bears. The leaves also have a strong smell which deters animals. Due to all the factors animals do not want to live in an area where they cannot eat the leaves of trees and the smell is unpleasant this causes a decrease in the biodiversity not only in animals but plants too. The biodiversity of the plants in a gum tree plantation is lower than that of a normal forest as there is only one plant being planted as well as the fact that gum trees require a lot of water which makes it harder for other plants to grow in that

There was a great amount of decaying vegetation on the plantation floor. In the gum tree plantation you could not see many animals or plants besides the gum trees. The gum trees were very tall and thin trees. There were many of the gum trees which makes sense as it was a gum tree plantation.
Site 2: The Rehabilitated Forest
The rehabilitated forest was filled with many variations of trees and plants. There was a lot more variety in terms of plants and animals when compared to the gum tree plantation. The rehabilitated forest looked like a normal indigenous forest and there was not a lot of decaying vegetation on the forest floor in comparison to the gum tree plantation.
Site 3: The Indigenous Forest
The indigenous forest was the site with the most biodiversity, if you were just looking at the different types of trees and plants seen. There were many different species of plants and animals to be seen. There was not a lot of decaying vegetation and the forest floor was mostly just soil and ground covering shrubs.
Site 4: Grasslands
The grasslands were an area filled of long tall grass. There were not many animals present or other