AQA Biology 4.7.3.3
Land use and peat bogs
Every field we build on is land that wild species lose. Find the four ways humans use up land, then weigh up one bog with two futures.
Combined Science · Higher tier
Start here
A field at the edge of town.
The field has long grass, hedges and a pond. A builder turns it into a housing estate: houses, roads, driveways and small gardens.
If you had to guess, would more or fewer kinds of wild plants and animals live there afterwards?
Four land uses · one area
Humans reduce the land left for other species.
Building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste all take land. Each time, a habitat is destroyed and wild species have less space. Tap each use to give it a quarter of the land.
HABITAT LEFT FOR WILD SPECIES
4 of 4 parts
Tap a land use.
One peat bog · two futures
Peat is stored carbon and a habitat.
A peat bog is waterlogged, so there is not enough oxygen for decomposers. Dead plants only partly decay, and over thousands of years they build up as peat. Peat stores a large amount of carbon, and the bog is home to specialised plants, animals and microorganisms.
Carbon
Stays locked in the peat.
Habitat
Kept for its specialised plants, animals and microorganisms.
Biodiversity
The variety of species living there is kept.
Peat is dug up mainly to sell as compost, for gardens and for commercial food production. It can also be burned as a fuel. Why extra carbon dioxide matters is in Global warming.
The conflict
Cheap compost, or a bog kept wet?
For digging peat
Peat compost is cheap and available. It helps farmers and growers increase food production.
For conserving the bog
The bog stays a habitat, so its biodiversity is kept. The carbon stays locked in the peat, so less carbon dioxide is released.
Peat-free compost helps protect peat bogs: less demand for peat means fewer bogs are dug.
Think again · how many harms
“Destroying a peat bog just kills the plants growing on it.”
Your call
ChooseA peat bog is drained and dug for compost. Which answer gives the harms in full?
Sort
Use, harm or reason?
Place each statement.
Tap a card, then tap the box it belongs in. Tap a placed card to take it back.
Command words in this lesson
- Describe
- Name the land uses, or say what happens to the bog.
- Explain
- Link each step: habitat lost, so biodiversity falls; peat decays, so carbon dioxide is released.
- Evaluate
- Give points on both sides, then a judgement with a reason.
Key fact
Destroying peat bogs reduces a habitat, so biodiversity falls, and the decay or burning of the peat releases carbon dioxide.
Key note · AQA 4.7.3.3
Land use and peat bogs
- Humans reduce the land available for other animals and plants by building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste.
- Peat bogs are waterlogged: dead plants only partly decay and build up as peat, which stores carbon.
- Peat is dug mainly for compost, and can be burned as a fuel.
- Destroying peat bogs reduces the area of this habitat, so biodiversity falls.
- The decay or burning of peat releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
- The conflict: cheap compost for food production against conserving bogs for biodiversity and to cut carbon dioxide. Peat-free compost helps.
Photograph this card. Tomorrow, cover it and say each line first.
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Ask MrBadmus
Not sure how a bog gives off carbon dioxide?
Land and bog diagrams are schematic and not to scale.