Pollution

Pollution or poisoning of the soil, water and atmosphere as a result of excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture and of certain human activities, especially those connected with industry. Examples for the impacts of pollution on biodiversity are given below (after Naturopa, 1996):

• Acid deposits (sulphates and nitrates) have left a large number of Scandinavian lakes almost devoid of life and have damaged many European forests.
• These deposits also have harmful effects on birds, which lay eggs with more fragile and porous shells.
• Air pollution explains the depletion in plant diversity observed in grasslands in Poland.
• Marine pollution causes serious damage to coral reefs and estuaries, thereby affecting reproduction of certain marine species.