What this lesson teaches
I can explain how a community and the nature areas near it depend on and change each other.
Syllabus K329, Topic 1.1, Key Question 1. What is the relationship between people and nature in their neighbourhoods?
Make a guess
A neighbourhood park gets more visitors every year. Many walk across the grass instead of using the paths. What happens to the park first?
- Nothing, because more visitors means people care more.
- Plants die and the soil gets packed down.
- The soil soaks up more rain because it is loosened.
- The trees grow faster because there is more sunlight.
Show the answer
Plants die and the soil gets packed down.
Repeated trampling kills plants and presses soil particles together. That is the first change, and it starts a chain of harm to the habitat.
People and nearby nature depend on each other: nature helps people, and people's actions decide whether nature stays healthy.
People and nearby nature affect each other. This two-way link is called interdependence. Trees shade the ground. Plants release water vapour through transpiration, which helps cool the area. Plants can trap some dust in the air, and parks give people space to exercise, relax and meet. These benefits depend on local conditions and whether people can reach the park. One tree cannot remove every pollutant.
Residents can help nature too. They can clear litter, care for plants and explain why visitors should stay on paths and not feed wildlife. Their support helps protect a site.
Human activity can also damage habitats. Repeated trampling kills plants and packs soil particles together. Less water soaks into this compacted soil, so more flows over the surface as runoff, which can wash away exposed soil. Litter pollutes habitats, while noise and getting too close disturb wildlife.
Put these in order
Visitors keep walking off the path in a park. Put the chain of effects in order.
- More water flows over the surface as runoff.
- Plants die and the soil particles are packed together.
- Runoff washes away exposed soil and the habitat is harmed.
- Less rainwater soaks into the ground.
- Visitors keep walking off the path across the same patch of ground.
Show the answer
- Visitors keep walking off the path across the same patch of ground. Repeated feet crush the plants and press down on the soil beneath them.
- Plants die and the soil particles are packed together. Compacted soil has fewer air spaces, so rain cannot soak in easily.
- Less rainwater soaks into the ground. Water that cannot soak in has to go somewhere, so it flows over the surface.
- More water flows over the surface as runoff. Runoff moving over bare ground picks up loose soil and carries it away.
- Runoff washes away exposed soil and the habitat is harmed.
Nature can bring costs to people too. Some wild animals injure people or damage property. Protecting a habitat may leave less land for a road or building. So planners face a trade-off: more space for one use can mean less for another.
- Interdependence
- People and nature depend on each other.
- Nature's benefits
- Cooling, cleaner air and space for recreation.
- Visitor pressure
- Trampling, litter and noise can harm habitats.
Step by step
Name the action
Visitors keep walking off the path.
Explain the change
Plants die and the soil is packed down, so less water soaks in.
Trace the result
More runoff washes soil away and harms the habitat.
Worked example: Linking habitats near homes
NParks links green areas with nature corridors and planted nature ways. Animals can move between habitats, and residents enjoy greenery nearby. Paths and signs help stop visitors damaging these areas.
Watch out for this
More visitors always mean a healthier nature area.
Visitors can help protect nature, but too much unmanaged use damages it.
Check your understanding
Which statement shows people affecting nature through a clear process?
- Trees shade a path, so more people choose to walk there in the afternoon heat.
- The park is green, so residents live nearby.
- Repeated trampling kills plants and exposes soil to erosion.
Show the answer
Repeated trampling kills plants and exposes soil to erosion.
Yes. It names the action, the change and the result.