AQA GCSE Biology Foundation (8461), Foundation tier · Ecology › Biodiversity and human interaction
Practise Land use. 5 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
Humans use land for building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste, leaving less for other species. You also need the example of peat bogs: why destroying them reduces biodiversity and releases carbon dioxide.
Key facts
Land is used for building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste
Less land for other species → lower biodiversity
Peat = partly decayed plant material that forms very slowly in waterlogged bogs
Peat is dug up to produce garden compost
Destroying peat bogs → less habitat → lower biodiversity
Burning or decay of peat → releases CO2
Peat-free compost helps protect peat bogs
Notes
How humans use land
Building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste all take up land, leaving less for other plants and animals.
As the human population grows, more land is needed for houses, roads, factories and food.
Destroying habitats leaves less space, food and shelter for other species, so biodiversity falls.
Farming large areas of one crop replaces many species with just one.
Peat bogs
Peat is made of partly decayed plant material. It forms in bogs, which are waterlogged and acidic, so there is little oxygen and decay is very slow.
Peat builds up extremely slowly, so it is used up far faster than it forms.
Peat bogs are the habitat of a particular range of plants, animals and microorganisms, many of them rare.
Digging peat out of bogs to sell as garden compost shrinks this habitat, so fewer of its plant, animal and microorganism species can survive: biodiversity falls.
Peat and carbon dioxide
diagram
Peat is a store of carbon, locked up in plant material that has not decayed.
When peat is burned as a fuel, combustion releases carbon dioxide.
When peat is drained or dug up and spread as compost, oxygen reaches it, so microorganisms decay it and their respiration releases carbon dioxide.
This adds to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
Two ways that using peat releases the carbon stored in it.
Using peat-free compost (e.g. made from garden waste, bark or coconut fibre) helps protect peat bogs.
How to answer each type of question
Recall: how humans reduce land for other species
2 marksGrade 3
Give two from: building, quarrying, farming, dumping waste (landfill).
Be specific: 'building houses' rather than 'using land'.
Example. Give two human activities that leave less land for wild plants and animals.
Show the model answerHide the model answer
Any two from: building (1); quarrying (1); farming (1); dumping waste / landfill (1)
Don’t lose marks
Giving only one of the two problems with using peat. Most questions want both: loss of habitat (biodiversity) and release of carbon dioxide.
Saying peat releases carbon dioxide 'naturally' without the process: combustion, or respiration by microorganisms.
Saying land use 'kills animals' without explaining habitat loss: less food, space and shelter.
More tips
Memory tricks
Land use, BQFW: Building, Quarrying, Farming, Waste.
Peat is a carbon bank: burn it or let it decay and the carbon comes back out as carbon dioxide.
Waterlogged means little oxygen, so decay is slow and peat builds up.
Exam technique
For peat questions, cover both biodiversity and carbon dioxide unless told otherwise.
In 'evaluate' questions, give points on both sides and a justified conclusion.
Use the terms habitat, biodiversity, respiration and combustion.
What each grade needs
What you need to be able to do, from the first marks up to the top grade.
Grade 3
Name ways humans use landBuilding, quarrying, farming and dumping waste.
Grade 4
Explain how land use reduces biodiversityHabitats are destroyed, so there is less space, food and shelter for other plants and animals.
Grade 5
State why peat bogs are destroyedPeat is dug up to produce garden compost.
Quick recall
Cover the answers and test yourself. The app has these as flashcards that come back just before you'd forget them.
Peat is dug from peat bogs. What is most of this peat used to produce?
Garden compost
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy5 marks
Humans reduce the amount of land available for other animals and plants.
(a) Which two human activities reduce the land available for other animals and plants? Tick (✓) two boxes.[2]
Building
Planting hedgerows
Quarrying
Creating nature reserves
(b) Give one other human activity that reduces the land available for other organisms.[1]
(c) Peat is dug from peat bogs. What is most of this peat used to produce?[1]
(d) Burning or decay of peat releases a gas that contributes to global warming. Name this gas.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Building; Quarrying
(b)
farming
dumping waste / landfill
(c)Answer: Garden compost
(garden) compost
(d)Answer: Carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide
Question 2Medium7 marks
Peat bogs are areas of waterlogged, acidic land. Dead plants in peat bogs decay very slowly, so they build up over thousands of years to form peat. Peat is dug up and sold to gardeners as compost.
(a) Explain why dead plants decay very slowly in peat bogs.[2]
(b) Explain how digging up peat bogs affects biodiversity.[2]
(c) When peat is used in gardens, it decays. Explain how this contributes to global warming.[3]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
waterlogged, so there is very little oxygen
(and acidic, so) decomposers / microorganisms cannot survive or respire / work well
(b)
it reduces the area of peat bog habitat
so it reduces the variety of plant, animal and microorganism species that live there
(c)
the peat is exposed to oxygen, so microorganisms can decay it
the microorganisms release carbon dioxide in respiration / carbon stored for thousands of years is released as carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide increases the greenhouse effect / global warming