Land use — AQA GCSE Biology
Test yourself on Land use with AQA GCSE practice questions.
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Land use explained
The land surface is finite, so land used for human purposes is unavailable as habitat for other organisms.
Read the full explanation
Building covers land with houses, roads, factories and airports, removing vegetation and fragmenting what remains. Quarrying removes rock and soil, destroying habitats directly and leaving spoil heaps and dust. Farming uses large areas for crops, pasture and livestock, and may replace diverse ecosystems with single-species fields, while hedgerow removal and drainage reduce shelter and breeding sites. Dumping waste creates landfill sites that bury habitats and can release pollutants. Each activity reduces the area, quality or connectivity of habitats. Smaller, isolated habitats support fewer species and smaller populations, which are more vulnerable to extinction. The overall effect is a reduction in biodiversity, although some species may benefit from human-made environments.
The destruction of peat bogs, and other areas of peat to produce garden compost, reduces the area of this habitat and thus the variety of different plant, animal and microorganism species that live there (biodiversity).
Peat bogs are waterlogged, acidic, low-oxygen habitats where dead plant material accumulates over thousands of years because decomposition is very slow. This waterlogged peat supports specialised plants such as sphagnum mosses, plus insects, birds and microorganisms adapted to the wet, acidic conditions. Peat is extracted and sold as garden compost or soil improver. Extraction drains the bog, removes the peat layer and destroys the habitat. The area of peat bog decreases, so the range of plant, animal and microorganism species living there falls. Species that cannot survive elsewhere may become locally extinct. Even after extraction stops, a bog may take a very long time to recover because peat forms slowly. The loss is therefore a reduction in biodiversity caused by destroying a specific habitat for a human product.
The decay or burning of the peat releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Peat stores carbon because dead plant material has not fully decomposed. When peat is drained and exposed to air, microorganisms decompose the organic matter aerobically, and respiration releases carbon dioxide. When peat is burned as a fuel, combustion also releases carbon dioxide. In both cases, carbon that was locked in the peat for thousands of years enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. This adds to the greenhouse effect and contributes to global warming. The release can happen during extraction, when drained peat is exposed, and when peat-based compost is used or peat is burned. The key biological process in decay is respiration by decomposers; the key chemical process in burning is combustion. Both pathways return stored carbon to the atmosphere.
Your focus
- Identify building, quarrying, farming and waste dumping as ways humans reduce land available to other organisms.
- Describe how each activity removes or degrades habitat.
- Explain how habitat loss leads to reduced biodiversity.
Show all 9 objectives
- Describe peat bogs as waterlogged, acidic habitats with slow decomposition.
- Explain that extracting peat for garden compost destroys peat bog habitat.
- Link the reduced area of peat bog to a reduced variety of plant, animal and microorganism species.
- State that decay or burning of peat releases carbon dioxide.
- Describe the role of microorganisms in the decay of peat.
- Explain how carbon stored in peat returns to the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect.
Land use exam tips
Marking Points
- Land is a finite resource, so land used by humans is not available as habitat for other organisms.
- Building covers land with structures and surfaces, removing vegetation and fragmenting habitats.
- Quarrying removes rock and soil, destroying habitats and creating spoil heaps and dust.
- Farming replaces diverse habitats with managed land, often with few plant species and reduced shelter.
- Dumping waste creates landfill and polluted ground, burying or damaging habitats.
- Reduced habitat area and connectivity lower species richness and population sizes, so biodiversity falls.
- Peat bogs are waterlogged, acidic, low-oxygen habitats where decomposition is slow and peat accumulates.
- Peat is extracted and used to produce garden compost or soil improver.
- Extraction drains and removes the peat, destroying the bog habitat.
- The area of peat bog habitat is reduced.
- Specialised plants, animals and microorganisms lose their habitat, so the variety of species living there decreases.
- The reduction in the variety of species is a reduction in biodiversity, and recovery is very slow because peat forms over thousands of years.
- Peat stores carbon in dead plant material that has not fully decomposed.
- Decay of peat involves microorganisms breaking down organic matter, and respiration releases carbon dioxide.
- Burning peat is combustion, which also releases carbon dioxide.
- In both decay and burning, carbon stored in peat is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
- Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, so its release contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
- The release occurs when peat is drained and exposed, used as compost, or burned as fuel.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use all four named activities from the statement and give a habitat effect for each.
- 💡Link each activity to a consequence such as habitat loss, fragmentation or reduced species richness.
- 💡Use comparative language such as fewer species and smaller populations to show the effect on biodiversity.
- 💡State that peat bogs are a specific habitat and that peat is used in garden compost.
- 💡Use the phrase variety of different plant, animal and microorganism species when explaining the biodiversity loss.
- 💡Link destruction of the bog to reduced habitat area and then to reduced species variety, in that order.
- 💡Name both processes, decay and burning, and state that each releases carbon dioxide.
- 💡Identify microorganisms as the decomposers responsible for decay.
- 💡Link the released carbon dioxide to the greenhouse effect rather than leaving it as a gas with no consequence.
Common Mistakes
- Thinking only building reduces land; correction: quarrying, farming and waste dumping also remove or degrade habitat.
- Confusing land use with pollution; correction: land use is about the area and quality of habitat lost, while pollution is about harmful substances released.
- Assuming farming always increases biodiversity because plants are present; correction: monoculture fields usually support fewer species than the diverse habitat they replace.
- Saying peat is a renewable resource on a human timescale; correction: peat accumulates very slowly, so extraction is effectively non-renewable.
- Thinking only plants are affected; correction: the statement includes plants, animals and microorganisms, all of which lose habitat.
- Confusing peat destruction with pollution; correction: the primary issue is habitat destruction and loss of area, although burning or decay of peat also releases carbon dioxide.
- Saying decay releases oxygen; correction: aerobic decay uses oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
- Confusing burning with respiration; correction: burning is combustion, while decay involves respiration by microorganisms, but both release carbon dioxide.
- Thinking carbon dioxide is stored in peat as a gas; correction: carbon is stored in the organic matter of peat and is released as carbon dioxide when decay or burning occurs.