Great Barrier Reef Human Impacts

Analyse the human impacts affecting the nature and rate of change of two ecosystems at risk.

All ecosystems are placed under levels of stress that must be withstood or overcome in the form of evolution in order to adapt and survive. These attributes determine the resilience and vulnerability of each and every ecosystem. These forms of stress fall under two categories; natural and human induced. In regards to natural stress, the term gradual is used as it happens at a slower rate and lesser magnitude than human induced stress. If this occurs, the natural world can adapt to this small amount of pressure over thousands of years through the process of evolution in order to survive. Human induced stress is linked with catastrophic outcomes as
This is currently the largest and most biodiverse ecosystem in the world, spanning across 348 000 square kilometres of Australia’s Northeast coast. Starting from the top of Cape York (10 degrees 41’ S, 145 degrees E) 2300km down to just north of Bundaberg. Billions of coral polyps form the basis of this intricate biodiverse marine ecosystem, relying heavily on complex biophysical interactions resulting in its vulnerability. There a number of factors leading up to stresses placed upon this ecosystem in particular, human induced
Due to the weak influence of these governments, they are highly vulnerable and open to any form of exploitation in order to boost economic activity. Many large multinational corporations have taken advantage of this situation (mainly in Brazil). There have been recent trends of land clearing for cattle pasture in massive volumes. This is mainly for the production of beef. Between 1990 and 2001 the percentage of Europe's processed meat imports that came from Brazil rose from 40 to 74 percent. Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, clearing masses of species habitats and inhabitants. There are several factors that have spurred Brazils growth as a producer of beef; the devaluation of the Brazilian real against the dollar doubled the price of beef in real and created an incentive for increased production, effectively increasing land clearing for cattle pasture. Increased road construction was implemented to improve access throughout the forestlands, decreasing the cost of transportation, effectively reducing the total cost of exported beef. Land tenure laws allowed colonists and developers to gain title to Amazon lands by clearing forest and placing cattle on the land. Cattle are a secure, low-risk investment and this encouraged land clearing and cattle pasture for investors and