Final answer:
1. Natural resources are materials or ecosystems that support life, with renewable resources being replenishable over time, unlike nonrenewable resources. Soil quality affects biodiversity and nutrient cycles, while ecosystem goods and services are benefits provided by ecosystems that are crucial for human welfare.
Step-by-step explanation:
A 1. natural resource is defined as a substance, material, or ecological service that is supplied by nature and used to support life. Examples include water, minerals, timber, biodiversity, and healthy ecosystems that provide goods and services essential for human survival.
Renewable resources are natural resources that can be replenished naturally over time, such as sunlight, wind, and biomass. In contrast, nonrenewable resources are those that do not replenish at a sufficient rate to consider them inexhaustible within human timescales, such as fossil fuels and minerals.
Factors that determine whether a natural resource is renewable include its rate of consumption, natural replenishment rate, and whether it is managed sustainably. For example, trees are considered renewable because they can regrow after being harvested, provided the rate of harvesting does not exceed their natural regeneration rate. On the other hand, fossil fuels such as coal and oil are nonrenewable, as they take millions of years to form.
Ecological disturbances caused by excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from synthetic fertilizers can lead to problems such as algal blooms, which deplete oxygen in water bodies, negatively affecting aquatic life. Soil quality ties into biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles by ensuring a robust and diverse ecosystem which is crucial for recycling nutrients through the soil.
Ecosystem goods and services are the benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living. Ecosystem goods can include food, clean water, and raw materials, while services may include climate regulation, flood protection, and pollination by insects.