FOOD CONTAMINATION AND FOOD WEB DISTORTION

Food contamination leading to food shortage

A combined event of (a) free flow and emission of non biodegradable industrial discharge and noise disturbances due to usage of heavy machineries; (b) illegal dumping and spraying of toxic and hazardous chemicals on land and water; and (c) mismanagement in regulation of treatment and control of heat and radioactive substances; will lead to high density toxicity concentration on soil, water and air. The impacts of this are:

1. Fertile land becoming poisonous for living organisms underground and agriculture practice, nutrients lost, locked up or becomes toxic
2. Aquatic ecosystem depletes further and non-consumable water supplies noxious fumes and gas permeates, blanketing atmosphere
3. Detrimental health to psychological and physiological being of organisms in ecosystems

Food web distortion

A combination of (a) mass viral infections and attacks on certain organisms; (b) contamination and pollution of food supplies which is inedible; and (c) uncontrollable hunting of exotic/rare/endangered species will lead to the disequilibria of species population. The next impact will be the imbalance in the ration of producers, consumers and decomposers in the ecology system, which consequently distorts the pattern of energy flow through the chain/web. This will bring to disruption of ecological food pyramid.

When ecological food pyramid is disrupted, insufficient consumption of food cause organisms deprived of energy, thus affecting the organism's metabolism of its biochemical activities. Then, growth and development of organisms will be affected, and leads to mass starvation and mortality in world population. On the other hand, particular species extinction occurred while its predators dominates, thus ecological niche in ecosystems change.