Effect of Human Activities on the Lake Ecosystem

Despite this, the lake is absorbing huge amounts of pollution from these industries in the forms of discharges of industrial cooling water, toxic spills from barges and transport operations, and hazardous chemicals like lead, mercury, aluminum and cyanide (Guerrero & Calpe, 1998). Also, the hastened agricultural modernization throughout the region took its toll on the lake. This paved the way for massive and intensified use of chemical based fertilizers and pesticides whose residues eventually find their way to the lake basin. These chemicals induce rapid algal growth in the area that depleted oxygen levels in the water. Hence, oxygen available to the lake is being used up thereby depleting the available oxygen for the fish, causing massive fish kills. .
             The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that as of 2010, the total population around the lake was about 15 million. To ensure the viability of this vital resource, support is needed from the various lake stakeholders and other parties interested in its sustainable use. Likewise, proper management of the lake and its watershed areas must be intensified and sustained for environmentally sound resources conservation (LLDA, n.d.). This exercise will provide the students information on how human activities affect Laguna lake ecosystem. It will also enlighten students on ways and strategies by which negative impacts of human activities could be minimized. .
             II. Objectives.
             At the end of the exercise, the students should be able to:.
             Describe the interaction of the terrestrial with aquatic ecosystems;.
             Explain how different economic human activities directly & indirectly affect the LDB ecosystem, and.
             Discuss mechanisms by which the lake pollution can be prevented or minimized.
             III. Methodology.
             The educational trip had four itineraries. Among the places that were visited were the Backyard Duck Farm in Victoria, Laguna; the Septage Treatment Plant (STP) in Puypuy, Bay, Laguna; the Municipal Plaza in Brgy Poblacion, Los Baños, LAguna; the Molawin Creek in UPLB College, Laguna.