TPO 17 In the past century the steady growth of the human population and the corresponding increase in agriculture and pesticide use have caused much harm to wildlife in the United States birds in particular Unfortunately for birds these trends are likely

The reading and the lecture are both about the effects of human population and agricultural activites on birds.
The author of the reading believes there are three ways such activities endangering bird populations. The lecturer challenges the statement made by the author. She is of the opinion that these claims are inconvincing.
First of all, the author suggests that human population induced settlements are increasing. As a result, habitats of birds, in turn, are decreasing. It is mentioned in the article that lots of natural lands will be occupied by buildins, offices, and so on, which will be harmful to bird populations.
The argument is refuted by the lecturer. She says human settlements and infrastructures make better and larger habitats for variety of birds. Furthermore, she argues that even though some species of bird are disappearing, other species are shown to habitat and live nearby to those places.
Secondly, article posits that as agricutural activities are inceasing as the human population, which is bad for the bird population. The article notes that more lands are used for agricultural use, the more bird habitats are destroyed.
The lecturer, however, casts doubt on this by asserting that in U.S less and less lands are used for agricultural use. The lecturer elaborates on this by mentioning that new crops are engineered in a way that there are more crops per land than those of the previous crops.
Finally, it is stated in the reading that use of pesticides for agricultural use is harming birds. The author establishes that such pesticides are making their way into food of birds and eventually killing them or making them less likely to reproduce. The lecturer, however, opposes that people are aware of these pesticides, and two changes are made for new pesticides. To be more specific, nowadays new and less toxic pesticides are being used, and also pest resistant crops are produced, which in turn reduce the usage of pesticides. She puts forth the idea that the result of these changes, birds are no longer being harmed at all.