According to the law of energy conservation, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. In fact, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. But how does this work in an ecosystem? How does energy flow here? Sometimes, we even end up completely changing it from its original foundations. Today, human activities have such an impact on ecosystems that we now speak of the Anthropocene timeline.
This period in time also considers changes happening due to climate change events, which is also mainly caused by human activities.
We can see all these changes everywhere. When trees are taken down in the Amazonian forest, the ecosystems change as species struggle to survive and the local humidity and the climate both change.
An example often used about how human activities affect ecosystems is the US Yellowstone National Park. Here, as in other national parks, the U. Biological Survey decided to kill wolfs and other species as a predator control measure. The problem was that the disappearance of the wolf population affected all the ecosystem in the long run, even changing the course of the local river.
The wolf was later reintroduced in the Park, around 70 years later, in an attempt to restore the balance of the ecosystem. Check out the whole story on this video:. Like all other living beings, humans are dependant on natural ecosystem services to survive.
We need it to get the food we eat, the water we drink and to transform raw materials into our everyday products. For example, the agriculture that provides our food depends on the characteristics of a specific ecosystem. Cereals or vegetables grow only under certain conditions of temperature and humidity.
They also need certain natural processes, such as pollination, to take place. But the fact is that some ecosystem services are currently under threat. There are four main categories of ecosystem services:. Learn more about ecosystem services, how natural resources are being overexploited, how the environment is being damaged and how to protect ecosystem services for the future generations:. Human activities are having a negative impact on ecosystems.
In fact, according to the famous Millennium Ecosystems Assessment , at the beginning of the 20th century, human activities changed ecosystems more rapidly than ever before. Humaking has been demanding for food, water, food, timber, and other materials like crazy. And all these demands have been highly contributing to deforestation to grow more crops , the loss of natural pollination bees are disappearing , water pollution from animal excreta and pesticides to plastic , soil exploitation due to intensive agriculture , overfishing and huge biodiversity loss.
It is essential for an utmost important process called nutrient cycling where nutrients in the form of energy and matter are exchanged between biotic and abiotic components. It is helpful in maintaining a proper balance among different trophic levels in the ecosystem. The ecosystem allows the recycling of minerals in the biosphere. The biosphere is briefly explained further in the article. It produces plenty of organic compounds that help in exchanging energy among different various levels of organisms.
It flourishes people with food, fiber, paper, timber and medicines; it also provides renewable and non renewable sources of energy. Why is the Ecosystem So Important? The importance of ecosystem can be understood with the following points and all the terms and factors associated with it. The conservation of matter and energy takes place in ecosystems and the energy flowing through the system is balanced as it flows from one organism to another and the matter is recycled.
Different ecosystems interacting with each other is called the biosphere. Therefore, we can say the biosphere is the sum of all worldwide ecosystems and is also known as the ecosphere.
An ecosystem comprises:. All the members of the system are interconnected, so the loss or change of one factor can have large effects rippling through the entire ecosystem. Energy enters an ecosystem from the sun, which plants utilize, as well as carbon dioxide, which is used for photosynthesis. Animals eat the plants, moving the energy and matter through the ecosystem. When organic matter dies, decomposers break it down, releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.
Rainfall and temperature determine the amount of water and energy available to a system. Climate determines what sort of biome an ecosystem is in — these factors make one region a desert, another one fertile land, and another one a lake. Internal factors change how different species interact with each other. For example, if one species contracts a disease and dies off, it affects the whole system. These factors both control and are controlled by ecosystem interactions.
In this way, there are different from external factors. Ecosystems are often a part of a larger biome, which should not be confused with an ecosystem: biomes are large areas of land based broadly on climate type and the species present.
They are not based on the interactions between living and nonliving parts of a system. It brings nature back into the cost-benefit discussion in a way that can be easily understood.
Ecosystem Services help measure the true cost of industrial development. Often, the impact industrial development has on the economy and job creation overshadows the cost it will have on surrounding lakes, forests, keystone species, and so on.
Assigning a dollar value to these lakes and forests, and the Ecosystem Services they provide, helps adjust the cost benefit analysis by evaluating the negative effects development will have on the natural environment. Companies have also started to use Ecosystem Services in conservation offset planning, where they can buy and sell credits to offset a development or set aside land to meet a specific offset.
Sustainable development supports the maintenance of a healthy economy while also protecting the ecological process for future generations.
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