Ecological Services In a 2-3 page paper, define and discuss the concept of ecolo

Question

Ecological Services

In a 2-3 page paper, define and discuss the concept of ecological services. Then, review the “Ecological Services of Rivers” outlined in Mini Lecture (below): Water Resources and Water Pollution.

From the list, identify two services you believe are the most important and cite at least 3 reasons why.

Also, choose two services that you think are most likely to decline due to human influence and cite at least 3 examples of the result of decline of those services.

Mini Lecture:

Food, Soil, and Pest Management In 2004, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimated that about 852 million people lacked access to the food needed for healthy, productive lives. The availability of food and one’s access to it is a critical concept in today’s society. Food security is the condition where all or most of the population of a country have daily access to enough food for healthy and active lives. Currently enough food is produced to meet the nutritional needs of the whole planet, but some people suffer from food insecurity, living without easy access to food on a daily basis. Food insecurity may lead to undernutrition (hunger), a serious under-consumption of calories that leaves the body weakened and susceptible to disease. Most undernourished individuals live in low-income, less-developed countries. People might receive enough calories in their diets but still be malnourished because they do not receive enough essential nutrients like proteins, vitamin A, iodine, or iron. Adults suffering from malnutrition are more susceptible to disease and have less strength to function productively than those who are well-fed. The most comment vitamins lacking are vitamin A (causes blindness), iron (causes anemia), and iodine (can affect function of thyroid gland). On the other hand, overnutrition can be an issue in developed countries. Overnutrition occurs when food energy intake is greater than energy use. Individuals that are underfed or overfed suffer from similar health problems, such as lower life expectancy, lower productivity, and life quality. Food Production Food is produced in three systems: croplands, rangelands, and fisheries. Croplands produce most of the grains used in food systems, rangelands/feedlots produce all the meat and meat products, and fisheries/aquaculture produce all the fish consumed. Only a few species of mammals and fish produce most of the meat consumed in the world. This limitation to a few species makes food production vulnerable because a limited numbers of species harvested increases the chance disease, environmental degradation, or climate change could harm food production. Industrialized crop production: Uses heavy equipment, large amounts of financial capital, fossil fuels, and inorganic fertilizers to produce monocultures (single crops). Now produces 80% of the world’s food Plantation agriculture: Type of industrialized production used in less-developed countries and grows cash crops (e.g. bananas, coffee, sugar cane) for export to more - developed countries. Traditional subsistence agriculture: Use of human and animal labor to produce enough crops for the family to survive. Sometimes enough food is produced to sell or store in reserve. Traditional intensive agriculture: Similar to traditional subsistence agriculture but usually the farmer is able to produce enough food to feed family and sell extra for income. Slash-and-burn agriculture: Clearing and burning small plots in tropical forests and growing a variety of crops until the soil is completely depleted of nutrients. Usually plots last for a few years, and then the farmer slashes and burns a new nutrient-dense plot. Food production has been increased in the 20th and 21st centuries with crossbreeding and genetically engineered crops and livestock. Crossbreeding allows farmers to develop genetically improved varieties that can withstand disease and grow faster. Genetic engineering sped up the process of cross breeding and also changed segments of the DNA to produce desirable traits or inserted genes from other species into the species of interest. Meat and fish/shellfish production has increased as more countries increase their middle class populations, increasing the demands for meat products. This has caused a shift towards breeding animals that grow faster and bigger, such as chickens, or “farming” (aquaculture) fish species to increase the size of popular fish, such as salmon. Environmental Problems and Food Production Food production is the human activity with the greatest harmful effects on the environment. Soil erosion is the movement of topsoil from one place to another through wind and water actions. Though it occurs naturally, soil erosion is more frequent in areas of human activity where trees and grasses have been removed for agricultural purposes, exposing the top soil to wind or water. When the topsoil is completely devoid of nutrients and productivity is below 10% desertification occurs, though this rarely causes a desert to form, usually only stopping plant production. In dry climates, continual water irrigation leads to a buildup of salt crystals in the top soil, causing salinization, stunting crop growth and decreasing crop yields. Food production leads to a loss of biodiversity because forests and grasslands are usually plowed up and replaced with croplands. Genetically modified food, especially grain crops, if released into the wild could reduce the natural genetic biodiversity of the wild strains, reduce the gene pool, and wipe out wild species. Industrial livestock production is also harmful to the environment, being one of the greatest consumers of water and also uses large quantities of fossil fuel energy. Livestock production generates about 18% of the world’s greenhouse gases. In aquaculture, fish are usually feed fish meal or fish oil, which can cause an increase of contamination of toxins in fish that humans eat. Sustainable Pest Control Pesticides are chemicals that have been developed to control organisms that are undesirable including insects, weeds, and rodents. There are advantages to modern synthetic pesticides: increase food supplies by decreasing food loss, increase profits for farmers, and they save humans from insect-transmitted diseases. There are also disadvantages to these pesticides: accelerate development of genetic resistance, they don’t remain on the plant and can pollute the environment, and some pesticides can harm wildlife and humans. Alternatives to pesticides can be used, such as fooling the pest by rotating crops in the plot, bringing in natural enemies, and implanting genetic resistance to pests. There are also many laws and treaties about which type of chemical pesticides can be used to protect the environment and human health. Integrated pest management is a sustainable approach to pest control that uses cultivation, biological, and chemical tools such as crop rotation, natural pest predators, and plant-based insecticides. Governments have some ability to influence food production by controlling prices and providing subsidies to farmers. Controlling prices and keeping them low keeps consumers happy and providing subsidies to farmers helps to financially secure the farmer and keep them producing goods. On an individual level, people can reduce food waste, the amount of food that is thrown away without being consumed, and buy locally, keeping their local farmers in the business of food production. Soil erosion can be stopped if farmers understand and practice soil conservation, which is a method to reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility, usually done by keeping the land constantly covered by vegetation. Organic fertilizers, from plant and animal materials, helps restore soil fertility by returning needed nutrients to the top soil. Organic agriculture, the growing of food stuffs without pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, or genetically engineered seeds, is more sustainable by decreasing carbon dioxide emissions, reducing top soil erosion, and increasing top soil fertility. Organic agriculture ideas can also be used in raising livestock and aquaculture. Livestock raised on grasslands are less environmentally destructive than feedlots and shifting consumer preference from grain-inefficient livestock, such as beef, to grain-efficient animals like chicken and fish. Water Resources and Water Pollution Life on planet Earth would be impossible without water. All life forms, from unicellular bacteria to multicellular plants and animals, contain water. Humans are composed of approximately 60 percent water by body weight and we depend on water, not only for our survival, but for our convenience: We drink it, cook with it, wash in it, travel on it, and use an enormous amount of it for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, energy, production, and waste disposal. Though 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, only 0.024% of the overall water supply is available as liquid freshwater that is easily accessible. It is one of the most poorly managed resources, easily wasted and often polluted. The available freshwater is collected, purified and distributed in the hydrologic cycle, but this cycle is easily interrupted by overloading with pollution, reducing wetlands, and reducing forests. We get water from groundwater and surface water. Groundwater is water that seeps into the ground between spaces in soil and gravel until it reaches impenetrable bedrock. One of the most important sources of freshwater. The top of the groundwater zone that moves up and down based on weather is the water table. The water table drops in level when humans remove water at a faster rate than it is replenished. Surface water is freshwater from precipitation and melted snow that flows into lakes, wetlands, rivers, and eventually into the oceans. Water shortages are caused by many factors including dry climate and drought. In some places, the human population uses water at a faster rate than the water is replenished. 30% of the Earth’s land mass now experiences severe or extreme drought and 1 billion people lacked regular access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Water Supplies Aquifers, underground water supplies, are renewable as long as the groundwater doesn’t become contaminated and withdrawn too quickly. Most aquifers around the world, and in the largest food producing countries, are being used up quicker than their rate of replenishment. Dam and reservoir systems are used to capture and hold runoff water. The collected water can be released at need to control flooding, supply water for farming and cities, and to produce electricity. The use of dams and reservoirs has increased the amount of reliable surface runoff by one-third. Unfortunately, these systems also displace people, flood productive lands, and disrupt the ecological services rivers provide. Tunnels, aqueducts, and underground pipes transfer runoff from dams and reservoirs to water-poor areas. These transfer systems can be wasteful and environmentally harmful by shrinking the water source as more is transferred to water-poor areas. Another option for freshwater is desalinization which involves removing salts from ocean or brackish water. Usually desalinization costs a lot because of the energy required; it also kills many marine organisms and creates salty wastewater, which is usually dumped in the ocean, increasing the salinity of the local ocean. Sustainable Water Use Cutting water waste is quicker and easier than trying to provide new freshwater supplies. Most water used is lost through evaporation, leaks, and other losses. One main reason for water wastage is the low cost to users with water costs usually being subsidized by governments. One way to sustainably use water is to cut water waste in irrigation. Most agriculture practices use flood irrigation that deliver more water than needed to the plants and loses up to 40% of water through runoff and evaporation. Drip irrigation and low-energy, precision sprinklers deliver less water, but target the plants better to insure that the water reaches the plants. Other sustainable water use solutions are using water saving appliances in the home, especially the kitchen and bathroom. Using grey water (recycled water from the house, like shower water) to water lawns and gardens. Lining canals so that water is not lost on the way to irrigation ditches and only adding water when the soil requires it. Ecological Services Our water resources provide important ecological and economic services. These are particularly evident in the services provided by rivers. According to the Ecological Society of America, ecosystem (or ecological) services are processes by which the environment produces resources that we often take for granted. Although ecological systems support plants and animals, they also provide vital services to people that improve well-being. Ecosystems purify water and air, reduce flood and drought risks, provide food and fuel, and support recreation, to name a few of their many benefits. To ensure these valuable services continue, our natural areas must be healthy. Natural ecosystems and the plants and animals within them provide humans with services that would be very difficult to duplicate. While it is often impossible to place an accurate monetary amount on ecosystem services, we can calculate some of the financial values. According to the Ecological Society of America, many of these services are preformed seemingly for "free," yet are worth many trillions of dollars, for example: Much of the Mississippi River Valley's natural flood protection services were destroyed when adjacent wetlands were drained and channels altered. As a result, the 1993 floods resulted in property damages estimated at twelve billion dollars partially from the inability of the Valley to lessen the impacts of the high volumes of water. Eighty percent of the world's population relies upon natural medicinal products. Of the top 150 prescription drugs used in the U.S., 118 originate from natural sources: 74 percent from plants, 18 percent from fungi, 5 percent from bacteria, and 3 percent from one vertebrate (snake species). Nine of the top 10 drugs originate from natural plant products. Over 100,000 different animal species — including bats, bees, flies, moths, beetles, birds, and butterflies — provide free pollination services. One third of human food comes from plants pollinated by wild pollinators. The value of pollination services from wild pollinators in the U.S. alone is estimated at four to six billion dollars per year. In addition to the “services” listed above, our ecosystems provide the following critical services to us: protect people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays cycle and move nutrients detoxify and decompose wastes control agricultural pests maintain biodiversity generate and preserve soils and renew their fertility contribute to climate stability regulate disease carrying organisms pollinate crops and natural vegetation Water Pollution Water pollution is a global problem that varies in magnitude and type of pollutant from one region to another. Water pollutants come from both natural sources and human activities. Natural sources of pollution tend to be local concerns, but human-generated pollution is generally more widespread. Sources of water pollution are classified into two types, point source pollution and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution describes discharge pollutions into bodies of surface water at specific locations, such as drain pipes or ditches. Pollutants that enter bodies of water over large areas rather than at single point cause nonpoint source pollution, also called polluted runoff. Agricultural practices, industrial facilities, and mining are the three main causes of water pollution and pollute the water with sediment and harmful chemicals. Water pollution can have harmful effects, often spreading infectious diseases. Fast moving streams and rivers have the ability to clean themselves of pollution through dilution and the breakdown of wastes with bacteria. This natural cleaning can stop if the rivers are over polluted. Lakes and reservoirs cannot clean themselves in the same manner and are more easily affected by pollution. These standing bodies of water can be susceptible to eutrophication, which is the nutrient enrichment of shallow bodies of water causing “blooms” of microorganisms reducing lake productivity and killing other organisms. Pollutants, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and gasoline, can affect ground water and harm freshwater drinking supplies for many people. Preventing pollution of groundwater is the only effective way to keep groundwater safe since the standing water cannot easily cleanse itself of pollutants. In most developed countries, groundwater is purified and treated to meet government safe standards, but these purifying techniques aren’t available in all countries. Besides freshwater, oceans are also becoming polluted. With 40% of the world’s population living near the coast, wetlands, estuaries, and coral reefs suffer from the most pollution. Most marine pollution, >80%, occurs from land pollution via agricultural and sewage runoff. Oil is also polluting the ocean. Most of these pollutants reach the ocean through tanker accidents and oil that escapes from offshore drilling rigs. Volatile organic hydrocarbons in the oil can kill many organisms on contact or tarlike balls of oil can cover seabirds and marine mammals, hindering their ability to fly or swim. Dealing with Water Pollution There are laws in place to help reduce water pollution by setting standards on how much chemical can be discharged into the water at a point source. Sewage treatment is also another way to reduce pollution. Primary sewage treatment is a physical process that uses screens and grit tanks to remove large floating objects and allows sediment to settle out of water column. Secondary sewage treatment is a biological process in which aerobic bacteria remove as much as 90% of dissolved and biodegradable organic wastes. Conventional sewage treatment can be redesigned to remove toxic and hazardous chemicals, preventing them from being discharged into sludge or water. Also, homes and business could install composting toilet systems to reduce the amount of waste being treated at plants. The current shift in water pollution is away from removing pollution after the fact to stopping pollution from entering water in the beginning. Ecological Services In a 2-3 page paper, using APA-style formatting, define and discuss the concept of ecological services. Then, review the “Ecological Services of Rivers” outlined in Mini Lecture: Water Resources and Water Pollution. From the list, identify two services you believe are the most important and cite at least 3 reasons why. Also, choose two services that you think are most likely to decline due to human influence and cite at least 3 examples of the result of decline of those services.

Explanation / Answer

Ecosystem services are the benefits provided to humans through the transformations of resources (or environmental assets, including land, water, vegetation and atmosphere) into a flow of essential goods and services e.g. clean air, water, and food (Constanza et al. 1997) humans benefit from large kinds of ecosystems: agroecosystems, forest ecosystems, grassland ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, natural ecosystems, urban ecosystems, etc. these are integral part of human life and development. It makes life easier and feasible. Supporting provisioning regulating and cultural are the broad classification of ecosystem services. Supporting services include nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation. Food supply, flood regulation, and water purification. Provisioning services include food, medicine, fish, biogenic minerals, water etc.

Most ecosystem services are unacknowledged until they disappear. Identifying, measuring and valuing ecosystem services and applying this knowledge to environmental and natural resource management and biodiversity conservation is quite essential. An ecosystem is a dynamic community comprising populations of plants, animals, microorganisms and the non-living environment interacting together as a functional unit. But when ecosystems are forced to meet the greed of society, it demands additional needs and aid which over a long period destroys quality and affects other ecosystems too. Ecosystem primarily functions by cycling materials and energy through interacting systems and organism. But the anthropogenic actions of recent times have caused considerable strain in this network. Efforts to increase reuse and recycling resources would make our life closely resembling the ecological services.

Biodiversity and genomic libraries are the key connectors of ecosystem. Changes and loss of biodiversity can affect the capacity and efficiency of ecosystems. The combination of life forms and natural materials determines the availability of services. Hence in human modified landscapes the role of biodiversity and apt combination is often devalued. Biodiversity and associated services has to be thought as natural capital.

Unmeasured ecological services are underestimated or poorly managed. Cultural services include recreational and aesthetic values, heritage values and a sense of place. Regulating services such as pollination, seed dispersal, climate variation etc. help in productivity and biodiversity. It also includes composting, water flow regulation, bioturbation etc. There had been drastic malfunctioning of climate control services and has become unpredictable and at times catastrophic.

Habitat protection restoration of wetland and riparian systems, balance human and ecosystem needs for water quality and quantity consideration of impacts on waterways as part of all urban, industrial, and agricultural development, financial and political resources, ccontinued research are the solutions to clearly acknowledge the ecological services and ensure continued supply of them .

‘Investing in ecosystems for sustainable development' has become the new solution of the time. A variety of strategies and policies have been tried out together with quality requirements, minimum management standards and monitoring requirements. This is essential because ecosystem services underpin human existence, health and prosperity.

Review of services of River:

Surface water is freshwater from precipitation and melted snow that flows into lakes, wetlands, rivers, and eventually into the oceans. The river ecosystem is vast and encompasses flood plains, streams, wet lands estuaries, deltas etc. the hydrologic component is a vast ecosystem and supports life and biodiversity although its length. Nearly everywhere on Earth, people depend on rivers for fresh water supply and sanitation purposes. Most civilization tend to have developed on the banks of big rivers, because it allows effective utilization of services provided by the river. Rivers are centres of primary production, they help in purification, recycling, nutrient cycling, erosion regulation, soil formation etc.

The ecological services of rivers and food production appear to be most important. Because the ecological service of food and water are provisioning and very essential for maintenance of life of mankind. It deteriorates the health of an individual on quality loss. Both the services are of huge demand and tends to concentrated or fully accessible only to few. These resources and services if reclaimed becomes a matter of burden when linked to economy.

Anthropogenic activities tend to actually destroy or reduce of the quality of these two important ecological services itself. But it can also be seen that resources such as fuel i.e. energy and life of many species are hugely affected by human actions. A well-known example is fisheries, which may abruptly collapse even when the level of catch has been stable for years. Another example is of fossil fuels used as energy, human activities have over exploited these services and lead to intensive industrialisation which in turn reduced the quality of air and water.

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