Ecology and Ecosystems

Biodiversity is one of the most precious and important things we have. We tend to think of it as something that’s just nice to look at, and enjoy spending time in, but it’s actually so much more. Without biodiversity, our entire support system for human, as well as animal life, would collapse. We rely on nature to provide us with food and clean water, for a lot of medicines, and to prevent flooding and other extreme weather effects. So much is provided by the natural ecosystems around us – they’re truly vital to life on earth. We think we can just trash one bit, or remove a species, and it’ll all be ok, but the different plants and animals are interconnected in vital ways that we don’t even always understand.

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the scientific term for the variety of life on Earth. It refers not just to species but also to ecosystems and differences in genes within a single species. Everywhere on the planet, species live together and depend on one another. Every living thing, including man, is involved in these complex networks of interdependent relationships, which are called ecosystems.

Over-intensive use, soil erosion, excess fertilizer and pesticides are exhausting many farmlands. Ways to restore them include reducing tillage, using more natural fertilizer and pest control, and growing more diverse crops, including trees. These steps can rebuild carbon stores in soils, making them more fertile so countries can feed their growing populations without using even more land. The restoration of farmland also creates habitats for wildlife.

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service. It includes carbon dioxide — the gas most commonly emitted by humans — and others, including methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Usually, the bulk of an individual’s carbon footprint will come from transportation, housing and food.

A biotic factor is a living thing that has an impact on another population of living things or on the environment. Abiotic factors do the same thing, but they are non-living. Together, biotic and abiotic factors make up an ecosystem. To survive, biotic factors need abiotic factors. In turn, biotic factors can limit the kinds and amounts of biotic factors in an ecosystem.

A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall.

Rainforests are Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species—even though they cover just six percent of Earth’s surface. This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna; a 10-square-kilometer (four-square-mile) patch can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.

Over the past few years, waste management has become a global concern. Commonly, waste is generated in households, factories, construction sites, refineries and nuclear power plants. As the population is increasing, consumption trends are changing. Along with the improvement in lifestyle, it has posed alarming threats to the environment. If waste is not managed properly it can cause serious problems to human health and the environment. So, it is necessary for people and businesses to know the importance of waste management.

Renewable energy is energy derived from natural resources that replenish themselves in less than a human lifetime without depleting the planet’s resources. These resources – such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, biomass and thermal energy stored in the earth’s crust – have the benefit of being available in one form or another nearly everywhere. They are virtually inexhaustible. And, what is even more important, they cause little climate or environmental damage.

Biomes are defined as “the world’s major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment” (Campbell 1996). The importance of biomes cannot be overestimated. Biomes have changed and moved many times during the history of life on Earth. More recently, human activities have drastically altered these communities. Thus, conservation and preservation of biomes should be a major concern to all.

So many decisions we make in our everyday lives have a major impact on the planet. The average American produces about 4.4 pounds of trash per day. Explore our tips for ways you can make small changes that are eco-friendly and will have a lasting effect on the environment.

Before understanding the conservation of forest and wildlife it is important to understand the general definition of the forest. There are several definitions of the forest. A forest is defined as a land area of more than 0.5 hectares with a tree canopy cover of more than 10% that is not predominantly used for agriculture as well as other quasi purposes. An important requirement is trees should be capable of attaining a length of 5 meters in situ and achieving the canopy cover requirement in young forests or locations where tree development is climatically inhibited.

Living things need energy to grow, breathe, reproduce, and move. Energy cannot be created from nothing, so it must be transferred through the ecosystem. The primary source of energy for almost every ecosystem on Earth is the sun. Primary producers use energy from the sun to produce their own food in the form of glucose, and then primary producers are eaten by primary consumers who are in turn eaten by secondary consumers, and so on, so that energy flows from one trophic level, or level of the food chain, to the next.

When you have an empty bottle, do you recycle it so the plastic or glass can be used again? Nature has its own recycling system: a group of organisms called decomposers.

Decomposers feed on dead things: dead plant materials such as leaf litter and wood, animal carcasses, and feces. They perform a valuable service as Earth’s cleanup crew. Without decomposers, dead leaves, dead insects, and dead animals would pile up everywhere. Imagine what the world would look like!

Fungi eat dead and living trees, leaves, plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Fungi are omnivores, though some species eat only plants or animals.

All fungi are heterotrophic organisms, which means they rely on getting their nutrients from other organisms and organic matter. In other words, fungi cannot create their own food.

Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution.

A large chunk of the greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat are generated through energy production, by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat.

Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Biodiversity loss refers to the decline or disappearance of biological diversity, understood as the variety of living things that inhabit the planet, its different levels of biological organisation and their respective genetic variability, as well as the natural patterns present in ecosystems. In mid-2019, the United Nations (UN), in collaboration with IPBES, presented an ambitious report on biodiversity warning that out of a total of eight million, one million species are in danger of extinction. Some researchers even dared to talk about the sixth mass extinction in the history of the planet.

The world is facing tough challenges today, and the climate crisis is at the forefront. Employees, customers, investors, and other stakeholders have greater expectations that organizations will lead efforts to address these climate issues globally. But it’s important to acknowledge that environmental sustainability isn’t an isolated concept. Rather, it’s part of a greater picture that encompasses how we operate in society and how we interact with our planet. Supporting the environment requires implementing practices that also support a more inclusive and equitable society and culture.

What do the bans accomplish? They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. And when it comes to waste that lasts forever, every ton counts. In New York, 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents each year. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production that’s contributing to global climate change. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. And they help shift consumer mind-sets, as people begin to recognize that exorbitant and avoidable waste is not sustainable.

Scientific studies of elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) in the Caribbean and off the coast of Florida show that coral genotypes can survive longer than expected. Genotype refers to the genetic makeup of an organism.

Scientists are now using a genetic approach to estimate the ages of corals. The method determines when a coral egg and sperm originally met to form the genome of a coral colony. The researchers then track the number of mutations that have accumulated in the genome since that time. Because mutations tend to arise at a relatively constant rate, researchers can estimate the approximate age of the coral genomes in their study.

In 47 countries covered by the 2005–2008 World Values Survey, the higher a person’s level of education, the more likely she was to express concern for the environment. Furthermore in the 2010-2012 World Values Survey, when forced to choose between protecting the environment versus boosting the economy, those respondents with secondary education favoured the environment more than those with less than secondary education.

Data from the International Social Survey Programme on 29 mostly high income countries similarly showed that the share of those disagreeing that people worry too much about the environment rose from 25% of those with less than secondary education to 46% of people with tertiary education.