Mother Earth is the home to various organisms that coherently live together. With the right chemical ingredients, water, and carbon, numerous entities originated and life was formed on Earth. Among the millions of species that inhabit the planet, many live cohesively or fight for the territory they live in. Depending on the climate and environment of a variety of ecosystems, biodiversity is established.
Coexistence in Nature
Bidiversity is the variety of species coexisting together in a specific area. The more suitable an environment is for organisms to inhabit, the greater the biodiversity. The temperature of a region plays an imperative role in maintaining biodiversity. Hence, dry and cold areas have lesser biodiversity compared to warmer tropical areas. One of the most biodiverse areas on Earth is the Amazon rainforest, home to 40,000 different plant species and the forest provides home to various organisms. All species live symbiotically with one another and it’s through symbiotic relationships that pave the road for diverse ecosystems.
All life creations are weaved together on this planet to help the natural system run; Bees cross-pollinate to help plants reproduce, plants release oxygen for humans to breathe in clean air, animals feed on plants, fungi help to make the soil fertile. An organism is likely to survive if the specified region has great biodiversity.
The ambiguous nature keeps its life in balance by maintaining its healthy ecosystems. Thus, it is essential to understand how the living and nonliving organisms coherently exist.
In this Anthropocene epoch, nature has been losing its battle against humanity. Human interference has disrupted the natural balance in the ecosystem and many organisms have succumbed to the brink of extinction. The natural order has been tampered with, as the air the planet breathes has been polluted; the food and water supply for animals and plants has been intoxicated by factory waste. Plants provide food, medicines, and raw materials for fabrication and paper making; they revitalize the air the planet breathes and helps to prevent flooding by keeping the soil intact. A malfunction in the natural system results in dire environmental and economic consequences as the entire community falls out of place.
Ecosystems help to maintain a net carbon effect on the planet. They purify Earth’s natural resources like air and water, and store carbon to offset global warming. One of the core reasons for the climate crisis is because of the loss of ecosystems. Ecosystems have been dying due to a loss in biodiversity catalyzed by environmental pollution, livestock overgrazing, hunting, non-native species invasion, and negligence in society. Ecosystem degradation can exacerbate the problem of restoring the planet to its healthy state. But it is sad to say that if an ecosystem gets heavily damaged, it is less likely to bounce back; such destruction leaves no traces of the physical environment and decimates all the macroscopic life of the region.
Ecosystem recovery
As the world is heading towards a catastrophic trajectory, many species are on the verge of extinction. The United Nations has urged the planet to restore balance by declaring the upcoming years as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ever since, many countries are on the rise to devote themselves to reinvigorating the environment.
The word ‘restore’ means the act of bringing back or re-establishing something back to its original state, but it is also the act of returning something to its original owners. An ideal healthy ecosystem is restoring its composition back to its previous state. In the light of restoring an ecosystem back to its healthy state, it is vital to study the indigenous habitat of a specific region so that people can give back to the land by restoring the original species of plants suitable for the climate.
Environmental conservationists and restoration practitioners do not restore the ecosystem. They aid in creating conditions that help the plants and animals rebuild the structure and composition for recovery. Depending on the focus of the project, restorations can take various remedial measures to heal the ecosystem. Removing invasive species is the first step to resolving the problem. When a species is introduced to a new and unfamiliar environment, it acts as an invasive species altering the food web of the local lifeforms, causing a domino effect. In contrast, a lost living organism can also be reintroduced to its original habitat assisting in recovery of the local lifeform.
It is critical that a keystone species always remains in its natural arrangement for the ecosystem to be in balance. A keystone species holds the entire ecosystem together and without it an ecosystem might not be able to survive the natural changes that come along. For example, Mangrove trees are a keystone species as it helps prevent soil erosion by retaining the soil and anchoring along the shoreline in addition to providing refuge for certain species of fishes.
Wildlife scientists have classified beavers as ecosystem engineers as they assist by building dams along the river and help to prevent inundation. Beavers had been restored in River Otter, England which helped to revitalize the ecosystem of the area. As a result, the locality has been kept protected and the wildlife around River Otter has been flourishing.
Dhun is a restoration project which revived 500 acres of desolate land in Jaipur. The land’s dry expanse was unsuitable for agriculture; a study based on the geography, hydrology, soil type and native plants had uncovered indigenous history of the site. After analyzing the data collected, 200,000 trees were planted in the land, which became a haven for 150 species and 5 water bodies have been restored using the traditional water harvesting systems vernacular to the area.
Ever changing ecology
Restoration is an ever growing process as it might take hundreds of years to reach a full recovery of the Ecosystem. Challenges come and go in various stages of recovery and the restoration process must be carried on along the way. Once the lifeforms start to get on its track and the biodiversity starts to return, it is detrimental to sustain the process and conserve the structure of the ecosystem. As the climate and environment of the past differs from what it is today, the process of understanding the ecology must always be carried on so that humans can always adapt and help other organisms adapt to the ever changing physical environments.
Reference List
– Melissa McDaniel, Santani Teng, Erin Sprout, Hilary Costa, Hilary Hall, Jeff Hunt, Diane Boudreau, Tara Ramroop, Kim Rutledge, 8 Aug 2023, ‘National Geographic’, Global Biodiversity. Accessed 26 Aug 2023.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/global-biodiversity/
– National Geographic Society, 1 Nov 2022, ‘National Geographic’, Ecology. Accessed 26 Aug 2023.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecology/
– C.Panter, O.Baines, E.Draper, L.Hunt, F.Schrodt, A.Veeken, C.Viner, R.Field , 25 Nov 2022, ‘Frontiers for Young Minds’, Ecosystem Restoration: What, Why, How, and Where?. Accessed 26 Aug 2023.
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2022.856833#:~:text=To%20restore%20an%20ecosystem%2C%20we,flood%20wetlands%20that%20were%20drained
– SER, 2023, ‘Society for ecological restoration’, What is Ecological Restoration?. Accessed 26 Aug 2023.
https://www.ser-rrc.org/what-is-ecological-restoration/
– Image 1 – Human domination of the planet means livestock and people far outweigh wild animals, Valero Doval/ The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/06/the-biodiversity-crisis-in-numbers-a-visual-guide-aoe
– Image 2 – Layers of Life, National Geographic (Illustration)
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/sorting-gulf-ecosystem/#layers-of-life
– Image 3 – Photo sequence of Mangrove restoration at Palk Bay, India, OMCAR Foundation (Photograph)
https://www.ser-rrc.org/what-is-ecological-restoration/
– Image 4 – Story of land, DHUN (Photograph)
https://dhun.life/story-of-land.php
– Image 5 – Over 200,000 trees have been planted using the Japanese Miyawaki method, DHUN (Photograph)
https://dhun.life/story-of-land.php
