Ecosystems (and how we change them)

How we change eco-systems

As such an advanced species we have the possibility to do a lot. We have changed the weather, bred new species and maybe most extraordinary thing is that by us bringing new animals and driving others to extinction we have created whole different ecosystems.

I'm definitely not saying that these changes are all good. To be honest, humans have made some improvements but a lot of the time we make mistakes or selfish changes that harm others but help us. And when I say us I do not mean the whole human race but the businessmen that run huge companies. Before though I get into any detail about how we do change ecosystems we need to look at what natural things change ecosystems.

What natural things change eco-systems:

We are not the only 'things' to change ecosystems. Lot's of natural occurrences do happen that do change ways of life and the possibility of life. Things like,..........

• Natural disasters.
• Natural climate change

Natural disasters and intense climate change are the most common ways that eco-systems would change. Eco-systems mostly rely on the plants as these are commonly at the bottom of the food chain and plants are very delicate. The delicateness of plant life is especially shown coral reefs where because of man-made global warming they are bleaching and cannot support life. When talking about the effects of natural climate change we can still include the ocean's ecosystems being affected as they do change a lot when even slight changes are made to the earth's temperature. The temperature an effect the oceans currents which also affect wildlife and where they thrive. Because of the oceans tendency to change a lot and affect ecosystems, we will go into detail about them in a while but for now, we will talk about the earth as a whole.

But back to natural disasters. Already you can see the devastating effects of the disasters probably worsened (there has been a trend of stronger storms) by manmade climate change so you can give an estimate that natural disasters would worsen due to natural climate change just the same.

To visualise this here is a before and after photo.

Now one thing you might be wondering is ‘how do natural disasters get worse because of climate change’ well you can either watch this video or read this brief explanation

• The video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0TCrGtTEQM (or click below)

• The explanation.

With increasing global surface temperatures the possibility of more droughts and increased intensity of storms will likely (I am not saying for sure) occur. As more water vapour is evaporated into the atmosphere it becomes fuel for more powerful storms to develop. More heat in the atmosphere and warmer ocean surface temperatures can lead to increased wind speeds in tropical storms. Rising sea levels expose higher locations not usually subjected to the power of the sea and to the erosive forces of waves and currents.

So if it is likely that climate change does cause stronger storms, we need to ask ‘how do these storms affect our ecosystems’ Well, of course, there are the obvious ones that the animals could die but due to the way Hurricanes generate strong winds that can destroy forest canopies (the uppermost spreading branchy layer of a forest) and cause dramatic changes in wooded ecosystems. Animals can be impacted indirectly through changes in habitat and food availability caused by high winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall. So all in all, natural storms are bad for animals but ecosystems can usually withstand it if they are used to them happening or used to a certain amount of damage they do. That's why climate change is way worse than just the occasional storm but because of natural climate change happens slowly new ecosystems can flourish and with natural climate change you do not have to problems of urbanisation (_{this is bad because this can block animals from moving to a more suitable environment. This is a major factor in the panda extinction}) and all forms of pollution that you can learn about on my website here https://sites.google.com/cavan.ie/seendoo/environment/pollution

So we talked about what natural things change ecosystems and we went over climate change (one thing though I didn't mention is that we might not be completely causing hurricanes which you can learn about here https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42251921). I also led you to my page on my website about pollution (https://sites.google.com/cavan.ie/seendoo/environment/pollution)

This may seem like we’ve covered everything but here are some other nasty ways humans have managed to destroy habitats and change ecosystems. Here are the few we are going to cover.

• Introduction of new predators or invasive species
• Poaching or mass killing that could mess up the ecosystem
• Destroying vital animal habitat (for example cutting down trees)
• Overexploitation of not only animals but the whole ecosystem.
• Reckless activity.
• And finally, what we are doing next, unclean farming

Unclean farming

Farming nowadays is unclean and uses a lot of chemicals and is especially wasteful when it comes to meat and dairy farming. Animals take a lot of food to look after and especially dairy cows which eat way more. Lots of countries have laws preventing dangerous chemicals and fertilisers but that's just some and there are also fertilisers that don't affect us but to affect the ecosystems around them. For example here in Ireland, there have been numerous cases of rivers and lakes with whole eco-systems belonging to them being polluted by chemicals and fertilisers meant for crops that runoff into Irish waterways. Fertilisers contain nitrates and lots of other types of nutrients that are especially good for plant growth and nitrates are even deadly to a human if you consume enough.

So these excess nutrients end up in rivers, estuaries and rivers and a whole range of environmental problems are caused.

The most dangerous and worrying one being eutrophication. So this eutrophication makes the water deprived of oxygen and the result of this is excessive algae and plant growth. This is caused directly from the runoff nutrients that had found themselves in the water. The water then has not enough oxygen to support the aquatic life that lives in the lakes, rivers and estuaries so the animals die. To not support this always check what you are buying.

Heres an example of the plant and algae growth..............

Always check before you buy, not only if it's cruelty-free but also the distance it's travelled and if it's organic.

But what is organic farming?

So organic farming is an alternative agricultural system which was adopted early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Organic farming continues to be developed by lots of organic agriculture organisations today. It relies on fertilisers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure and bone meal (bone meal is an organic fertiliser from the leftover animal product) and places attention on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting.

There is another thing called Biological pest control. Basically mixed cropping and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. In general, organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances.

For instance, naturally occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin and rotenone are permitted, while synthetic fertilisers and pesticides are generally prohibited.

Synthetic substances that are allowed include:

• copper sulfate
• elemental sulfur
• Ivermectin

The following is forbidden:

• Genetically modified organisms
• nanomaterials
• human sewage sludge
• plant growth regulators
• hormones
• antibiotic use in livestock husbandry

To learn more go check out my source at Wikipedia

(If you don't know any of the words feel free to press on the links and it will bring you to the Wikipedia page of that subject)

Organic may be a bit more expensive but I do recommend you buy it. Another thing I mentioned is how far it travelled. That one's not as difficult. Whenever you can, buy products made, grown or processed in your country but if the product can't be grown in your country try to get one from a place near you.

Another thing is chain restaurants may have foreign products and you should check that before you go but normally they do buy local because it's usually cheaper.

So now you know why unclean farming is bad and what organic farming is you can make sure your shopping list is as eco-friendly as possible. Here is a checklist you should follow when shopping…..

1. Support businesses with cleaner products rather than ones that have no respect for our planet.
2. Make sure you know where your food is coming from. You can make sure it is good to eat by

• Checking the miles it travelled.
• Checking what farm or fishery it is from (once you know you can search that place up online and make sure they have good business practises)
• Making sure it is organic or at least does not use any fertilisers etc that are bad for the environment.

4. And finally, don’t buy too much as food waste is horrible.

So now we’ve learned what unclean and organic farming is and how we make sure what we eat is good for the environment.

So, going from our list we have, we are going to cover Overexploitation of not only animals but the whole ecosystem, and of course, how you can reduce your impact.

What does Overexploitation mean for ecosystems?

Exploitation means selfish use, usually for profit, but we are talking about overexploitation. This is the act of something being selfishly used to it’s the absolute limit. You can overexploit a lot of things. It can be toys, friends, clothes, but if you overexploit forest or any other important habitats (like the ocean) it can mean ecosystems changing, and that can mean animals dying. You can also exploit ecosystems directly by selfishly using how it naturally works.

What can you do to help stop the exploitation of ecosystems? (especially the ocean)

1. Join groups that protect ecosystems. Here are some examples

• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Environmental Working Group.
• Greenpeace Fund
• Friends of the Earth
• Rainforest Alliance
• Earthjustice
• Ocean Conservancy.

2. Vote responsibly as electing the right public officials is key to a good green policy. To make sure you’re voting right you can contact your representative.

3. Eat sustainable seafood.

Global fisheries are on the verge of collapse. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), three-quarters of the world’s fisheries are now overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from overexploitation. Carry a sustainable seafood card and ask your seafood restaurant or fish market to buy from sustainable fisheries. Look for special terms like "line caught", "diver caught", "sustainably caught" or "sustainably harvested.

4. Reduce energy use.

Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is making our oceans (the biggest habitat for ecosystems) more acidic. One consequence could be the loss of corals on a global scale, as their calcium skeletons are weakened by the increasing acidity of the water. There are many simple ways you can reduce your energy use. Ride a bike, walk or use public transportation. Use high-efficiency appliances in your home. Turn off appliances when they aren’t in use. Turn up your thermostat a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs in your house. For more information, see http://www.oceana.org/climate

5. Use reusable plastic products.

Plastic debris in the ocean degrades marine habitats and contributes to the deaths of many marine animals. Because floating plastic often resembles food to many marine birds, sea turtles and marine mammals, they can choke or starve because their digestive systems get blocked when they eat it. Help prevent these unnecessary deaths—use cloth grocery bags and reusable water bottles.

6. Properly dispose of hazardous materials.

Motor oil and other hazardous materials often end up washing into coastal areas because they aren’t disposed of properly. This pollutes the water and hurts the overall health of our oceans. Be sure to dispose of hazardous waste in an environmentally safe way.

7. Use less fertilizer.

When fertilizers are used in gardening and agriculture, the excess eventually ends up in the ocean. One result is a “dead zone” — an area with very low levels of oxygen in the water — the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring and summer. Since all marine life requires oxygen to live, including fish and shrimp, they must flee the area or die. Many other coastal areas are at risk too. So, use fertilizer sparingly and remember more is usually not better.

8. Pick up garbage and litter near beaches.

Much of the plastic and debris found in the ocean has its beginnings in beach litter. As beach crowds increase, so does the amount of trash left behind. Don’t let your day at the beach contribute to the destruction of our oceans. Bring a trash bag with you for your garbage and volunteer for beach clean-ups.

9. Buy friendly products.

Avoid products produced through unsustainable or environmentally harmful methods. For example, avoid cosmetics containing shark squalene and jewellery made of coral or sea turtle shell. These products are directly linked to unsustainable fishing methods and the destruction of entire ecosystems.

10. Raise awareness. Speak to people about how the world ecosystems are being exploited. Also learning peoples side of things can help you become more enlightened.

(Picture left: deforestation Picture right: coral bleaching

Taking the next thing from the list. We will cover reckless activity.

What is reckless activity and what examples are there of it damaging ecosystems:

Reckless activity is basically when you or others act recklessly. You don’t think about what you are doing. Probably the most notable example of this is when you are camping and you light a fire. If you don’t put out this fire you are not thinking of the consequences that might come out of not putting out this fire. This act is reckless and it can destroy ecosystems very fast in warm climates or even during a spell of good weather. Here is a real-life example… (this is a news report taken directly from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47857494)

Citizen firefighters combat blazes in California's 'forgotten canyon'

By Lucy Sherriff BBC News

• 24 April 2019

For several consecutive years, fires have devastated the Californian coast, and the fire service is under increasing pressure with fewer resources. One former firefighter is setting up his own fire crew, but is that the right approach?

Eric Beninger, who lives in Palo Colorado Canyon in Big Sur, saw many of his neighbours' homes destroyed by the 2016 Soberanes fire, one of the most expensive wildfires in US history.

The 2017 wildfire season was one of the worst in the state's history, with more than 9,000 fires burning 1.2 million acres (500,000 hectares). Last year, the fire that hit Paradise alone killed 86 people.

After witnessing the devastation of his own community, Mr Beninger decided to recruit his neighbours and train up an independent fire team to be on standby for future fires.

"When the fire crews finally arrived, they had to decide which houses to just let burn," he says. "Everything was on fire."

The Soberanes fire, which burnt for three months, destroyed 57 homes and cost around $260m (£200m) to suppress. Of the 27 homes along Mr Beninger's road, only eight survived.

The US Forest Service's response was subsequently criticised for its handling of the fire. Even help from the region's volunteer service was not enough to stop the flames.

"After the fire started, the neighbours mostly fled," Mr Beninger recalled. "A few of us stayed behind to protect our homes because we knew we weren't going to get help. We risked our lives to be here, not knowing what the fire would do.

"Where we live is difficult to reach, it's secluded. And we were forgotten about."

The fire chief of the Mid Coast Fire Brigade, the volunteer fire service that tackled the blaze, said they worked hard to protect the residents and their homes in the days that the fire burned.

"The brigade worked relentlessly with little food or sleep during the first seven days of the fire," says Cheryl Goetz.

"These are not just people in a community - to us, they are neighbours, friends, co-workers and family."

There will never be enough resources to get out in front of and stop these types of fires as they are spreading at rapid rates, says Ms Goetz.

"Despite our best efforts, even as we were advised of a person trapped by the fire, the intensity of the fire and the numerous trees falling forced us out of the area."

Image copyright NASA/ GETTYImage captionThe Soberanes fire seen from space

Mr Beninger is a carpenter but used to be a firefighter with the US Forest Service in one of the hotshot crews - teams known as America's "elite" firefighters due to the danger of their work.

He says he and two friends helped save three homes from burning - by using water bottles from the Red Cross.

• Life as a 'hotshot' firefighter

"We had a shovel - no chainsaws though, mine had burnt in the fire. We were just this tiny makeshift fire brigade in a pick-up truck with some water bottles."

That's where the idea began, said Mr Beninger, who soon after heard about a small fire truck for sale in nearby Carmel Valley. The owner gave it to him for half the price, and now it's up to him to restore it and build a team.

The fire truck is built around a 1973 Dodge Power Wagon, and has a four-wheel drive, meaning it can access the canyon's almost-impassable dirt roads.

Image captionThe 1973 Dodge Power Wagon fire truck, nicknamed Scarlett.

"At the moment we don't have a big crew, but we're speaking with another six neighbours and we're going to do what we can. We're going to give everybody basic fire training."

Mr Beninger is planning barbecues, calendars - "men and women" he noted - and "whatever it takes" to drum up the $10,000 needed to get started.

"The best part is making our community tighter. Having the truck is one thing, but knowing how to use it and bringing everybody closer is more important. I don't know if we're going to be able to save any homes, but we're going to try."

Ms Goetz advises people should be careful about setting up their own firefighting teams as her volunteers are fully trained.

It's better if householders take steps to protect their homes.

So now we know what reckless activity is, we must learn how we can prevent ourselves from being reckless and how we can protect ourselves from others being reckless.

How we can prevent ourselves from being reckless

Well, first of all, the only thing you can really do to prevent yourself from being reckless is, first of all, think twice before doing anything. You can also educate yourself about anything you are going to do that might be dangerous or you simply have never done it before.

How we can protect our ecosystems from our recklessness.

To protect the ecosystems around you from recklessness, keep equipment suitable for dealing with small mess ups around at all times. You should also always have emergency numbers (like 999) mesmerised to deal with big mess ups.

In today's world, we are not careful enough when it comes to keeping important habitat safe and we do not value it enough. In this section, we are going to learn why this habitat is so important and how we can all do our bit to preserve it.

Why should we protect this habitat in the first place?

These habitats provide a home for animals, which then provides a home for an ecosystem. Healthy ecosystems clean our water, purify our air, maintain our soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients and provide us with food. They provide raw materials and resources for medicines and other purposes. They are at the foundation of all civilisation and sustain our economies. It's that simple: we could not live without these “ecosystem services”.

Habitat loss is also affecting biodiversity (Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the scientific term for the variety of life on Earth.) Biodiversity is the key indicator of the health of an ecosystem. A wide variety of species will cope better with threats than a limited number of them in large populations. Even if certain species are affected by habitat loss, the ecosystem as a whole may adapt and survive. But the extinction of a species may have unforeseen impacts, sometimes snowballing into the destruction of entire ecosystems.

One thing I want to mention is that I know that, and I want you to know that, not the full death of the species is due to habitat loss. Habitat loss is usually only a factor with things like climate change and poachers being factors as well. So this then means it is only a factor to the change of ecosystems. But this is a really common factor. Look at this list of very endangered species….

(source: https://www.kidssavingtherainforest.org/endangered-species-day.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9_al7Nr54QIVg4xRCh08Qg-SEAAYASAAEgIwWfD_BwE)

• Jaguars. Main threats: Poaching and habitat loss
• Jaguarundi. Main threat: Habitat loss
• Great Green Macaw. Main threat: Habitat loss
• Scalloped Hammerhead Shark. Main threat: Poaching
• Grey-crowned Squirrel. Main threat: Habitat loss
• Grey-crowned Squirrel. Main threat: Habitat loss

Editing nothing out of this random list of endangered species, 5 out of 6 have habitat loss as a factor in their endangerment and 4 out of that 5 has it named as their only greatest threat by a long shot.

So I hope I convinced you enough to go onto the next section on how we can all do our bit to preserve it.

How you can help preserve habitats.

First of all (before we get into the good stuff), let’s look at some things you can do right now on your device...

• You can sign this https://therainforestsite.greatergood.com/clicktogive/trs/petition/MigratoryBirds
• This https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/558/068/607/
• This https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/505/878/755/keep-protecting-threatened-and-endangered-species-under-the-endangered-species-act/
• This https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/781/265/836/bill-honoring-cecil-the-lion-will-protect-wildlife-from-trophy-hunters/
• Basically, visit https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/wildlife/#hottest to sign a bunch of petitions to help animals and ecosystems around the world.

Ok so now onto something that may seem small but is better than signing all the petitions in the world. Just be ready to get your hands dirty!

How to make your garden an insect haven…..

Before we start we need to set two very important ground rules:

• Do not use pesticides (re-adjust your notion of a perfect garden! If you do have aphids on your roses, ladybirds will gobble them up!) and
• Do not think of invertebrates as pests (be a proud zoo-keeper of your tiny insects)

This will be going step by step as there are lots of things you can do to build an insect haven!

1. Make a compost heap. There are lots of good reasons for doing this, but you’ll also encourage insects that dwell in heaps such as rove beetles and if you’re lucky a nesting bumblebee!

1. The single best thing you can do to encourage wildlife into your garden is to dig a pond. It will create a habitat for dragon and damselflies, water boatmen, pond skaters and water beetles, such as whirligigs or diving beetles. Your pond can also provide some water for a thirsty hedgehog or even a bumblebee! If you haven’t got space for a pond, a dish of water will provide a welcome treat to all creatures in the summer months.

1. Build a log pile at the bottom of the garden, burying the bottom third of the log pile in the ground, for the insects that eat dead wood. You should soon be seeing woodlice and ground beetles!

1. Plant more diverse the flowers and plants in your garden, as more pollinators will be attracted. Bees, hoverflies and other flies visit flowers, but so do beetles, including adult soldier beetles, longhorn beetles and many more. Rosemary will attract the beautiful rosemary beetle and Mint, the native green mint beetle or non-native blue mint beetle. You should also plant to attract butterfly and moth caterpillars, and adult Lepidoptera. You can’t go wrong with a selection of traditional wildflowers (example: lavender, foxgloves, and thyme) but you can check out a list like https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/encourage-wildlife-to-your-garden/plants-for-pollinators%C2%A0 for recommended planting. Another thing to remember is to leave fallen fruit on the ground for the insects to eat. You may think caterpillars are plant vandals but remember they are essential food for birds.

Last but not least: A bug hotel! You can learn how to make one watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpau_m2OCaE or reading this guide https://www.countryfile.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-bug-hotel/.

How we change ecosystems pt 6: Poaching or/and mass killing of vulnerable species

(I covered this topic a bit on my website already: click here)

How we change ecosystems pt 7: Introduction of new predators or invasive species

So now we will be covering a topic that I find quite interesting and I have a few stories I want to show you. We’re going to do the brief explanation like usual and then we’re going to dive right into the stories I have planned.

Across the world, there are all sorts of ecosystems, some stronger than others but when new predators or invasive species come along and flourish, it can be fatal for even strongest most stable ecosystems. Here are some examples of that happening…..

(I took this story from here https://allthatsinteresting.com/project-isabela but I originally heard of it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ3q79rD_9U)

Project Isabela

In the 1990s, the Galapagos Conservancy launched Project Isabela, an all-out war against 250,000 goats in the Galapagos Islands to save the dwindling population of Galapagos tortoises.

Charles Darwin called the Galapagos Islands “a little world within itself.” It’s hard to imagine what his life and work would have looked like without this Pacific Island archipelago, and it’s just as challenging to think of the island chain without the giant tortoises which give the islands their name.

For a time, though, those tortoises were at risk of disappearing. To save them, Galapagos enthusiasts began to think about conservation in new, lethal and not-so natural terms.

The massive Galapagos tortoises roam the islands like living boulders. They can weigh in at more than 500 pounds and most live longer than 100 years, with some living past the age of 150. The islands themselves are actually named after these gentle titans — in Spanish, galápago means tortoise.

The Galapagos tortoise lives longer than 100 years and can weigh over 500 pounds.

At the end of the 20th century, these iconic creatures were inching toward extinction. Over the course of 150 years, the giant tortoise population fell from an estimated 100,000 to around 15,000. Behind the plummet in population was an unexpected menace: goats.

The Start Of Project Isabela

Left behind by explorers, merchants, whalers and pirates, goats arrived in the Galapagos in the 16th and 17th centuries. Over time their numbers multiplied. By the 1990s, around 250,000 goats were bleating across the Galapagos. They ate everything and stripped the islands of their vegetation in the process. The islands’ tortoises, those ancient standard-bearers of biodiversity, began to die out.

Concerned environmentalists, conservationists, and evolutionary biologists began to wrangle with how to save the tortoises from the goats. Wild strategies emerged, such as a plan to introduce lions to the islands to devour the invasive goat population. In the end, though, the environmentalists decided on the most obvious, straightforward solution: all-out slaughter.

After years of debating, planning and consensus-building, the Galapagos Conservancy (formerly called the Charles Darwin Foundation) initiated Project Isabela, a systemic eradication of all of the goats, feral pigs and donkeys on the main Galapagos islands.

The project began with a ground hunt, but eventually, the team brought in helicopter pilots and sharpshooters from New Zealand.

As one of the sharpshooters explained to WNYC’s Radio Lab, the normal procedure was to have two gunmen on either side of the helicopter. They would drive the goats into a tight herd, then open fire.

Judas Goats

90 percent of the islands’ goats were killed within the first year of aerial hunting. But that still left thousands of goats on the islands – and goats can’t keep their hooves off each other. The scattered remainder, now clued into the lethal significance of a helicopter’s appearance, began to breed and repopulate in hidden enclaves. To find these final, wily packs, the Project Isabela team turned to “Judas goats.”

A Judas goat was a female who would be captured from the wild, tagged with a GPS tracking device, and then released to find other goats, especially lovelorn males.

The sharpshooters would take to the air again, track the Judas goat, find her hidden companions and gun them down, always leaving the Judas goat alive so that the whole process would begin again. Track, slaughter, repeat. The team eventually used 900 Judas goats over the course of a couple of years.

Did Project Isabela Work?

Yes, it did. As of 2006, according to Galapagos Conservancy, the main islands were “declared free of all large introduced mammals – goats, pigs, and donkeys.” Today, the goats are gone–250,000 of them. The vegetation they destroyed has started to regrow. Tortoises endure.

See. This was just one example of many. When new animals are introduced their numbers can be bigger or have the ability to become bigger than the native populations they invade territory formally belonging to the native species. When they do this the native species, who haven’t had time to adapt, loose numbers or even become extinct.

What can you do to prevent this from happening?

The best thing you can do is to make sure not to support politicians or policies that might suggest introducing new species for profit without making sure that it is safe to do so. You can also support conservation efforts as they also tackle this problem.