Protecting Ecosystems

Protecting Ecosystems Facts

Did you know that only 3% of ecosystems across the globe remain undisturbed by human activity, with over 50% of terrestrial ecosystems under moderate pressure from humans? Or what about the fact that 78% of marine life is at risk of choking on plastic, which is sure to rise in 2050 when it is estimated plastic will outnumber the fish in the ocean?

Reviewing Ecosystems

Before we can understand how to protect our ecosystems, we must review the basics of what an ecosystem is!

The different parts of an ecosystem interact with each other, so if something happens to one part of the ecosystem, other parts can be affected as well. For example, looking at a food chain can tell us what organisms eat what. If one part of that chain is harmed, you can bet it will have some effect on the rest of the chain.

This doesn't apply to just the living parts of the ecosystem; changes in abiotic factors can also affect living organisms.

For this reason, we also look at interactions like the nutrient cycle, which describes how energy and nutrients move from living organisms to non-living parts of the environment.

As these examples show us, it is important for balance to be maintained in the biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem. Unfortunately, many human activities can disturb this balance. Such activities include:

• Pollution including water and air;

• Habitat loss due to deforestation and urbanization;

• Resource exploitation such as overfishing, overhunting and over mining coal; and

• Introducing invasive species into ecosystems that cause imbalance and disruption.

An ecosystem can be described as damaged, degraded or destroyed, depending on the extent of harm done:

• Damaged means that there is a rapid, short-term harm done to a part of an ecosystem.

• Degraded means that there is a long-term decline in biodiversity.

• Destroyed means that there is an unchecked decline that has led to a total or near-total loss of biodiversity.

Utilitarian Value of Ecosystem

If you have drunk freshwater today or consumed any food, you already know one of the most important reasons to protect ecosystems….our survival! This is formerly known as the utilitarian value of ecosystems.

An easy way to think about this is that we are protecting ecosystems from us for our own sake.

Figure 1. This diagram summarizes the utilitarian value of ecosystems.

Maintaining Biodiversity

Maintaining biodiversity is perhaps one of the most ecological reasons to protect the environment.

There are different components of biodiversity: genetic, species, and ecological diversity. All levels are crucial to the development and perseverance of a healthy ecosystem.

1. Genetic diversity refers to the variability of genetics among individuals within a species. High genetic diversity increases a species' chances of long-term survival, especially in the face of climate change, disease, or any ecosystem disruption.

2. Species diversity refers to the number and relative abundance of species in a particular area.

3. Ecological diversity refers to the number of variations of ecosystems in a particular area.

An increase in biodiversity leads to an increase in ecosystem productivity because of a mechanism called functional complementarity.

So the ecosystem becomes more productive. Of course, the opposite is true: a decrease in biodiversity results in lower ecosystem productivity.

The Intrinsic Value of Ecosystems

Another reason many argue that ecosystems are important is simply because of the intrinsic value they have.

The intrinsic value of ecosystems argues that regardless of the benefits ecosystems give humans, they have value simply because they exist.

Protecting Ecosystem Solution

So, we know why protecting our ecosystems is important, but what are some possible solutions? The typical solution to protecting ecosystems is conservation!

Protecting and Restoring Ecosystems

If conservation efforts don't work and significant damage to an ecosystem occurs, there is a shift from conservation to restoration efforts. What’s the difference between the two, you ask?

Whereas conservation is an effort to prevent ongoing damage, restoration is an active effort to reverse and restore the damage already done to ecosystems. It can be helpful to think of conservation as implementing safety protocols, while restoration efforts are like administering first aid.

Figure 2. The San Pedro Riparian area was designated as a National Conservation Area to protect and enhance the desert riparian ecosystem, the remainder of what was once an extensive network of riparian systems in the Southwest.

Protecting Ecosystems Guidelines

For ecosystem protection and restoration efforts to be successful, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Knowledge should be integrated and efforts should cut across different disciplines including ecology, biology, and statistics.

• The protection and restoration efforts should be tackled systematically. Goals should be measurable and efforts should include management and oversight.

• Actions that lead to degradation such as deforestation and overuse of resources need to be addressed. This is because degradation is taking place at a much higher rate than restoration.

• Engagements should take place on local, federal, national, and even international levels. It should also include both land and marine contexts. This is because ecosystem degradation takes place across different contexts.