Landslide Resource Exploitation: Ecosystems & Sustainability
Landslide Resource Exploitation
Ecosystems
Ecosystems are, in principle, autonomous dynamical systems, forming a natural community (biocenosis) and a physical environment (biotope), which interact with each other. Ecology is the science that studies ecosystems.
Exploitation and Sustainable Development
Overexploitation of natural resources occurs when these are exploited at a rate higher than their natural regeneration. Natural resources can be classified into renewable and partially renewable. Renewable resources can be exploited and retrieved, for example, forests and soils.
The most serious consequence of overexploitation is the extinction of resources, with the consequent loss of biodiversity. The repercussions are both environmental and socioeconomic, as it leads to the loss of an important source of income and deteriorating food security.
Partially renewable resources can be depleted if they are overexploited.
Commercial and subsistence hunting, when carried out indiscriminately, are also examples of overexploitation.
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Food production using traditional methods can lead to serious environmental changes such as erosion, soil salinization, and desertification. Achieving a change in cultivation techniques is not only a challenge of instrumental methods but also means a change in the way of being and thinking of people.
It is common practice in these areas to use intensive farming, which also involves the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. We must find ways to feed the 10 billion inhabitants that our planet will soon have without sacrificing the environment.
The Flow of Energy and the Cycle of Matter
Trophic Levels
Through photosynthesis, plants transform light energy into chemical energy stored in carbohydrates and other compounds. This energy is transferred to all organisms in the ecosystem through a series of steps called trophic levels, which rely on food or eating food that constitutes a food chain.
The trophic or food chain is the linear relationship between food and the agencies belonging to different trophic levels.
The food web is a set of trophic food chains that are closely related to energy and materials circulating within an ecosystem. Only part of the energy captured by plants continues in the food chain from production: plant-herbivore-carnivore.
The remains of plants and animals are used in the food chain supporting the chain of decomposition, i.e., bacteria, fungi, and animals that feed on dead matter.
Food chains can be represented by a pyramid called a trophic pyramid.
Biogeochemical Cycles
The flow of energy from the sun crosses the nutrient cycles or biogeochemical cycles. This starts with the decomposition of organic matter into a form that can be used by plants.
The major biogeochemical cycles are the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorus cycle, the sulfur cycle, and the water cycle. The functioning of an ecosystem depends on each geochemical cycle.
Ecological Succession
Ecosystems are dynamic because the component species are not always the same. This is reflected in gradual changes in the plant community over time, a phenomenon known as ecological succession.
Species that live and compete for a short time are eventually replaced by more competitive species with longer lifespans. Eventually, a state of equilibrium or climax ecosystem is reached.