Tag: ecology

Carrying Capacity and Ecological Footprint

The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a human that can be sustained by that specific environment ecosystem or region. While ecological footprint is the human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. So carrying capacity is the total supply of natural wealth while ecological footprint is the demand or consumption per person. Thus if population increases then the resources get depleted. Rich counties have higher ecological footprint while poor nations have low.
Carrying capacity can be defined as a species’ average population size in a particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates. If these needs are not met, the population will decrease until the resource rebounds.

In ecology, carrying capacity is measured as the maximum load of an environment. The physical features present in the environment act as limiting factors (e.g. food, water, competition, etc.). Thus, the population limit can be expected to depend on these factors. In essence, food availability is an important variable as it affects the population size of the species. It does so in such a way that if food demand is not met over a given period of time the population size will eventually decrease until the resources become adequate. By contrast, when food supply exceeds demand then the population size will soon increase and will stop increasing when the source is consequently depleted.
Carrying capacity may also be defined as the population size at which the population growth rate equals zero. It should not be confused with the term, equilibrium population, which is defined as a population in which the gene frequencies have reached an equilibrium between mutation pressure and selection pressure. 
Ecological footprint (EF), measure of the demands made by a person or group of people on global natural resources. It has become one of the most widely used measures of humanity’s effect upon the environment and has been used to highlight both the apparent unsustainability of current practices and the inequalities in resource consumption between and within countries.
The ecological footprint (EF) estimates the biologically productive land and sea area needed to provide the renewable resources that a population consumes and to absorb the wastes it generates—using prevailing technology and resource-management practices—rather than trying to determine how many people a given land area or the entire planet can support. It measures the requirements for productive areas (croplands, grazing lands for animal products, forested areas to produce wood products, marine areas for fisheries, built-up land for housing and infrastructure, and forested land needed to absorb carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumption). 

Why are urban ecosystems important?

urban ecosystem, any ecological system located within a city or other densely settled area or, in a broader sense, the greater ecological system that makes up an entire metropolitan area. The largest urban ecosystems are currently concentrated in Europe, India, Japan, eastern China, South America, and the United States, primarily on coasts with harbours, along rivers, and at intersections of transportation routes. Large urban areas have been features of the industrialized countries of Europe and North America since the 19th century. Today, however, the greatest urban growth occurs in Africa, South and East Asia, and Latin America, and the majority of megacities (that is, those with more than 10 million inhabitants) will be found there by 2030.

The structure of urban ecosystems

Urban ecosystems, like all ecosystems, are composed of biological components (plants, animals, and other forms of life) and physical components (soil, water, air, climate, and topography). In all ecosystems these components interact with one another within a specified area. In the case of urban ecosystems, however, the biological complex also includes human populations, their demographic characteristics, their institutional structures, and the social and economic tools they employ. The physical complex includes buildings, transportation networks, modified surfaces (e.g., parking lots, roofs, and landscaping), and the environmental alterations resulting from human decision making. The physical components of urban ecosystems also include energy use and the import, transformation, and export of materials. Such energy and material transformations involve not only beneficial products (such as transportation and housing) but also pollution, wastes, and excess heat. Urban ecosystems are often warmer than other ecosystems that surround them, have less infiltration of rainwater into the local soil, and show higher rates and amounts of surface runoff after rain and storms. Heavy metals, calcium dust, particulates, and human-made organic compounds (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, and contaminants from pharmaceutical and personal care products) are also concentrated in cities.

Aerial view of a residential subdivision in Quebec, Can.

The expansion of large urban areas results in the conversion of forests, wetlands, deserts, and other adjacent biomes into areas devoted to residential, industrial, commercial, and transportational uses. Such conversion may result in the production of barren land. In addition, the conversion process fragments remaining wild or rural ecosystems into ever-smaller patches, and relatively high amounts of suboptimal habitat are found at the boundaries between the remaining native ecosystems and those that have been modified for human use. Such “edge habitats” inhibit specialist plant and animal species—that is, species that can tolerate a narrow range of environmental conditions. In addition, nonurban ecosystems downwind and downstream of urban ecosystems are subjected to high loads of water pollution, air pollution, and introduced exotic species.

Urban animal communities tend to be dominated by medium-size generalists, such as raccoons, coyotes, opossums, skunks, foxes, and other animals capable of surviving across a wide range of environmental conditions. In contrast, nonurban ecosystems tend to contain specialist species and animals that vary across a broader range of sizes. Urban habitats tend to be dominated by introduced plant and animal species that have a long history of association with humans and that show adaptations to urban conditions. For example, birdsong in urban areas often has a higher pitch and louder volume than is heard in nonurban populations of the same species. Louder, higher-pitched song allows birds to communicate in spite of the greater noise levels found in and around cities and suburban transportation corridors.

Compared with plant and animal communities found in wild and rural ecosystems around the world, biological communities found in different urban areas tend to be similar to one another. This ecological similarity is a by-product of the structural similarities among urban environments (comparable building types, landscape designs, and infrastructure) and of the intentional or accidental introduction of similar species into cities, suburbs, and exurban areas and the water and nutrient subsidies provided by people and their activities. Introduced groups include rodents, earthworms, shade trees, weeds, and insect pests. In addition, animal populations in urban areas sometimes show evidence of genetic differentiation from rural populations of the same species.

Differences in design

Plant-covered high-rise building in central Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China.

Although there are many similarities among the world’s cities, differences arise in culture, history, governance, and the effects of the global economy. Some of the remaining differences arise from physical conditions such as aridity, topography, natural hazards (i.e., the risk of damage by earthquakes, volcanoes, and weather-related phenomena), and the amenities represented by the urban area’s unique location on Earth’s surface. Worldwide, city centres are becoming less dense as people spread into suburban areas, which are in turn becoming denser. The spatial footprints of cities, however, differ from one part of the world to the next. North American cities, such as Los Angeles and Atlanta, are notoriously sprawling, whereas European cities, such as Budapest and Paris, tend to be more concentrated around public transportation. Hence, energy efficiency is greater in concentrated cities than in metropolitan areas showing all the signs of urban sprawl.

Although urbanization has traditionally been associated with a higher quality of life for urban as opposed to rural dwellers, a number of ills such as concentrated urban poverty, environmental inequity, and reduced economic opportunity plague new cities in the developing world as well as old postindustrial city centres. Such problems might be addressed by better planning and by ecologically conscious urban design. One solution could involve an increase in “green spaces” and their more effective distribution through the urban landscape. In fact, the amount of green space actually present in cities is difficult to predict based on the density or age of the settlement. In some dense, older American cities, green space is present—as in New York City’s 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of parks, which are part of the city’s nearly 39,000 acres (about 15,800 hectares) of open space. Boston and Cleveland are two other older cities with well-developed open space networks. Some sprawling cities, such as Atlanta, which have grown substantially since the 1970s and ’80s, have very little parkland, whereas others, such as Phoenix, have large desert mountain parks nearby but little open space integrated within the urban fabric. Urban green space, including desert and wetland habitats, provides opportunities to improve the ecological processing of pollution and to moderate the local climate. Open space also imparts green amenities—shade from trees, the aesthetic benefits of natural scenery, and recreational space—for all citizens.

Urban ecology

The emerging science of urban ecology, a subdiscipline of ecology that examines the interactions between organisms and the human-dominated ecosystems in which they reside, may provide additional solutions to urban environmental problems. Ecologists first began to perform comprehensive studies of plants, animals, soils, and environmental conditions in cities shortly after World War II, when there were many vacant sites within European cities. They began a tradition of examining open spaces, which supported volunteer plant communities and the animal populations associated with them. Ecological planning emerged as a professional discipline that applied knowledge of the open spaces in urban areas in an effort to enhance biological diversity and amenities originating from green patches in cities.

.In the 1990s, ecological research in urban areas burgeoned. To deal with the complex mosaic of land uses that now make up cities, suburbs, and exurbs, the traditions were combined, along with knowledge taken from other disciplines, to establish a comprehensive ecological approach to the study of urban ecosystems.

Urban ecology has grown increasingly important as a result of the migration of most of the global human population to cities. One of the by-products of this unprecedented phenomenon is that the world’s urban areas are expanding into environmentally sensitive locations, where they alter ecosystem structure through pollution and land-use conversion of natural habitats. The knowledge gained from studying biological communities in cities may assist in the development of improved urban design and decision making in dealing with such problems.

ECOFEMINISM

Ecofeminism or ecological feminism is the most important approach within ecocriticism and ecological activism. The writings of Annette Kolodny gave impetus to what has come to be called ecofeminism. The term ecofeminism was coined by French feminist Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974. It is a branch of ecocriticism and feminism that examines the connection between women and nature. Eco feminism can be considered as the analysis of the role attribuntasies of the natural environment, by male authors. It also includes the study of specifically feminine conceptions of the environment in the neglected nature writings by female authors. According to Pramod K Nayar, ecofeminism argue that patriarchal society’s values and beliefs have resulted in the oppression of both women and nature. He also says that it ignores
women’s work, knowledge and situatedness. The situatedness of women is her immediate location in nature, where the relationship of woman with environment is far more intimate than that of man’s. In simple terms this philosophy examines the ways both nature and women are treated by patriarchal society. The earlier binaries in Western thought and literature was that of nature versus culture. Further eco feminists interrogate the effect of gender categories. That is the masculine culture as objective, rational, mind and public and feminine as subjective, emotional, body and private. And these binaries are used in order to demonstrate the ways in which man is equated with culture and woman with nature. Images like “mother nature” indicate two things. They are the naturalization of woman and feminization of nature. Thus it illustrates how men dominate nature and women as exploitable objects. The works of Vandana Shiva, Mary Mellor, Ariel Salleh has generated nuanced readings of the relationship between gender and nature.Ecofeminism can be classified into two, radical ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism. One of the assumptions of radical ecofeminism is that the dominant patriarchal society equates nature and women in order to degrade both. In fact, in it’s emergence, ecofeminism tends to be radical revealing practices of patriarchal domination of both. So radical ecofeminism targets the historical and cultural
backgrounds that equates the feminine and nature with negative and commodifiable attributes, while men have been elevated as capable of establishing order. Such a socio economic structure easily facilitates the exploitation of women and nature, for cheap labour and resources.
Cultural ecofeminism promotes an association between women and the environment by focusing on the more intimate and organic relationship between them. As per the anthropologically assigned gender roles women are nurturers of family. Culture ecofeminism has roots in nature based religions, goddess and nature worship. It is a way of redeeming both the spirituality of nature and women’s instrumental role in that spirituality. The cultural myths and
spirituality of Native America, Australia and African tribal populace underscores this mutual bonding between women and nature. Because they are built on a mother goddess instead of omniscient father God.
Vegetarian ecofeminism, materialist ecofeminism and spiritualist ecofeminism are some of the new branches of ecofeminism. A major theme within ecofeminism is the belief that there is a strong connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature, and that both must be eradicated in order to end oppression. Vegetarian ecofeminism aims to include the domination of not only the environment but also of nonhuman animals to the list. Materialist ecofeminism connects institutions like labour, power and property as the source of domination
over women and nature. This belief stresses that the sphere of production that is men and factory is dependent on the production of reproduction ( women and family). Materialist ecofeminists thus call for quality in labour distribution, the recognition of the contribution of women’s work.And they suggest to expand the very definition of ‘work’ to include women’s work. In spiritualist ecofeminism, a turn to myth and theology is advocated against materialism because of the
importance given to women, nature and all forms of life. They argue that pre-modern culture have always treated nature with respect and give importance to women’s knowledge, female body and female sexuality. Thus this philosophy turned to Native American religions, godess worship in Hinduism and other native cultures. Vandana Shiva, glorifies Vedic period of Indian History, for its emphasis on symbiotic values in her work Staying Alive (1989).

Environmental and Wildlife Crime

                                                          (Photo: Wildlife Conservation Trust)

Environmental and Wildlife crime is an illegal act which directly harms the environment.

There was a time when people were dependent on the environment and its resources for their existence. As if like they can’t live without it. But with time the situation changed. People started misusing the environment and wildlife for their own greedy purposes which led to a massive destruction of our environment, wildlife and especially our ‘Mother Earth’. As our country is developing, people are becoming greedy and selfish day by day. They have started mismanaging the resources that are actually meant to be used for useful purposes ,and due to this nowadays we are facing many harmful disasters like Tsunami, Earthquake, Flood, Poverty, Economic downfall all over the world. Not only these there are many other problems too.

Coming to the Wildlife, many animals are forcefully placed at zoo in a cage confining their lives within the walls of the zoo. We all know about Deforestation ,that is, “Cutting down the trees and plants”. Thousands of plants and trees are cut down everyday but we never think about the animals like how they will survive as forests are their only home to live in. Many animals are killed leading to the decreasing number of animals in the world. They are left abandoned or some people sell them just to mint money or use their skin to make leather and for many other purposes.

It is a true fact that human activities have a worse impact on nature and wildlife. “The term Environmental and Wildlife crime” should be categorized as crime in the present time. Many factors that influence these crimes are Socio-political and the weak judiciary. As we are all aware that there is no strict implementation of laws in many countries like, India. There are many organizations who works to highlight the issues and work on to prevent but there is no strict implementation not even the judiciary .And people do take benefits from this, and they continue to do these illegal crimes endangering our environment and wildlife. Coming to another factor ,that is, Economy. To increase the economy of the country, many people go after trading of the animals ,selling them at highest price just to mint money. Or even killing it before selling because we know that how expensive animals organs could be and how even just the skin of animals can be used for manufacturing purposes or say for preparing chemicals or weapons. Another factor is supply and demand. As our society is progressing, the demand is also increasing and so as the supply. This also increases an illegal employment opportunity for the people interested and thus, increasing their income.

Environmental and Wildlife crimes have caused a great threat to our environment and stood up with many challenges. Both the crimes have previously not been given importance in most of the countries thus, resulting in the lack of awareness and facilitating these crimes at a high speed which are actually a threat for various countries.

“The wildlife crimes has resulted in the loss of species and we need to start preventing it rather than waiting for the crimes to take place”. The organization has and is facing many problems such as jurisdiction where there is no strict implementation. All these factors have posed a serious threat not only to the environment but also to the organization.

SUGGESTIONS

·       To prevent the Environmental and Wildlife crime, first we need to create awareness about these among mass population.

·       The government shall become strict regarding the implementation of the norms in order to prevent it.

·       National organizations shall work together to keep a record of all the information related to both the crimes and to keep a steady pace with the change.

·       The government shall implement the principle of sustainable development due to the increase in the demands of the people in order to use the resources judiciously.

·       The countries where these crimes are prevalent must join the hands of the national organizations to work as a team for the speedy disposal of the cases.

·       Create a new organization which will deal with both the crimes to prevent any haphazard .This will decrease the burden on the judiciary court and will ensure the speedy disposal of the cases.

·       Organize campaigns and various other programs to educate people about both the crimes and teach them how these crimes are harmful for the society .

·       Involving the people of the society by asking them their suggestions or ideas to prevent the crimes.’

·       Plant more and more trees around your place ,on the streets to curb the pollution.

·       Stricter implementation of the guidelines under Wildlife protection act and Environmental act must be enforced.

Environment and Wildlife are important part of our lives. Environment and society are dependent on each other and we as the members of the society have a responsibility to protect our environment. Many laws and regulations have been made by various countries to protect our environment and wildlife. The protection of environment and wildlife has become a necessity today. Our judiciary looks after the constitutional provisions and reviews its own decisions but the strict implementation of the laws is not yet enforced. And that’s what needs to be changed. Unless and until there is strong and strict implementation, the main objectives of protecting the environment and wildlife cannot be achieved. Also the punishment for harming the environment should be made more strict and the convicts should be made to pay for their deeds. Each and every individual should be made aware towards the environment and wildlife because the government alone cannot fulfil the goals so the involvement of people at a large scale is really important. So it should be remembered that this environment belongs to everyone and the responsibility of conserving the environment and wildlife belongs to everyone.

“True benevolence or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathizes with the distress of every creature capable of sensation”.

The fragile ecology of the Himalayas

On 7 February 2021 Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district experienced a disaster in the form of an avalanche when a small portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off. The sudden deluge caused considerable damage to NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project. At least 72 people were confirmed to have been killed in the disaster. But this is not a new phenomenon and every year there are many reports of sudden deluge all across the Himalayan region.

The Himalayas has maintained the climate of the Indian subcontinent. Himalayas act as a barrier by diverting the monsoons to pour the rain in the fertile northern pains rather than to drift away to further north. Similarly, the mountain range also blocks the cold northern winds to reach the Indian subcontinent. The Himalayas all the way from Afghanistan to Myanmar with 110 peaks over 24,000 feet. They are also very rich in biodiversity and are the source of numerous perennial rivers and water bodies. Rivers like Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra that originate in the Himalayas are the lifelines of millions of people in the subcontinent.  

But in recent years, the Himalayan region has seen a drastic transformation with increasing population and deforestation. The Himalayas are still a very young mountain range and this means the region is not as stable as older mountain ranges. This is also the reason for the high number of earthquakes. There are many exploitative projects and resource extractions initiatives have are going throughout the region. The increasing influx of tourists in the Ladakh region which is increasing the pressure in the already sensitive region or the limestone extraction near Mussoorie which has transformed the surrounding lush mountain region barren and unstable are just some of the instances.  The cities located in the periphery of the Himalayas have started are also facing the same degradation problems in the plain region. Due to ever-increasing population growth, the size of cities is also increasing and this means overflowing garbage and drains. Unplanned growth of new settlements and uncontrolled tourism has only exacerbated this issue.

Photo by rasik on Pexels.com

Steps to safeguard the region

There is a need for safeguards on a national level that would help in preserving the fragile ecology of this region. First, it needs to be ensured that there is sustainable urbanization in the mountain habitats by town planning and adoption of architectural norms. Due to the sensitivity in this region, it is imperative that we have to control the growth of new settlements in the region and the existing settlements should be developed with all the basic urban facilities. Solid waste management is another area that needs to be the focus. Plastic bags use should be banned in all the towns and villages in the Himalayan region. Some states like Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim have enforced this rule but there are still many other states that have not fully implemented this rule. Pilgrimage is an important part of the tourism sector in the Himalayan region. Sustainable pilgrimage needs to be promoted and the inflow of pilgrims has to be determined according to the ecological capacity of that site. Roads are an essential node for the connectivity and development of a region but the construction of the roads and highways needs to take into account the sensitivity and fragility of the region as well. Environmental impact assessment should be compulsory before the construction of roads. Finally, environmental awareness needs to be propagated so that every individual can be empathetic and mindful of the dangers of environmental degradation. A coordinated effort will be essential between local cultures, local people, unions, and state governments to make this happen.

References:

http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=582

Permaculture

Permaculture is a fusion of the words ‘Permanent’ and ‘culture’. The term was devised by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978. In Mollison’s words, permaculture can be defined as the “conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. All this is achieved with a harmonious integration of landscape and people sustainably. The farms are designed in such a way that it promotes the coexistence of competing plants species. Currently, more than 3 million people practice permaculture across 140 countries.

Permaculture benefits claims

The practitioners of permaculture claim that as the population is increasing, there is increasing pressure to produce more food. The modern method of monoculture is not a sustainable method of growing food where a large area of land is used for only one crop and lots of chemical fertilizers are required to sustain the crop production. This also puts immense pressure on the topsoil and the soil loses its fertility and more fertilizers are required to maintain the productivity and output. Monoculture is discouraged by permaculturists because it promotes farming with a commercial-driven mindset and only selected varieties of crops and plants are grown that are commercially viable. Sometimes wild and uncultivated foods like tubers and millets are sidelined from the people’s diet even though when they are just if not more nutritious than any other food. Practicing permaculture can help small farmers to be more self-sufficient in producing their food and not rely on external input. Farmers also get the opportunity to grow large varieties of fruits, grain, and vegetables under a single roof. But it’s more than just self-sufficiency and the farm itself generates manure and this helps in saving the fertilizer costs. There is even more, as perennial plants are a structural part of the permaculture, this means that plants don’t require regular tending. This reduces the labor expenses as well. It also allows the plants to endure harsh weather conditions like the heavy downpour in monsoons or winters.

Challenges and future

Modern conventional agriculture science has been a boon in terms of production quantity as a whole but still, there are lots of problems that we are facing right now due to the use this form of farming. The focus should also be on the quality first and then quantity. What modern agriculture science has done is that it has separated the farmer from the soil. The focus and research are on the yields and nutritive properties of plants. Food has to come from the soil and most of the solutions are available in nature itself. Permaculture provides a pragmatic and efficient way for our subsistence farmers to produce food. In India where small farmers are the majority and they will also face immense pressure from the dangers of climate change and the increasing constraints on resources, epically water. Then there is the monetary issue as well. Permaculture helps in this case as the food is closer to the producer and there is less wastage of food. This makes food production economical and sustainable in a long run. Still replacing permaculture with traditional agriculture will not be easy and practical, but with small steps, it can emerge as a viable way to produce food and maintaining the ecology of the planet.