RESTORING
ECOSYSTEM
S:
OUR ONLY
CHANCE OF
SURVIVAL
Niharika Biswas
IX E
GD Goenka Public School Dakshineswar
THE TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Topic I : INTRODUCTION
Topic II : ECOSYSTEMS – WHAT AND WHY
Topic III : UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEMS
Topic IV : CAUSES OF DEPLETING ECOSYSTEMS
Topic V : THE DAMAGE CAUSED AND ITS IMPACT
Topic VI : WORKING FOR IMPROVEMENT
Topic VII : SUMMARY
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INTRODUCTION ALTHOUGH THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF
THOUGHT INTO ‘HEALING THE EARTH’ AND
HELPING IT ‘REGAIN ITS HEALTH’, JUST
THINKING IS NOT ENOUGH. THE AMOUNT
OF THOUGHT WE ARE PUTTING INTO IT IS
ITSELF NOT ENOUGH. BUT WE HAVE A
SILVER LINING; IT IS LATE, BUT NOT LATE
ENOUGH TO LOSE HOPE. WE CAN STILL
GIVE BACK EARTH THE THINGS WE OWE
THE
AND QUESTION
HEAL IN FOCUS
THE DAMAGE IS :
CAUSED.
HOW
?
3
ECOSYSTEMS - WHAT AND
WHY
According to Wikipedia, an ecosystem consists of all
the organisms and the physical environment with
which they interact. These biotic and abiotic
components are linked through nutrient cycles and
energy flows.
This means that an ecosystem is kind of an
arrangement or coexistence of both the living and the
physical factors that make life possible on Earth.
There exist various kinds of ecosystems-
aquatic, forests, deserts, wetlands, cold
deserts, etc.
UNDERSTANDING
ECOSYSTEMS
As mentioned before, ecosystems are made of living
organisms, abiotic factors, and energy flows. If we try
and understand the flow of energy in an ecosystem that
makes it functional, we may understand how we can
take effective measures to restore them at the root of the
problem.
Now we must understand that not only knowing the
causes, but also seeing the deep rooted problems that
exist in necessary to be able to spread awareness about
the dying ecosystems.
Further on we are going to see the flow of
energy in an ecosystem, and understand how
its compromise affects the ecosystem.
HERE IS AN ECOSYSTEM
The energy here is sunlight, which enters the system
through photosynthesis. This energy is moved and
transferred when an animal eats the plant. This helps
in movement of the energy and matter. It helps in the
progress of the system and influences quality of plant
life. Dead, organic matter is decomposed by bacteria
and other microorganisms to release carbon in the
atmosphere and to convert the organic matter to
nutrients that can be used by other simple organisms
and plants.
Now these animals who have consumed plants
may be consumed by other animals, enabling
transfer of energy and matter, and the
processes keep on continuing further.
FACTORS AFFECTING ECOSYSTEMS
There are various factors that affect ecosystems, like
biotic and abiotic factors, as shown in the picture. The
biotic factors are typically the producers and various
levels of consumers. The primary consumers are
photosynthesizing plants, consumers being mostly
animals. The biotic factors also include decomposers,
who decompose the organic matter to give out
nutrients, carbon, etc. necessary for growth and
survival of plants, etc. The abiotic factors here, are air,
water, minerals and nutrients , soil , sunlight etc. These
are necessary to start the flow of energy and help
organisms thrive in the ecosystem.
The abundance or deficiency of these factors creates
various ecosystems ranging from deserts to sea sides.
Insert photo here
CAUSES OF DEPLETING
ECOSYSTEMS
Immense damage has been caused to the balance
mandatory for maintenance of an ecosystem.
The causes may be various- natural disasters,
pollution, resource depletion, deforestation, release
of dangerous gases, water depletion, use of
chemicals that lead to soil depletion, etc.
Human made causes are deforestation, poaching, use
of chemicals, burning that causes release of polluting
gases, population growth, overexploitation,
overconsumption, mining, etc.
Now that we know the causes of this damage,
let us take a look at the damage caused and
see how far can we recover.
Insert photo here
THE DAMAGE CAUSED AND ITS
IMPACT
About 87% of our seas have damaged ecosystems. 25%
of our coral reefs have disappeared and 60% will be gone
in 30 years. More than 4.6 million hectares of forests
have been cut down. 23 billion tons of resources have
been extracted from the earth. We have been using
resources at a rate of one and a half planet earth when we
only have one. More than 99% of the 4 billion species
have gone extinct, and about 900 of these species have
gone extinct in the last 5 centuries. There are so many
animals that deserve to but will not walk the earth again.
In the past 60 years, 60% of earth’s ecosystems have
been destroyed.
These statistics are necessary to help us feel what damage
we have done, and what damage will continue to happen
if we do not change our ways immediately.
WORKING FOR
IMPROVEMENT
If we decide to look at the core of problems, we will understand that it all starts from the
energy first obtained by the plants. Thus, we must make conditions better for plants to
thrive so that other dependent animals can survive.
10
STEPS WE CAN FOLLOW
1. Plant trees.
Although this has been spoken of a lot, and taught a lot
in schools, only a small percentage of all people
actually plant trees. Planting trees is fundamental to
the ecosystem. Considering the amount of trees we
have cut down, we need to start planting trees at large
scales in all countries. Trees not only provide us with
oxygen, food, important products, but they can bring
about rain through transpiration, and this could reduce
the harsh effects of global warming, increasing the
amount of water and thus helping restore the depleting
the water table. They take in carbon dioxide and help
to reduce the greenhouse effect. Thus, not only plants
help us reduce the global crises, they help other
organisms and the ecosystem in general to thrive.
Trees give us life.
2. Reintroducing drained nutrients in soil.
Reintroduction of nutrients means to add the lost
nutrients to soil. These nutrients are lost when
chemical fertilizers are used. This happens due to
the fact that chemical fertilizers actually are water
soluble, which allows them to get drained into the
water table through the soil with water, or be used
up by the plants easily. Thus no nutrients get
stored in the soil causing the soil to be devoid of
any nutrients that will make it fertile enough for
the growth of plants.
We need to work at the root cause, and improve
the quality of factors in plant growth, thus we need
to improve soil quality as it is vital to plant
growth. We must also keep the soil well irrigated
to keep it suitable for plant growth. Thus to plant
more trees, we need to increase soil quality, and to
increase soil quality, we need to grow more trees.
Insert photo here
3. Try to protect wildlife and eat lesser meat, if
we cannot totally avoid intake.
Wildlife is also very important for the transfer of
energy from the plants to the different consumers
of their products. They help in growth of plants
through seed dispersal, and help to support other
organisms. Their faeces and dead bodies may be
decomposed by microorganisms to release
important nutrients, thus helping plant growth.
This can be done by protecting existing species
from illegal poaching, reduction in consumption of
meat and other products that promote animal
cruelty, making safe spaces for existing animal
species, spreading awareness, reduce littering to
help create clean and safe growing environments.
4. Help in cleaning and reduce pollution.
Pollution has been a huge problem since the start
of industrialization. Overuse of chemicals,
improper disposal of harmful chemicals, plastic
pollution, etc. have destroyed countless
ecosystems. These materials are non
biodegradable, and hence cannot be disposed off
easily. They release toxic substances and gases on
burning, and keep producing further toxic
substances if left unattended. They may be
consumed by organisms, causing their death. They
degrade the soil, reducing growth of trees, require
a lot of fossil fuels to be produced, even though
they may be for single use. Thus they also deplete
the natural resources of earth. If we participate in
cleaning drives, or help to spread awareness about
ill effects of using plastics and not disposing or
recycling them, we can bring about a huge change.
Insert photo here
5. Reducing our Carbon footprint.
Carbon footprints are the amount of carbon
products produced by a unit of work, like an
organization, or an individual. We cannot control
the Carbon footprint we produce by breathing,
but we can control the carbon footprint produced
by use of devices. Our medium of connection
today is the Internet, and we require a device to
access it, be it a mobile, or a computer. These
devices produce carbon dioxide, adding to our
carbon footprint. An average computer on for 8
hours a day can emit about 175 kg of carbon
dioxide per year. Thus reducing screen time is
necessary for both the environment and our eyes.
Increase in carbon dioxide will add to the
greenhouse effect, increasing global warming,
and triggering other crises.
Insert photo here
6. Save our resources as much as we can.
We must not waste any resources that we use in our
day-to-day lives, like water, electricity, fuels, etc.
We must not waste any water, electricity, fuels, etc.
unnecessarily. We must save as much water as we
can, by implementing methods like rainwater
harvesting. We must save electricity, turn off
appliances that are not in use, because electricity is
primarily produced from the limited fossil fuels we
have. We are not abundant in tidal energy, or wind
energy to produce electricity. Fuels like cooking
gas, etc. should be dealt properly with and should
be used at the bare minimum. This way we can
contribute at an individual level, and help in
restoring ecosystems.
Insert photo here
7. Recycle, Rebuild, and Reuse as much as we can.
We must try and reuse every material we have as far as
we can. For example- we can write on both sides of
paper, cut up plastic bottles to make pots for plants,
make decorations out of waste materials, use old
newspaper to cover books, make a nest for birds out of
cut up bottles or wood, etc. If we cannot use an item
any longer, we must try and send them to recycling
centers in the city for them to get recycled to new
items for further use. We must use stationery that does
not use products forests but instead uses recycled
items. We must try and pay online rather than use
paper money, this will help us stay socially distanced
during the pandemic and also reduce the demand for
paper, reducing deforestation. Thus reducing, reusing,
recycling, and rebuilding can be established as very
effective methods of coping with ecosystem damage.
REIMAGINE,
RECREATE, RESTORE
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SUMMARY
Thus if we work unitedly towards
restoring ecosystems on Earth, we
might be able to reverse the damage
caused and help our earth breathe
again. Working at the root of the
problem is necessary, so we can help
ecosystems heal as fast as possible.
Although, a lot of information about
this topic is provided everywhere, we
need to understand the huge impact
this has on other organisms other than
us, which usually stays hidden from
public eye. We can survive and thrive
in ecosystems only, and thus we need
to preserve earth’s huge biodiversity.
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THANK YOU
Niharika Biswas
Class IX E
GD Goenka Public School, Dakshineswar
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SOURCES OF INFORMATION
• Internet
• Computer Learning 8 by Sumita Arora (Carbon footprint)
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