Summary
Key terms
Ecological restoration: This phenomenon aims to recreate, initiate, or accelerate the recovery of an ecosystem that has been disturbed.
Natural Resource: A material supplied by nature that supports life.
Renewable Resource: A resource that can be replenished by natural processes.
Sustainable Use: The use of resources in a way that meets the needs of the present but preserves the resources for future use.
Nonrenewable Resource: A non–renewable resource is a natural resource which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate, once depleted there is no more availability for future needs.
Algal Bloom: Excessive growth of algae in bodies of water because of high levels of nutrients.
Dead Zone: Area in the ocean or other body of water where low oxygen levels from excessive growth of algae, which kills all aquatic organisms.
Air Pollution: Chemical substances and particles released into the atmosphere, usually by human activities.
Acid Rain: Low–pH precipitation that forms with air pollution combines with water.
Ozone Hole: A gap in the ozone layer due to ozone depletion.
Greenhouse Effect: The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the atmosphere (the air around the Earth) trap infrared radiation. This effect makes the planet warmer, in the same way a greenhouse keeps its inside temperature warmer.
Bioremediation: Bioremediation is the use of living organisms, usually prokaryotes, fungi, or plants, to detoxify polluted ecosystems.
Biological augmentation: This process uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem.
Key concepts
- Conservation, Restoration and Biodiversity: Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction. Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. The three levels of Biodiversity are as follows; genetic diversity, species diversity, ecosystem diversity. Restoration ecology is the scientific study of repairing disturbed ecosystems through human intervention.
- Ecosystem services: The field known as biomimicry is the study of natural products that provide solutions to human needs. For example, shark skin provided the model for hydrodynamic swimming suits. The glue used by Sandcastle worms (Phragmatopoma californica) to cement together their sand particle shells was the inspiration for a glue that mends fractured bones in the aqueous internal environment of the body. Finally, scientists are using the chemical nature of spider's silk to design strong, lightweight fibers. Ecosystem services are processes provided by nature that support human life. These services include the decomposition of waste, pollination, water purification, moderation of floods, and renewal of soil fertility.
- Exploring restoration: Bioremediation is the use of living organisms, usually prokaryotes, fungi, or plants, to detoxify polluted ecosystems .Biological augmentation uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem.
- Natural resources: Natural resources are materials and components that can be found within the environment. Biosphere is the part of Earth that supports life. Biosphere extends from the bottom of deepest ocean to the top of the tallest mountain. It is supported by the three physical divisions of the Earth – land or lithosphere, water or hydrosphere and air or atmosphere. Depending upon their abundance, natural resources are of two main types, inexhaustible and exhaustible. Inexhaustible natural resources: They are natural resources which occur in such abundance that they are not likely to get exhausted by continuous use, e.g., air, water, solar energy. Exhaustible natural resources: They are natural resources which are in limited quantity.(Ex: coal, petroleum).
- Air, water and soil: We need oxygen from the air to breathe. Wind is the flow of gases. Movement of air plays an important role in bringing rains. Air pollution causes asthma, bronchitis and allergic cold. Pollutant gases produce irritation in eyes, throat and lungs, holes in ozone layer and the probable damages. About 97.2 percent of the Earth's water is saline (salty) ocean water. Another 2..14 percent is fresh water frozen in polar ice caps and glaciers. Rainwater harvesting is the process of collecting, filtering and storing water from roof tops, paved and unpaved areas for multiple uses. The diseases in humans such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, jaundice, and hepatitis are caused by different pathogens like viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, helminths, nematodes, acts as pollutants and act as major source of water pollution. Eutrophication is a process by which a body of water, as a lake, matures and ages, characterized by an environment growing progressively richer in minerals and organic nutrients, resulting in a seasonally recurring depletion in oxygen that is ultimately unsuitable for animal life. Soil is the mineral and organic material on the surface of the earth. Soil development is the process referred as Paedogenesis. Soil profile refers to the layers of soil; horizon A, B, and C. Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human–made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.
- Management of natural resources: Management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. Sustainable biosphere initiative is to acquire the ecological information needed for the development, management, and conservation of Earth's resources.
Conservation & Restoration Ecology
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