"Processing of silk leads to ecological imbalance' Explain the statement
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Answer:
Ecological imbalance is when a natural- or human-caused disturbance disrupts the natural balance of an ecosystem. The balance of an ecosystem can be disrupted by natural or human-caused disturbances. If a species disappears or a new species is introduced it can shift an ecosystem to a state of ecological imbalance.
Silk is a highly renewable resource with less impact on the environment that many other fabrics. The silk worms feed on mulberry leaves, which don’t require the use of pesticides or fertilizers to grow.
The process of making silk requires the killing of the larvae when the cocoon is boiled, because of this sericulture has been heavily criticized by the animal welfare and rights activists. The mulberry silkworm has been completely domesticated and cannot live without humans for their care and feeding. There are no wild silkworms or Bombyx mori moths living in the wild. Because of the long history of captivity, the Bombyx mori evolved into a blind moth that cannot fly and lives only a few days during which it lays about 500 eggs and then dies within four or five days. The silkworm moth has even lost the ability to eat because of undeveloped structures within their mouth. To prevent hurting the insects Gandhi promoted the cotton spinning machines, which do not directly involve hurting any living thing. He also promoted wild silk made from cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths, wild silk is promoted in parts of India for those who do not want to wear silk produced by killing silkworms. The organization PETA also campaigned against silk for similar reasons.
Silk for most places is not a local resource, so processing and transportation lead to pollution. Much of the silk in the US is from China and India. To clean silk many harsh and intensive treatments and chemicals are used, which can pollute the ground water. Producing silk uses a very large amount of resources to produce a small amount of silk, some estimate that only thirty-five pounds of silk come from one acre of mulberry trees. The process is also very labor intensive, so it requires many workers.
As an attempt to start the silk industry in The United States the Mulberry tree was introduced to American soil. This fast-growing Paper Mulberry tree was introduced into many non-native areas. It quickly disrupted the native habitat; it became a highly invasive species and upset the natural ecosystem. This has happened in many places such as Latin America, the United States, and South Asia. Since the tree does not have any native predators it is replacing the native flora. The Paper Mulberry tree chokes out the native flora because of its extremely high consumption of water, which ends up leaving less water to sustain the native flora. Also, Mulberry trees have shallow root systems so they are easily blown down. It is then necessary to cut down the tree and apply a herbicide to kill the roots. The roots of the trees are very aggressive and strong; they can cause problems with the drainage pipes. The timber is also relatively useless, other than the making of paper.
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Answer
The balance of an ecosystem can be disrupted by natural or human-caused disturbances. If a species disappears or a new species is introduced it can shift an ecosystem to a state of ecological imbalance. Silk is a highly renewable resource with less impact on the environment that many other fabrics
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