Write articles on following topics-
(i) Effects of Ecological imbalance
(ii) Afforestation and its importance
Answers
Answer:
Ecosystem is the environment where biotic/ living things live and interact with nonliving things/abiotic factors such as coral reef, forest, grassland, farm etc. In 1935, the word “ecosystem” was invented by a British ecologist Sir Arthur George Tansley, who depicted natural system in “constant interchange” among their biotic and abiotic parts.
Biotic parts such as plants, animals and bacteria etc.
Abiotic parts such as the soil, air, water etc.
Ecology is a branch of science that was developed by scientist to make the study easier about the relationship between biotic things and their physical environment which is the abiotic factors – and ecosystem is part of the concept of ecology in an organized view of nature.
Biosphere is the earth’s zone of air, water and soil that has the capability in supporting life. This zone reaches about 10 km into the atmosphere and down to the lowest ocean floor. In simpler term, the biosphere is the surface of the hierarchy on earth where living environment and organism thrive. It contains various categories of biotic communities known as biomes that is described by their overbearing vegetation such as deserts, tropical rainforest and grasslands. The biomes are in turn composed of various ecosystems.
Ecosystem has processes which sustain ecological balance:
The cyclic flow of materials from abiotic environment to the biosphere and then back to the abiotic environment.
Upholding the equilibrium of interaction inside food webs.
These processes must be maintained in the ecosystem; any interference with these cycles disrupts and affects ecological balance. Below are some of the reasons and causes of ecological imbalance in the living world.
Afforestationrefers to the process of converting a non-forest land into a forest. Afforestation is highly important to maintain the biodiversity.
India is an emerging or developing country whereas the controlling of Carbon emission is very much challenging for the policy makers. The main reason is that India needs much more versatile industries to create jobs for unemployment youths which can directly increase the per capita income and the overall GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
Large industries and power plants need a large area to set up its facilities. In India, deforestation has happened in the past for creating Infrastructure (National Highways, Airports, etc.), Industries (Steel, Power, Fast Moving Consumer Goods FMCG, Engineering, etc.), Mining (Coal, Minerals, Metals, etc.), Oil and Gas exploration, Thermal Power plants, etc.
Hence, Afforestation is necessary to combat the issues of global warming, soil erosion, pollution, and the maintenance of biodiversity and ecological balances. There are two ways, i.e. afforestation and reforestation, the development of new forest on a non-forest land is called afforestation, but reforestation means the reestablishment of the forest cover by either naturally or artificially (manual planting of trees). Trees useswater and carbon-dioxide(CO2) to convert it intoorganic matter (wood) and oxygen. Thus, trees acts as the natural air-purifiers and helps relieve the environment. Considering the need of afforestation in India, many government, private and NGOs are engaged to create new forests through afforestation method to purify the environment, maximize the carbon capture, and control the soil erosion.
The total forest area was 40.48 million hectare in 1950 and then it was increased to 67.47 million hectare forest area in 1980. And finally 69 million hectare area was under forest had been reported in 2006. So massive 70.5% increase of area undercover forests had been seen between the periods of 1950 to 2006 due to afforestation.In India, 23% of overall land is under forest areas which are grouped into 5 major categories i.e.
1.Subtropical Dry Deciduous (38.2%) 2.Tropical Moist Deciduous (30.3%)
3.Subtropical Thorn (6.7%)
4.Tropical Wet Evergreen forests (5.8%) 5.Other categories (Pine, Temperate and Alpine, Tropical semi evergreen) – 17.5%
A large number of trees are planted during the afforestation process. On one hand, it helps the environment by reducing the CO2 level. On the other hand, the fruit bearing trees becomes the source of food for a large country like India.