Essay on The Ecosystem: Vital for Life, Threatened by Deforestation

Introduction

The ecosystem is vital for the growth and survival of all living organisms because it provides food, acts as the habitat to wildlife, and performs necessary functions such as the hydrological cycle essential for the growth and development of the living organisms. The environment is the surrounding in which living organisms operates, and is affected mainly by human activity such as deforestation. Deforestation is the removal of trees with no intention of replacing them. It happens when forested land is cleared and used for purposes like agriculture, which damages the ecosystem. Deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle. This assertion is because trees help in balancing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Without carbon dioxide, plants will not prosper, resulting in less vegetation cover. This act will, in turn, affect the availability of oxygen as plants produce it. Deforestation also results in the disruption of the water cycle. Trees are responsible for the formation of rainfall by extracting groundwater and releasing it into the atmosphere. When deforestation occurs, groundwater from the soil will not be returned to the atmosphere as there are no trees to perform transpiration, affecting the water cycle. Deforestation affects species diversity when clearing the forest, and animal species fail to adapt to the new environment, making their survival hard. Species diversity is also affected by deforestation in that clearing of forests can lead to a specific type of plant species to become extinct. It clearly shows the need to avoid deforestation to maintain the correct balance needed for living organisms to prosper. Continuous logging will lead to an imbalance that will strain the ecosystem's factors, because it has adverse effects on the carbon cycle, hydrologic cycle and relates to declining species diversity.

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Forests

Forests help in balancing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. When there is excess carbon dioxide in the air, it forms a layer that traps and prevents heat from living the earth. If there is excess heat, global warming will occur as it prevents heat from leaving the surface. It eliminates the increased carbon storage in plants as a result of future carbon dioxide fertilization. This process would reduce the amount of carbon emitted by trees and end up released to the atmosphere within a short period. Forests hold large amounts of carbon that are released to the atmosphere when burning trees. There are several ways carbon is stored in the forested areas, one of them is through vegetation growing on the forest floor, also through leaves that have fallen from the trees and rest on the forest floor, through forest soil and decaying matter. NASA earth observatory (2007). Burning of forested areas quickly releases carbon to the atmosphere, which would have been released at a slower rate naturally. Through burning, we reduce the ability of forests to hold carbon as undergrowth and branches, which would have increased the carbon store until they decompose. Forests with large trees help to store carbon in the trunks and branches for many years unless clearing happens.

Trees play an essential role in the hydrologic cycle, and cutting them affects the critical process. Deforestation hinders water movement to the atmosphere, resulting in drought in various parts of the world brought about by the changes in precipitation levels. Trees help in turning groundwater into vapour, which released to the atmosphere, falls as rain. If logging continues, there will be a reduced amount of rainfall due to reduced precipitation. The amount of vapour in the atmosphere will not be sufficient to result in rain. Lack of rainfall will, in turn, dry the ground making the growth of vegetation impossible. Deforestation will also cause water bodies to reduce in volume because there will be no trees to hold up water, resulting in a runoff. Logging will lead to an increase in temperature, which will, in turn, increase soil temperature, thus making the growth of vegetation hard, leading to desertification.

Deforestation

When deforestation occurs, species in that habitat may fail to adapt to the new environment and, as a result, are unable to survive. This hindrance of the species will result in reduced biodiversity in that area because there will be fewer organisms. It results in the extinction of certain species like the herbivores that depend on the vegetation for food. The reduced number of herbivores will affect the number of carnivores as they mainly feed on herbivores whose population has reduced due to extinction or migration in search of new habitats. The disruption of the food chain and will have an impact on human survival in the future. According to Sanchez-azofeifa et al. 2002, conservation of animals and rare species in national parks is a good idea.

Still, it does not suit animals that need a significant habitat for them to remain genetically stable. Deforestation has an effect on the species diversity because it destroys the natural habitat for the organism.

Conclusion

In summary, it is clear that deforestation has adverse effects on the ecosystem, and we should control so that we can preserve the environment. If we continue the logging of trees, it will lead to some species being instinct. It may take time before we feel the effects of our actions, but we better prevent the risk that we face and act now. We should put forward measures to ensure our ecosystem is protected. It is up to us to understand the social effects of deforestation and work to solve or minimize them. There has been a continued increase in temperature due to global warming, and this calls for action now because human beings may fail to adapt to the harsh climatic change that will occur in the future.

References

Nasa earth observatory (2007). Tropical Deforestaton https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Deforestation/deforestation_update2.php#:~:text=When%20people%20clear%20the%20forests,and%20ranchers%20manage%20the%20land.

Sanchez-Azofeifa, G., Rivard, B., Calvo, J., Moorthy, I. (2002). “Dynamics of Tropical Deforestation Around National Parks: Remote Sensing of Forest Change on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.” Retrieved April 16, 2003, from BioOne <http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-document&issn=0276-4741&volume=022&issue=04&page=0352