Ecosystems: Understanding Our Place

 When I read this article the Education from growing up on a Cattle Ranch in North Missouri and taking care of the Land was re-enforced- Specifically how taking care of the Soil (Earth) in the Fields directly affected the Yield from the Crops and Forage we raised for Livestock Production.  

Forage / Plants utilize the upper crust of the Earth (top 12 inches) of the Planet. This area needs to have optimum nutrients for sustained plant growth. Without optimum nutrients in the soil, vegetation fails to produce the Forage / Plant Matter which is needed for the Livestock to survive.

1. When a Forage Crop is grown the Plants utilizes the Soils Nutrients to grow.
2. The Forage Produced transforms these nutrients from the Soil into, Forage / Plant matter, which is then harvested, stored or fed to the Livestock.

The Nutrients in the Soil that were transferred inside the Plant / Forage, into beneficial attributes that supports the Livestock. (The Livestock perform best when the Plants / Forage have optimum nutrients.) Without the Nutrients in the Earth plants fail to grow and thus livestock fails to produce the needed meat we eat to survive.

This is just a small example on how the smallest minute nutrients located in our Earth's Crust is transformed into actual living products that we use every day in our Lives.

"everyone in the world depends completely on Earth's ecosystems and the services they provide, such as food, water, disease management, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment, and aesthetic enjoyment."

 Ecosystems: Understanding Our Place in the World

Snippets from: http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=manschelblog&PostId=98448

by: Michael Anschel

 Ecosystem services are arranged in four service or use categories: regulating (erosion control, gas exchange), providing (genetic diversity, pollination), provisioning (agriculture, mining), and informing (recreational, social). Much of human activity consists of taking a resource or service and, through human activity, creating a useful product for human use. When we act upon an ecosystem resource, whether it is mining, hunting, farming, weaving, or building, we add value and create a marketable product. We do this with little to no accounting as to the costs of our action to the ecosystem because historically we have held the idea that most resources are more or less infinite.  More importantly, when one resource runs out, through human activity (technological advances) we typically replace the deleted resource with another one. Human activities that alter the ecosystem are thought of as an externality; an unaccountable price of living. Hidden within that statement is the assumption that our human actions can never overwhelm the environment that surrounds and supports human activities and human life. 


According to a 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, put out by the World Resources Institute, everyone in the world depends completely on Earth's ecosystems and the services they provide, such as food, water, disease management, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment, and aesthetic enjoyment. Over the past 50 years, humans have changed these ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber, and fuel. This transformation of the planet has contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development. But not all regions and groups of people have benefited from this process—in fact, many have been harmed. Moreover, the full costs associated with these gains are only now becoming apparent."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=manschelblog&PostId=98448






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