The Effect of Ecosystem Management free essay sample

People use adaptive management strategies to affect the factors that control soil biological communities. Soil biological activity is determined by factors at three different levels. When using Microscopes Factors the types and activity level of the soil organism would be affected; these factors may vary over short distances in the soil. Considering each factor is impacted by climate, soil texture, time of day season, and management practices including tillage, crop rotation, and irrigation. The diversity and functioning of a soil biological community are likely to improve when these strategies are used. Management plans should consider both the timing of management practices and disturbances, and the duration and degree of their effects on soil biology. The effects of management and disturbances vary by season, and the capacity of the soil community to recover from a particular practice or disturbance ranges widely. One reason people think of different things when they hear ecosystem management is because people mean different things when they use the term ecosystem management. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effect of Ecosystem Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These different meanings present differences in their interests. Ecosystem management is defined as being an approach to natural resource management which aims to sustain ecosystems to meet both ecological and human needs in the future but this isn’t where the debate comes into place. The argument arrives when you take account of the effect it has on the nutrient cycle (Glossary Ecosystem Management). Ecosystem management is not just about science nor is it simply an extension of traditional resource management; it offers a fundamental reframing of how humans may work with nature (PDF). We will need to define what an ecosystem is. An Ecosystem is a community[1] and its abiotic environment. This idea is similar to the habitat except that it refers to where a group of interacting populations live instead of where a single species lives (e. g. forest, ocean, or pond) (TEXT BOOK CITE). Characterization of ecosystems in terms of structure involves a study of the numbers and kinds of organisms present and their spatial relationships: it also requires knowledge of the amounts of various inorganic substances in the system and how these are distributed among its component parts. Ecosystem Management is a process that aims to conserve major ecological services and restore natural resources while meeting the socio economic, political and cultural needs of current and future generations (Brussard Peter F). There are two main types of Ecosystem Management, adaptive management[2] and strategic management[3] (Pahl-Wostl). Stakeholders, individuals or groups of people who are affected by environmental decisions and actions (Reed, M. S), use adaptive management strategies to affect the factors that control soil biological communities. Soil biological activity is determined by factors at three different levels. When using Microscopes Factors the types and activity level of the soil organism would be affected; these factors may vary over short distances in the soil. Considering each factor is impacted by climate, soil texture, time of day season, and management practices including tillage, crop rotation, and irrigation. Soil is the outer most layer of out planet, a regenerative living system, a place where energy and matter are transported and transformed, and it is an ecosystem (Soil Ecology. ). Soil is a natural resource and a growing ecosystem of plants and animals which play an important role in the soil. When soil as a natural resource is affected so is the entire soil ecosystem. Recourse is defined as directly acting components of environment. They include all the â€Å"things† that promote or organize a healthy metabolism (Andrewartha, H. G. ). Soil organism occurs in a confusing group of habitats. Development of ecosystem involves the phenomenon of ecological succession, which is an orderly process of community change that result from modification of the physical environment by organism, and culminates in the system attaining a steady state or climax (Richards, Bryant N). Ecology is the scientific study of the relationship between organisms and their environment. An ecosystem is all of the organisms in a given place in interaction with their nonliving environment. All ecosystems derive their energy from beyond their boundaries (Richards, Bryant N). The soil is a growing ecosystem of plants and animals which play an important role in the soil. When looking at soil as an ecosystem everything has to be taken in account. The minerals and organic matter fractions of the soil are apart of the abiotic environment of most terrestrial[4] ecosystems. Soil constitutes a subsystem of a large system. There are subsystems in the soil which get their energy from inorganic compounds. The environmental portion of the ecosystem has several recognizable components. There is the mineral fraction[5] , soil organic matter[6] , soil water[7], and the soil atmosphere[8]. Soil organisms play an important role in forming and stabilizing soil structure. In a healthy soil ecosystem, fungal filaments and exudates from microbes and earthworms help bind soil particles together into stable aggregates that improve water infiltration, nd protect soil from erosion, crusting, and compaction. Macrospores formed by earthworms and other burrowing creatures facilitate the movement of water into and through soil. Good soil structure enhances root development, which further improves the soil. Organic matter, Soil organic matter (SOM), though usually comprising less than five person of a soil’s weight, is one of the most important components of ecosystems . SOM strongly modifies soil organism habitat and provides a food source for much of the soil biota (â€Å"Soil Ecology. ). In a healthy soil ecosystem, soil biota regulates the flow and storage of nutrients in many ways. For example, they decompose plant and animal residue, fix atmospheric nitrogen, transform nitrogen and other nutrients among various organic and inorganic forms, release plant available forms of nutrients, mobilize phosphorus, and form mycorrhizal (fungus-root) relations for nutrient exchange. Even applied fertilizers may pass through soil organisms before being utilized by crops. Land management is the process of managing the use and development of land resources. The goal of managing the soil biological community is to improve biological functions, including the forming and stabilizing soil structure, cycling nutrients, controlling pests and disease, and degrading or detoxifying contaminants. The question is if that is good or bad for the ecosystem. Research shows that management practices and disturbances impact soil biological functions because they can enhance or degrade the microbial habitat, add to or remove from food resources, and or directly add or kill soil organism. It can be observed that for every pro of land management, ecosystem management. When looking at the food web it may unbalance what happens with who should and should survive. A healthy soil ecosystem has a diverse soil food web that keeps pest organisms in check through competition and predation. Some soil organisms release compounds that enhance plant growth or reduce disease susceptibility. Plants may exude specific substances that attract beneficial organisms or repel harmful ones, especially when they are under stress, such as grazing. A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter. The process is regulated by food web pathways that decompose matter into mineral nutrients. Nutrient cycles occur within ecosystems. Ecosystems recycle locally, converting mineral nutrients into the production of biomass, and on a larger scale they participate in a global system of inputs and outputs where matter is exchanged and transported through a larger system of biogeochemical cycles. Nutrient cycle is often used in direct reference to the idea of an intra-system cycle, where an ecosystem functions as a unit (Nutrient Cycling. ). Four general strategies are managing organic matter, manage for diversity, keep the ground service, and manage disturbance. They are sub categories of adaptive ecosystem management. In manage organic matter regular inputs of organic matter are essential for supplying the energy that drives the soil food web. Each source of organic matter favors a different mix of organisms. Next in manage for diversity the diversity of plant assemblages across the land scape and over time promotes a variety of microbial habitats and soil organisms. Up to a point, soil biological function generally improves when the complexity or diversity of the soil biological community increases. Third with keep the ground covered, keeping the ground covered at or near the surface moderates soil temperature and moisture; provides food and habitat for fungi, bacteria, and arthropods; and prevents the destruction of microbial habitat by erosion. Minimize the length of time each year that soil is bare by maintaining a cover of living plants, biological crusts, or plant residue at the surface. Living plants are especially important as cover because they create the rhizosphere[9]—that area within one or two millimeters of living roots where soil biological activity is concentrated. Last manage disturbances, Some soil perturbations[10] are a normal part of soil processes, or are a necessary part of agriculture and other land uses. A variety of sources may support a variety of organisms. The location of the organic matter—whether at the surface, mixed into the soil, or as roots—also affects the type of organisms that dominate in the food web. Many types of diversity should be considered, such as diversity of land uses (buffers, forest, row crops, grazing land), plant types (perennial, annual, woody, grassy, broadleaf, legume, etc. ), root structures (tap, fibrous, etc. ), and soil pore sizes. Diversity is desirable over time as well as across the landscape. Land managers can increase diversity with appropriate grazing management, patchy or selective tree harvest (in contrast to broad clear-cutting), vegetated fencerows, buffer strips, strip cropping, and small fields. These landscape features provide refuges for beneficial arthropods. Diversity over time can be achieved with crop rotations. Rotated crops put a different food source into the soil each year, encouraging a wide variety of organisms and preventing the build-up of a single pest species. Microbes around roots take advantage of plant exudates and sloughed-off root cells. Maintaining a rhizosphere environment is one of the important benefits of using cover crops. In addition to preserving microbial habitat, cover crops help build and maintain populations and diversity of arthropods by preserving their habitat for an extended portion of the growing season. ome disturbances significantly impact soil biology and can be minimized to reduce their negative effects. These disturbances include compaction, erosion, soil displacement, tillage, catastrophic fires, certain pesticide applications, and excessive pesticide usage. Under any land use, organic matter inputs to the soil can be increased by improving plant productivity and increasing annual biomass productio n. In particular, good root growth is important for building soil organic matter.