Identify impacts associated with agriculture.

SCI/256

Identify impacts associated with agriculture.

In this paper, we will be discussing natural resources and energy of the Amazon Rainforest. We will identify some of the impacts associated with agriculture. The effects of growing human population have on the ecosystem. Management practices of sustainability and conservation of natural resources in that ecosystem. Risks and benefits of extracting or using one type of nonrenewable and one type of renewable energy resource from that ecosystem, and we will also assess management practices for sustainability and conservation of natural resources and energy. The Amazon Rainforest is vast and accounts for half of the rainforests in the entire world. The rainforest runs alongside the whole of Amazon River and stretches through nine different countries. The rainforest is over fifty-five million years old. In 2008, the rainforest was proclaimed to be one of the Natural Seven Wonders of the World by the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation. The rainforest is on the largest recycling unit for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, 20 percent of the world’s oxygen comes from the Amazon Rainforest. On the fifth of the world’s fresh water supply also comes from the rainforest as well. 25 Percent of Western pharmaceuticals are derived in the rainforest. There are over 50,000 plants, animal, and insect species in the Amazon around 137 of these species die off every year. The ecosystem is vast and vital to the world.
Identify Impacts Associated with Agriculture Agriculture in rainforests can be very difficult, mostly due to the soil not having enough nutrients. Some people still try to use the lands for agriculture when all the resources are used up they turn them into cattle pastures. Agriculturalists clear out many acres of forests to plant crops. When they burn up the acres of trees in a couple of days, the soil is full of nutrients. In a few years, the soil is out of the nutrients. They then have to bring fertilizer to continue growing their crops. The fertilizer can seep into the local streams and lakes and kill off some of the fish that live in those streams. Once they see that the fertilizing is not successful anymore, they abandon the land. If the land is good to grow crops they plant one type of crop that is called monoculture. The problem with a monoculture is if a particular type of species feeds on the harvest it can kill off the plants, also if there is a drought this too can kill off the crop. Another factor that affects agriculture is the way agriculturists clear out the forest. They use the slash-and-burn method. When this is done, the land is only enough for two or three years, after that they find more area, and they do it again. The reason the soil in the Amazon Rainforest is not the nutrient is because the lack of coverage from the trees. When it down pours rain, the nutrients are washed away. For some of the locals who live in the forests, growing and selling crops it their way of life, they have to move into another piece of land, and they do the same thing. If they continue to do slash-and-burn method, there will no longer be an Amazon Rainforest.

How Humans Effect Ecosystems Resources

Deforestation in the Amazon is due to humans. Since 1978 289,000 square miles of the Amazon have been destroyed, across several countries. Majority of deforestation was due to people who lived in the Amazon had to survive. Their lively hood depended on the crops that they grow and sell. Humans needed to take care of their families. In the twentieth century the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest was being destroyed at a bigger level, mostly due to large-scale agriculture and industrial activities. More than three quarters of the Amazon Rainforest is used for cattle ranching. The land was also drowned so they can make dams, dug up for minerals. Trees were cut down so they can make towns and move people into the area that they bulldozed down. There are many factors why we are losing our rainforest. The number one reason is due to cattle ranching, they sell meat and leather. Illegal logging is also the cause for deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest is home to a lot of animals, plants, and species that cannot be found in any other ecosystem in the world. About 30% of all species can be found in the Amazon Rainforest. If we continue to kill the Amazon Rainforest we can potentially kill off a species of animal that cannot be found anywhere else in the world that will become extinct. We may not know how important that animal is to our environment. We use a lot of the things that are found in the Amazon for medicine, what if the species that we killed off helped that particular plant grow. Many animals make their homes in tress if we chop down the trees these animals will not have a place to live. Management Practice for Sustainability and Conservation Most of the conservation projects of the Amazon Rainforest are run by non-government agencies, and they are short term projects. The Regional Government of Loreto and the Universidad Nacional da la Amazonia Peruana (UNAP) holds the largest conservation educational project of the Amazon and also aids the NGO’s in their research. The people of the rainforest are considered its greatest destroyers of the natural ecosystem, and it is very hard to govern the vast rainforest. The community has their set of management practices and conservation of the natural resources that they follow on their own. They are extracted from both upland “terra firme” and seasonally flooded “varzea” forests. They have also collaborated with Peruvian and foreign scientist’s doing research since 1974. The largest problem is deforestation. In just five years, 132,000 square kilometers of the rainforest were lost. The one management practice for sustainability and conservation of natural resources of the ecosystem would be rehabilitation and increased productivity of formerly forested lands. Planting crops on the lost land using technology that will improved germplasm will allow the conservationists to grow grasses and plants on the degraded forest soil. Rehabilitation will allow the proper use of the lost lands and will solve most of the rainforests problems. Risks and Benefits of Extracting Nonrenewable and Renewable Resources The Marine ecosystems cover almost three-fourths of the Earths world surface. There are enormous energy resources within our ecosystems. The energy resources include both non-renewable energy sources and renewable sources. A well-known non-renewable energy source that is found in the marine ecosystem is oil. The benefits of offshore drilling it produces revenue, lower prices to consumers and less fluctuation in oil prices. The main benefit is ultimately increased energy security. The risks of offshore drilling are great. The risks include possible spills. For example the BP oil spill. One of the main concerns about offshore drilling is the effect it has on the environment. While low prices are considered a benefit the low prices result in more world consumption that leads to more greenhouse gasses. A renewable energy resource is an ocean mechanical energy. Ocean mechanical energy is from the tides and waves. The benefits of ocean mechanical energy are that it is renewable, the energy produced is clean and not polluting. Also there is no greenhouse gasses or other waste created from the ocean mechanical energy. Some of the risks are that it is expensive to construct and can affect the marine life while the construction is going on. Also ocean mechanical energy relies on the tides and tides never speed up or slow down, so the power is limited. Assess Management Practices The development of sound ocean policy, law, regulations, and implementation is critical to protecting the resources in marine ecosystems. There are multiple organizations that share the information and teach about marine ecosystems and how people can help conserve the resources. All of these organizations have websites and they all offer information about ways to make a difference. Some of the organizations are Blue Ocean Institute, Blue Frontier Campaign, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, and Environmental Defense. There has been progress in conserving and sustaining natural resources and energy sources of marine ecosystems. The UN has for the past decade has been protecting biodiversity in the deep sea and in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Debating has been initiated by the United Nations General Assembly. In the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation IV. Protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development provides the program of action for achieving the sustainable development of oceans, coastal areas and seas through it programmed areas of integrated management and sustainable development of coastal areas and also in the document it goes through other regulations and implantations.

Conclusion The Amazon ecosystem has a lot to offer, it is made up of a number of different ecosystems so the resources are endless. The Amazon ecosystem is a fragile and complex ecosystem that needs to be protected. Humans have attempted to protect and conserve the Amazon ecosystem for years. New organizations are being created in efforts to do just that. Each one brings awareness to different parts of the marine ecosystem. There are laws and regulations that are present today to sustain and conserve the marine ecosystems and more seem to come into existence every day. There are many animals, plants, and animals that live in the Amazon Rainforest that we cannot find anywhere else in the world. There are also 16,000 tree species found in the Amazon. If we do not act now then there will no longer be an Amazon Rainforest.

References
Agriculture and cattle ranching. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_agg.html

Amazon Conservation: How to Save the Amazon Rainforest. (2009). Retrieved from

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_conservation.html

Penn, J. (2015). A long-term commitment to the sustainable management of natural. Retrieved

from http://www.rainforestconservation.org/articles/a-long-term-commitment-to-the-sustainable-

management-of-natural-resources-in-northeastern-peru/

The Amazon Rainforest. (2011). Retrieved from http://theamazonrainforest.org/

Butler, R. (2006). Amazon Desturction . Retrieved from

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html

Marine Conservation Alliance. (2012) Ocean Policy and Law. Retrieved from

www.marineconservationalliance.org

Ricketts, Colin. (2011) Ecosystem (Ecological System). Retrieved from www.earthtimes.org