The development of life on planet earth is maintained by a continuous balance between biotic elements (animals and plants) and abiotic elements (water, light, air), allowing the stable development of life. Over time this factor has decreased and has been replaced by the alteration or disturbance of the environment due to the continuous actions of man, in the following article we will learn a little more about the ecological imbalance and how it is present today .
Ecological Imbalance
The planet earth is made up of various elements that enrich each of its corners, creating a perfect balance for the coexistence and development of the life of any organism such as flora, fauna, microorganisms and humans. Highlighting the importance of natural resources that complement the factors of survival and advancement for all living beings. A good balance generates harmony and stability between living beings and the natural environment that surrounds them, but the human being has been characterized by seeking to obtain more natural resources for the evolution of society, harming the natural habitat of many species.
Currently there is an alteration of ecological communities or also known as ecosystems, responsible for housing a variety of species between flora and fauna, this instability is known as ecological imbalance. Altering the natural environments and optimal endogenous conditions for the continuous life cycle of the species, generating very relevant consequences.
The theory of ecological imbalance has been influenced by the competition of species for natural resources, population growth and the increase in urban communities; All this has caused an oversaturation of the environments of individuals and species, reducing their natural balance and increasing inequalities that alter the environment.
It is inevitable that circumstances occur in nature that motivate organisms in a determining competition or that some communities of organisms may suffer irregular or severe fluctuations; Despite this, it can cause an unstable and ecologically unbalanced ecosystem, demonstrating that it is a factor that can be present in natural circumstances and by human actions.
Causes of Ecological Imbalance
Life on planet earth is connected to the different elements present in natural environments, as well as the inert ones such as the sun, the moon, the air, the water, among others, and all those living organisms such as animals, plants and microorganisms. Each one survives by a continuous balance of billions of years allowing the evolution of all environments, but the smallest change can generate alterations that destabilize nature.
Ecological imbalance consists of the inability of ecological communities to reach a stable or neutral state, also known as homeostasis, it deals with the ability of all organisms to maintain a stable internal condition, it constitutes a self-regulation mechanism that all organisms possess. living beings, for example regulation of body temperature, balance of acidity, recovery of injured areas among others. When this condition is altered, the individual will enter a phase of destabilization, affecting everything around him. Here are some of its main causes.
Excessive manipulation of man
The emergence of humanity and man's constant search to improve living conditions is considered the main cause of ecological imbalance, this is attributed to the massive transformations of natural resources, motivating intensive and extensive practices such as mining. , deforestation, illegal hunting, among others. Bringing as a consequence the destabilization of the area and in the long term its destruction.
Invasion of the natural environment
The growth of urban areas as well as the increase in buildings, rural constructions and others, result in the destruction of the natural habitats of animals and insects. Motivating the species to find ways to survive, for example some species have been seen adapting to these new areas such as parakeets, toucans, bees and other birds that establish their nests on lamp posts and shopping malls. While other animals such as mammals and rodents seek to migrate from the environment due to the destruction of forests and green areas.
invasive species
This cause is limited by two factors, the first being the migration of non-native (non-native) species, due to the destruction of their natural habitats, animals are motivated to move to other areas in order to stay alive, in this new environment, native species usually already exist, so an imbalance begins due to dominance of the habitat and a natural imbalance of the environment.
The second factor is the introduction of species by man, being detrimental to natural habitats, one of the main examples highlighted in this case is the African catfish introduced into Brazilian waters, being detrimental to local fauna; the insertion of Cururu toads in Australia, it is a natural predator of smaller species that, due to its high toxicity, even poison some others. This genetic manipulation has caused the loss of numerous faunal biodiversity in various countries.
Changes of natural environments
The massive constructions originated by man have motivated the natural modification of nature such as changes in the hydrography of rivers and streams, besieging them to inhabit them and invading their nearby margins; altering its natural condition and causing the loss of aquatic species and alteration of the waters. This cause is considered one of the main consequences of environmental pollution.
In the same way, alterations of the natural environments that influence the species can be observed, after suffering disturbances such as the change in composition and abundance of the species, they are not usually directional, therefore there is no pattern that leads to ecological imbalance. There are natural and man-made factors that promote this type of situation.
Ecological Imbalance Factors
The natural balance is influenced by the different external disturbances that alter the natural composition of the natural environment, affecting its species of animals and the flora present. This type of alteration can be caused by man (deforestation, illegal mining, intensive hunting, oil spills, among others) or of natural origin such as changes in the composition of species, invasion of other living organisms, among others.
It should be noted that the natural environment is always subject to natural or provoked changes, but there is always a balance that allows regeneration and with it the neutrality to return to its natural conditions; When these alterations are massive, they cause an ecological imbalance and with it a change in the entire habitat, resulting in the loss of species, extinction, among others. Let us know below the main factors for the alteration of the environment:
External disturbance of the environment
The imbalance deals with a deregulation of the cycles within the ecosystems causing them to change drastically and be destroyed. These disturbances can be external caused by man, such as the uncontrolled burning of residues, accumulation of waste, contamination of bodies of water, among others, but they can also be natural, such as the variation in global temperature, lengthening the seasons of droughts, melting ice glacial causing the rise in sea level, among others. All these factors exceed the regulation capacity of ecosystems and completely modify them.
Biotic and abiotic elements
Nature is characterized by a continuous interaction of biotic elements such as flora and fauna with abiotic elements such as water, air, sun, among others. These cycles consist of a balance of thousands of years, when some of them are affected, they generate a chain effect of alteration in the entire habitat, and even in the longevity of the species. Promoting the migration of fauna that gives it a better quality of survival.
Frequency in Nature
Since the last century, the emergence of environmental conservation and the care of natural resources has been known, highlighting at all times the high impact of pollution on the environment; being a very popular theme in the media, classrooms, ecological courses and many more, keeping the concept of ecological balance and the balance of nature as the center.
With the passing of time, this term has lost validity and force and has been replaced by the current condition of the globe, which is a constant ecological imbalance, observed in all ecosystems, such as the melting of glaciers, long periods of drought, erosion of soils, loss of plant and animal species, massive destruction of natural habitats, destruction of the ozone layer, excessive felling of forests, among many other actions that have deteriorated the planet's environment.
Nature is classified by lower and higher links, being a way of ordering the dominant species and the weakest, each one contributing a relevant aspect for the maintenance of ecosystems. When an imbalance occurs due to some of the factors described above, the weakest organisms will be affected to the most superior, causing massive mobility and drastic population decline.
Consequences of Ecological Imbalance
The ecological imbalance is a direct consequence of the actions of the human being that cause alterations in natural habitats and change their original condition, causing economic losses and a decrease in environmental quality, below we will know the main consequences that this alteration brings:
Species Competition
The ecological imbalance generates natural changes in ecosystems such as loss of flora, decrease in water and increase in periods of drought, all this motivates local species to move to a new territory causing a massive displacement and altering the new land they will inhabit, in addition of generating its extinction for not finding the ideal conditions for its life.
They alter the cycles of native species
When invading new territories, a period of prey and predator begins between the native species and the foreign ones, due to the domain of the territory and the consumption of resources (which are rapidly becoming scarce).
Uncontrolled population growth
The uncontrolled increase of species can cause the degradation of ecosystems and this is due to the excessive consumption of natural resources, affecting agriculture, livestock and the native spices of the place.
Victims of parasites and pathogenic organisms of the habitat
By introducing new species in the area, they can fall victim to parasites and pathogenic organisms present, generating epidemics that can affect humans, animals and domestic plants.
Very long recovery time
The imbalance conditions may require a long evolutionary time, this is due to the recovery of biodiversity and thus try to match its original condition.
Imbalance and Biodiversity
As discussed above, the ecological imbalance can be caused naturally, but it is mainly caused by human activities, having a harmful influence on the biodiversity (flora and fauna) of the ecosystems, even leading to the extinction of all species of their habitat. Therefore, it is a factor that directly affects biodiversity, being the main victims of ecological alterations.
Despite this, there are temporary imbalances caused in nature that allow the emergence of new species. For example, in terrestrial (tropical forests) and aquatic (seagrass forests) ecosystems, very frequent natural disturbances can occur, such as the fall of a tree, this fact generates the survival of inferior competitive species, normally allowing the emergence of species co-adapted to them (herbivorous, frugivorous and nectarivorous animals) and favoring other more competitive plants that collaborate with the new balance of the habitat.
Imbalance and Evolutionary Time
The ecological balance is present in different areas, for example in the island bird communities and in the insect populations that coexist in a dynamic balance since the beginning of time. There are several factors in the interaction of the species, highlighting the periods of stability that alternate with times of instability, all this preserves the harmony between them within the different ecosystems.
However, stable periods with longer instability times are currently affected; influencing at the population level, raising environmental disturbances and altering the balance of many species for long periods of time, because the restoration can take years. In addition to generating niches (species survival strategies) that are frequently vacant, causing the absence of competition and generating an imbalance between them.
Vacant niches in ecosystems can lead to massive species extinctions and permanent changes within a community, all of which cause completely new ecosystems and increased biodiversity.
Examples
In England there are plant communities that do not reach ecological balance for more than a hundred years and this is because the species that became established within the area after disturbances are very long-lived and perennial, also attributing their clonal reproduction of tissues underground. In South Africa there are pines that are almost two hundred years old, their seeds were brought from the northern hemisphere, their natural conditions allow them to resist herbivorous insects and native pathogens; Due to this, they do not live in a balance with the plants in the area that are affected by these pests.
In the Scottish Islands in the middle of the year 1932, 107 sheep were moved covering approximately 638 hectares without any human population, but between the years 40 and 90 the number of sheep fluctuated between 600 and 1600, the abundance of food in the seasons of summer allowed their multiplication but in the winter they died of hunger, therefore seasonality impeded their ecological balance.
In Australia, red kangaroo populations reproduce continuously, undergoing fluctuations due to unpredictable rains and droughts, so they do not reach an ecological balance and generate great mortality of these mammals.
How to avoid it or maintain it?
The conservation of biodiversity, maintain sustainable development and environmental quality; they can vary according to the conditions of ecological balance or imbalance present in nature. Human beings have been characterized by creating and maintaining extensive artificial ecosystems that do not have any ecological balance, normally biotic factors are determined for agricultural and livestock purposes.
Areas with agricultural, livestock or planted pasture purposes are considered the main examples of environments with a great ecological imbalance on the planet. Population growth requires a great expansion of these artificial ecosystems and affects the natural environment, today it has been requested to reduce this type of environment and be used only for educational purposes and family planning.
Other measures are to reduce food waste and encourage the consumption of food of plant origin instead of animal, reducing the impact on the biodiversity of cattle species and reducing livestock.
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