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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University"

Engineering Institute

Department of General Chemistry

Ecology

Test

Option 27

Completed by: Student gr. ZAT-311S

Chudinov N.I

Yekaterinburg 2014

Anthropogenic ecosystems: agroecosystems and urban systems. Their differences from natural ecosystems

Ecosystem is the basic concept of ecology. An ecosystem can be natural or anthropogenic.

Ecosystem types

natural ecosystems

1. Driven by the Sun, not subsidized

2. Driven by the Sun, subsidized by other natural sources;

Anthropogenic

1. Solar driven and human subsidized (agroecosystems)

2. Industrial-urban, driven by fuel (fossil, other organic and nuclear) (urbosystems)

Natural ecosystems "work" to maintain their life and their own development without any worries and costs on the part of man, moreover, they create a significant proportion of food and other materials necessary for the life of man himself. But the main thing is that it is here that large volumes of air are cleaned, fresh water is returned to circulation, the climate is formed, etc.

The oceans are driven by the Sun, high-mountain forests, which are the basis of life support on planet Earth, occupy vast areas - oceans alone - this is 70% of the globe. They are driven only by the energy of the Sun itself, and they are the basis that stabilizes and maintains life-supporting conditions on the planet.

Sun-driven, subsidized include estuaries in tidal seas, river ecosystems, rainforests, i.e. those that are subsidized by the energy of tidal waves, currents and wind.

Ecosystems of the second type have high natural fertility. These systems "produce" so much primary biomass that it is enough not only for their own maintenance, but part of this

anthropogenic ecosystems.

An agroecosystem is a certain area on land or in the sea, on which a person organized the agricultural process in a special way. The condition for this site to be entitled to be called an Agro ecosystem must be rational land use, animal husbandry or the cultivation of certain crops in the sea. That is, agriculture should not be user-friendly and extensive, but as intensive as possible, with a well-thought-out process of returning the used force and energy of nature to the general cycle of organic and mineral substances on the planet.

Agro-ecosystems agro-ecosystems, aquacultures producing food and fibrous materials, but not only due to solar energy, but also its subsidies in the form of fuel supplied by man. (For example, the savannah ecosystem, the Lake Baikal ecosystem or the wasteland ecosystem behind the house).

These systems are similar to natural ones, since the self-development of cultivated plants during the growing season is a natural process and is brought to life by natural solar energy. But soil preparation, sowing, harvesting, etc. - these are already human energy costs. Moreover, a person almost completely changes the natural ecosystem, which is expressed, first of all, in its simplification, i.e. reduction of species diversity down to a highly simplified monoculture system.

Comparative characteristics of natural ecosystems and agroecosystems

natural ecosystems	Agroecosystems
Primary natural elementary units of the biosphere, formed in the course of evolution.	Secondary human-transformed artificial elementary units of the biosphere.
Complex systems with a significant number of animal and plant species dominated by populations of several species. They are characterized by a stable dynamic balance achieved by self-regulation.	Simplified systems with the dominance of populations of one species of plant and animal. They are stable and characterized by the variability of the structure of their biomass.
Productivity is determined by the adapted characteristics of the organisms involved in the cycle of substances.	Productivity is determined by the level of economic activity and depends on economic and technical capabilities.
Primary production is used by animals and participates in the cycle of substances. "Consumption" occurs almost simultaneously with "production".	The crop is harvested to meet human needs and to feed livestock. Living matter accumulates for some time without being consumed. The highest productivity develops only for a short time.

The main goal of the created agroecosystems is the rational use of those biological resources that are directly involved in the sphere of human activity - sources of food products, technological raw materials, and medicines.

Agroecosystems are created by man to obtain a high yield - pure production of autotrophs.

Urban system (urbosystem)

Urbanization is the growth and development of cities, an increase in the proportion of the urban population in the country at the expense of rural areas, the process of increasing the role of cities and the development of society. The growth of the population and its density is a characteristic feature of cities.

As is known, the effect of factors depending on population density and suppressing the reproduction of animals does not extend to humans: the intensity of population growth is not automatically reduced by them. But an objectively high density leads to a deterioration in health, to the emergence of specific diseases associated, for example, with environmental pollution, and makes the situation epidemiologically dangerous in the event of a voluntary or involuntary violation of sanitary standards.

The processes of urbanization are particularly intensive in developing countries, as eloquently evidenced by the above figures for the growth of the number of cities in the coming years.

A person himself creates these complex urban systems, pursuing a good goal - to improve living conditions, and not only simply "protecting himself" from literary factors, but also creating for himself a new artificial environment that increases the comfort of life. However, this leads to a separation of man from the natural environment to the violation of natural ecosystems.

The urban system (urbosystem) is "an unstable natural-anthropogenic system consisting of architectural and construction objects and sharply disturbed natural ecosystems."

Industrial-urban systems are related to the urban system - fuel energy completely replaces solar energy. Compared to the flow of energy in natural ecosystems, here its consumption is two to three orders of magnitude higher.

The environment surrounding a person in these conditions is a combination of abiotic and social environments that jointly and directly affect people and their economy. At the same time, it can be divided into its own natural environment and the natural environment transformed by man (anthropogenic landscapes up to the artificial environment of people - buildings, asphalt roads, artificial lighting, etc., that is, up to the artificial environment).

In urban areas, in urban ecosystems, a group of systems can be distinguished, reflecting the complexity of the interaction of buildings and structures with the environment, which are called natural and technical systems. They are closely connected with anthropogenic landscapes, with their geological structure and relief.

Thus, urban systems are the concentration of the population, residential and industrial buildings and structures. The existence of urban systems depends on the energy of fossil fuels and nuclear energy raw materials, is artificially regulated and maintained by man.

The environment of urban systems, both its geographical and geological parts, has been most strongly changed and, in fact, has become artificial, there are problems of utilization of natural resources involved in circulation, pollution and environmental cleanup, there is an increasing isolation of economic and production cycles from natural exchange. substances and energy flow in natural ecosystems. And finally, it is here that the population density and the artificial environment are highest, which threaten not only human health, but also the survival of all mankind. Human health is an indicator of the quality of this environment.

Comparison of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems

natural ecosystem (swamp, meadow, forest)	Anthropogenic ecosystem (field, plant, house)
Receives, transforms, accumulates solar energy.	Consumes energy from fossil and nuclear fuels.
Produces oxygen and consumes carbon dioxide.	Consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide when fossil fuels are burned.
Forms fertile soil.	Depletes or poses a threat to fertile soils.
Accumulates, purifies and gradually consumes water.	Uses a lot of water, pollutes it.
Creates habitats for various types of wildlife.	Destroys the habitats of many species of wildlife.
Filters and disinfects pollutants and waste free of charge.	Produces pollutants and waste that must be decontaminated at the expense of the public.
It has the ability of self-preservation and self-healing.	Requires large expenditures for constant maintenance and restoration.

Anthropogenic created by man, most natural ecosystems are created by nature.

It takes much less time for a person to create a specific anthropogenic ecosystem than it took for nature to form an elementary natural ecosystem.

The boundaries of the anthropogenic are defined by man, the boundaries of the natural ecosystem are blurred.

The links between the elements of the anthropogenic are determined, organized and performed by people. In most natural ecosystems, nature has successfully coped with this task by itself for many millions of years.

Anthropogenic appeared thanks to man, while many natural ecosystems on Earth disappeared or were unbalanced due to man.

Today, there are very few objects on Earth that can be called ideal natural, and there are a lot of objects that can be called hopelessly damaged, “wounded” and “killed” by people ecosystems.

Climate change. The essence of the "greenhouse effect". Natural and anthropogenic sources of "greenhouse gases". Consequences of the "greenhouse effect" for the biosphere. Measures to solve this problem

Climate change - fluctuations in the climate of the Earth as a whole or its individual regions over time, expressed in statistically significant deviations of weather parameters from long-term values ​​over a period of time from decades to millions of years. Changes in both mean values ​​of weather parameters and changes in the frequency of extreme weather events are taken into account. The study of climate change is the science of paleoclimatology. The cause of climate change is dynamic processes on the Earth, external influences such as fluctuations in the intensity of solar radiation, and, more recently, human activities. Changes in the modern climate (in the direction of warming) called. global warming.

Drivers of climate change

Climate change is caused by changes in the earth's atmosphere, processes occurring in other parts of the earth such as oceans, glaciers, and effects associated with human activities. The external processes that shape the climate are changes in solar radiation and the Earth's orbit.

change in size, topography and relative position of continents and oceans,

change in the luminosity of the sun

changes in the parameters of the Earth's orbit and axis,

changes in the transparency and composition of the atmosphere, including changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4),

change in the reflectivity of the Earth's surface (albedo),

change in the amount of heat available in the depths of the ocean,

change in the natural sublayer of the Earth between the core and the earth's crust, due to the pumping of oil and gas

The essence of the "greenhouse effect".

The greenhouse effect is usually understood as the heating of the atmosphere caused by the absorption of thermal radiation in its thickness. It is assumed that the atmosphere is transparent in the region of the visible part of the sunlight falling on the Earth, but its gaseous mixture absorbs the heat reflected from the earth's surface, i.e. infrared (IR) radiation. In the earth's atmosphere there is a dense layer of gases that filters the sun's rays, the rays reach the surface of the Earth, warm it up, and the protective layer retains this heat above the surface, thereby contributing to its complete warming. If now the average global temperature of the atmosphere above the earth's surface is +15°C, then without this layer of gases it would be minus 18-20°C, which means that the entire planet would be covered with snow and ice.

The action of the greenhouse effect is similar to the action of glass in a greenhouse. The greenhouse effect is associated with an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, it manifests itself in the heating of the inner layers of the Earth's atmosphere. This is because the atmosphere transmits most of the solar radiation. Some of the rays are absorbed and heat the earth's surface, and the atmosphere is heated from it. Another part of the rays is reflected from the surface of the planet and this radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide molecules, which contributes to an increase in the average temperature of the planet.

An atmosphere containing CO2 is transparent to visible and ultraviolet sunlight, but blocks infrared radiation reflected from the earth's surface. As a result, with an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, its average temperature, due to the absorption of the Earth's thermal radiation by this gas, should increase.

By burning natural non-renewable fuels (fuel oil, oil, coal), we increase the amount of gases in the atmosphere and thereby disrupt the existing balance.

Scientists believe that the main greenhouse compounds are carbon dioxide and methane. And the denser the layer of gases becomes, the more it delays solar energy and the more the temperature on Earth becomes. Long-term observations show that as a result of economic activity, the gas composition and dust content of the lower layers of the atmosphere change. The obvious cause of the greenhouse effect is the use of traditional energy carriers by industry and motorists. Less obvious reasons include deforestation, recycling, and coal mining. Chlorofluorocarbons, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), sulfur and nitrogen oxides significantly contribute to the increase in the greenhouse effect.

There is a constant and growing increase in emissions of "greenhouse" gases into the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide. The sources of the latter are the combustion of coal and other carbon-containing fuels, oil, gas and derivative products, primarily gasoline, in the furnaces of thermal power plants, car engines, etc. Emissions of carbon dioxide have increased especially sharply in the main industrial centers of the world: the USA, Western Europe, and Russia. Emissions of other gases that increase the greenhouse effect, such as methane, nitrogen oxides, and halogen hydrocarbons, are increasing even more rapidly. According to some estimates, 15-20% of the greenhouse effect has been in recent years.

The hypothesis of the greenhouse effect is based on the concept of high sensitivity of the Earth's thermal regime to changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, taking into account the trend of increasing consumption of mineral fuel in the coming decades.

The main contribution to the greenhouse effect of the earth's atmosphere is made by water vapor or air humidity in the troposphere, the influence of other gases is much less significant due to their low concentration.

At the same time, the concentration of water vapor in the troposphere significantly depends on the surface temperature: an increase in the total concentration of "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere should lead to an increase in humidity and the greenhouse effect, which in turn will lead to an increase in surface temperature.

With a decrease in surface temperature, the concentration of water vapor decreases, which leads to a decrease in the greenhouse effect, and at the same time, with a decrease in temperature in the polar regions, a snow-ice cover is formed, leading to an increase in albedo and, together with a decrease in the greenhouse effect, causing a decrease in the average near-surface temperature.

Thus, the climate on the Earth can pass into the stages of warming and cooling, depending on the change in the albedo of the Earth-atmosphere system and the greenhouse effect.

Climatic cycles correlate with the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, preceding modern times, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide decreased during long ice ages and increased sharply during brief interglacial periods.

Over the past decades, there has been an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is believed that this increase is largely anthropogenic.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average annual global temperature was above normal for several consecutive years. This raised fears that human-caused global warming had already begun. There is a consensus among scientists that over the past hundred years, the average annual global temperature has risen by 0.3 to 0.6 degrees Celsius. There is a scientific consensus that human activity is the main factor that affects the current increase in temperature on Earth.

Natural and anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases.

Natural sources of carbon dioxide include volcanic eruptions, ocean and atmosphere exchange, and animal and plant respiration. This carbon is part of the natural cycle. When this cycle is in equilibrium, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is approximately equal to the sum of the plants and the ocean.

Anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide include the burning of fossil fuels, industrial production and deforestation. The largest source of CO2 is electricity generation, followed by heavy industry, residential and commercial use, and transportation. Deforestation exacerbates the problem, as carbon dioxide is absorbed by trees.

Environmental consequences of the "greenhouse effect"

Global warming

As a result of the combustion of various fuels, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually and a corresponding amount of oxygen is absorbed. The natural supply of CO2 in the atmosphere is about 50,000 billion tons. This value fluctuates and depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide exceed natural ones and currently account for a large proportion of its total amount. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable climate changes and, accordingly, to disruption of the equilibrium relationships that have developed over millions of years in the biosphere.

The result of the violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and hence the heat balance, may be the emergence of a "greenhouse effect", that is, an increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere by several degrees. This can cause the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, global climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands, and many other adverse consequences.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

"Greenhouse effect". According to the latest data of scientists, for the 2000s. the average air temperature in the northern hemisphere has increased compared to the end of the 20th century. by 0.5-0.6 "C. According to forecasts, by the beginning of 2060, the average temperature on the planet may increase by 1.2 "C compared to the pre-industrial era. Scientists attribute this increase in temperature primarily to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) and aerosols in the atmosphere. This leads to excessive absorption of the Earth's thermal radiation by the air. Obviously, a certain role in creating the so-called "greenhouse effect" is played by the heat released from thermal power plants and nuclear power plants.

Climate warming can lead to intense melting of glaciers and rising sea levels. The changes that may result from this are simply difficult to predict.

This problem could be solved by reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and establishing a balance in the carbon cycle. Generally accepted estimates by meteorologists show that an increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lead to an increase in temperature practically only at high latitudes, especially in the northern hemisphere, where "quite recently there was a giant glaciation." Moreover, this warming will mainly occur in winter. According to an estimate by a specialist from the Institute of Agricultural Meteorology of Roskomhydromet, a doubling of CO2 concentration will double Russia's useful economic area from 5 to 11 million km2. In terms of economic useful area, Russia now occupies a modest fifth place in the world after Brazil, the USA, Australia and China. Russia will have the greatest effect of warming, in which the western border runs approximately along the January 0 ° C isotherm.

Domestic "greens" mechanically repeat about the danger of warming, not realizing that they live in a cold country. With the expected warming in most regions of Russia, the climate will become very favorable, close to subtropical. The non-chernozem low-productive zone of central Russia will become fruitful, the length of the agricultural year will triple in it, the Kuban will turn into a savannah, frost will stop in Siberia, and cotton will be grown there, and the northern sea route will be freed from ice and will become the most economical sea route between Europe and the Far East . It is important that warming due to temperature increase will occur mainly in winter. Summer in Russia will remain almost the same, relatively not hot. Moreover, this increase in temperature will occur several years after the increase in CO2 concentration, since there are no continental ice for a long time, and the time of heating of the atmosphere does not exceed two months. A doubling of CO2 concentration will practically not affect the climate of low latitudes, unless the north wind in winter will not be so cold there , like now. Before the onset of the last ice age, the average temperature of the Earth was 5-6 ° C higher, and walnut forests grew in the Yakutsk region.

Effects

1. If the temperature on Earth continues to rise, it will have a major impact on the global climate.

2. More precipitation will fall in the tropics as the extra heat will increase the amount of water vapor in the air.

3. In arid regions, the rains will become even rarer and they will turn into deserts, as a result of which people and animals will have to leave them.

4. The temperature of the seas will also rise, which will lead to the flooding of low-lying areas of the coast and to an increase in the number of severe storms.

5. An increase in temperature on Earth can cause a rise in sea levels because:

a) water, as it heats up, becomes less dense and expands, the expansion of sea water will lead to a general rise in sea level;

b) an increase in temperature can melt some of the multi-year ice covering some areas of land, such as Antarctica or high mountain ranges.

The resulting water will eventually drain into the seas, raising their levels.

It should be noted, however, that the melting of ice floating in the seas will not cause sea levels to rise. The Arctic ice sheet is a huge layer of floating ice. Like Antarctica, the Arctic is also surrounded by many icebergs.

Climatologists have calculated that if the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers melt, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 70-80 m.

6. Residential land will shrink.

7. The water-salt balance of the oceans will be disturbed.

8. Trajectories of cyclones and anticyclones will change.

9. If the temperature on Earth rises, many animals will not be able to adapt to climate change. Many plants will die from lack of moisture and animals will have to move to other places in search of food and water. If the increase in temperature leads to the death of many plants, then many species of animals will die out after them.

In addition to the negative effects of global warming, there are several positive ones. At first glance, a warmer climate seems to be a boon, as it can reduce heating bills and increase the length of the growing season in middle and high latitudes.

Increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide can speed up photosynthesis.

However, the potential yield gain could be wiped out by disease damage caused by harmful insects, as higher temperatures will speed up their reproduction. Soils in some areas will be unsuitable for growing basic crops. Global warming would probably accelerate the decomposition of organic matter in soils, which would lead to an additional release of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere and accelerate the greenhouse effect.

Measures to solve this problem.

There is a proposal to extract excess CO2 from the air, liquefy and pump it into the deep layers of the ocean, using its natural circulation. Another proposal is to disperse the smallest droplets of sulfuric acid in the stratosphere and thereby reduce the influx of solar radiation on the earth's surface.

The huge scale of the anthropogenic reduction of the biosphere already gives grounds to believe that the solution of the CO2 problem should be carried out by "treating" the biosphere itself, i.e. restoration of soil and vegetation cover with maximum reserves of organic matter wherever possible.

At the same time, the search should be intensified to replace fossil fuels with other energy sources, primarily environmentally friendly ones that do not require oxygen consumption, to use water and wind energy more widely, and for the future perspective, the energy of the reaction of matter and antimatter.

It is known that there is a blessing in disguise, and it turned out that the current industrial decline in the country turned out to be beneficial - environmentally. The production volumes have decreased and, accordingly, the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere of cities has decreased.

Ways to solve the problem of clean air is quite real. The first is the fight against the reduction of the Earth's vegetation cover, the systematic increase in its composition of specially selected rocks that purify the air from harmful impurities. The Institute of Plant Biochemistry has experimentally proved that many plants are able to absorb from the atmosphere such components harmful to humans as alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as carbonyl compounds, acids, alcohols, essential oils and others.

An important place in the fight against atmospheric pollution belongs to the irrigation of deserts and the organization of cultural farming here, the creation of powerful forest protection belts.

There is a lot of work to be done to reduce and completely stop the emission of smoke and other combustion products into the atmosphere. More and more urgent is the search for technology for "pipeless" industrial enterprises operating in a closed technological scheme - using all production waste.

Reducing the use of natural fuels in industry and replacing it with new types of energy (nuclear, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal);

Creation of less energy-intensive processes;

Creation of non-waste industries and production lines with a closed cycle (it has now been shown that in some processes, waste makes up 80-90% of the feedstock).

Therefore, a program was developed that should lead to the achievement of a number of main goals. First, the entire planet will move to stringent energy-saving standards, similar to those currently in place in the US only in California.

The world industry will switch to modern energy-saving technologies; in particular, it will be possible to double the efficiency of fossil fuel power plants due to more complete use of residual heat. One million large wind power generators will be put into operation. 800 powerful coal-fired power plants will be built, the emissions of which will be completely cleaned of carbon dioxide. 700 nuclear power plants will be built, and none of the current ones will be closed. The global fleet of passenger cars and light trucks will switch entirely to vehicles that travel at least 25 km per liter of gasoline. Over time, all cars will get hybrid engines, which will allow them to run only electric motors powered by batteries on short routes. Another 0.5 million wind turbines will be built to supply them with electricity. Cultivation areas for agricultural crops that can serve as raw materials for the production of biofuels from vegetable cellulose will be dramatically expanded. Tropical countries, with the help of the international community, will completely halt the process of deforestation and double the current rate of planting young trees.

Tough environmental laws are already in place in many highly industrialized countries: emissions treatment requirements have been set, new technologies are being developed to prevent air pollution, standards for car exhaust emissions have been tightened, and so on. In some states (USA, Canada) a central body for environmental management has been created. Its purpose is the development of national environmental standards that ensure the improvement of the environmental situation and control over their implementation. The specificity of Japanese culture (the cult of housing, human, health) allows solving all problems not at the level of government agencies, but at the level of the city, district, which gives good results. In general, it must be said that in Europe the control of emissions into the atmosphere is not as strict as in the United States.

Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in 2004 underlined that the importance of solving global environmental problems, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is understood and supported at the state level. However, Russia remains one of the countries with the lowest energy efficiency indicators in the economy.

Kyoto protocol

The Kyoto Protocol (KP) is the first international agreement containing the quantitative obligations of the participating countries to limit and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In November 2004, Russia ratified the KP, which is designed for 5 years from 2008 to 2012 inclusive.

Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol:

The purpose of the KP mechanisms is to ensure the reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through the introduction of new energy and resource-saving technologies based on international cooperation.

The KP provides for three main mechanisms for the assignment of quotas for greenhouse gas emissions between countries:

1. Quota trading

2. Joint Implementation Projects (JI). Unlike a direct sale, a selling country can transfer to a buying country only emission reduction units (ERUs) produced as a result of investments in emission reduction projects carried out in its territory jointly with the buying party.

3. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In the case of the CDM, the cap-seller countries are countries that do not have emission control obligations.

The problem of historical and modern climate change turned out to be very complex and cannot be solved in the schemes of one-factor determinism. Along with an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, changes in the ozonosphere associated with the evolution of the geomagnetic field play an important role. The development and testing of new hypotheses is a necessary condition for understanding the patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere and other geophysical processes affecting the biosphere.

That is, with the combined influence of several negative factors, the probability of all consequences increases, the nature and degree of their influence changes.

It is possible that warming is partly of a natural character, but the greatest contribution was still made by man over a long period of time. The rise in the level of the World Ocean occurs at a rate of 0.6 mm per year, or 6 cm per century. At the same time, climate warming will be accompanied by an increase in evaporation from the surface of the oceans and climate humidification, which can be judged from paleogeographic data.

Protection of the lithosphere. Measures to protect soil from degradation

agroecosystem greenhouse gas soil degradation

The lithosphere is a stone shell of the Earth, including the earth's crust with a thickness (thickness) from 6 (under the oceans) to 80 km (mountain systems). The upper part of the lithosphere is currently subjected to ever increasing anthropogenic impact. The main significant components of the lithosphere: soils, rocks and their massifs, bowels.

Causes of disturbance of the upper layers of the earth's crust

mining;

disposal of domestic and industrial waste;

conducting military exercises and tests;

fertilizer application;

application of pesticides.

In the process of transforming the lithosphere, man extracted 125 billion tons of coal, 32 billion tons of oil, and more than 100 billion tons of other minerals. More than 1500 million hectares of land have been plowed up, 20 million hectares have been swamped and salinized. At the same time, only 1/3 of the entire extracted rock mass is put into circulation, and ~ 7% of the production volume is used in production. Most of the waste is not used and accumulates in dumps.

Lithosphere protection methods

The following main areas can be distinguished:

1. Soil protection.

2. Protection and rational use of subsoil: the most complete extraction of the main and associated minerals from the subsoil; integrated use of mineral raw materials, including the problem of waste disposal.

3. Reclamation of disturbed territories.

Reclamation is a set of works carried out with the aim of restoring disturbed territories (during open mining of mineral deposits, in the process of construction, etc.) and bringing land plots to a safe state.

There are technical, biological and construction reclamation.

Technical reclamation is a preliminary preparation of disturbed areas. Surface leveling, removal of the top layer, transportation and application of fertile soils to recultivated lands are being carried out. Excavations are filled up, dumps are dismantled, the surface is leveled.

Biological reclamation is carried out to create vegetation cover on prepared areas.

Construction reclamation - if necessary, buildings, structures and other objects are erected.

4. Protection of rock masses:

Flooding protection - organization of groundwater runoff, drainage, waterproofing;

Protection of landslide massifs and mudflow massifs - regulation of surface runoff, organization of storm collectors. The construction of buildings, the discharge of utility water, and the felling of trees are prohibited.

5.Solid waste disposal

Recycling is the processing of waste, with the aim of using the beneficial properties of waste or its components. In this case, the waste acts as a secondary raw material.

According to the state of aggregation, wastes are divided into solid and liquid; according to the source of formation - industrial, formed during the production process (metal scrap, shavings, plastics, ash, etc.), biological, formed in agriculture (poultry droppings, animal husbandry and crop waste, etc.), household (in particular , sewage sludge), radioactive. In addition, waste is divided into combustible and non-combustible, compressible and non-compressible.

When collecting, waste should be separated according to the criteria indicated above, and depending on the further use, method of processing, disposal, disposal.

After collection, the waste is recycled, recycled and disposed of. Waste that can be useful is recycled. Waste recycling is the most important step in ensuring life safety, contributing to the protection of the environment from pollution and conserving natural resources.

The recycling of materials solves a whole range of environmental issues. For example, the use of waste paper makes it possible to save 4.5 m3 of wood, 200 m3 of water in the production of 1 ton of paper and cardboard, and reduce energy costs by 2 times. It takes 15-16 mature trees to make the same amount of paper. The use of waste from non-ferrous metals gives a great economic benefit. To obtain 1 ton of copper from ore, it is necessary to extract from the depths and process 700-800 tons of ore-bearing rocks.

Waste plastics naturally decompose slowly or not at all. When they are burned, the atmosphere is polluted with toxic substances. The most effective ways to prevent environmental pollution with plastic waste are their secondary processing (recycling) and the development of biodegradable polymeric materials. Currently, only a small part of the 80 million tons of plastics produced annually in the world is recycled. Meanwhile, 860 kg of new products are obtained from 1 ton of polyethylene waste. 1 ton of used polymers saves 5 tons of oil.

Waste that cannot be processed and further used as secondary resources is disposed of at landfills. Landfills should be located away from water protection zones and have sanitary protection zones. In places of storage, waterproofing is carried out to prevent contamination of groundwater.

For the processing of municipal solid waste, biotechnological methods are widely used: aerobic composting, anaerobic composting or anaerobic fermentation, vermicomposting.

Measures to protect soil from degradation:

* soil protection from water and wind erosion;

* organization of crop rotations and systems of soil cultivation in order to increase their fertility;

* land reclamation measures (combating waterlogging, soil salinization, etc.);

* reclamation of disturbed soil cover;

* protection of soils from pollution, and beneficial flora and fauna from destruction;

* prevention of unjustified withdrawal of land from agricultural circulation.

Soil protection should be carried out on the basis of an integrated approach to agricultural lands as complex natural formations (ecosystems) with the obligatory consideration of regional characteristics.

To combat soil erosion, a set of measures is needed:

land management (the distribution of land according to the degree of their resistance to erosion processes), agrotechnical (soil-protective crop rotations, a contour system for growing crops, which delays runoff, chemical control agents, etc.), forest reclamation (field protection and water-regulating forest belts, forest plantations on ravines, gullies, etc.) and hydrotechnical (cascade ponds, etc.).

At the same time, it is taken into account that hydrotechnical measures stop the development of erosion in a certain area immediately after their installation, agrotechnical measures - after a few years, and forest reclamation - 10-20 years after their implementation.

For soils subject to severe erosion, the whole complex of anti-erosion measures is necessary:

1) strip farming, i.e., such an organization of the territory in which the rectilinear contours of the fields alternate with shelterbelts;

2) soil-protective crop rotations (to protect soils from deflation);

3) afforestation of ravines;

4) plowless tillage systems (use of cultivators, flat cutters, etc.);

5) various hydrotechnical measures (arrangement of channels, shafts, ditches, terraces, construction of watercourses, flumes, etc.) and other measures.

To combat waterlogging of soils in areas of sufficient or excessive moisture as a result of a violation of the natural water regime, various drainage reclamations are used.

Depending on the causes of swamping, this may be a decrease in the level of groundwater using closed drainage, open channels or water intake structures, the construction of dams, straightening the riverbed to protect against flooding, interception and discharge of atmospheric slope water, etc.

However, excessive drainage of large areas can cause undesirable changes in ecosystems - overdrying of soils, their dehumification and decalcification, as well as cause shallowing of small rivers, drying up of forests, etc.

To prevent secondary salinization of soils, it is necessary to arrange drainage, regulate water supply, apply sprinkler irrigation, use drip and root irrigation, perform waterproofing of irrigation canals, etc.

Unfortunately, all these methods and technical innovations to prevent secondary soil salinization are used only in a small part of the irrigated areas. The reasons are the same everywhere:

1) high cost and laboriousness of land reclamation works; for example, drainage works and waterproofing of canals almost double the cost of building irrigation systems;

2) the hope that “the adverse effects of irrigation will be felt sometime in the future, when there will be more funds. But the result has always and everywhere been the same: a disastrously rapid rise in groundwater, secondary salinization, a drop in yields, loss of investment, and ultimately spoiled land. It is in this way that many zones of increased environmental risk are formed both in our country and abroad.

To prevent soil contamination with pesticides and other harmful substances, ecological methods of plant protection (biological, agrotechnical, etc.) are used, the natural ability of soils to self-cleanse is increased, and especially dangerous and persistent insecticidal preparations are not used, etc.

Due to the increase in the scale of anthropogenic impact (human economic activity), especially in the last century, the balance in the biosphere is disturbed, which can lead to irreversible processes and raise the question of the possibility of life on the planet. This is due to the development of industry, energy, transport, agriculture and other human activities without taking into account the possibilities of the Earth's biosphere. Serious environmental problems have already arisen before humanity, requiring immediate solutions.

The consequences of human interference in all spheres of nature can no longer be ignored. Without a decisive turn, the future of humanity is unpredictable.

The result is a sharp deterioration in the state of ecological systems, often even the death of unique natural complexes, the reduction and disappearance of populations of certain plant and animal species, the danger of irreversible changes in the structures of geographic spheres that can lead to unpredictable negative consequences for a person, society as a whole. Mankind has approached the boundary beyond which the contours of a fairly close ecological drama are clearly visible.

The time of spontaneous, reckless use of natural resources has already passed. Nature management should be carried out only on a scientific basis, taking into account all those complex processes that occur in the environment both without and with the participation of man. It cannot be otherwise, since the influence of man and his activities on nature is becoming stronger and stronger. Environmental protection and rational use of natural resources are among the most relevant environmental areas. In solving these problems, the role of training environmental personnel, environmental education and upbringing of the country's population is important.

Bibliography

1. Voronkov N.A. Ecology general, social, applied [Text]: textbook for universities. M.: Agar, 2008. 432 p.

2. Korobkin V.I. Ecology [Text]: textbook for universities / V.I. Korobkin, L.V. Peredelsky. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2010. 608 p.

3. Nikolaikin N.I. Ecology [Text]: textbook for universities / N.I. Nikolaikin, N.E. Nikolaykina, O.P. Melekhov. M.: Drofa, 2009. 624 p.

4. Prokhorov B.B. Social ecology [Text]: textbook for universities. M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2010. 416 p.

5. Prokhorov B.B. Human ecology [Text]: textbook for universities. M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2010. 320 p.

6. Krivoshein D.A. Ecology and life safety [Text]: textbook for universities / D.A. Krivoshein, L.A. Ant, N.N. Roeva and others; Ed. L.A. Ant. M.: UNITI-DANA, 2000. 447 p.

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natural ecosystems	Agroecosystems
Primary natural elementary units of the biosphere, formed in the course of evolution	Secondary human-transformed artificial elementary units of the biosphere
Complex systems with a significant number of animal and plant species dominated by populations of several species. They are characterized by a stable dynamic balance achieved by self-regulation.	Simplified systems dominated by populations of a single plant or animal species. They are stable and characterized by the variability of the structure of their biomass.
Productivity is determined by the adaptive features of organisms involved in the cycle of substances	Productivity is determined by the level of economic activity and depends on economic and technical capabilities
Primary production is used by animals and participates in the cycle of substances. "Consumption" occurs almost simultaneously with "production"	The crop is harvested to meet human needs and to feed livestock. Living matter accumulates for some time without being consumed. The highest productivity develops only for a short time

In agrocenoses, an excessive increase in individual species occurs much more often, called by Ch. Elton an "ecological explosion". Such, for example, “environmental explosions” are known from history: in the last century, the phytophthora fungus destroyed potatoes in France and caused famine, and the Colorado potato beetle spread in America to the Atlantic Ocean and at the beginning of the 20th century . penetrated into Western Europe, in the 40s. in the European part of Russia. In the difficult post-war period, this beetle literally "cleared" our fields, because we were not ready for its invasion.

To avoid such phenomena, artificial regulation of the number of pests is necessary with the rapid suppression of those that are only trying to get out of control. At the same time, often the opinion of a person does not coincide with the "opinion" of nature about the excess number of a particular pest. Thus, from the point of view of natural selection, stabilization of the number of the apple codling moth at a certain level does not harm the existence of the apple tree as a species, but a person needs much more high-quality fruits for nutrition. Therefore, in agricultural practice, he uses such means to suppress the number of pests and in such a quantity that they act many times stronger than natural abiotic and biotic regulators.

Simplification of the human natural environment, from an ecological point of view, is very dangerous. Therefore, it is impossible to turn the entire landscape into an agricultural one, it is necessary to preserve and increase its diversity, leaving untouched protected areas that could be a source of species for communities recovering in succession series.

Industrial-urban ecosystems

About urbanization processes

Urbanization- this is the growth and development of cities, an increase in the share of the urban population in the country at the expense of rural areas, the process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society. The growth of the population and its density is a characteristic feature of cities. Historically, the very first city with a million inhabitants was Rome during the time of Julius Caesar (44-10 BC). The largest city in the world today is Mexico City - 14 million people according to data for 1990, in 2000 31 million were expected in it. By 2000, such cities as Bombay, Cairo, Jakarta and Karachi, the threshold of 20 million and more - Sao Paulo, Calcutta, Seoul. The population of Moscow by the end of 2002 is more than 10 million people

The total area of ​​the Earth's urbanized territories in 1980 amounted to 4.69 million km 2 , and by 2007 it will reach 19 million km 2 - 12.8% of the entire and more than 20% of the life-friendly land area. By 2030, virtually the entire world's population will be living in urban-type settlements (Reimers, 1990).

The population density in cities, especially large ones, ranges from several thousand to several tens of thousands of people per 1 km 2, and in Hong Kong - 1500 thousand per 1 km 2. As is known, the effect of factors depending on population density and suppressing the reproduction of animals does not extend to humans: the intensity of population growth is not automatically reduced by them. But objectively high density leads to a deterioration in health, to the emergence of specific diseases associated, for example, with environmental pollution, makes the situation epidemiologically dangerous in the event of a voluntary or involuntary violation of sanitary standards, etc.

Particularly intense urbanization processes in developing countries, as eloquently evidenced by the above figures for urban growth in the coming years.

Man himself creates these complex urban systems, pursuing a good goal - to improve living conditions, and not only simply "protecting himself" from limiting factors, but also creating for himself a new artificial environment that increases the comfort of life. However, this leads to a separation of man from the natural environment and to the disruption of natural ecosystems.

urban systems

Urban system (urbosystem) -“an unstable natural-anthropogenic system consisting of architectural and construction objects and sharply disturbed natural ecosystems” (Reimers, 1990).

As the city develops, its functional zones become more and more differentiated - these are industrial, residential, and forest park zones. Industrial zones - these are areas of concentration of industrial facilities of various industries (metallurgical, chemical, engineering, electronic, etc.) - They are the main sources of environmental pollution.

Residential areas - these are areas of concentration of residential buildings, administrative buildings, objects of culture, education etc.

forest park- This is a green area around the city, cultivated by man, that is, adapted for mass recreation, sports, and entertainment. Its sections are also possible inside cities, but usually here city ​​parks- tree plantations in the city, occupying quite extensive territories and also serving the townspeople for recreation. Unlike natural forests and even forest parks, city parks and similar smaller plantings in the city (squares, boulevards) are not self-supporting and self-regulating systems.

The forest park zone, city parks and other areas of the territory allotted and specially adapted for people's recreation are called recreational zones (territories, sites, etc.).

The deepening of urbanization processes leads to the complexity of the city's infrastructure. A significant place begins to occupy transport and transport facilities(highways, gas stations, garages, service stations, railways with their complex infrastructure, in including underground - subway; airfields with a service complex, etc.). Transport systems cross all functional areas of the city and have an impact on the entire urban environment (urban environment).

Human environment under these conditions, is a set of abiotic and social environments that jointly and directly affect people and their economy. At the same time, according to N.F. Reimers (1990), it can be divided into natural environment and human-transformed natural environment(anthropogenic landscapes up to the artificial environment of people - buildings, asphalt roads, artificial lighting, etc., i.e. up to artificial environment). In general, the urban environment and urban-type settlements are part of technosphere, i.e., the biosphere, radically transformed by man into technical and man-made objects.

In addition to the terrestrial part of the landscape, its lithogenic base, i.e., the surface part of the lithosphere, which is commonly called the geological environment, also falls into the orbit of human economic activity (E. M. Sergeev, 1979). Geological environment - these are rocks, groundwater, which are affected by human activities (Fig. 10.2).

In urban areas, in urban ecosystems, a group of systems can be distinguished, reflecting the complexity of the interaction of buildings and structures with the environment, which called natural-technical systems(Trofimov, Epishin, 1985) (Fig. 10.2). They are closely connected with anthropogenic landscapes, with their geological structure and relief.

Thus, urban systems are the focus of the population, residential and industrial buildings and structures. The existence of urban systems depends on the energy of fossil fuels and nuclear energy raw materials, is artificially regulated and maintained by man.

The environment of urban systems, both its geographical and geological parts, has been most strongly changed and, in fact, has become artificial, here there are problems of utilization and reutilization of natural resources involved in circulation, pollution and purification of the environment, here there is an increasing isolation of economic and production cycles from natural metabolism (biogeochemical turnovers) and the flow of energy in natural ecosystems. And, finally, it is here that the population density and the built environment are highest, which threaten not only human health, but also the survival of all mankind. Human health is an indicator of the quality of this environment.

test questions

1. What principle was put by Y. Odum as the basis for distinguishing four fundamental types of ecosystems? List these types.

2. What is typical for the first and second types of ecosystems (natural)?

3. How does the third type of ecosystems (agroecosystems) differ from similar natural ecosystems?

4. What are the features of the energy sector of the fourth type of ecosystems (industrial-urban)?

5. What is urbanization and urban systems?

6. What is meant by the natural and technical system and the artificial environment?

Human economic activity has led to the formation in nature of artificial ecosystems with certain properties, which are called agrocenoses (agrobiogeocenoses or agroecosystems).

Agrocenosis (Greek agros - field) is a community of organisms living on agricultural land, occupied by crops or planting of cultivated plants. At the same time, their structure and function are created, maintained and controlled by a person in his own interests. Examples of such ecosystems are fields, kitchen gardens, orchards, parks, artificial pastures, flower beds, etc. Communities of plants and animals artificially created by man in marine and freshwater reservoirs can also be classified as agrocenoses.

Agricultural ecosystems occupy about 1/3 of the land area, while 10% is arable land, and the rest is natural fodder land. In order to manage the agrocenosis, a person spends anthropogenic energy on tillage, sowing of high-yielding plant varieties, land reclamation, on the application of fertilizers and chemical plant protection products, on heating livestock buildings, etc. Control in this case can be intensive (high energy investment) and extensive (low energy investment). However, even with an intensive management strategy, the share of anthropogenic energy in the energy budget of the ecosystem is no more than 1%. Organisms living within the agrocenosis and not related to the objects of human economic activity experience the constant impact of anthropogenic factors and are forced to adapt to them.

Between natural and artificial biogeocenoses, along with similarities, there are also big differences that are important to take into account in agricultural practice.

The differences between agrocenoses and biogeocenoses are (table 1):

1. Low species diversity of living organisms

One or several species (varieties) of plants are usually cultivated in the fields, which leads to a significant depletion of the species composition of animals, fungi, and bacteria. In addition, the biological uniformity of cultivated plant varieties occupying large areas (sometimes tens of thousands of hectares) is often the main reason for their mass destruction by specialized insects (for example, the Colorado potato beetle) or damage by pathogens (powdery mildew, rust, smut fungi, late blight, etc.). ).

2. Short supply chains

In agrocenosis, as in biogeocenosis, there are producers (cultivated plants and weeds), consumers (insects, voles, birds, mice, foxes, etc.), decomposers (fungi and bacteria). At the same time, an obligatory link in food chains is a person who cultivates fields, gardens and harvests. But, due to the small number of species in the agrocenosis, which have a high abundance (cultivated plants, weeds, pests, pathogens), the food chains in it are short and simple.

3. Incomplete cycle of substances

In a natural biogeocenosis, the primary production of plants (yield) is consumed in numerous food chains (networks) and is again returned to the biological cycle system in the form of carbon dioxide, water and mineral nutrition elements. In the agrocenosis, such a cycle of elements is sharply disrupted, since a person irretrievably removes a significant part of them with the harvest. Therefore, in order to compensate for their losses and, consequently, to increase the yield of cultivated plants, it is necessary to constantly apply fertilizers to the soil.

4. Source of energy used (anthropogenic energy)

For natural biogeocenosis, the only source of energy is the Sun. At the same time, agrocenoses, in addition to solar energy, receive anthropogenic additional energy that a person has spent on the production of fertilizers, chemicals against weeds, pests and diseases, on irrigation or drainage of land, etc. Without such additional energy consumption, the long-term existence of agrocenoses is practically impossible.

5. Artificial selection

In natural ecosystems, there is natural selection that rejects non-competitive species and forms of organisms and their communities in the ecosystem and thereby ensures its main property - sustainability.

Directed by man, primarily to maximize the yield of crops.

6. Instability

The smaller the number of species that make up the agrocenosis, the less stable this ecosystem is. The least stable monoculture (wheat, rice, cotton, etc.) requires the introduction of fertilizers and pesticides for its existence. Of the agrocenoses, multi-species ecosystems, for example, a meadow, are the most stable. The instability of agrocenosis is also due to the fact that the protective mechanisms of producers - cultivated plants - are weaker than in wild species, in which adaptations have been improved in the course of natural selection for millions of years.

Table 1

Comparative characteristics of natural ecosystems and agrocenoses

Characteristics	natural ecosystem	Agrocenosis
1. Species diversity	many kinds	Low species diversity, dominant species is determined by a person
2. Food chains	Branched food chains	Short supply chains
3. Circulation of substances		Incomplete, part of the elements is taken by a person
4. The need for substances to enter the ecosystem from outside	Missing
5. Productivity	Depends on natural conditions	High thanks to the man
6. Selection action	Natural selection, more resistant individuals remain	Artificial selection, valuable individuals remain
7. Self-regulation
8. Sustainability

7. Lack of full self-regulation

Agrosystems are not capable of self-regulation and self-renewal, they are subject to the threat of death during the mass reproduction of pests or pathogens. Agrocenosis is regulated by man, and if it is not maintained, it will quickly collapse and disappear. Cultivated plants will not be able to compete with wild species and will be forced out. In the place of agrocenosis in a dry climate, a steppe will appear, in a colder and more humid climate - a forest.

Thus, in comparison with natural biogeocenoses, agrocenoses have a limited species composition of plants and animals, are not capable of self-renewal and self-regulation, are subject to the threat of death as a result of mass reproduction of pests or pathogens, and require tireless human activity to maintain them. Their undeniable advantage over natural ecosystems lies in their unlimited potential for increasing productivity. However, their implementation is possible only with constant, scientifically based soil care, providing plants with moisture and mineral nutrition elements, and protecting plants from adverse abiotic and biotic factors.

- this is the interaction of animate and inanimate nature, which consists of living organisms and their habitat. The ecological system is a scale balance and connection that allows the maintenance of a population of species of living things. Nowadays, there are natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. The differences between them are that the first is created by the forces of nature, and the second with the help of man.

The value of agrocenosis

Agrocenosis is an ecosystem created by human hands in order to obtain crops, animals and fungi. Agrocenosis is also called agroecosystem. Examples of agrocenosis are:

• apple and other orchards;
• fields of corn and sunflower;
• pastures of cows and sheep;
• vineyards;
• gardens.

Man, due to the satisfaction of his needs and the increase in the population, has recently been forced to change and destroy natural ecosystems. In order to rationalize and increase the volume of agricultural crops, people create agroecosystems. Nowadays, 10% of all available land is occupied by land for growing crops, and 20% is pasture.

The difference between natural ecosystems and agrocenosis

The main differences between agrocenosis and natural ecosystems are:

• artificially created cultures cannot compete in the fight against wild species and;
• agroecosystems are not adapted to self-healing, and are completely dependent on humans and without him quickly weaken and die;
• a large number and one species in the agroecosystem contribute to the large-scale development of viruses, bacteria and harmful insects;
• in nature there is much more variety of species, in contrast to cultures bred by man.

Artificially created agricultural plots should be under full human control. The disadvantage of agrocenosis is the frequent increase in populations of pests and fungi, which not only harm the crop, but can also worsen the state of the environment. The population of a crop in an agrocenosis increases only through the use of:

• weed and pest control;
• irrigation of drylands;
• drying waterlogged land;
• replacement of crop varieties;
• fertilizers with organic and mineral substances.

In the process of creating an agroecosystem, a person has built completely artificial stages of development. Soil reclamation is very popular - an extensive set of measures aimed at improving natural conditions in order to obtain the highest possible yield. Only the right scientific approach, control of the soil condition, moisture level and mineral fertilizers can increase the productivity of agrocenosis in comparison with the natural ecosystem.

Negative consequences of agrocenosis

It is important for mankind to maintain a balance of agro- and natural ecosystems. People create agro-ecosystems to increase the amount of food and use them for the food industry. However, the creation of artificial agro-ecosystems requires additional territories, so people often plow the land and thereby destroy existing natural ecosystems. This upsets the balance of wild and cultivated species of animals and plants.

The second negative role is played by pesticides, which are often used to control pests in agroecosystems. These chemicals through water, air and insect pests enter natural ecosystems and pollute them. In addition, excessive use of fertilizers for agroecosystems also causes groundwater.

Nature is multifaceted and beautiful. We can say that this is a whole system that includes both living and inanimate nature. Inside it there are many other different systems that are inferior to it in scale. But not all of them are completely created by nature. In some of them, a person contributes. The anthropogenic factor can radically change the natural landscape and its orientation.

Agroecosystem - resulting from anthropogenic activity. People can plow the land, plant the territory with trees, but no matter what we do, we have always been surrounded and will be surrounded by nature. This is some of its peculiarity. How are agroecosystems different from natural ecosystems? This is worth looking into.

generally

In general, an ecological system is any combination of organic and inorganic components in which there is a circulation of substances.

Whether natural or man-made, it is still an ecological system. But still, how do agroecosystems differ from natural ecosystems? About everything in order.

natural ecosystem

A natural system, or, as it is also called, biogeocenosis, is a combination of organic and inorganic components on a plot of the earth's surface with homogeneous natural phenomena: the atmosphere, rocks, hydrological conditions, soils, plants, animals and the world of microorganisms.

The natural system has its own structure, which includes the following components. Producers, or, as they are also called, autotrophs, are all those plants capable of producing organic matter, that is, capable of photosynthesis. Consumers are those who eat plants. It is worth noting that they belong to the first order. In addition, there are consumers and other orders. And, finally, another group is the group of decomposers. It is customary to include various kinds of bacteria, fungi.

The structure of the natural ecosystem

In any ecosystem, food chains, food webs, and trophic levels are distinguished. The food chain is the sequential transfer of energy. A food web is all chains that are interconnected. Trophic levels are the places that organisms occupy in food chains. Producers belong to the very first level, consumers of the first order belong to the second, consumers of the second order to the third, and so on.

A saprophytic chain, or otherwise detrital, begins with dead remains and ends with some kind of animal. There is an omnivorous food chain. Grazing grazing) in any case begins with photosynthetic organisms.

This is all about biogeocenosis. How are agroecosystems different from natural ecosystems?

Agroecosystem

An agroecosystem is an ecosystem created by man. This includes gardens, arable land, vineyards, parks.

Like the previous one, the agroecosystem includes the following blocks: producers, consumers, decomposers. The former include cultivated plants, weeds, plants of pastures, gardens and forest belts. Consumers are all farm animals and humans. The decomposer block is a complex of soil organisms.

Types of agroecosystems

The creation of anthropogenic landscapes includes several types:

• agricultural landscapes: arable lands, pastures, irrigated lands, gardens and others;
• forest: forest parks, shelterbelts;
• water: ponds, reservoirs, canals;
• urban: cities, towns;
• industrial: mines, quarries.

There is another classification of agroecosystems.

Types of agroecosystems

Depending on the level of economic use, the systems are divided into:

• agrosphere (global ecosystem),
• agricultural Landscape,
• agroecosystem,
• agrocenosis.

Depending on the energy features of natural zones, the division occurs into:

• tropical;
• subtropical;
• moderate;
• arctic types.

The first is characterized by high heat supply, continuous vegetation and the predominance of perennial crops. The second - two periods of vegetation, namely summer and winter. The third type has only one growing season, as well as a long dormant period. As for the fourth type, here the cultivation of crops is very difficult due to low temperatures, as well as cold spells for a long time.

Variety of features

All cultivated plants must have certain properties. Firstly, high ecological plasticity, that is, the ability to produce crops in a wide range of fluctuations in climatic conditions.

Secondly, the heterogeneity of populations, that is, in each of them there should be plants that differ in such characteristics as flowering time, drought resistance, and frost resistance.

Thirdly, precocity - the ability for rapid development, which will outstrip the development of weeds.

Fourth, resistance to fungal and other diseases.

Fifth, resistance to harmful insects.

Comparative and agroecosystems

In addition, as mentioned above, these ecosystems are very different in a number of other features. Unlike natural, in the agroecosystem, the main consumer is the person himself. It is he who seeks to maximize the receipt of primary production (crop) and secondary (livestock). The second consumer are farm animals.

The second difference is that the agroecosystem is formed and regulated by man. Many people ask why an agroecosystem is less resilient than an ecosystem. The thing is that they have a weakly expressed ability for self-regulation and self-renewal. Without human intervention, they exist only for a short time.

The next difference is selection. The stability of the natural ecosystem is ensured by natural selection. In the agroecosystem, it is artificial, provided by man and aimed at obtaining the maximum possible production. The energy received by the agricultural system includes the sun and everything that a person gives: irrigation, fertilizers, and so on.

Natural biogeocenosis feeds only on natural energy. As a rule, plants grown by man include several species, while the natural ecosystem is very diverse.

Different nutritional balance is another difference. The products of plants in a natural ecosystem are used in many food chains, but still return to the system. It turns out the circulation of substances.

How are agroecosystems different from natural ecosystems?

Natural and agroecosystems differ from each other in many ways: plants, consumption, vitality, resistance to pests and diseases, species diversity, type of selection, and many other traits.

A human-made ecosystem has both advantages and disadvantages. The natural system, in turn, cannot have any disadvantages. Everything is beautiful and harmonious in it.

When creating artificial systems, a person must carefully treat nature so as not to disturb this harmony.