Ecological Services: Animals, Plants, and Human Beings

Ecological Services
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Ecological Services
Ecological services allude to the benefits that healthy ecosystems present in the environment, including the animals, plants, and human beings. The processes involved are naturally occurring and comprise aspects such as air purification, water purification and management, plant pollination, and waste decomposition (Anderson, 2000). Rivers are important natural resources that support life in many ecosystems. Fundamentally, they are essential for economic activities that include fishing, farming, transport, and recreation. Suggestively, these ecological services are taken for granted due to lack of awareness.
Ecological services are important to sustain the environment supporting the survival of living things. A healthy ecosystem can cycle and move nutrients, and stabilize the climate. Resultantly, the survival of living is guaranteed in the trophic levels. The plants are the primary producers due to their capability to generate their food through photosynthesis and high level of reproduction. Other living things draw nutrients in a hierarchical manner until the tertiary level, where organisms decompose and return nutrient to the soil. Stabilizing the climate ensures that effects of climate change due to human activities are mitigated. Additionally, the flow of nutrients and mitigation of climate change ensures security and increased economic activities (Andersson, 2000).
Increased human activities that limit the health of ecosystems might lead to reduced biodiversity. Particularly, agricultural activities that involve the use of chemical pest and weed control to facilitate production and mono-cropping approaches reduce the diversity of living organisms in a region. Increased emissions of greenhouse gases due to increased use of fossil fuels limits the capacity of the environment to protect people from harm...