Invasive species are species that enter an alien habitat from their natural environment. Quite often, these species can pose a danger to ecosystems, since in the new environment they have no natural enemies, and their populations reproduce uncontrollably. Deforestation is another problem that requires the utmost attention of environmental organizations. Agricultural practices, clearing forests for construction, or industrial complexes negatively affect the environment, the lives of the local population, and the planet. This paper aims to discuss the issues of species conservation, deforestation, and forest management.
Invasive Species and the Related Threats
An invasive species is an organism alien to a particular environment and causing significant environmental and economic damage. Examples of invasive species are rats, wild cats, mongooses, toad frogs, hares, and other plants and animals. The Japanese beetle is one example of an invasive species widely distributed in North America. On the islands of Japan, beetle populations are controlled by wasps, but there are no such species in North America. As a result, Japanese beetles multiply uncontrollably and create problems for farmers who grow grapes. Farmers widely use insecticides to control beetles, which further damages the environment.
Kudzu is an invasive plant species native to southeastern China and Japan. This is a climbing plant that captures territories, crowding out other plants’ natural territories. It quickly spreads throughout the southern United States, covering the ground, trees, bushes, and rocks. There are combined management programs to control kudzu, such as a combination of burning and herbicides that proved helpful to restore the invaded areas (Profetto, 2021). These methods are so far the only effective ones and do not cause significant harm to the environment.
Rats are also an example of invasive species, as they pose a threat to farming and ecosystems. Rats occupy new habitats by swimming to the islands’ shores from ships. Invasive rats cause a catastrophic reduction in the number of seabirds on the islands, and threaten other inhabitants, being a serious competitor for food. In the Galapagos Islands, rats are killed using drones that deliver poisoned baits to remote areas (Marris, 2019). These baits are designed for rats and do not endanger other animals.
Species Conservation Efforts
In the U.S., acts like the U.S. Endangered Species Act regulate conservation efforts. In addition to the invasive species, wildlife is exposed to many dangers in the modern world. For example, wind turbines are often the cause of death for bats globally, and environmentalists have not yet found a way to prevent this trend. Viruses and bacteria, such as flea-borne plague bacteria, have been imperiling animals in North America for more than a century (“Species conservation,” 2018). Conservation methods include oral vaccines, and deltamethrin delivered as dust to save the prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets from plague.
USGS-developed oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) is used for immunization. It is a more effective tool than deltamethrin dust as it does not threaten the environment. Strategies like video surveillance systems are also used, for instance, to reveal the reasons for white-nose syndrome in bats that may be related to their habits and contact with a dangerous fungus that causes the disease (“Species conservation,” 2018). Remarkably, video surveillance is a universal tool that helps develop thoughtful and targeted strategies for species conservation.
Deforestation
Many factors contribute to deforestation, including forest fires, illegal and unsustainable logging, fuelwood harvesting, mining, and climate change. In developing countries, mining and growing palm trees have the most damaging impacts. When a new mineral deposit is discovered, municipalities build new roads, railways, and power plants, which aggravates the destruction caused to the ecosystem. Forest fires annually burn millions of hectares of forest, and millions of animals die in these fires. Degraded forests such as peat forests, heavily logged rainforests, and forests where fires have been suppressed for many years are particularly vulnerable to fires (“Deforestation causes,” 2022). Illegal logging implies that the finished wood is sold to the U.S. and European Union markets without proper documentation. Excessive harvesting of charcoal or firewood is also detrimental to forests. Climate change is causing tropical rainforests to dry out and fires to increase in boreal forests.
Deforestation can displace animals from their habitats, and deprive local communities of sources of food and water since rivers are often put at the service of industrial interests. The planet suffers because of the destruction of ecosystems because the interaction of animals in the larger ecosystem of the planet is a very delicate mechanism. No less important, uncontrolled deforestation exacerbates the processes that cause global warming.
Strategies to address deforestation include reducing the consumption of wood, meat, and palm oil, educating communities, sustainable production, and recycling resources such as cardboard, paper, and furniture. It is noteworthy that most of the IKEA furniture is made from recycled materials, and the company also has campaigns where customers can exchange old furniture for new, paying a certain amount. In general, campaigns to reduce consumption have a significant positive effect.
Forest Management
Forest management is a set of strategies used by official organizations responsible for preserving the environment, forests, and ecosystems. Several basic strategies are applied for conscious and controlled forest management. Forest managers and rangers develop ecosystem management plans, including large forest areas and small community forests (“What is forest management,” 2021). Common forest management strategies include timber harvesting, tree thinning, cultivation practices, wildlife management, and risk control. Forest management is necessary, as it allows you to take a responsible attitude to forests, their inhabitants, and forest management processes.
For example, controlled logging involves cutting down only mature trees on the brink of death, while thinning is clearing the forest of invasive species to protect natural flora. At the same time, cultivation practices include controlling tree planting as part of growth strategies. Wildlife management also assumes the control of wildlife populations and the conservation of endangered species through tree thinning and water exploration. Finally, risk control is the reduction of wildfire threats by controlled burning of deadwood on the forest floor to slow the spread of wildfires in the future.
Thus, the issues of species conservation, deforestation, and forest management were discussed. Species conservation implies taking care of species that suffer from the spread of disease or human modification of the environment. This care includes strategies of video observation, vaccination, and control of invasive species. At the same time, the forest management and strategies that address deforestation contribute to the conservation of forest ecosystems, animal populations, and habitats. The application of these strategies is utterly necessary to support the ecosystems, which includes saving the trees and animals from wildfires and stabilizing the lives of the local communities.
References
Deforestation causes. (2022). WWF. Web.
Marris, E. (2019). Drones unleashed against invasive rats in the Galapagos. Nature, 565(7737), 543-545.
Profetto, G. M. (2021). Kudzu invasion and control in southern upland forests of Mississippi. University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2926.
What is forest management? Definition, strategies, and benefits. (2021). Indeed.