What Does This Mean?
TNS principle three can be understood as saying, for us to become a sustainable society we must stop practices that damage ecosystems and prevent these fragile systems from performing all of their necessary functions, many of which directly benefit us. The principle states that we often disenfranchise these ecosystems through physical displacement, which could take the form of habitat destruction caused by farming or building development that displaces native species. We also damage ecosystems when we over-harvest resources from an area, like clear cutting forests, or over-fishing in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Other forms of ecosystem manipulation could take the form of introducing invasive species into their non-native habitats, or even the eradication and persecution of animals and plants that we deem to be pests but serve important ecosystem functions.
TNS principle three can be understood as saying, for us to become a sustainable society we must stop practices that damage ecosystems and prevent these fragile systems from performing all of their necessary functions, many of which directly benefit us. The principle states that we often disenfranchise these ecosystems through physical displacement, which could take the form of habitat destruction caused by farming or building development that displaces native species. We also damage ecosystems when we over-harvest resources from an area, like clear cutting forests, or over-fishing in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Other forms of ecosystem manipulation could take the form of introducing invasive species into their non-native habitats, or even the eradication and persecution of animals and plants that we deem to be pests but serve important ecosystem functions.
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How Does This Effect Me?
Ecosystem destruction has many causes and takes many forms. Although the effects may not be easily visible from your garden, they do effect the overall health of the ecosystems that surround us, and those ecosystems provide many services for us and give us the various resources we use in gardening and in daily life. Helping to preserve the functionality of our ecosystems will help ensure that you are able to garden effectively for years to come. The good news is that just having a garden can be beneficial to the wildlife and the ecosystems that surround you! As gardeners we can safeguard nature's ability to regenerate, provided that things are done properly and sustainably.
Ecosystem destruction has many causes and takes many forms. Although the effects may not be easily visible from your garden, they do effect the overall health of the ecosystems that surround us, and those ecosystems provide many services for us and give us the various resources we use in gardening and in daily life. Helping to preserve the functionality of our ecosystems will help ensure that you are able to garden effectively for years to come. The good news is that just having a garden can be beneficial to the wildlife and the ecosystems that surround you! As gardeners we can safeguard nature's ability to regenerate, provided that things are done properly and sustainably.
Issues
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Habitat Destruction -
There are a number of different ways that your gardening practices could be leading to ecosystem destruction in your area or in far flung regions. Some of these may stem from:
There are a number of different ways that your gardening practices could be leading to ecosystem destruction in your area or in far flung regions. Some of these may stem from:
- Potting Soil - Most of the potting soil we buy in stores is made of three basic ingredients, Peat Moss, Vermiculite or Perlite, and Pine Bark. All three of these elements need to be harvested from the environment somewhere. Peat moss is harvested from bogs around the world, where it serves many different ecological functions including water filtration, carbon capture, and flood prevention. Its removal fundamentally destroys the ecosystem that is based off of it, and regrowth can take centuries. Vermiculite and Perlite need to be mined from geological formations, and the mining practices often disrupts (if not wholly destroys) surrounding ecosystems.
- Landscaping Timbers - Store bought timbers may or may not be sustainably harvested, meaning that there is a good chance that your purchase of that timber has negatively affected a forrest somewhere and there is little chance of that forrest regaining this lost resource in the near future. These timbers may have also been chemically treated, which could leach harmful chemicals like arsenic into your soil or into the environment surrounding the treatment and processing center.
- Your Lawn - At some point in the past an ecosystem was torn apart to build our homes, and the surrounding land was most likely replanted with a monoculture of grass and maybe a few shade trees. Our lawns are little microcosms of the habitat destruction that is happening on a global scale. An ecosystem destroyed, trees uprooted, and replaced with a monoculture that has little if any ecological benefit. The only benefits are those we proscribe, and these usually only benefit humans and our pets.
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Invasive Species -
When we think about invasive species we often think about the invasive animals that make headlines around the country like Asian Carp, Snakeheads, Zebra Mussels, and Burmese Pythons. What we don't often think about is that there are many invasive plant species that are disrupting habitats around us, and that these were likely brought into their new environments by the ignorance of well meaning gardeners and landscapers. Here in Minnesota, the DNR lists 47 different invasive terrestrial plants, many of which were introduced into gardens because of their beautiful flowers. Possibly the most well known of these is Buckthorn, which was introduced from Europe in the early 1900s and was used widely as a hedging bush because of its fast rate of growth and protective thorns. Buckthorn quickly spread across the midwest and is damaging habitats because it outcompetes native plants, serves as a vector for damaging parasites, and can lead to erosive soil conditions by shading out understory plants.
When we think about invasive species we often think about the invasive animals that make headlines around the country like Asian Carp, Snakeheads, Zebra Mussels, and Burmese Pythons. What we don't often think about is that there are many invasive plant species that are disrupting habitats around us, and that these were likely brought into their new environments by the ignorance of well meaning gardeners and landscapers. Here in Minnesota, the DNR lists 47 different invasive terrestrial plants, many of which were introduced into gardens because of their beautiful flowers. Possibly the most well known of these is Buckthorn, which was introduced from Europe in the early 1900s and was used widely as a hedging bush because of its fast rate of growth and protective thorns. Buckthorn quickly spread across the midwest and is damaging habitats because it outcompetes native plants, serves as a vector for damaging parasites, and can lead to erosive soil conditions by shading out understory plants.