Planet Earth Ecosystems

        Humans destroy precious habitat – the natural environment of a living thing – when they fill swamps and marshes, dam rivers and cut down trees to build homes, roads and other developments. They can interfere with the animals natural living area, and because some animals have proclivity at adapting they cannot survive with the rapid changes. Humans continue to grow and thus as dominant species there resources are unmatched and are available at their will, even if it means killing animals in order to do so. Animals are not the only thing affected by humans, every living thing in an ecosystem can be in danger such as plants as well. A large problem that is seen in many exotic countries such as Africa where precious animals like elephants, tigers, and rhinoceros reside poachers are extremely threatening. Poachers kill animals deliberately for one reason: to make profit off of them. Elephants for example, have large ivory tusks which are very valuable in the black market. Another variable in animal life is that of pollution. Pollution can be things such as waste, oil spills, etc. Acid rain and water pollution have been devastating for many species of fish and birds. Many animals can be caught in many plastic items and others may even attempt to eat left over food or other trash. Things such as oil spills or chemical waste can be fatal for animals because they are toxic. Finally diseases and plagues such as types of fungus, bacteria, rabies, etc., can also disrupt an ecosystem drastically. Also when animals or plants arrive into a new habitat from a foreign place they sometimes introduce diseases that the native species can't fight, and thus die out.

        Even though the life of animals seems futile at times, Planet Earth also describes ways to help the environment. Perhaps the most simple way to help the environment is to recycle and keep the environment clean and “green” friendly. Recycling instead of throwing out trash on the floor is a start, and ultimately people can help by cutting down on their fossil fuel use and using alternate sources of eco-friendly energy. Also because many trees are inevitably cut down from forests the only thing we can do is to find alternate ways of using wood, and we can also help by planting trees or “replenishing” the environment so to speak. Because plants are the basis of any ecosystem it is vital that they are prevalent, thus planting new vegetation is essential to survival not only for animals, but for humans as well. Humans can also help by providing research for eradication and prevention of certain diseases and plagues in specific ecosystems. Scientists continue to research and provide new ways to fight diseases and furthermore help species from extinction. As an added help by humans many national reserves and wildlife parks are being developed all over the world to protect and help breed endangered species in order to ensure their continuation of life on our beloved planet Earth.