April 21, 2013
What You Need To Know About Plant Conservation
Mankind has affected the planet like no other species have. The rise of our civilization has a very strong impact on our environment and the life of other organisms. This impact is not dying down but is in fact rising and becoming more intense with each passing year. Our societies have needs that require enormous amounts of resources and our cities are growing at a pace that is taking up the land on an ever increasing rate.
The march of civilization is eating up nature and it comes at a price. Progress is threatening the natural habitats of living organisms everywhere. Plants are now facing multiple challenges and some species have even become extinct. This is where plant conservation comes in.
Plants and Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the term applied to the richness of life in natural habitats. It ranges from the smallest microorganism in the soil of the tropical rainforest, to the tallest trees there that took hundreds of years to grow. Plants play a vital role in the biodiversity of the planet. They are the main food source for most animal species and they produce oxygen which is vital to animals.
Without plants, the planet would not be able to go on as it is. That’s why it is important that efforts should be taken to prevent the disappearance of plant species and to preserve their natural habitat.
Why Preservation is Important
When conservation first came out as an idea, the original aim was to preserve plants and forests for aesthetic value and to preserve them as examples of nature. But as years passed it was soon realized that conservation is also important for our own self-interest.
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They Play an Important Role in Nature -We have mentioned how plants take the carbon dioxide from the air and convert it to oxygen. Humans and other animals need that oxygen.
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We Get Something Out of Plants Directly -It would benefit us materially if we practice plant conservation. We get a lot of things from plants. We use them as food sources and as raw materials for our industry.
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Future Use- There is no way of knowing what our descendants would be able to come up with. They might be able to create some amazing cure-it-all drug from a plant that can only be found in a tropical rainforest. The problem is if we allow that plant to become extinct now they wouldn’t be able to create that drug. These are the option values of plant life.
- For the Sake of Future Generations- Future generations of humans also deserve the chance to experience the biodiversity of plant and animal life. Just as we and our ancestors experienced it we should be able to get the same thing out of it.
Now you know why plant conservation is just as important as the conservation of animal species. In some ways it is even more urgent because if we fail to conserve most plant life today, efforts to help endangered animal species would just go to waste. This is the first step towards preserving nature.
This article courtesy of the indoor plants experts at Gaddys plant hire – check them out today.
