The Complexity of our Ecosystem
Every living being plays a key role in the ecosystem. We see this as a complex system because each creature affects the next in a way which we begin to see quite well as Defaunation takes place. Defaunation is a term for the decline in a species numbers, which can be rapidly increased by factors such as human produced pollutants and change in climate due to global warming, or a rise in the cunning skills of poachers in different countries. Compromised habitats have led to species decline as well. Translocation is one pending solution that has been tested but without much success. It is a difficult project to replicate an environment perfectly crafted for a specific type of animal, especially when an estimated 5-10 million exist today. Vertebrates play an even greater role as they are higher up on the food chain and take care of duties like dispersing seeds for plant growth, and ridding us of pests like the rat. Vertebrates are also in danger of poachers especially in foreign countries were we see whole herds at risk daily. The natural distribution of plant seeds is an important natural phenom that can and will affect the industry of agriculture if slowed. Insects are necessary for pollination of 75% of all food crops. When plants have no insects to pollinate them we see a drop in crop output as well.
Now, this information may be new to some, and therefore alarming, but there are so many options to choose from to help combat the bad effects of the human world on our ecosystem. Sensor Networks could be a huge impairment to the world of poachers if utilized by scientists. Researchers on the job track functions of select species and try to learn which species are at risk of Defaunation. Analysts of these data sets are just as important as the researchers behind them. With visual analytics that identify patterns hidden in data tracked by sensor networks, we could be finding answers to what the most significant causes of current ecosystem imbalance really are and in turn what to do to help fix the problem and find the poachers behind each loss. Predictive analytics observe and monitor many sets of real-time data points captured during such experiments. Technology and science together can put Mother Nature back to where she’s supposed to be. We care as much as you do so lets pick our smartest course of resolve and put plans into action.(2014 ARStechnica) (2014 Phys.org)