2

Land,Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources

In a small village in Tanzania, Africa, Mamba gets up very early in the morning to fetch water. She has to walk a long way and returns after a few hours. She then helps her mother in the house and joins her brothers in taking care of their goats. All her family owns is a piece of rocky land around their small hut. Mamba’s father can barely grow some maize and beans on it after toiling hard. This is not enough to feed their family for the whole year.

Peter lives in the heart of the sheep rearing region in New Zealand where his family runs a wool processing factory. Everyday when he returns from school, Peter watches his uncle taking care of their sheep. Their sheep yard is situated on a wide grassy plain with hills in the far distance. It is managed in a scientific way using the latest technology. Peter’s family also grows vegetables through organic farming.

Mamba and Peter stay in two different parts of the world and lead very different lives. This difference is because of the differences in the quality of land, soil, water, natural vegetation, animals and the usage of technology. The availability of such resources is the main reason places differ from each other.

Land is among the most important natural resources.It covers only about thirty per cent of the total area of the earth’s surface and all parts of this small percentage are not habitable.

The uneven distribution of population in different parts of the world is mainly due to varied characteristics of land and climate. The rugged topography, steep slopes of the mountains, low-lying areas susceptible to water logging, desert areas, thick forested areas are normally sparsely populated or uninhabited. Plains and river valleys offer suitable land for agriculture. Hence, these are the densely populated areas of the world.

Land Use

Land is used for different purposes such as agriculture, forestry, mining, building houses, roads and setting up of industries. This is commonly termed as Land use. Can you list out the different ways in which Mamba’s and Peter’s family use their land?

The use of land is determined by physical factors such as topography, soil, climate, minerals and availability of water. Human factors such as population and technology are also important determinants of land use pattern.

Land can also be classified on the basis of ownership as – private land and community land. Private land is owned by individuals whereas, community land is owned by the community for common uses like collection of fodder, fruits, nuts or medicinal herbs. These community lands are also called common property resources.

People and their demands are ever growing but the availability of land is limited. The quality of land also differs from place to place. People started encroaching the common lands to build up commercial areas, housing complexes in the urban areas and to expand the agricultural land in the rural areas. Today the vast changes in the land use pattern also reflect the cultural changes in our society. Land degradation, landslides, soil erosion, desertification are the major threats to the environment because of the expansion of agriculture and construction activities.

Conservation of Land Resource

Growing population and their ever growing demand has led to a large scale destruction of forest cover and arable land and has created a fear of losing this natural resource. Therefore, the present rate of degradation of land must be checked. Afforestation, land reclamation, regulated use of chemical pesticide and fertilisers and checks on overgrazing are some of the common methods used to conserve land resources.

Soil

The thin layer of grainy substance covering the surface of the earth is called soil. It is closely linked to land. Landforms determine the type of soil. Soil is made up of organic matter, minerals and weathered rocks found on the earth. This happens through the process of weathering. The right mix of minerals and organic matter make the soil fertile.

Factors of Soil Formation

The major factors of soil formation are the nature of the parent rock and climatic factors. Other factors are the topography, role of organic material and time taken for the composition of soil formation. All these differ from place to place.

Degradation of Soil and Conservation Measures

Soil erosion and depletion are the major threats to soil as a resource. Both human and natural factors can lead to degradation of soils. Factors which lead to soil degradation are deforestation, overgrazing, overuse of chemical feritilisers or pesticides, rain wash, landslides and floods.

Some methods of soil conservation are listed below:

Mulching: The bare ground between plants is covered with a layer of organic matter like straw. It helps to retain soil moisture.

Contour barriers: Stones, grass, soil are used to build barriers along contours. Trenches are made in front of the barriers to collect water.

Rock dam: Rocks are piled up to slow down the flow of water. This prevents gullies and further soil loss.

Terrace farming: Broad flat steps or terraces are made on the steep slopes so that flat surfaces are available to grow crops. They reduce surface run-off and soil erosion (Fig. 2.5).

Intercropping: Different crops are grown in alternate rows and are sown at different times to protect the soil from rain wash.

Contour ploughing: Ploughing parallel to the contours of a hill slope to form a natural barrier for water to flow down the slope (Fig. 2.6).

Shelter belts: In the coastal and dry regions, rows of trees are planted to check the wind movement to protect soil cover (Fig. 2.7).

Water

Water is a vital renewable natural resource. Three-fourth’s of the earth’s surface is covered with water. It is therefore appropriately called the ‘water planet’. It was in the primitive oceans that life began almost 3.5 billion years back. Even today, the oceans cover two-thirds of the earth’s surface and support a rich variety of plant and animal life. The ocean water is however saline and not fit for human consumption. Fresh water accounts for only about 2.7 per cent. Nearly 70 per cent of this occurs as ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland and mountain regions. Due to their location they are inaccessible. Only 1 per cent of freshwater is available and fit for human use. It is found as ground water, as surface water in rivers and lakes and as water vapour in the atmosphere.

Fresh water is therefore, the most precious substance on earth. Water can neither be added nor subtracted from the earth. Its total volume remains constant. Its abundance only seems to vary because it is in constant motion, cycling through the oceans, the air, the land and back again, through the processes of evaporation, precipitation and run-off. This as you already know is referred to as the ‘water cycle’. Humans use huge amounts of water not only for drinking and washing but also in the process of production. Water for agriculture, industries,
generating electricity through reservoirs of dams are the other usages. Increasing population, rising demands for food and cash crops, increasing urbanisation and rising standards of living are the major factors leading to shortages in supply of fresh water either due to drying up of water sources or water pollution.

Problems of Water Availability

There is scarcity of water in many regions of the world. Most of Africa, West Asia, South Asia, parts of western USA, north-west Mexico, parts of South America and entire Australia are facing shortages in fresh water supply. Countries located in climatic zones most susceptible to droughts face great problems of water scarcity. Thus, water shortage may be a consequence of variation in seasonal or annual precipitation or the scarcity is caused by over-exploitation and contamination of water sources.

 

Conservation of Water Resources

Access to clean and adequate water sources is a major problem facing the world today. Steps have to be taken to conserve this dwindling resource. Even though water is a renewable resource, its overuse and pollution make it unfit for use. Discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage, agricultural chemicals and industrial effluents in water bodies are major contaminants. They pollute water with nitrates, metals and pesticides. Most of these chemicals are non-biodegradable and reach human bodies through water. Water pollution can be controlled by treating these effluents suitably before releasing them in water bodies.

Forest and other vegetation cover slow the surface runoff and replenish underground water. Water harvesting is another method to save surface runoff. The canals used for irrigating field should be properly lined to minimise losses by water seepage. Sprinklers effectively irrigate the area by checking water losses through seepage and evaporation. In dry regions with high rates of evaporation, drip or trickle irrigation is very useful. The valuable water resource can therefore be conserved by adopting these means of irrigation.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Some school children were visiting an exhibition on handicrafts. The articles in the exhibition were collected from different parts of the country. Mona picked up a bag and exclaimed, “This is a beautiful handbag!” “Yes, it is made from Jute,” the teacher said. “Do you see those baskets, lamp shades and chairs? Those are made of canes and bamboos. In the eastern and north eastern humid regions of India, bamboo grows in plenty.” Jassy was excited to see a silk scarf. “See this beautiful scarf”. The teacher explained that silk is obtained from silk worms that are bred on Mulberry trees. The children understood that plants provide us with many different products that we use in our day-to-day life.

Natural vegetation and wildlife exist only in the narrow zone of contact between the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere that we call biosphere. In the biosphere living beings are inter-related and interdependent on each other for survival. This life supporting system is known as the ecosystem. Vegetation and wildlife are valuable resources. Plants provide us with timber, give shelter to animals, produce oxygen we breathe, protects soils so essential for growing crops, act as shelter belts, help in storage of underground water, give us fruits, nuts, latex, turpentine oil, gum, medicinal plants and also the paper that is so essential for your studies. There are innumerable uses of plants and you can add some more.

Wildlife includes animals, birds, insects as well as the aquatic life forms. They provide us milk, meat, hides and wool. Insects like bees provide us honey, help in pollination of flowers and have an important role to play as decomposers in the ecosystem. The birds feed on insects and act as decomposers as well. Vulture due to its ability to feed on dead livestock is a scavenger and considered a vital cleanser of the environment. So animals big or small, all are integral to maintaining balance in the ecosystem.

Distribution of Natural Vegetation

The growth of vegetation depends primarily on temperature and moisture. The major vegetation types of the world are grouped as forests, grasslands, scrubs and tundra.

In areas of heavy rainfall, huge trees may thrive. The forests are thus associated with areas having abundant water supply. As the amount of moisture decreases the size of trees and their density reduces. Short stunted trees and grasses grow in the regions of moderate rainfall forming the grasslands of the world. Thorny shrubs and scrubs grow in dry areas of low rainfall.
In such areas plants have deep roots and leaves with thorny and waxy surface reduce loss of moisture through transpiration. Tundra vegetation of cold Polar Regions comprise of mosses and lichens.

Today there are many more people in the world than there were two centuries back. To feed the growing numbers, large areas of forests have been cleared to grow crops. Forest cover all over the world is vanishing rapidly. There is an urgent need to conserve this valuable resource. 

Conservation of Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Forests are our wealth. Plants give shelter to the animals and together they maintain the ecosystem. Changes of climate and human interferences can cause the loss of natural habitats for the plants and animals. Many species have become vulnerable or endangered and some are on the verge of extinction. Deforestation, soil erosion, constructional activities, forest fires, tsunami and landslides are some of the human and natural factors which accelerate the process of extinction of these resources. One of the major concerns is the poaching which result in a sharp decline in the number of particular species. The animals are poached for collection and illegal trade of hides, skins, nails, teeth, horns as well as feathers. Some of these animals are tiger, lion, elephant, deer, black buck, crocodile, rhinoceros, snow leopard, ostrich and peacock. These can be conserved by increasing awareness.

National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves are made to protect our natural vegetation and wildlife. Conservation of creeks, lakes, and wetlands is necessary to save the precious resource from depletion.

There is a balance in the environment if the relative number of species is not disturbed. Human activities in several parts of the world have disturbed the natural habitats of many species. Due to indiscriminate killings, several birds and animals have either become extinct or are on the verge of extinction.

Awareness programmes like social forestry and Vanamohatasava should be encouraged at the regional and community level. School children should be encouraged to bird watch and visit nature camps so that they appreciate the habitat of varied species.

Many countries have passed laws against the trade as well as killing of birds and animals. In India, killing lions, tigers, deers, great Indian bustards and peacocks is illegal.

An international convention CITES has been established that lists several species of animals and birds in which trade is prohibited. Conservation of plants and animals is an ethical duty of every citizen.