Module 9

• Biosphere


  Living components
• The biosphere overlaps on to the three geological spheres and covers heights of several thousand meters above sea level where birds fly and up to the point where microbes can exist and several thousand meters more underneath the earth or below sea level where other organisms can also survive
• Ecosystem


  All living systems and their environment
• Ecosystem services


  • Provisioning (food, clean water, fuel, wood, etc.)
  • Regulating (climate, disease, cleanliness, flood and other hazard controls)
  • Cultural/aesthetic (spiritual, educational, recreational)
  • Supporting (nutrient cycling, production, etc.)

  
• Ecosystem services


  • Forests provide food, oxygen, carbon sinks, livelihood, and other resources
  • Wetlands ensure clean water safeguarding against water-borne infectious organisms
  • Mangroves protect coastal areas from storm surges and provide habitats for fishes and various marine resources
  • Microbiota in the gut contributes to nutrition by producing vitamins and aiding digestion, and fermentation of food
  • Landscape provides a place for recreation, meditation, enhanced aesthetic aspirations and cultural identity
• Living systems and the abiotic systems depend on each other for survival such that perturbations in living systems will affect the material world, and changes in the physical environment will also affect living systems
• Natural calamities such as typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, and fire can disrupt ecosystems resulting in changes in adaptations and/or behavior patterns of living organisms
• Man is also part of the ecosystem and gets food, other products, shelter, clothing, and clean water from both living and non-living things, but the disturbance he has brought on the ecosystems and the biosphere in general is of such magnitude as to threaten not just the survival of the biosphere but consequently his own health and well-being and ultimately his survival
• Provisioning services for good nutrition and food security, ecosystem services and human health and wellness, and aesthetic and cultural services and its impact on mental health are the three topics covered in this module
• Clean water is provided by a complex interaction of living systems and the ecosystem and the hydrologic cycle, and water pollution leads to loss of biodiversity and can alter or disrupt these provisioning services resulting in health problems
• Worldwide, one of the major contributors to biodiversity loss is agriculture, as current local agricultural practices have become incorporated into the global economy with landowners focusing more on "cash crops" or commodities for export
• While evolving agricultural practices provide food security, agriculture also destroys the richness of choices for good health and nutrition, as there is a narrowing array of food sources from which we can derive micro- and macronutrients to ensure good nutrition and a healthy population
• The conversion of land to agricultural plantations results in huge loses to the wildlife and biodiversity of the area due not only to habitat loss from the clearing of forests but also to a dramatic shift in the nature of the ecosystem and the introduction of synthetics such as fertilizers and pesticides that has also led to rapid decline in the population of pollinators and the microbial biota necessary for nitrogen sequestering by plants
• Introduction of single varieties and cropping patterns can affect biodiversity while farming results in habitat simplification, or species loss, and the crops or species being farmed are fed with fertilizers and unnatural feeds that can alter the nutritional content of these food sources compared with those found in the wild, making communities vulnerable to ill health
• Both agriculture and aquaculture while supplying enough food and fish for a growing human population are also causing the buildup of dead zones where oxygen has considerably dropped to levels that can no longer sustain life, as fertilizers and pesticides, intended to ensure food security are washed into waterways, and undigested food from aquaculture also contribute to the buildup of nutrients and phosphates that promote algal growth
• Global warming, biodiversity losses, and an increasing shift in nutrient distribution in the soils and waters as a result of the introduction of fertilizers and other synthetics (e.g. antibiotics) will eventually affect all food supplies in the years to come, as evidenced by the asynchrony of bird migration, mating, and rearing with the arrival of food sources such as insects and seeds, plant pollination and arrival of cross-pollinators, and the decline in the population of predators and prey
• Regulating services


  Ecosystem services that ensure good quality of air, water and soil and controls diseases and environmental hazard risks
• Genetic diversity provides gene pools from which speciation can arise to enable species to adapt to changing environments or risks of predation and extinction
• Regulating services include the presence of species such as mangroves that allows coastal areas to withstand flooding and storm surges during typhoons while wetlands and soil microbiomes ensure that wastes produced by living systems are treated and contained
• Human health is influenced by the health of the ecosystem, including the plants and animals in it that they interact with
• A degraded ecosystem will be unable to mitigate the impacts of pollution, climate change, water scarcity and diseases
• Ecosystems are sources of traditional medicine and raw materials for pharmacologic research
• WHO estimates that about 80% of people from developing countries depend on traditional medicine for maintenance of health and treatment of diseases
• Microbial diversity and a balanced ecosystem within the intestinal gut are essential for maintenance of health
• Biodiversity losses have accelerated at the turn of the century, with climate change and global warming as the most important drivers
• Deforestation contributes 17% of greenhouse gases emissions and the rise in global temperatures
• Consequences of deforestation

  • Loss of species that are highly specialized in microhabitats within the forests
  • Loss of other species dependent or interacting with species that have become extinct
  • Loss of habitat of certain species, some of which are vectors able to harbor diseases
  • Rise in CO2 levels due to lower absorptive capacities of the forests
  • Loss of biodiversity results in reduction in ecosystem services
  • Loss of chemical entities and genetic diversities that have the potential to cure ailments and health problems
• Industrialization has ecological consequences such as increase in total carbon emission, acceleration of technological change, and socio-economic impact marked by market capitalism and strengthening of the system of manufacturing and induced massive urbanization
• WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"
• Climate change, deforestation, and encroachment by a ballooning human population has affected migration patterns of birds and host transmission patterns such that birds, rodents, and insects that are infected can move from natural habitats to open areas including human settlements, infecting other vertebrates, and humans as well
• The increased rodent population coincided with the decrease in the population of its predators (snakes, birds, etc.) that have lost their forest habitats or are predated also by humans
• The increasing temperature range, as seen in the maximum and minimum temperatures by 0.36 oC and 1.0 oC, has enhanced the survival, and reproduction rate of vectors such as mosquitoes and other insects
• Researchers found that the incidence of dengue fever increased 2.6 percent every week for every 1 degree Celsius increase in temperature starting at 20oC and peaking at 32oC, and a 1.9 percent increase in dengue cases with every centimeter increase in weekly precipitation
• There is a growing threat to modifications of biodiversity, particularly microbial biodiversity because of the release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) produced by pharmaceutical companies or thrown in wastes by ordinary citizens
• In the last several years, more than 90 percent of malaria and diarrhea deaths occur in children 5 years or younger
• Alteration of microbial biodiversity resulting in resistant or mutant organisms with altered characteristics as well as direct effect of exposure to these pharmaceuticals present in water can have negative consequences for human health
• The extensive use of pesticides and synthetics has also increased the transformation of soil organisms and the incidence of cancer and cancer-related diseases in both humans and animals
• Diseases on the rise in the Philippines

  • dengue
  • COVID-19
  • tuberculosis
  • avian flu
  • degenerative disorders including cancers
• Cultural services


  The non-material or intangible benefit one obtains from the ecosystem that contributes to overall wellness
• The presence of various organisms in a biodiverse ecosystem creates a plethora of effects ranging from releasing a variety of sounds and smells, or a breathtaking display of colors in various hues and intensity