Sustainable Use of Agricultural, Livestock, and Marine Resources

Posted on Sep 8, 2024 in Geology

Agricultural and Livestock Resources

Agriculture

The main problems in agriculture are overexploitation of soil and rising food prices, which hinder access to food in poor countries.

Another feature of current agricultural expansion is the use of GMOs. This involves transferring genetic material (a DNA fragment) from one species to another to introduce or eliminate a specific gene responsible for a desired trait.

Types of Agriculture in the World

• Traditional or Subsistence: Practiced on 75% of the world’s farmland. It relies on human and animal labor and produces only the crops and/or livestock necessary for family survival. There are two types: traditional intensive farming and shifting cultivation.
• Mechanized, Industrialized, or Intensive: Common in developed countries. It is based on monocultures, which require large amounts of water, fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.
• Sustainable Agriculture: This approach prioritizes soil and water conservation. Some recommendations include:
  • Prioritizing soil and water conservation over productivity, recognizing that land is not an inexhaustible resource.
  • Taking appropriate measures to preserve biodiversity.
  • Growing plants adapted to the local climate to promote soil and water conservation.
  • Saving water used for irrigation through techniques like drip irrigation.
  • Reducing reliance on fossil fuels and exploring alternative energy sources.
  • Minimizing pollution and waste generation and encouraging recycling.
  • Promoting mixed cropping or mixed farming, combined with family farming, rather than monocultures.
  • Using organic fertilizers instead of chemical ones.
  • Controlling pests through biological methods instead of chemicals.
  • Implementing measures to combat erosion.

Livestock

Modern factory farming takes place in large-scale facilities capable of supplying the enormous meat consumption in developed countries.

Resources of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

Impacts on Coastal Areas

• Excessive Urbanization: Leads to overcrowded land occupation and over-exploitation of water resources.
• Eutrophication: Excessive nutrient enrichment of water bodies.
• Air Pollution and Waste Generation: Degradation of air and water quality.
• Generation of Barren Grounds (Blanquizal): Coastal trawling creates areas devoid of plant species, impacting erosion protection and the food chain.
• Bioinvasions: Introduction of non-native species, often through ballast water in ships. Notable examples include the zebra mussel, killer algae, and red tides.

Fishing

Currently, three main types of fishing gear are used:

• Longlines: Long lines with numerous hooks.
• Trawling: Bag-shaped nets dragged along the seabed or surface (often illegal).
• Gillnets: Fish are trapped in the net’s mesh. Driftnets can be up to 65 km long and are often prohibited.

These techniques have increased bycatch (unintentional catch).

The Law of the Sea establishes a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around a country, granting it control over marine resources within that zone. It also regulates fishing techniques, prohibiting trawling in certain areas. Beyond the EEZ, fishing quotas are set to limit the annual catch of specific species.

Fishing closures during breeding seasons and temporary fishing bans in depleted areas help protect fish populations.

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species in captivity, requires space and can cause environmental damage, such as loss of marine biodiversity.

Mangroves

Mangroves are amphibious forests that grow in brackish water (mix of saltwater and freshwater) with low oxygen levels, typically found at river mouths and in coastal swamps in equatorial and tropical regions.

They protect the coast from erosion, support high biodiversity, and provide resources like wood, charcoal, paper, tannins, alcohol, gums, medicines, and minerals (like salt).

Threats to mangroves include logging, coastal pollution, and conversion to rice paddies, which leads to water pollution from fertilizers and pesticides.

Large-scale shrimp farming is a major cause of mangrove deforestation. This leads to further impacts, such as coastal erosion and water pollution from antibiotics and other toxic substances.

The destruction of mangroves threatens species like crocodiles, herons, flamingos, sea turtles, pelicans, and others. Coastal erosion is also exacerbated.

Proper mangrove management involves combining protection, replanting, and sustainable exploitation.

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs thrive in clear waters with temperatures above 20°C.

Coral polyps are animals that live in colonies within a calcareous skeleton they secrete, forming the reef. They have a symbiotic relationship with unicellular algae (zooxanthellae) that live within their bodies. The algae photosynthesize, using CO₂ from the water and waste products from the polyps as fertilizer. In turn, they release oxygen, which the polyps use for respiration.

Due to the lack of light, algae and corals cannot survive below 159 meters depth.

Coral reefs are incredibly biodiverse but face threats from human activities, including:

• Sedimentation from deforestation of mangroves.
• Water pollution.
• Damage from excessive tourism and anchoring of ships.
• Coral poaching and illegal trade.
• Destructive fishing techniques (trawling, explosives, and cyanide).
• Predation by the crown-of-thorns starfish.