Title: Positive Effects of Agriculture on the Environment | Greentumble
Headings: Positive Effects of Agriculture on the Environment
Positive Effects of Agriculture on the Environment
How does agriculture affect the environment in a positive way?
#1 Agriculture inspires people
#2 Agriculture preserves ecosystems
#3 Agriculture creates habitats
#4 Agriculture sets back ecological succession
#5 Agriculture boosts soil fertility
#6 Agriculture sequesters carbon
#7 Agriculture retains soil and prevents erosion
#8 Agriculture has a role in the water cycle
#9 Agriculture can conserve water
#10 Agriculture provides food from limited sources
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Content: #4 Agriculture sets back ecological succession
Some species need early successional habitats, such as prairies, to thrive. These habitats are highly ephemeral and can be identified by vigorously growing grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees but which need disturbance to be maintained [9]. Open meadow habitats, which fall under this category, and native wildflowers are important for many pollinators like some birds and bees. Without farmland, succession may need to be deliberately set back by management activities, such as prescribed burning, to help early successional species survive. Intentional burning was one of the primary ways that native people managed the landscape in North America prior to European settlement in order to provide for their own agricultural and hunting activities [5]. #5 Agriculture boosts soil fertility
One of the key features of sustainable agriculture is the focus on the health of soils. Practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, no-tillage and the application of compost, improve soil fertility naturally and can even speed up the process of new topsoil formation. In addition to preventing the exhaustion of soils, and therefore, helping secure stable yields, these practices increase biodiversity of favorable soil fauna and flora. Soils rich in organic matter and flourishing with life also contain greater concentrations of the natural enemies of pests, thus supporting the growth of more resilient crops. According to Dr. Elaine Ingham, one teaspoon of healthy soil can contain up to 1 billion helpful bacteria, while concentration in intensively farmed soils might drop to one hundred [6].