Natural Resource Management Practices

Natural resources are the soil, vegetation and water that needs to be managed in such a way that it is preserved for generations to come. This management of natural resources can be done in different ways to ensure the sustainable use thereof. The main focus must be to utilise natural resources in such a way that it can be preserved for the next generation and that it is used in a sustainable way to ensure continuous production.

What do we mean by Natural Resource Management Practices?

Natural resource management is the management of soil, vegetation and water to rule out damage and that its use will be available for the next generations.

Human interference in the development of ecosystems is widespread. Farming, for example, is the deliberate maintenance of an immature ecosystem, one that consists of few species (sometimes only one), highly productive but relatively unstable.

Sound management of ecosystems for optimal food production should seek a compromise between the characteristics of young and mature ecosystems and should consider factors that affect the interaction of natural cycles.

Short-term production can be maximised by adding energy to the ecosystem in the form of cultivation and fertilisation. These efforts, however, can delay efficient energy use in the long run by producing an imbalance of nutrients, an increase in pollutants or an increased susceptibility to plant diseases as a consequence of intensive inbreeding of crops.

During the second half of the 20th century, the study of ecosystems has become increasingly sophisticated and is now instrumental in the assessment and control of the effects of agricultural development and industrialisation on the environment. On farms, for instance, it has been proved that optimal long-term production of pastures requires a moderate grazing schedule. Moderate grazing ensures a steady renewal of the moisture and nutrient content of the soil. This has emphasized the need for multiple-use strategies in the cultivation of arable lands.

The process of orderly replacement of one ecosystem by another is known as ecosystem development or ecological succession. Succession occurs when living organisms colonises a sterile area, such as barren rock or a lava flow, or when an existing ecosystem is disturbed, (e.g., when a forest is destroyed by a fire) and recolonised after the destructive event. The succession of ecosystems generally occurs in two phases. The early, or growth, phase is characterised by ecosystems that have few species and short food chains. These ecosystems are relatively unstable but highly productive, meaning that the build-up process of organic matter is faster than the break-down process.

Ecosystems in the later, or mature, phase are more complex, more diversified and more stable. The final, or climax, ecosystem is characterised by a great diversity of species, complex food webs and high stability. The major energy flow has shifted from production to maintenance. Climax ecosystems tend however to be sensitive to disrupting events.

Ecology systems are concerned with the consequences of accumulated insecticides and have provided a way of monitoring the climatic effects of atmospheric dust and carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas). It helped to determine regional population capacities and promoted the development of recycling techniques that may become essential in humanity's future interaction with the environment.

The most direct impact of humans on ecosystems lies in the destruction or conversion thereof. Clear-cutting (the cutting of all trees within a given forest area) will, obviously, destroy a forest’s ecosystem. Selective logging may also alter forest ecosystems in important ways. Fragmentation or the division of a once continuous ecosystem into a number of smaller patches may disrupt ecological processes so that the remaining areas can no longer function as they once did.