Natural Resourses

What does mean by Natural Resourses?

Natural resources are resources that exist without the actions of humankind. Natural resources are made by the Earth only, and they are useful to humans in many ways. They can be biotic, such as plants, animals; or they can be abiotic, meaning they originate from nonliving and inorganic materials. Ex. sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, air (includes all minerals). Natural resource is anything that people can use which comes from nature. People do not make natural resources, but gather them from the earth. Examples of natural resources are air, water, wood, oil, wind energy, iron, and coal. Refined oil and hydroelectric energy are not natural resources because people make them.

Natural resources are all connected in a way. Therefore, if one is taken away, it will affect the supply or quality of all others. For example, if water is eliminated from an area, the vegetation, soils, animals and even the air in that area will be affected negatively. For instance, humans depend directly on forests for food, health, recreation and increased living comfort. Indirectly forests act as climate control, flood control, storm protection and nutrient cycling. Natural resources come in many forms. It may be a solid, liquid or gas. It may also be organic or inorganic. It may also be metallic or non-metallic. Sometimes, natural resources can be used as raw materials to produce something. For instance, we can use a tree from the forest to produce timber. The timber is used to produce wood for furniture or pulp for paper and paper products. In this scenario, the tree is the raw material.

Any material which is a part of earth and satisfy human need and add value is called resources. Ex. River, plants and animal.                

Types of Natural Resourses

            Natural Resources fall under two main categories: Renewable and Non-renewable Resources. The table below will helps to understand this better.

Renewable Resourses:-

A renewable resource is one, which can be used repeatedly. For example, soil, sunlight and water are renewable resources. However, in some circumstances, even water is not renewable easily. Wood is a renewable resource, but it takes time to renew and in some places, people use the land for something else. timber and water, are those which can be used but can be regenerated by natural processes such as regrowth or rainfall. Soil, if it blows away, is not easy to renew.

Renewable resources are those that are constantly available (like water) or can be reasonably replaced or recovered, like vegetative lands. Animals are also renewable because with a bit of care, they can reproduce offspring to replace adult animals. We can find a renewable resource to use ex, using wind energy to make electricity. Even though some renewable resources can be replaced, they may take many years and that does not make them renewable.
 If renewable resources come from living things, (such as trees) they can be called organic renewable resources. Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living and organic material), such as forests, and the materials that can be obtained from them. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter.
If renewable resources come from non-living things, (such as water, sun and wind) they can be called inorganic or abiotic resources. Examples of abiotic resources include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.

Non-renewable Resourses:-

A non-renewable resource is a resource that does not grow and come back, or a resource that would take a very long time to come back. Non-renewable resources are those that cannot easily replace once they are destroyed. For example, coal is a non-renewable resource. When we use coal, there is less coal afterward. One day, there will be no more of it to make goods. The non-renewable resource can be used directly (for example, burning oil to cook). Examples include fossil fuels. Minerals and oil are also non-renewable because even though they form naturally in a process called the rock cycle, it can take thousands of years, making it non-renewable.

Natural resources and associated problems

            There are some basic reasons of the depletion of natural resources let’s examine it,

      1.       Unequal consumption of Natural resources: - Human population is growing day-by-day. Continuous increase in population caused an increasing demand for natural resources. An increase in population will decrease all types of natural resources and consequently result in environmental pollution. Ultimately, there will be short supply or spoiling quality of natural resources. This is because increase in population will increase the demand of natural resources and environment. We are spoiling our environment due to increasing population.

We are polluting lakes, streams, rivers by sewage, industrial wastes, heat radioactive materials, detergents, fertilizers and pesticides. The uncontrolled use of pesticides has disturbed the entire food chains by which animals including man are affected. The unplanned and uncontrolled industrial growth may adversely affect or destroy the health of the society. Due to urban expansion and industrialization, electricity need and man started utilizing natural resources at a much larger scale. Non-renewable resources are limited. This overutilization creates many problems. In some regions, there are problems of water logging due to over irrigation. In some areas, there is no sufficient water for industry and agriculture. Thus, there is need for conservation of natural resources.

              Due to tremendous increase of population, most of the natural resources are being consumed. The high rate of consumption has disturbed our ecosystem. On the other hand, many of the natural resources are essential to man for the basic needs. Many industries require raw materials, which are essential for the advancement of the country. However, there is no doubt that high consumption will affect adversely the quality of our environment either by unwise use of natural resources or by increasing pollution. 

       2.       Planning land use: - Land itself is a major resource, needed for food production, animal husbandry, industry, and for our growing human settlements. Due to excessive consumption of minerals of the soil by cropping or soil erosion or other natural events, fertility of the soil is lost and land deteriorates gradually. Sometimes draught also results in deterioration of land and many nutrients of the top soil are destroyed and their fertility is lost. as a results of the cropping, the mineral cycling of soil nutrients is greatly reduced. Erosion has also depleted soil fertility because most of the mineral remain in the upper part of the soil and they are easily removed by wind or washed away by water. For the proper economic development lands for cropping, forest, recreation, urban land, transportation and wild life are needed but they are reduced day by day.  

       3.       The need for sustainable life style: - The quality of human life and the quality of ecosystems on earth are indicators of the sustainable use of resources. There are clear indicators of sustainable lifestyles in human life. There are three indicators that help in sustaining the life style of human.

1. Increased longevity – why human needs more years to leave? (with good health). To fulfill their dreams and goals.
2. Increased in knowledge – why human need knowledge or why we read newspaper daily ?To walk with the world step by step because it happens that sometimes people couldn’t know anything what happens surrounding them.
3.   Enchantment of income – why people need money? To live a life better way, as well as for increasing their comfort zone.

         Nevertheless, people should have to take care that because of all things natural resources cannot be affected.

        In addition, there are some indicators of ecosystem, which help in maintaining its quality.

1. A stabilized population – If a population can be controlled automatically natural resources can used in general.(not excessively)  
2. The long term conservation of biodiversity – what are the possible ways to conserving the biodiversity? If human needs such type of trees or plants, as well as animals with (both) their particular habitat the is only to take care of them. Humans should have to paying attention that, because of their action this things could not be affected.
3. The careful long-term use of natural resource – if people can use all resources by care and their own understanding there cannot be need to conserve it.

Renewable Resource: as Forest

        A forest is a large area of land covered with trees or other woody vegetation. Humans directly depends on forest for their lives and livelihoods. Homes, paper and furniture are made from the wood. Trees are helping in removing pollution, through providing oxygen and absorb the carbon dioxide. People who live in or near forests know the value of forest resources first hand because their lives and livelihoods depend directly on these resources. Our homes, furniture and paper are made from wood from the forest. We use many medicines that are based on forest.

• In addition, we depend on the oxygen that plants give out and the removal of carbon dioxide we breathe out from the air.
• Without forests, Earth would be uninhabitable. Forests provide water storage, dictate weather patterns and, critically, act as the planet's lungs by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

         Wood is by far the most important product harvested from forests. The wood is commonly manufactured into paper, lumber, plywood, and other products. In addition, in most of the forested regions of the less-developed world firewood is the most important source of energy used for cooking and other purposes.

 

Importance of Forest:

• Forests provide an environment for many species of plants and animals thus protects and Sustains the diversity of nature.
• Plants clean the air, cool it on hot days, conserve heat at night, as well as holds the water and provides nutrients to the soil.
• Plants provide a protective canopy that lessens the impact of raindrops on the soil, thereby reducing soil erosion. Roots help to hold the soil in place. They provide shade which prevents the soil to become too dry. Thus increases the soil moisture holding capacity.
• It also helps in rain.

Forest Types in India

     Forests are classified according to their nature and composition, the type of climate in which they thrive, and its relationship with the surrounding environment. Factors of the forest types are climate, soil, vegetation and the past treatment (including biotic interference). The ‘forest type’ may be defined as a unit of vegetation with its distinctive structure. There are mainly five types of forest.

1. Tropical forest
2. Montane subtropical forest
3. Temperate montane forest
4. Sub-alpine forest
5. Alpine forest

These types also have other categories.

      1.      Tropical forest:-

              A type of forest found in areas with high regular rainfall and no more than two months of low rainfall, and consisting of a completely closed canopy of trees that prevents entry of sunlight to the ground. Tropical forest is divided into two types: Tropical Moist forest and Tropical Dry forest. Tropical dry forest means similar to tropical moist forest but characterized by high temperatures throughout the year. Here sunlight can reach ground, so the season that’s bad for the trees is good for the forest floor.

      Tropical Moist Forest:- Tropical moist forest means receiving high overall rainfall with a warm summer wet season and (often) a cooler winter dry season. Tropical forest, usually is tall, densely growing, evergreen trees in an area of high annual rainfall. Also called tropical rain forest.

1. Tropical Moist Evergreen Forest:- In India such forests are found in very wet regions receiving more than 250 cm average annual rainfall. These are climatic forests having luxuriantly growing lofty trees which are more than 45 meters in height. These forests are found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Western coasts and parts of Karnataka, Assam and Bengal. These are also called tropical rain forest.
2. Tropical Moist Semi-evergreen Forest:- The annual rainfall of this type of forest is between 200 and 250cm. they are characterized by giant and luxuriantly growing intermixed deciduous and evergreen species of trees and shrubs. These forests are found in eastern Orissa and upper Assam.
3. Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest: - Many plants of such forest show leaf-fall in hot summer. The dry periods are of short duration. It receiving sufficiently rainfall between 100 to 200cm spread over the most of the year. This forest are found along the wet western side i.e. Mumbai, (N.E)- Andhra.
4. Littoral and Swamp forest: - Littoral and swamp forests are found along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the delta area of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. It consists mainly of whistling pines, mangrove dates, palms, and bullet wood. They have roots that consist of soft tissue so that the plant can breathe in the water. littoral and swamp forest include the following types:

a)      Beach forest: It found all along the sea beaches and river deltas. The soil is sandy having large amounts of lime and salts but poor in nitrogen and other mineral nutrients. Ground water is brackish, water table is only few meters deep and temperature is moderate. The rainfall of this type of forest is 75cm to 500cm depending upon the area.

b)      Tidal or mangrove forest: These forests grow near the deltas of rivers, swampy margins of island and along seacoasts. The soil is formed of silt, and sand. The plants and trees are characterized by presence of prop roots.

c)       Fresh water swamp forest: These forests grow in low laying areas where rain or swollen river water is collected for some time. Water table is near the surface. Important plants include Acer, Olea, Ficus etc.

      Tropical Dry Forest: - These forests are similar to tropical moist forest but characterized by high temperatures throughout the year. Predominantly deciduous trees shed their leaves. Here sunlight can reach the ground, so the season that is bad for the trees is good for the forest floor.

1. Tropical Dry Evergreen forest: - These forests are found in the areas where dry season is comparatively longer. The trees are dense, evergreen and short (about 10 to 15 meters high). These forest are found eastern part of Tamil Nadu, in east and west coasts. Species of Maba, Randia are most common. Bamboos are absent but grasses are common.
2. Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest: - These forests are distributed in the area where annual rainfall is usually low, ranging between 70 and 100cm, such as Punjab, U.P., Bihar, and Orissa. The dry season is long and most of the trees remain leafless during that season. The largest area of the country’s forest land is occupied by these type of forest. These forest trees are not dense, 10 to 15m high and undergrowth is abundant. In north, the forest are dominated by shal and in south by teak.
3. Tropical Thorn Forest: - These forests found in the area where annual rainfall is between 20 to 70cm, dry season is hot and very long. They are found in the south Punjab and Rajasthan. The vegetation in this area occurs only along the river. The land away from the river and devoid of irrigation is mostly sandy and devoid of trees. The vegetation type consisting of small trees (8 to 10 meters high) and thorny. The forest remain leafless for most part of the year and sometimes called thorn scrub and scrub jungles.

      2.      Montane subtropical forest: -

These forests are found in the region of fairly high rainfall but where temperature differences between winter and summer are less marked. . Winter generally goes without rains. They are found up to the altitude of about 1500 meter in south and up to 1800 meter in the north. Subtropical forests are almost intermediate between tropical forests and temperate forests.

1. Wet Hill Broad Leaved Forest: - An area, which are hilly and wetty, as well as their trees have wide leaf. They are found in Mahabaleshwar, Karnataka, parts of Assam and other parts of M.P. The important plants found here are Lantana, Murraya etc.
2. Dry Evergreen Forest: - These forests occupy the foothill areas of Himalayas. The common constituents of vegetation are cuspidate, acacia etc. Dry evergreen forests normally have a prolonged hot and dry season and a cold winter. It generally has evergreen trees with shining leaves that have a varnished look. Some of the more common ones are the pomegranate, olive, and oleander.
3. Pine Forest: - They are found mostly in western and central Himalayas and in Assam hills. Pine forests are found in the steep dry slopes of the Shivalik Hills, Western and Central Himalayas, Khasi, Naga, and Manipur Hills. Pine trees or a plant means any tree, which resembles a member of the genus in some respect. The forest are dominated species of pinus.

      3.      Temperate Montane Forest:

            These forests occur in the Himalayas at the altitude from 1800 to 3800 meters where humidity and temperatures are comparatively low.

1. Montane Wet Temperate Forest: - These forests are found in Himalayas extending from Nepal to Assam at the altitude from 1800 to 300cm, as well as in some parts of south India. The forest in south are evergreen and are called shoals. The forest are dense with closed canopy and the trees may 15 to 20m high. Important plants constituting the vegetation in Himalayas are species of conifers, hopes etc.
2. Himalayan Moist Temperate: - These forests develop in the areas of lesser rainfall. The trees are high, sometimes up to 45 meters tall. The dominant elements are oak. Undergrowth is shrubby.
3. Himalayan Dry Temperate: - These forests are found in the western Himalayas extending from a part of Uttaranchal through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to Kashmir. The common species are Cannabis, Artemisia etc.

     4.      Sub-alpine Forest: -

The sub-alpine forests are found throughout Himalayas from ladakh in the west to Arunachal in the east at the altitude from 2800m to 3800m. Annual rainfall is less than 65cm but snowfall occurs from several weeks in a year. Strong winds and below 0˚C temperature for greater part of the year.

     5.      Alpine forest: -

Plants growing at the altitude from 2900 to 6000m are called alpine plants. In India, alpine flora occurs in Himalayas between 4500 and 6000 meters. At lower level, alpine forest, consist of dwarf trees. The common plants of alpine forest are Betula, Pyrus etc.

1. Moist Alpine Forest: - This type of vegetation is distributed extensively throughout the Himalayas above 3000 meters. It is most often dense and composed of evergreen dwarf rhododendron species. Mosses and ferns cover the ground with varying amounts of alpine shrubs, flowering hubrs.
2. Dry Alpine Forest: - These are open xerophytic formation spread in U.P., Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Kashmir and the vegetation develops generally on lime stone rock.  

Deforestation

Meaning:  the permanent destruction of forest in order to make the land available for using and urbanization.

                Day by day forest degradation is increasing because of timber extraction as well as conversion of forestland to farms, urban and industrial use. Using of wood in commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes. One of India’s serious environmental problems is forest degradation due to timber extraction and our dependence on fuelwood. A large number of poor rural people are still highly dependent on wood to cook their meals and heat their

homes. We have not been able to plant enough trees to support the need for timber and fuel wood.

Because of forest deforestation problems occur like, influence the global carbon cycle. Environmental chain is affected because if trees are not sufficient to absorb the carbon dioxide the atmosphere is polluted, land could not conserve water. Timber extraction, mining and dams are invariably parts of the needs of a developing country. If timber is overharvested the ecological functions of the forest are lost. Unfortunately, forests are located in areas where there are rich mineral resources.

Causes:-

There are many causes of deforestation. Half of the trees illegally removed from forests are used as fuel.

·         To make more land available for housing and urbanization

·         To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes 

·         To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items, such as the oil from palm trees

·         To create room for cattle ranching 

Deforestation and degradation
Despite their immense value, nearly half of the world’s forests have been lost. What’s worse, we’re cutting them down at greater rates each year to plant crops, graze cattle and generate income from timber and other forest products.

Effect of deforestation

Deforestation is a contributor to global warming,and is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide accrues, it produces a layer in the atmosphere that traps radiation from the sun. The radiation converts to heat which causes global warming, which is better known as the greenhouse effect.

• Climate change: When forests are cleared, they emit CO₂ back into the atmosphere and put humanity on a dangerous collision course with the worst of climate change. Deforestation accounts for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans — comparable to the emissions from all of the cars and trucks on Earth combined. Deforestation is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global climate change. The deforestation of trees not only lessens the amount of carbon stored, it also releases carbon dioxide into the air. This is because when trees die, they release the stored carbon.
• Soil: Deforestation generally increases rates of soil loss, by increasing the amount of runoff and reducing the protection of the soil from tree litter. Because generally trees roots anchor the soil and fertility as well as water is conserved by it also, Without trees, the soil is free to wash or blow away, which can lead to vegetation growth problems.
• Water cycle and Life quality: Trees are important to the water cycle. They absorb rain fall and produce water vapor that is released into the atmosphere. Trees also lessen the pollution in water. Soil erosion can also lead to silt entering the lakes, streams and other water sources. This can decrease local water quality and contribute to poor health in populations in the area. 

Forest functions

A very important function of trees in the growing concrete-based world is in flood control. The roots hold soil in place, which would otherwise be washed away in heavy rains. Trees also act as natural barriers to the weather elements such as wind and snow. In effect, they are nature's method of climate control. On a more social level, trees are important to people since they are very aesthetically pleasing -- they provide the scenery which helps relax people. As such, they are a valuable resource for recreation, which in turn contributes to local and national economic growth by providing more jobs.

• Protection of water resources:-  (watershed protection) - Through their foliage. craggy bark and abundant litter, trees and forests decrease the speed of water dispersion and favour slow but total infiltration of rainwater; particularly in dry areas, the capacity of trees to retain other precipitations such as mist that then can be collected and stored for use is also important. Trees or plants reduce the rate of surface run-off water flow through controlling its speed.
• Soil protection: - (soil erosion) - Trees or forests are helping in holding the soil by preventing rain from directly washing soil away. The forest canopy slows down the wind while its dense network of roots holds the soil in place; added to the buffering function of the water flow, these characteristics protect against wind and water erosion, land movement (mass slides and falling rocks) and, under cold climates, the risk of avalanches. With the combination of slower water dispersion and percolation to phreatic and intermediary water tables, the forest exerts an important buffering effect that protects against flooding or severe river bank erosion.
• Influence on the local climate and reduction of gas emission impacts: -  (atmospheric regulation) - Through the control of wind velocity and air flows, the forest influences local air circulation and may thus retain solid suspensions and gaseous elements; it can filter air masses and retain contaminants. The forest exerts a definite protective effect on neighboring human settlements and crops in particular. This capacity is useful in the protection of inhabited areas that adjoin industrial zones and in urban forestry in general.
• Conservation of the natural habitat and biological diversity - The forest offers a habitat to flora and fauna and, depending on its health, vitality and ultimately the way it is managed or protected, secures its own perpetuation through the functioning of the forest ecological processes. In Europe, almost half of the ferns and flowering plants grow in the forest. Owing to its size and structural diversity, more animal species are found in the forest than in any other ecosystem.
• Protecting the cultural dimension of forests: -  (local use and market use) - Forest or trees are giving food, wood for cooking and or also used in construction of home. While urban communities, particularly in the industrialized countries, are striving to be closer to nature, at the same time the evolution of the global and local forest economies may threaten other protective functions of natural forests in the developing world where forests have still maintained their cultural and religious functions. It is a challenge to twenty-first century forestry to cater also for these needs and maintain the cultural dimension of the protective functions of the forests. A number of innovative management options and many social and community forestry initiatives have addressed these needs.

Threat to the forest in India

Since Independence, the country has lost about 4, 696 million hectares of forest land for non-forest purpose such as cultivation, river valley projects, establishment of industry and township and laying of roads. According to new government documents, nearly 1.25 million hectares of ecologically fragile areas have been illegally occupied by humans. Because of agriculture and logging, mining and climate change, humankind is wiping out irreplaceable forest. Forest fires play a vital role in affecting vegetation structure and biogeography. Rising global temperature also damage and kill trees, as well as increase drought and forest fires. A major threat to forest of India are in its northeastern states. From Ancient times, the locals have practiced slash-and-burn shifting cultivation to grow food. The tribal people consider it a tradition and economic ecosystem. So, the slash and burn causes damage to a dense forest, to soil, to flora and fauna, as well as pollution.

Forests have long been threatened by a variety of destructive agents. Today, the frequency, intensity and timing of fire events, droughts, ice storms and insect outbreaks are shifting as a result of human activities and global climate change, making forest ecosystems even more prone to damage. Natural threats such as fire, insects and diseases are integral to forest dynamics. Forest threats can be interlinked. In Central America, areas affected by recent bark beetle outbreaks, where dead trees augmented fuel loads, became the focus for extensive wildfires. Wildfire is among the most dramatic threats to forests. Since fire does not respect national borders, the first article, by J.G. Goldammer, describes the role of international and regional collaborative efforts in reducing the negative impacts of fire on people and the environment. Unfortunately, forests are located in areas where there are rich mineral resources. It was also being noticed that, forests where development projects are planned, can displace thousands of tribal people who lose their homes when these plans are executed.