Local Ecology Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Local Ecology - Term Paper Example Most of the plants are either fruit or vegetable plants. This is our way of promoting an organic lifestyle! There is a pomegranate tree, an apricot tree and two apple trees. We have also planted garlic and tomatoes. There is a crowd of electrical wires upon the street at the level of the street light. Normally, they remain covered with insulation tape, but a couple of times, crows have been electrified when they tried to sit over the wires while it was raining. On the street, one can often find wild dogs chasing cats, and wild cats chasing mice. Most of the people in my area are pure vegetarians and there is a culture of growing vegetables within the homes. List of factors distinguishing between my local ecology and environment and those of the nearby towns: The factors are as follows: Cultivation of vegetable and fruit trees Intense electric wiring across the roof Dense population Houses made of stones and bricks Occasional outburst of heavy smoke generated by the burning of rubbish heap Frequent rainfall Wild cats, dog and mice wandering around Temperature significantly lower than the nearby towns because my town is at a greater altitude. The effect of human activities on the local ecosystems: The ecology and environment of my locality was considerably different two to three decades back than what it is now. â€Å"Human activity such as farming, building dams and clearing for development can also change the characteristics of land cover, which in turn affects how an ecosystem operates† (Hartman, 2010). Human activities have also caused a lot of changes in the local ecology and environment. Since my town is at an altitude, it used to be one of the greatest attractions for the local and foreign travelers. That is why, one can still notice a lot of rest houses in my area. It is basically a hilly area. About twenty years ago, it used to be very green. There were pine trees everywhere. One could not locate one brown spot in the whole depth of valley. Everyt hing was green. There were very less houses. It was like a forest. â€Å"Close to 1.6 billion people – more than 25% of the world’s population – rely on forest resources for their livelihoods† (FAO, 2011). Likewise, the people of my town used to earn by entertaining the travelers with the folk tales, local dance, selling fresh fruits and vegetables from the forest trees to them and renting their houses. As more and more people started to dwell here, they cut the trees to make fire. Within a decade, trees were greatly reduced in number. Accordingly, tourists lost interest in coming here. This impacted the businesses of hundreds of local people. They became jobless and moved to the cities for jobs. The temperature of my region today is generally 5 to 6 degrees higher than what it used to be twenty years back. Today, we can not see any sea-gulls flying over the sky unlike in the past. Twenty years back, many people kept cattle and would eat their meat. But t he gradual shift from this area to the city reduced the trend of keeping cattle and more people became pure vegetarians. Comparison of the effect on my local ecosystem change with other areas: In comparison to other areas, my local area has suffered from a greater change of ecosystem because of the fact that it is a hilly area has been the greatest tourist attraction for many years in the past. Today, one