At first I thought the video was going to be this geeky guy talking about things I didn’t understand but it was fairly easy to understand and very interesting. I liked how he set up his argument and talked about what we’re doing now and how much energy we’re using. Then he went in to talk about solutions and came to the conclusion that solar was the way to go in terms of renewable energy sources. He said that the sun produces the most TW’s of power out of all the renewable resources. We have 2,000 years of coal left to power the world we live in but we need to get off of it because it isn’t a renewable resource. The sun is always shining, except during the night of course, but we need somewhere to store the power. Al Gore has proposed or is going to propose that we have one big electrical line running across the entire United States.
I felt that it was hard to sit for the whole video, even though we watched it over a couple of days. I liked how he threw all these facts at the audience and at first it seemed like there was no hope but at the end I felt hopeful. From what he was saying, I feel that solar is the way to go. The sun is so powerful and the energy is essentially free, we just need to find a way to store it and make it affordable for everyone in the world.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Artist Statement
"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left."
- Albert Einstein
We chose to create a final product that would educate those on the devastating outcome of Colony Collapse Disorder in Honey Bee hives. We have found through this project many do not know or fully understand the importance of these extraordinary creatures. Bees pollinate approximately one-third of the crops in the U.S. Honey bees, in particular, pollinate around 100 of the flowering food crops such as, cucumbers, nuts, avocados, soybeans, apples, citrus fruits, and berries. In essence, all flowering plants need bees. Without honey bees our crops would not be pollinated therefore there would be no way for flowering crops to reproduce, leaving us without produce. In the last months of 2006 and into 2007, more than 25 percent of the U.S.’s 2.4 million bee colonies were lost to Colony Collapse Disorder, also known as CCD. The cause of this terrible disease is unknown. Some researchers say that CCD was brought on by an AIDS-like virus, the use of pesticides, or overworking land.
Whether or not we are able to do anything for these creatures we feel that making sure that others are aware of this destructive disorder is our way to help. Before we began this project neither of us recognized or knew the importance of these small insects. For some, it’s common knowledge that bees pollinate flowers but do people know what pollination does, why we can’t exist without it? Our main goal for our final product was to make a documentary that would educate others and bring awareness. We had no idea the huge role honey bees have in the world and what they do for us.
- Albert Einstein
We chose to create a final product that would educate those on the devastating outcome of Colony Collapse Disorder in Honey Bee hives. We have found through this project many do not know or fully understand the importance of these extraordinary creatures. Bees pollinate approximately one-third of the crops in the U.S. Honey bees, in particular, pollinate around 100 of the flowering food crops such as, cucumbers, nuts, avocados, soybeans, apples, citrus fruits, and berries. In essence, all flowering plants need bees. Without honey bees our crops would not be pollinated therefore there would be no way for flowering crops to reproduce, leaving us without produce. In the last months of 2006 and into 2007, more than 25 percent of the U.S.’s 2.4 million bee colonies were lost to Colony Collapse Disorder, also known as CCD. The cause of this terrible disease is unknown. Some researchers say that CCD was brought on by an AIDS-like virus, the use of pesticides, or overworking land.
Whether or not we are able to do anything for these creatures we feel that making sure that others are aware of this destructive disorder is our way to help. Before we began this project neither of us recognized or knew the importance of these small insects. For some, it’s common knowledge that bees pollinate flowers but do people know what pollination does, why we can’t exist without it? Our main goal for our final product was to make a documentary that would educate others and bring awareness. We had no idea the huge role honey bees have in the world and what they do for us.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
5 Annotated Sources
Cox-Foster, Diana L, Sean Conlan, Vince Martinson, Dennis Vanengelsdorp, Abby L Kalkstein, Andrew Drysdale, Jeffrey Hui, Junhui Zhai, Liwang Cui, Stephen K Hutchison, Jan Fredrik Simons, Michael Egholm, Edward C Holmes, Jeffery S Pettis, W Ian Lipkin, Gustavo Palacios, Jay D Evans, Nancy A Moran, Phenix-Lan Quan, Thomas Briese, Mady Hornig, and David M Geiser. "A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.." Science 318 (2007): 283 - 287. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
I liked this source because it has multiple authors so I know it is reliable. It talked about Colony Collapse Disorder and what is contributing to it.
Chen, Yanping, and Jay D. Evans. "Historical presence of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus in the United States." American Bee Journal. N.p., 29 Oct. 2007. Web. 9 Nov. 2009..
This source also talks about Colony Collapse Disorder. It also talks about how CCD might be caused by a virus.
Schacker, Michael. "A Spring without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply." The Lyons Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. < http://www.enjoynature.org/marketplace/books/reviews/SpringWithoutBees.pdf>.
This source is talking about CCD as well. It also talks about how it will effect our agricultural system.
Henderson, Colin, Larry Tarver, David Plummer, Robert Seccomb, Scott Debnam, Steve Rice, and Jerry Bromenshenk. "U.S. National Bee Colony Loss Survey." Unknown Unknown (2007): n. pag. www.beesurvey.com. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
This is a good source because it has a lot of information on CCD. It also has a many tables and graphs.
vanEngelsdorp, Dennis, Jerry Hayes, Jr., Robyn M. Underwood, and Jeffery Pettis. "A Survey of Honey Bee Colony Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008." Plos One. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009..
I picked this source because it has a lot of statistics and information on CCD.
I liked this source because it has multiple authors so I know it is reliable. It talked about Colony Collapse Disorder and what is contributing to it.
Chen, Yanping, and Jay D. Evans. "Historical presence of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus in the United States." American Bee Journal. N.p., 29 Oct. 2007. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
This source also talks about Colony Collapse Disorder. It also talks about how CCD might be caused by a virus.
Schacker, Michael. "A Spring without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply." The Lyons Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. < http://www.enjoynature.org/marketplace/books/reviews/SpringWithoutBees.pdf>.
This source is talking about CCD as well. It also talks about how it will effect our agricultural system.
Henderson, Colin, Larry Tarver, David Plummer, Robert Seccomb, Scott Debnam, Steve Rice, and Jerry Bromenshenk. "U.S. National Bee Colony Loss Survey." Unknown Unknown (2007): n. pag. www.beesurvey.com. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
This is a good source because it has a lot of information on CCD. It also has a many tables and graphs.
vanEngelsdorp, Dennis, Jerry Hayes, Jr., Robyn M. Underwood, and Jeffery Pettis. "A Survey of Honey Bee Colony Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008." Plos One. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
I picked this source because it has a lot of statistics and information on CCD.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Final Draft
Biodiversity, the Cure
“We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.” Quoted by Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, author, and researcher. Most of his research includes the topic of biodiversity. Wilson has won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction twice and is well known for his advocacy for environmentalism (King County).
Today we are literally shaped by what foods we eat. Some go the organic route while others are unaware of what they are putting into their bodies. For the longest time our food system has been structured so that we mass-produce everything, the corporations run everything, and all of the farms are only raising/growing one thing. Biodiversity, through polycultures and seasonal rotation, is essential not only in helping our growing food crisis, but it is the key component to solving our environmental problems.
If you were to take an aerial shot of most of the Midwest you would see patchwork of corn. Farmers own different sections of that patchwork but they are all growing the same thing. Corn. But what happens when something comes in and completely wipes out your entire field. What happens then? That is just one reason why monocultures are not the way of the future. Polycultures on a farm can support more than one species and potentially use less fossil fuels because each component on the farm is contributing positively to the other components on the farm. For example, if a farmer has cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on his or her farm, they all can benefit from each other. Meaning the cow can provide organic matter for the soil and the entire farm can act as a habitat for pollinators and other animals.
Now if a farmer would raise cows in a block, vegetables in row, herbs in another row, and flowers in the last row, it wouldn’t be subject to complete wipe out. If a pest came in and decided to wipe out that farm, potentially only one row would be effected and the farmer would not be devastated and left with nothing. On monoculture farms, farmers turn to pesticides in order to keep their farm alive. The results of monoculture farms lead to higher fertilizer requirements and increased soil runoff (Tree Hugger). About 99 percent of potential crop pests are controlled by many other organisms, including birds, organisms, and fungi. These natural pesticides are in some ways better than industrial and artificial pesticides because they can become resistant to chemical controls (United Nations Development Programme).
In any ecosystem you would never find just one specie living in a habitat. A habitat is made up of many living creatures that all support each other in some way to live. Whether it may be herbivores and carnivores in the same habitat. By having cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on the same farm, there is less need for fertilizer because the cows would be contributing nutrient rich organic matter to the soil. If cows are kept in the same place on a farm throughout the entire year, they will use up all the nutrients in the soil. By taking advantage of seasonal rotation, those cows would be moved to a different place on the farm every season to ensure that the organic matter is spread out on the entire farm.
Polyculture farms are essentially habitats for many living organism. If a farmer is growing flowers along with his or her vegetables and cattle, he or she is creating an environment for bees and other insects that play a vital role in pollinating crops and keeping harmful pests out. More than one-third of our crops depend on pollinators. Many flowering plants rely on the pollinators, including bees, butterflies, bats, and birds to keep the pollination process alive (United Nations Development Programme). You will never find monocultures in any ecosystem because there is no stability without diversity.
Our food system even monocultures our meat production. You see pigs, chickens, and cattle in tiny pens with no breathing room what so ever. This happens because corporations want to make more money on each cattle or pig or chicken that they have so they pack them all in one space. Through biodiversity this can change. By having many things being raised on a farm, a new habitat can form.
Works Cited:
"Natural Connections > EDWARD WILSON BIO." King County, Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
McGee, Tim, and Western Massachusetts. "Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones? : TreeHugger." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
"The Importance of Biodiversity." UNDP | United Nations Development Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
“We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.” Quoted by Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, author, and researcher. Most of his research includes the topic of biodiversity. Wilson has won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction twice and is well known for his advocacy for environmentalism (King County).
Today we are literally shaped by what foods we eat. Some go the organic route while others are unaware of what they are putting into their bodies. For the longest time our food system has been structured so that we mass-produce everything, the corporations run everything, and all of the farms are only raising/growing one thing. Biodiversity, through polycultures and seasonal rotation, is essential not only in helping our growing food crisis, but it is the key component to solving our environmental problems.
If you were to take an aerial shot of most of the Midwest you would see patchwork of corn. Farmers own different sections of that patchwork but they are all growing the same thing. Corn. But what happens when something comes in and completely wipes out your entire field. What happens then? That is just one reason why monocultures are not the way of the future. Polycultures on a farm can support more than one species and potentially use less fossil fuels because each component on the farm is contributing positively to the other components on the farm. For example, if a farmer has cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on his or her farm, they all can benefit from each other. Meaning the cow can provide organic matter for the soil and the entire farm can act as a habitat for pollinators and other animals.
Now if a farmer would raise cows in a block, vegetables in row, herbs in another row, and flowers in the last row, it wouldn’t be subject to complete wipe out. If a pest came in and decided to wipe out that farm, potentially only one row would be effected and the farmer would not be devastated and left with nothing. On monoculture farms, farmers turn to pesticides in order to keep their farm alive. The results of monoculture farms lead to higher fertilizer requirements and increased soil runoff (Tree Hugger). About 99 percent of potential crop pests are controlled by many other organisms, including birds, organisms, and fungi. These natural pesticides are in some ways better than industrial and artificial pesticides because they can become resistant to chemical controls (United Nations Development Programme).
In any ecosystem you would never find just one specie living in a habitat. A habitat is made up of many living creatures that all support each other in some way to live. Whether it may be herbivores and carnivores in the same habitat. By having cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on the same farm, there is less need for fertilizer because the cows would be contributing nutrient rich organic matter to the soil. If cows are kept in the same place on a farm throughout the entire year, they will use up all the nutrients in the soil. By taking advantage of seasonal rotation, those cows would be moved to a different place on the farm every season to ensure that the organic matter is spread out on the entire farm.
Polyculture farms are essentially habitats for many living organism. If a farmer is growing flowers along with his or her vegetables and cattle, he or she is creating an environment for bees and other insects that play a vital role in pollinating crops and keeping harmful pests out. More than one-third of our crops depend on pollinators. Many flowering plants rely on the pollinators, including bees, butterflies, bats, and birds to keep the pollination process alive (United Nations Development Programme). You will never find monocultures in any ecosystem because there is no stability without diversity.
Our food system even monocultures our meat production. You see pigs, chickens, and cattle in tiny pens with no breathing room what so ever. This happens because corporations want to make more money on each cattle or pig or chicken that they have so they pack them all in one space. Through biodiversity this can change. By having many things being raised on a farm, a new habitat can form.
Works Cited:
"Natural Connections > EDWARD WILSON BIO." King County, Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
McGee, Tim, and Western Massachusetts. "Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones? : TreeHugger." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
"The Importance of Biodiversity." UNDP | United Nations Development Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Second Draft
Biodiversity, the Cure
“We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.” Quoted by Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, author, and researcher. Most of his research includes the topic of biodiversity. Wilson has won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction twice and is well known for his advocacy for environmentalism (King County).
Today we are literally shaped by what foods we eat. Some go the organic route while others are unaware of what they are putting into their bodies. For the longest time our food system has been structured so that we mass-produce everything, the corporations run everything, and all of the farms are only raising/growing one thing. Biodiversity, through polycultures and seasonal rotation, is essential not only in helping our growing food crisis, but it is the key component to solving our environmental problems.
If you were to take an aerial shot of most of the Midwest you would see patchwork of corn. Farmers own different sections of that patchwork but they are all growing the same thing. Corn. But what happens when something comes in and completely wipes out your entire field. What happens then? That is just one reason why monocultures are not the way of the future. Polycultures on a farm can support more than one species and potentially use less fossil fuels because each component on the farm is contributing positively to the other components on the farm. For example, if a farmer has cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on his or her farm, they all can benefit from each other. Meaning the cow can provide organic matter for the soil and the entire farm can act as a habitat for pollinators and other animals.
Now if a farmer would raise cows in a block, vegetables in row, herbs in another row, and flowers in the last row, it wouldn’t be subject to complete wipe out. If a pest came in and decided to wipe out that farm, potentially only one row would be effected and the farmer would not be devastated and left with nothing. On monoculture farms, farmers turn to pesticides in order to keep their farm alive. The results of monoculture farms lead to higher fertilizer requirements and increased soil runoff (Tree Hugger). About 99 percent of potential crop pests are controlled by many other organisms, including birds, organisms, and fungi. These natural pesticides are in some ways better than industrial and artificial pesticides because they can become resistant to chemical controls (United Nations Development Programme).
In any ecosystem you would never find just one specie living in a habitat. A habitat is made up of many living creatures that all support each other in some way to live. Whether it may be herbivores and carnivores in the same habitat. By having cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on the same farm, there is less need for fertilizer because the cows would be contributing nutrient rich organic matter to the soil. If cows are kept in the same place on a farm throughout the entire year, they will use up all the nutrients in the soil. By taking advantage of seasonal rotation, those cows would be moved to a different place on the farm every season to ensure that the organic matter is spread out on the entire farm.
Polyculture farms are essentially habitats for many living organism. If a farmer is growing flowers along with his or her vegetables and cattle, he or she is creating an environment for bees and other insects that play a vital role in pollinating crops and keeping harmful pests out. More than one-third of our crops depend on pollinators. Many flowering plants rely on the pollinators, including bees, butterflies, bats, and birds to keep the pollination process alive (United Nations Development Programme). You will never find monocultures in any ecosystem because there is no stability without diversity.
Our food system even monocultures our meat production. You see pigs, chickens, and cattle in tiny pens with no breathing room what so ever. This happens because corporations want to make more money on each cattle or pig or chicken that they have so they pack them all in one space. Through biodiversity this can change. By having many things being raised on a farm, a new habitat can form.
Works Cited:
"Natural Connections > EDWARD WILSON BIO." King County, Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
McGee, Tim, and Western Massachusetts. "Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones? : TreeHugger." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
"The Importance of Biodiversity." UNDP | United Nations Development Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009..
“We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.” Quoted by Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, author, and researcher. Most of his research includes the topic of biodiversity. Wilson has won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction twice and is well known for his advocacy for environmentalism (King County).
Today we are literally shaped by what foods we eat. Some go the organic route while others are unaware of what they are putting into their bodies. For the longest time our food system has been structured so that we mass-produce everything, the corporations run everything, and all of the farms are only raising/growing one thing. Biodiversity, through polycultures and seasonal rotation, is essential not only in helping our growing food crisis, but it is the key component to solving our environmental problems.
If you were to take an aerial shot of most of the Midwest you would see patchwork of corn. Farmers own different sections of that patchwork but they are all growing the same thing. Corn. But what happens when something comes in and completely wipes out your entire field. What happens then? That is just one reason why monocultures are not the way of the future. Polycultures on a farm can support more than one species and potentially use less fossil fuels because each component on the farm is contributing positively to the other components on the farm. For example, if a farmer has cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on his or her farm, they all can benefit from each other. Meaning the cow can provide organic matter for the soil and the entire farm can act as a habitat for pollinators and other animals.
Now if a farmer would raise cows in a block, vegetables in row, herbs in another row, and flowers in the last row, it wouldn’t be subject to complete wipe out. If a pest came in and decided to wipe out that farm, potentially only one row would be effected and the farmer would not be devastated and left with nothing. On monoculture farms, farmers turn to pesticides in order to keep their farm alive. The results of monoculture farms lead to higher fertilizer requirements and increased soil runoff (Tree Hugger). About 99 percent of potential crop pests are controlled by many other organisms, including birds, organisms, and fungi. These natural pesticides are in some ways better than industrial and artificial pesticides because they can become resistant to chemical controls (United Nations Development Programme).
In any ecosystem you would never find just one specie living in a habitat. A habitat is made up of many living creatures that all support each other in some way to live. Whether it may be herbivores and carnivores in the same habitat. By having cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on the same farm, there is less need for fertilizer because the cows would be contributing nutrient rich organic matter to the soil. If cows are kept in the same place on a farm throughout the entire year, they will use up all the nutrients in the soil. By taking advantage of seasonal rotation, those cows would be moved to a different place on the farm every season to ensure that the organic matter is spread out on the entire farm.
Polyculture farms are essentially habitats for many living organism. If a farmer is growing flowers along with his or her vegetables and cattle, he or she is creating an environment for bees and other insects that play a vital role in pollinating crops and keeping harmful pests out. More than one-third of our crops depend on pollinators. Many flowering plants rely on the pollinators, including bees, butterflies, bats, and birds to keep the pollination process alive (United Nations Development Programme). You will never find monocultures in any ecosystem because there is no stability without diversity.
Our food system even monocultures our meat production. You see pigs, chickens, and cattle in tiny pens with no breathing room what so ever. This happens because corporations want to make more money on each cattle or pig or chicken that they have so they pack them all in one space. Through biodiversity this can change. By having many things being raised on a farm, a new habitat can form.
Works Cited:
"Natural Connections > EDWARD WILSON BIO." King County, Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
McGee, Tim, and Western Massachusetts. "Crop Biodiversity A Cure for Ocean Dead Zones? : TreeHugger." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
"The Importance of Biodiversity." UNDP | United Nations Development Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Essential Questions and Annotated Bibliographies
Who: Bees
What: Bee extinction
When: Now
Where: Everywhere
Why: Bees are important to the entire world. They are vital in plant pollination.
How is it displayed: Stop motion and photography with narration of research.
What we need: Recorder, Gas $.
Next steps: Email contacts, schedule visits, check out recorder from Margaret, take photos of bees and record their sounds.
Essential Questions:
- What would the consequences be if bee extinction were to happen?
- What would be affected if bee extinction occurred?
- What crops are dependent on bees?
- What is CCD?
- How many active colonies are there in the U.S?
- How many active colonies are there in the world?
"Insects: Bee". San Diego Zoo. 22 Oct. 2009
I found this article on the San Diego Zoo’s website. They have a whole section just on bees. I thought this would be very helpful when researching for my senior project about bee extinction because they give so much information on bees and really go into detail about them. They talk about everything from the different kinds of bees to how important they are. I feel that the San Diego Zoo is a great resource when conducting my research on bees. Lyric and I plan on visiting the San Diego Zoo to take photos and record the bees that are kept there.
"Genomic Study Yields Plausible Cause Of Colony Collapse Disorder". Science Daily. 25 Oct. 2009
This article was found on sciencedaily.com which is an online science source. Although this article was written in 2007 it still provides viable information. It talks all about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It talks about how from 2007-2008 more than a third of the commercial honey bees in the U.S. were killed off. A entomology and neuroscience professor is quoted also.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Rough Draft Paper
Sophie Barnhorst
10/15/09
10/15/09
Biodiversity, the Cure
“We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.” Quoted by Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, author, and researcher. Most of his research includes the topic of biodiversity. Wilson has won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction twice and is well known for his advocacy for environmentalism.
Today we are literally shaped by what foods we eat. Some go the organic route while others are unaware of what they are putting into their bodies. For the longest time our food system has been structured so that we mass-produce everything, the corporations run everything, and all of the farms are only raising/growing one thing. Biodiversity, through polycultures and seasonal rotation, is essential not only in helping our growing food crisis, but it is the key component to solving our environmental problems.
If you were to take an aerial shot of most of the Midwest you would see patchwork of corn. Farmers own different sections of that patchwork but they are all growing the same thing. Corn. But what happens when something comes in and completely wipes out your entire field. What happened then? That is just one reason why monocultures are not the way of the future. Polycultures on a farm can support more than one species and potentially use less fossil fuels because each component on the farm is contributing positively. Now if a farmer would raise cows in one row, vegetables in another row, herbs in another row, and flowers in the last row, it wouldn’t be subject to complete wipe out. If a pest came in and decided to wipe out that farm, potentially only one row would be effected and the farmer would not be devastated and left with nothing. In that case farmers turn to pesticides in order to keep their farm alive.
In any ecosystem you would never find just one species living in a habitat. A habitat is made up of many living creatures that all support each other in some way to live. Whether it may be herbivores and carnivores in the same habitat. By having cows, vegetables, herbs, and flowers all on the same farm, there is less need for fertilizer because the cows would be contributing nutrient rich organic matter to the soil. If cows are kept in the same place on a farm throughout the entire year, they will use up all the nutrients in the soil. By taking advantage of seasonal rotation, those cows would be moved every season to ensure that the organic matter is spread out on the whole farm.
Polyculture farms are essentially habitats for many living organism. If a farmer is growing flowers along with his or her vegetables and cattle, he or she is creating an environment for bees and other insects that play a vital role in keeping harmful pests out of crops. You will never find monocultures in any ecosystem because there is no stability without diversity.
Our food system even monocultures our meat production. You see pigs, chickens, and cattle in tiny pins with no breathing room what so ever. This happens because corporations want to make more money on each cattle or pig or chicken that they have so they pack them all in one space. Through biodiversity this can change. By having many things being raised on a farm, a new habitat can form.
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