“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.
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