Land Degradation and Conservation

Land degradation is a worldwide problem. The denuding action of weathering, running water, air, etc. on the upper layer of the earth, is called land erosion.

Land is an important resource provides food, clothing, minerals, other raw materials, and shelter for human beings. Substantial reduction in the productivity of the land is the main outcome of land degradation. Soil, which is a part of land, is the gift of nature, which is available in limited quantity. Soil formation is a slow process. It takes hundreds of years to form. Therefore, it is necessary to put the available land to various uses with the most careful and planned way.

India is a vast country having a 3.28 million square kilometer area, with 22.5% under the forest, 46 % under the net sown area, 8% fallow land, and rest under the other uses. Land under the forest has increased from 14 % in 1950-51 to 22% in 1998-99. The forest-covered area is below the 33% of the total area, which is essential for balanced development. High growth of cities has depleted the forest cover. Mountainous slopes and semi desert areas are the most vulnerable by the running water and wind. In the plain, grinding of limestone for cement industry, release heavy amount of dust in the atmosphere. This later settles down in the surrounding areas, affects' water, and crop cultivation.

Human being has been creating their own world of living by constructing roads, railway, towns, industry, etc. Overgrazing by livestock, deforestation, poor farming practices, inappropriate irrigation, over drafting, Urban sprawl, land pollution, industrial waste, mining and quarrying of sandstone, ore and minerals, etc. are the major causes of land degradation.

We can conserve our land resources by adopting necessary measures:

1. All water resources, especially fresh water, should be used judiciously.
2. By educating and informing people and empowering local communities about its sustainable use for to fulfill needs.
3. Deforested areas should be replaced by tree plantations. Cutting of timber should be restricted and women should be involved in the movements for conservation of forests.
4. Inadequate land for pasturing, resort to animal grazing in area reserved for forest. This practice should be stopped immediately.
5. All the fallow land and wasteland must be under such tree, which can fulfill primary requirement of surrounding regions.
6. In the hilly or mountainous areas, fields must be ploughed along the natural contour of the hills.
7. A terraced farming method shall be adopting in the Rice growing regions along the slop.
8. At the margin of desert, shelter belts shall have planted to check the speed of winds.
9. Stabilization of sand dunes by planting grasses and thorny bushes can help land conservation.
10. Tribal people need to be educated to stop shifting agriculture.
11. Soil salination in irrigated land should be checked to reclaim the land.
12. Proper discharge, disposal of industrial and domestic, effluents and waste.
13. Desert and semi desert areas should be under the cover of grasses, and availability of water should be increased.
14. Land should be shielding from the overuse for chemical pesticide, insecticide, etc.
15. Chemical fertilizer in agriculture should be replaced with organic manure.

Land degradation is the result of unscientific development. Although land use in India is balanced one, but high growth of population may create imbalance. Exploration of land resources for prosperity may be a result of poverty and invitations to the natural calamity. Therefore, we need environment-friendly development for our food, shelter, and above all for the sake of human being.

Discover Nature and Wildlife Within The Natural World

You can find a wide range of God's creatures on mother earth, anything from beetles and fungi, reptiles and wild birds to hedgehogs, moles and domestic dogs and cats. Each of these and many more, play their part in the creation and maintenance of our world. Why not find out about our natural world in a varied range of nature books. Naturally, everybody could do their bit in order that the natural world continues to sustain life, not just the life of mankind but the miles and miles of plant life and forests, the birds and wildlife in the midst of it and not forgetting the polar ice caps, which is also home to a variety of animals, such as polar bears and penguins.

Our journey through the natural world category gets underway with the beetle. A beetle is an insect that has a hard outer covering and with roughly 4,000 different species in Britain alone could make them the commonest animal worldwide. They feed on numerous types of food that include plants, fungi and leaf litter. Beetles come in quite a lot of different colours that gives camouflage from predators. The beetle family comprises of ladybirds, stag beetles, devils coach horses, whirligig beetles, woodworm (or furniture beetles), dung beetles, scarab beetles, weevils, water beetles and longhorn beetles.

Human beings are exposed to nature everywhere we go and we're straightaway surrounded by it whenever we step foot outside, in our gardens, which gets visited by a variety of insects and birds every day, perhaps even nightingales. The nightingale feeds mainly on insects as they are insectivores and they also love to sing at night as well as during the day. Most other birds normally only sing when it is light.

They are secretive birds that live in open broad-leaved woodlands, heaths, coppices and thick undergrowth. Like the beetles above their drab brown colour acts as good camouflage which makes them difficult to see, however they can always be heard because of their distinctive song.

With its small, brown, spiky body the hedgehog is one of the most familiar wild mammals. They can be spotted in parks and gardens under bushes and hedges in the daytime. Although once dusk arrives they love to go off in search of insect rich lawns and flower beds in order to feed. Hedgehogs are known as the gardener's best friend as they love to munch on big, crunchy beetles, earthworms and slugs.

The badger is easily recognisable especially with its black and white striped face and is our biggest land predator. The badger family includes stoats, weasels and otters. The badger is known to be a nocturnal animal which lives in a burrow known as a sett. They will feed on small mammals, ground-nesting birds eggs, earthworms, fruit and roots and bulbs, which they dig up with their strong front paws.

Our journey through the natural world category concludes with the Amazon rainforest which is described as the 'lungs of the earth' as it is able to continuously recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen producing around 20% of the world's supply. The rainforest covers over a billion acres of land and if it were classed as a country it would be about the ninth largest in the natural world.

It is from the rainforest that at least 80% of the developed world's diet originated, giving us fruit, vegetables, spices, sugar cane, coffee and nuts such as Brazil and cashews. The rainforests not only provide some of the foods we eat but many of the plants there have been proven to be of great medicinal value and many of which have been found to be active against cancer cells.

The natural world is truly an amazing and inspiring place in which we can discover the many plants, animals and fungi that live all around us and the rocks, fossils and minerals inside the planet we walk on.

Tress And Their Diseases

With the start of the New Year we are starting a new series of blogs on tree knowledge. This will mainly feature on causes of ill health in trees and will help you identify when further action is required.

Giant polypore, botanical name Meripilus giganteus, is a large bracket fungus, which usually affects beech trees. Its impressive fruiting bodies appear around the base of the tree as this fungus attacks the roots. It is parasitic, meaning it attacks live trees, and can cause trees to collapse in the worst instance.

Giant polypore causes what is known as white-rot. This means it degrades and feeds on both lignin (the substance which makes plants woody) and cellulose (cell walls). Its fruiting bodies (fungal brackets) only survive for a year, and may not form every year. The fruiting body is just one part of the fungus. If the fruiting body is not visible, this does not mean the infection is not present, just as removing the bracket will not stop infection.

Giant polypore usually affects the underside of tree roots. This makes the extent of infection very difficult to ascertain. The severity of infection does not always have a visual affect on the crown of the tree either. For these reasons, it is often unwise to keep an affected tree if it is in falling distance of public or property.

I will now focus on Kretzschmaria deusta, (previously known as Ustilina deusta). This is a particularly dangerous type of decay fungus. It is relatively common, reproducing with spores carried in the wind and can infect most species of tree.

Kretzschmaria deusta is dangerous for two main reasons. Firstly it attacks live trees. It decays the base of the tree, attacking the heartwood. This can often make the extent of decay within the tree difficult or impossible to identify. It can potentially cause stem failure without warning, particularly if the fruiting body has not been identified.

The second reason Kretzschmaria deusta is particular dangerous is because the fruiting body is difficult to spot. It is not an obvious fungal bracket. It instead grows first a white layer at the base of the tree when juvenile, then transforming into a black layer when mature. It can often look like a thin tar covering at the base of the tree. As the fruiting body only grows at the base of the tree, it can often be hidden by long grass, weeds or other plants within a dense understorey. This is one reason you may see experienced tree consultants kicking undergrowth away from the base of trees when carrying out an inspection.

As Kretzschmaria deusta can cause tree failure without warning, infected trees are often condemned as soon as the fungus has been identified, particularly if the tree is in a high risk location such as at a roadside or adjacent to a building. There is no cure for the infection and it can continue living on dead tree stumps after the rest of the tree has been removed. This makes controlling the disease difficult and we must instead be vigilant to spot infection before serious harm is caused.

Lake and Pond Scum

Lake and pond scum is that nasty film of debris and biological decomposition that usually indicates a stagnant body of water with more significant problems. It is not pleasant to look at, swim in or even boat across. And the water column is typically not healthy for the fish that live within those waters. These fish are trapped in those conditions and have to endure low oxygen levels and high algae growth leaving them stressed. If these conditions continue weak fish will die off. If they worsen, even healthy fish will succumb to the conditions.

One very effective technique to prevent this stagnation from happening is to install a laminar flow aeration system. Also known as a bubbler, the only indication of the system is a small area of bubbles rising to the surface in one or more places depending on the size of your lake or pond. Installing a system such as this will mix the water column from the surface to the bottom. The movement breaks up the pond scum allowing toxins trapped at the bottom of the pond to release into the air. At the same time, oxygen is absorbed into the water which then travels to all levels of the water. Bacteria are then able to utilize the oxygen rich conditions to more effectively digest the biological load preventing algae blooms by taking away their food source.

You lake or pond will not only appear cleaner, the water quality will be improved and be a more healthy environment for you and the fish. A more balance ecosystem is the result with fewer swings in water quality. Minor fluctuations will still occur due to adverse weather conditions, but overall your pond will suffer fewer of these events and will self correct more quickly than if no aeration were present.

Aeration is a time tested technique used to digest biologicals in the waste water industry. It has been used in numerous lakes and pond around the world with great results. It uses nature and the good bacteria present in every body of water to remove the excess nutrients. Instead of aquatic pesticides and herbicides which can leave harmful residues that have long lasting unintended effects, aeration simply adds oxygen back to a ecosystem that desperately need it to operate properly. If you choose to discontinue the aeration, the ecosystem returns back to its previous state without and detrimental effects.

Soil Formation and Erosion

Soil formation

Soil is the uppermost, fertile layer of the earth. It is one of the natural resources present on the earth. It is formed by the physical, substance, genetic and organic changes which go on taking place constantly in the layers of the earth, by the external forces like water, wind, glacier, ocean waves, etc. the weathered rock can be of different size. The numbers factors contribute a lot in the formation of the soil.

Climate has a significant role in influencing the decomposition of the different rocks to a great extent. The quality and amount of moisture and dryness in the soil depends upon the climate. The soil forming processes take place differently in varying climatic conditions. Its' took place more rapidly in the summer and rainy season. The classification and patterns of soils also depend on the climate.

The nature of weathered particles is responsible for the formation of soil. The particles may be obtained from the weathering of rocks or depositing of material by river, winds, glaciers, etc. The physical and chemical compositions of soil particles determine the relative proportions of different minerals in the layers.

The topography of a region affects the formation of soil. Steep slopes in the mountainous areas have the thin soil layers. It's due to the erosion and the state of moisture in the different layers. In areas of bad drainage and rigid topography, soil is not well developed.

Time is an important factor of soils' formation. A rich and fertile soil is formed only when the weathered particles of rocks remain uninterrupted on the same place for a long time.

It is only the longevity of time that the action of physical, chemical and organic processes takes place. It leads to the formation of deep and well- developed layers of soil. If time is not sufficient, the soils will remain undeveloped and skinny.

Soil profile

Each type of soil has a well-developed vertical section called the soil profile. There are four distinct layers in the soil profile.

The top layer is the biological layer and consists of fine particles and natural matter from decayed plants and animals. It is about 1-2 inches thick. Living things carry on with their life activities in this layer. Therefore, it is called humus.

The second layer is the horizon A. This layer has bacteria, which helps in the recycling of different material, and has plant's roots, fungus, etc.

The next layer is called horizon B, which contains materials obtained from the top layer by the seepage of water from the surface. It has a few symptoms of life. Below the sub- soil, there are the layer rocks and pebbles, of partly weathered rocks. In some areas, it contains water, depending on the water table.

Causes of Soil Erosion

Deforestation is the major cause of soil erosion. In the natural conditions, the roots of the trees hold the soil particles together and save soil for erosion. However, when trees are cut down uncontrollably, running water cut the soil and become a cause of erosion. Nothing can check the speed of running water during the rainy season. It erodes soil ruthlessly.

Drizzle and light showers do not cause much damage to the soil, but heavy and torrential rains carry away the fine soil particles with them due to their great speed and erosive capacity.

Overgrazing, especially by cows, goats, camels and sheep in the desert and semi-desert areas are the causes of Soil erosion. Plants and vegetation, which conserve soil, are uprooted by these animals. It generally happens on the mountainous, arid and semi-arid regions. Water during the rainy season carries away the loose soil. Same actions are done by wind the desert areas, resulting in the soil erosion.

In the areas of steep slope like mountain and hilly areas, water is more affected, then any other agent of erosion.

Clayey soil an absorb water easily. Therefore, the soil erosion is much less in the areas of clayey and sandy soil. Land is a prime natural resource, but due to its excessive use; it has been degraded to a large extent throughout the world.

Monarch Caterpillars

The tiger striped Monarch caterpillars are among the most beautiful of the caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars are usually born on and eat milkweed plants. This is helpful to the caterpillar and butterfly because the toxins from these plants are passed into the insect, which makes them distasteful to predators like birds. Even if an ignorant bird tries to eat a Monarch caterpillar, its bad taste will discourage the bird from eating any others.

The caterpillar is but the second stage in the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. It starts out as an egg laid on the milkweed plant. The female butterfly will glue the eggs to the leaf of the plant with her own bodily secretions to make sure they're secure, then she'll leave and give no more care to the eggs or the larvae.

When it's time for the caterpillar to emerge, it will chew a circular lid in the eggshell, then pull its body free of the egg. Then, it will eat the eggshell, which gives it some nutrients before it starts to eat the milkweed.

Like all caterpillars, the Monarch caterpillar's task is simply to eat and eat till it reaches the size when it will be ready to pupate. This is about two inches long and takes about two weeks. After the caterpillar has reached this size and survived predators and other hazards, it will find a location (usually away from the milkweed) and spin a pad there. It'll attach its rear to the pad with hooks and hang in the shape of a "J" for about twenty four hours.

Then, the caterpillar's skin splits down the back and the pupa emerges. It wriggles free from the skin which is finally cast off. The pupa then hardens, and waits.

Even the pupae of Monarch caterpillars are attractive. They're mostly jade green and have beautiful dots of what look like gold along the tops and on the side.

During the pupal stage, the body of what was the caterpillar is broken down into something like a soup and slowly formed into the adult butterfly. This drastic process is known as complete metamorphosis.

Finally, the pupa case splits and the Monarch butterfly struggles out. After it emerges the butterfly rests for a while. Its wings are crumpled and damp and can't work right away. The butterfly spends a couple of hours pumping fluid into the wing veins so the wings can expand and harden properly. The Monarch butterfly then flies away to begin the process all over again. The time between egg and adult is about a month.

How to Find Sea Glass or Beach Glass

Sea glass, also known as beach glass, is becoming rarer to find for two main reasons. The first is that over the last decade or so, fewer glass items such as bottles are finding their way into the sea. Although this is good from an environmental point of view, it is heart breaking for collectors and enthusiasts. The second reason for the decline in beach glass is that more people have become aware of its existence and rare status resulting in more people collecting it to make items such as sea glass jewellery.

However, there is still plenty of it to be found if you know where and how to look. Although most beaches will have at least some pieces of beach glass, some will have a great deal more. The location of the best beaches for finding the treasured glass depends on a number of factors including the conditions of the sea in that area, accessibility and popularity with other collectors. The best thing to do is under take a search on Google for and you will find that collectors or jewellery makers will often list their favourite places for finding it.

Once you have found a beach local to you, it's time to work out when best to go. The best time for finding sea glass is at low tide as the greatest expanse of beach is available for searching on. Again you will be able to do a Google search and find out low tide times in your area. The best time of year for sea glass collecting is in the Spring after high spring tides and storms which will have washed it ashore.

Once on the beach, there are two main methods for finding beach glass. The first is to look along the water's edge. Sea glass is frosted in appearance when dry which can make it difficult to spot amongst the pebbles depending on its colour. However when it is wet, it is easier to spot. You are looking for pieces of smooth shaped glass, with the most common colours being green, brown and clear.

The second method of finding beach glass is to look along the tide line. This is where the majority of sea debris is washed in from seaweed to rubbish and glass. If the tide line is dry, sea glass will have a frosted appearance although most colours should still be obvious to spot. The most treasured pieces are old so will be very smooth in shape - often an oval or triangular shape. However watch out for fresh glass which will have been washed in too. This will be clearer in appearance and is likely to have sharp edges so be careful if handling it.

Often beginners to sea glass collecting will simply pick up all the pieces they find. However more seasoned collectors and people that use it to make sea glass jewellery and other items will be more selective about the size, colour and shape of the pieces they pick up, leaving the rest on the shores for others to enjoy.