Humans and ecosystems: how do vultures provide ecosystem services? | Khan Academy
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses the vital role of vultures, specifically the lammergeier, in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Known for consuming decaying carcasses and even bones, vultures help prevent the spread of harmful toxins and diseases. Their acidic digestive systems allow them to safely digest what would be dangerous for other species. Vultures, alongside other organisms, provide ecosystem services such as cleaning up dead animals, aiding in soil and water protection, and preserving biodiversity. However, threats like the drug diclofenac are causing a sharp decline in vulture populations, leading to ecological problems.
Takeaways
- đŠ The lammergeier, a scavenger, eats bones and decaying flesh, helping clean ecosystems.
- đŠ Vultures have highly acidic stomachs, allowing them to digest harmful substances and bones without getting sick.
- đ± Vultures play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by removing carcasses and preventing contamination of soil, water, and food.
- đ Ecosystem services are categorized into four types: provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services.
- đ§ Provisional ecosystem services provide resources like food, water, timber, and natural energy.
- đ Regulating ecosystem services include processes that maintain ecosystem health, like pollination, decomposition, and disease control by vultures.
- đ Supporting ecosystem services, like photosynthesis and the water cycle, are the foundation of ecosystems and essential for air, water, and food.
- đš Cultural ecosystem services provide inspiration, spiritual value, and recreation, such as bird-watching or enjoying natural landscapes.
- â ïž The loss of biodiversity weakens ecosystems, making it harder to provide essential services.
- đ Human-made chemicals like diclofenac are harmful to vultures, leading to significant population declines and increased disease risks in ecosystems.
Q & A
What does the lammergeier eat, and how is it able to digest bones?
-The lammergeier eats decaying flesh and bones of dead animals. It has an incredibly acidic digestive system that allows it to digest most bones within 24 hours.
Why are vultures important to ecosystems?
-Vultures play a crucial role in ecosystems by consuming decaying carcasses, which prevents the spread of diseases and contamination of soil, water, and food.
What is an ecosystem service, and how do vultures provide one?
-An ecosystem service is a way that humans benefit from ecosystems. Vultures provide the ecosystem service of carcass cleanup, which helps prevent disease and contamination.
What are the four categories of ecosystem services?
-The four categories are provisional (resources like food and water), regulating (processes like pollination and waste decomposition), supporting (underlying processes like photosynthesis and the water cycle), and cultural (spiritual and recreational benefits).
How does the process of photosynthesis support ecosystems?
-Photosynthesis allows plants to produce oxygen and sugars, which are essential for the survival of most living organisms. It also contributes to the production of foods like fruits, seeds, and nuts.
What are some examples of cultural ecosystem services?
-Cultural ecosystem services include the inspiration provided by landscapes such as the Grand Canyon, spiritual connections to nature, and recreational activities like bird-watching.
How has the use of the veterinary drug diclofenac affected vulture populations?
-Diclofenac has caused a significant decline in vulture populations, as it is toxic to them when they consume the carcasses of treated cattle. This has led to a 95% reduction in vulture numbers in some areas.
What are the consequences of a decline in vulture populations?
-A decline in vulture populations leads to slower carcass removal, increasing the risk of disease transmission and contamination of soil and water, which can negatively impact human health.
What is the relationship between vultures and disease control?
-Vultures help control the spread of diseases by quickly consuming decaying carcasses, which might otherwise harbor harmful bacteria and toxins.
How do ecosystems contribute to human well-being?
-Ecosystems provide resources like food and water, regulate environmental processes, support life through natural cycles, and offer cultural and spiritual benefits, all of which contribute to human health and well-being.
Outlines
đŠ The Lammergeier: A Bone-Eating Scavenger
This paragraph introduces the lammergeier, a scavenger that consumes bones and decaying flesh. It discusses how the birdâs highly acidic digestive system allows it to safely digest bones and prevent illness from harmful substances in rotting carcasses. The lammergeier plays a vital role in keeping ecosystems healthy by removing toxins and preventing contamination of soil, water, and food.
đ± Ecosystem Services: Natureâs Benefits to Humans
This paragraph explains the concept of ecosystem services, which are the benefits humans receive from ecosystems. It categorizes ecosystem services into four types: provisional (resources like food and water), regulating (processes that maintain ecosystem health), supporting (natural processes like photosynthesis), and cultural (the inspiration and value ecosystems provide). Each category highlights the ways nature supports human life and well-being.
đ Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services
Here, the focus is on regulating and supporting ecosystem services. Regulating services include processes like waste decomposition and pollination, which help maintain ecosystem health. Supporting services are foundational processes like photosynthesis and the water cycle, which are essential for life on Earth. Without these services, ecosystems would not function properly, and human survival would be at risk.
đ Cultural and Spiritual Importance of Ecosystems
This paragraph highlights the cultural ecosystem services that provide meaning, inspiration, and spiritual value to humans. Examples include iconic landscapes, art, music, and outdoor activities such as bird-watching. The paragraph also touches on the religious and ancestral significance of ecosystems, particularly for indigenous groups, showing how ecosystems contribute to cultural diversity and societal well-being.
â ïž Threats to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health
The final paragraph discusses how the loss of biodiversity can harm ecosystem health and disrupt ecosystem services. It specifically addresses the decline in vulture populations due to human-made chemicals like the drug diclofenac. With fewer vultures to clean up carcasses, ecosystems suffer from the spread of diseases and contamination, posing serious health risks to humans. The paragraph concludes by reminding readers of the important role vultures play in sustaining ecosystem health.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄLammergeier
đĄScavenger
đĄEcosystem services
đĄProvisional ecosystem services
đĄRegulating ecosystem services
đĄSupporting ecosystem services
đĄCultural ecosystem services
đĄBiodiversity
đĄVulture population decline
đĄToxins
Highlights
The lammergeier eats decaying flesh and bones, making it a unique scavenger.
Rotting animal carcasses can contain harmful toxins, but vultures have an acidic digestive system that protects them.
The lammergeier's stomach acid is so strong it can digest bones within 24 hours.
Vultures play a crucial role in keeping ecosystems healthy by removing harmful substances from decaying animals.
Carcass cleanup by vultures is an example of ecosystem services, which benefit humans and the environment.
Ecosystem services are categorized into four types: provisional, regulating, supporting, and cultural.
Provisional ecosystem services include resources like fruits, vegetables, clean water, and timber.
Regulating ecosystem services involve processes like decomposition, pollination, and disease control through vultures.
Supporting ecosystem services are essential natural processes like photosynthesis and the water cycle.
Cultural ecosystem services encompass the inspiration and meaning that natural landscapes and ecosystems provide.
Examples of cultural ecosystem services include famous landscapes like the Grand Canyon and artistic inspiration from nature.
Vultures can suffer from human-made chemicals like diclofenac, which has caused a 95% population decline in some regions.
A decline in vultures can lead to the spread of diseases and contamination of soil and water from uncleaned carcasses.
Vultures' role in cleaning ecosystems helps prevent sickness in humans by controlling the spread of harmful bacteria.
By transforming death and decay into life, vultures maintain the health of ecosystems.
Transcripts
- [Instructor] Can you imagine eating bones for breakfast?
It sounds crunchy and pretty gross,
but that's exactly what the lammergeier eats.
The lammergeier is a scavenger,
which means it eats the decaying flush
and bones of dead animals.
Rotting animal carcasses can be full of harmful substances,
including toxins produced by bacteria.
These toxins can cause serious health issues in humans.
However, the vultures have evolved an incredibly
acidic digestive system, allowing them
to eat deceased carcasses without becoming sick.
The lammergeier's stomach acid is so acidic
that it can digest most bones in about 24 hours.
Vultures are essential to keeping our ecosystems
and us healthy by getting rid of harmful substances
that could contaminate soil, water or food.
Carcass cleanup by vultures is something
we call an ecosystem service, which is a way
that we humans benefit from ecosystems.
There are many different kinds of ecosystem services,
which can be sorted into four categories.
First, we have provisional ecosystem services,
which are the resources that are provided by nature
that we can use or eat, like fruits, vegetables\ and fish.
Provisional ecosystem services also include
clean drinking water, timber, oils,
some medicines and natural energy sources.
We also have regulating ecosystem services,
which are all the processes that help
keep ecosystems healthy and functional.
These include bacteria and invertebrates decomposing
or breaking down waste, bees and hummingbirds
pollinating all kinds of plants and trees
and other plants holding soil together
with their root systems to help
with flood control and to stop soil erosion,
and, of course, regulating ecosystem services
also include our friends, the vultures,
who help with carcass removal and disease control.
Ecosystems wouldn't work
without supporting ecosystem services.
These are the underlying natural processes
that are the foundation of ecosystems
and without them, we wouldn't be able to breathe air,
drink clean water or grow food.
Take photosynthesis for example.
When plants use sunlight, water
and carbon dioxide to make sugars and oxygen.
Without photosynthesis, we wouldn't have enough oxygen
in our atmosphere to breathe, and we wouldn't
have all the foods that we get
from plants, like fruits, seeds, and nuts.
Other supporting ecosystem services include
the water cycle, the nutrient cycle
and even soil formation and finally,
we also have cultural ecosystem services.
Have you ever visited or seen photos of the Grand Canyon,
the Redwoods in California or Yellowstone National Park?
These are incredible landscapes that provide
a lot of meaning and inspiration to us.
Think about the art and music
that gets made about different ecosystems.
Maybe you've heard Dolly Parton's
"My Tennessee Mountain Home."
She couldn't have written that song
about any other part of the country.
You might have hobbies that you enjoy doing outside too.
For me, I love bird-watching and learning
about all of the different bird species
that I can see where I live,
and that's a cultural ecosystem service.
Plus, ecosystems have religious, spiritual
and historical value for diverse groups of people.
For example, American-Indian tribes have deep ancestral
and spiritual connections to many North-American ecosystems.
So ecosystems also play an important role
in maintaining the richness and diversity
of people's cultures and societies of our world,
but a loss of biodiversity can make ecosystems less healthy,
which makes it harder for us to get the resources
and ecosystem services we rely on.
Vultures might be able to eat all kinds of nasty toxins,
but they can get sick and die from human-made chemicals.
For example, diclofenac, a common veterinary drug
used to treat cattle, will unfortunately kill vultures
if they eat it from a cow carcass.
Vulture populations have declined by 95%
in parts of the world, and that's caused
some pretty big problems in ecosystems.
With fewer vultures around to clean up carcasses,
diseases can quickly spread, and bacteria from the carcasses
can contaminate surrounding soil and water.
In turn, people can get very sick when vultures
and others scavengers aren't around
to keep the ecosystem healthy.
So the next time you see a vulture gliding through the sky,
take a moment to think about how that species is helping
to keep the ecosystem clean and healthy for all.
Through cleaning up carcasses and eating bones,
vultures play an important role conserving the health
of our ecosystems by transforming death and decay into life.
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