ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT

Ecological Management

There are following application of ecology in different environmental managements:

1. Land management

The operation by which land is prepared for crops plantation, harvesting is called land management. Good land management increases efficiency. Poor land management cause soil erosion, salinity and water logging. It changes the fauna and flora of the soil. Increased knowledge of ecology improves the land management techniques. These techniques are contour placing. terracing and strip cropping. It improves the crops and natural vegetation.

2. Soil management

Soil is destroyed due to poor land management. Man modifies it according to his own requireinetts. There,is intensive cutting of trees and overgrazing. It causes soil erosion. Therefore, productivity of land is decreased. A low rainfall can give moderate productivity. But the land must have sufficient vegetation cover to hold rain water. Man is destroying such vegetation. It causes desertification.

Soil conservation involves retention of water. This water is used for growing and supporting vegetation. Its aim is to maintain or increase soil fertility and productivity. Vegetation covers check the erosion effectively. Contour ploughing and strip cropping are also important for checking erosion.

Greater understanding of crop. soil and climate is also a very important for better management of the soil. Soil management also include better dropping system, crop rotation, handling of crop residues, drainage of waterlogged and swampy soils, cleaning of toxic salts from the irrigated lands and irrigation of lands.

3. Forest Management

The ecosystem with predominant species of tall annual woody trees is called forest. The maintenance and sustaining of the forest is called forest management. The management of forests is the most important examples of applied ecology. Knowledge of successional trend and the climax of the region should be studied for studying forest ecology. The forest management includes:

1. Least disturbs the natural development of vegetation. The forest near climax stage is easier to maintain. Subordinate or dependent species should also be given importance in forest community. The subordinate plants act as indicator for evaluation of dominant species.
2. Silvicultural practices should be used to establish artificial forest ill arid region. For this purpose. exotic species can be introduced in these areas.
3. Proper techniques of weeding cutting, planting, chemical and mechanical treatment should be used

4. Protective measure should he taken against grazing. browsing, trampling by^. animals.
5. Positive selective thinning should be used to reduce competition among the trees.
6. Suitable pruning can improve the quality of wood.
7. Harvesting is done when mean annual increment (MAl) is highest.
8. There should be efficient logging. stacking, seasoning (drying), preservation and markeketing.4. Range ManagementThe grass land used by the animals for grazing is called rangeland. The application of science on rangeland for producing maximum number of grazing livestock regularly is called rangeland management.

   Rangeland has great importance for livestock development. Unfortunately, man has changed most of the rangeland into agricultural land. Therefore, fewer rangelands left in tile country. These rangelands are needed to be protected from overgrazing. Overgrazing can change a rangeland into desert. The optimum utilization of rangeland maintains the rangeland. It also provides continuous supply of milk and flesh to humans. There are following steps of rangeland management.

   1. The palatability of grasses and forbs (associated herbs) should be tested. Most suitable livestock for these grasses should be introduced in this range land.
   2. Effects of grazing on community structure should be given much attention. Carrying capacity of different kinds of grasslands should also be studied in different seasons of the year.
   3. The water requirements of important grasses should be tested. The effects of different types of cover on runoff. flooding, erosion and water supply should also he studied.
   4. Exclosure technique should be used to study rangeland. In this technique, a part of rangelands is excluded from grazing. It is used to determine the nature of climax and related successional communities.
   5. Introduction of foreign species should be discouraged. Seeding of native species should he done only with locally produced seeds.

   5. Watershed Management

   An area from which water fall in the form of rain or snow collects into a stream and river is called watershed. The storage of water for irrigation and for producing electricity by constructing dams and barrages is called water shed management. the aim of watershed is to control erosion and floods and to provide silt tree water.

   There is a great importance of watershed management for Pakistan. According to the Indus water treaty 1960, Pakistan can use water from Indus. Jhelum and Chenab rivers only. Pakistan constructed two dams i.e. Tarbela and Mangla. Water storage capacity of these dams was 15 million acre feet. 4 barrages and 7 I ink canals were also constructed.

   But our dams are facing the problem of siltation. It is estimated that the Tarbela dam will fill with silt within 100 years. Its rate of siltation is highest in the world. Mangla dam will be tilled with silt in 50 years. Silt extraction from the dams is uneconomical. Thus the sedimentation load can he reduced by watershed management techniques. It can prolong the life of our water reservoirs. ‘There are following important steps of watershed management:

   1. Trees and crops should he planted in the catchments. They reduce soil erosion and thus cheek the process of silting.
   2. Terracing and contouring of the slopes of the rocks can also reduce erosion.
   3. Socio-economic conditions of the people living in these areas should be improved. Awareness should be produced in them that they should not destroy natural vegetation. Grazing should be checked.
   4. Wild life management

   All non-cultivated plants and non-domesticated animals are included in wild life. Wild life plays very important role in food chain. The food chain is disturbed without wild life. So. it becomes very difficult to maintain the balance in ecosystem without wild life. Man is trying to change the environment. The effects of these changes in environment are becoming more and more apparent with the passage of time. The imbalance in wild life can jeopardize the existence of man. Following steps can be taken to save wild life:

   1. Hunting should be banned.
   2. National parks should be established.
   3. Artificial breading should be carried out for endangered species.
   4. Laws should be enacted to conserve natural resources.
   5. Breeding sanctuaries should be established.