Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park
Saguaro national park is situated in Southern Arizona. The park is part of the US national Park system. The park has many plants and animals (Eppinga, 2012). Saguaro national park has been affected by human activities like other parks, in the country., The ecosystem consists of different structures and functions. The Saguaro national park ecosystem consists of a biotic and biotic elements, interactions and sources of energy. The ecosystem has primary producers who are able to harvest energy from the sun through photosynthesis. It also has consumers that feed the captured energy and decomposers that break the organic matter into in organic elements to be used by the producers. The function of the ecosystem is to use energy and cycle matter. Hence, ecosystems require a continuous flow of energy for the plants and animals to survive (Eppinga, 2012).
Man made activities have caused destruction to the Saguaro national park. The extraction of groundwater from sources outside the park has destructed ecosystem in the park including the riparian ecosystem. The riparian sections impacted by the ground water. Human beings have affected the biochemical cycle of the Saguaro National Park. Biochemical cycle is a pathway by which chemical elements move through biotic and biotic compartments of the earth. Ecosystems have different biochemical cycles that operate as part of the ecosystem. Examples include the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and phosphorous cycle. Carbon cycle refers to the movement of carbon between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and geosphere. Human activities have affected carbon cycle in Saguaro national park for many years. Human activities have affected carbon cycle through emission of carbon dioxide and elimination of carbon dioxide. Agricultural activities affect the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and plants store carbon dioxide. The sinks of carbon dioxide in Saguaro national park are forests and grasslands. The sinks affect the carbon cycle by reducing the carbon dioxide in the air. Additionally, deforestation has affected carbon cycle in Saguaro national park. Saguaro national park was established to prevent destruction of plants and animals due to deforestation. Deforestation entails removing trees from the forests. Removing trees in large numbers affects the carbon cycle by increasing carbon dioxide. This is because trees do not absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Further, human beings have affected carbon cycle by collecting carbon dioxide and storing instead of emitting it to the atmosphere. Geological activities in Saguaro national park have affected carbon dioxide as it is retain underground for long and hence reduce the concentration of the gas in the atmosphere (Murphy & Dickson, 2012).
In addition, human activities around the park have affected nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen cycle entails the conversion of nitrogen into various chemical forms. The conversion can be done through physical processes or biological processes. Some of the important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, nitrification among others. Nitrogen availability affects important ecosystem processes such as decomposition and primary production. Human activities such as burning of fossil fuels and release of nitrogen in water bodies have changed nitrogen cycle. Also, planting nitrogen fixing plants has changed nitrogen cycle. Planting nitrogen crops and burning of fossil fuels add nitrogen to the ecosystem. Nitrogen deposition has affected soil and vegetation as they are sensitive to nutrient enrichment. Nitrogen disposition has changed nutrient cycling in some areas in the country. In addition, it has affected the composition of species. Native plant species that have evolved in poor nitrogen conditions have been replaced by non native species. Other species that take advantage of the high levels of nitrogen have invaded areas with native plants (Murphy & Dickson, 2012).
Phosphorous cycle refers to the movement of phosphorus via the biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. The atmosphere does not play an essential role in phosphorous movement as phosphorous and phosphorous compounds are in solid form. Low amounts of phosphorous affect microbial growth. Soil micro organism serve as sinks and source of phosphorous in a biochemical process. A large amount of phosphorous in the soil occurs in a form that organism cannot use directly (Murphy & Dickson, 2012).
The knowledge of the ecosystem structures and functions has helped in the creation of plans to control and restore Saguaro national park. The government has developed a wide range of plans that prevent human beings from destroying saguaro national parks. The plans encourage protection of pants and animals found in saguaro national parks. Human beings have affected plants and animals in the park by changing carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and phosphorous cycle. The interaction of different species in the park has helped in the management and restoration of parks. The interaction of plant and animal species has helped in the acquisition of nutrients and balancing of biochemical cycles. The interaction between the plants and animal species has balanced biochemical cycles such as the carbon cycle, nutrient cycle and phosphorous cycle. This has in turn, enabled plants and animals to acquire essential nutrients. Nutrients in an ecosystem move through the biochemical cycles (Murphy & Dickson, 2012).
Reference
Eppinga, J. (2012).Saguaro National Park. Arcadia publishing
Murphy, K., & Dickson, G. (2012). Ecosystems. Routledge
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