"The four species" that are essential to both nature and man angle

Etrog, Lulev, Myrtle and Willow? In honor of Sukkot, receive four species of a different kind. Insects, birds, plants and bacteria: how do they preserve nature, and why is it important to preserve them back?

Honey bees balance their diet. Photo: The Hebrew University
Honey bees balance their diet. Photo: The Hebrew University

According to the Jewish tradition atrog, lulav, myrtle and willow are the four species that are mentioned as part of the signs of Sukkot. Just as it is customary to protect the etrog from impacts and shocks with unique protective cases, so also in nature there are important species that must be protected at all costs. On the occasion of Sukkot, these are four species that are necessary for nature - and for us, humans.

Wild bees are the thing (and honey won't cross your mind)

Don't let the honey from Rosh Hashanah fool you: not all bees produce honey in hives. in Israel There are about 1,100 species of wild bees, about 5 percent of the world's number of species. These bees do not produce honey; They live and raise offspring in nests found in the ground, in trees and even in shells. Wild bees are considered particularly important pollinators - together with other pollinators, they are responsible for the pollination of about 87 percent of the flowering plants in the world. In the United States, the annual pollination activity of wild bees is estimated in a billion and a half dollars.; If it weren't for these bees, manual pollination would be needed and the amount of fruit in the world would be much smaller and much more expensive.

One of the advantages of the wild bees as pollinators is their adaptation to the pollination of specific plants, compared to the honey bees that may transfer pollen from one plant to another plant, which will not help the reproduction of that plant. Wild bees, like many other insects, are under threat. in an interview Prof. Neta Dorchin from Tel Aviv University elaborated on this to "Angle" in the past: "The main cause of insect extinction is human activity: the destruction of habitats, industrialization, overcrowding, the use of pesticides and the effects of the climate crisis." According to her, this endangers ecosystems, in light of the important role of insects - including wild bees - in pollinating plants that produce fruits and vegetables or as a source of food for other animals that prey on them. Wild bees in Israel, for example in Hermon, are in danger of extinction, and one of the reasons for this is The abundance of honey bees (and of course, the fires due to the war in the north).

In an opinion article published by zoologist Jonas Gladman in the journal Science, he claims that honey bees harm wildlife and threaten many insects: butterflies, flies, ants and beetles. Gladman explains that pollinators compete for the same resources, and the honey bees, who live in swarms and not alone, have the advantage. Therefore, the Society for the Protection of Nature Offers Regulation based on ecological considerations on the breeding of honey bees, in particular the removal of hives from nature reserves to protect the existing diversity of wild bees and the wild plants they pollinate.

A bee pollinates a yellow flower

Along with other pollinators, bees are responsible for pollinating about 87 percent of the world's flowering plants. Photo: Christoph, Unsplash

Eagles: nature's cleaning workers

Despite the bad image of the scavengers, the eagles serve as nature's cleaning workers. for this reason, the danger of extinction in which data has deeper implications for the ecosystem. Thanks to the digestive system of the eagles, they are able to eat carrion relatively safely compared to other animals. For this reason, there is little risk that carcass meat, which could have been harmful and rotten for other animals, will remain in the field and spread diseases. Harming the eagles could upset the ecological balance, leading farmers who are faced with more potential predators such as jackals or foxes to spread more poison, which could further harm the eagles that feed on the carcasses of the animals that died from the poisoning.

Recently published study that examined how harming the eagles and the unique sanitary service they provide is harmful to humans. The case examined is the rapid depletion of the vulture population in India, due to poisoning from drugs given to cattle. In the areas from which the eagles disappeared, an excess mortality of over 100 people per year was found, and the annual economic damages from this were estimated at approximately 70 billion dollars. Most of the mortality is linked to the increase in the prevalence of rabies and the decrease in water quality. That is, it pays to keep the eagle, for the sake of the environment, health and pocket.

Nesher

The eagles serve as nature's cleaning workers. Damaging them could upset the ecological balance. Photo: Les routes sans fin(s), Unsplash

Mangroves for carbon sequestration

Much has been said about the problem of carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere and the connection between it and the climate crisis. Along with reducing its emissions, "carbon blue"absorbed and stored in the oceans and coastal ecosystems is another means of dealing with the climate crisis. In other words, some of the emissions of greenhouse gases by man can be fixed (removed) by nature. Although these coastal systems - including the mangroves - are smaller in area than the forests On Earth, they fix carbon at a much faster rate and can continue to do so for millions of years.

there are About 80 species of mangrove trees, which grow in the equatorial region in the tropical and subtropical climates. The mangroves grow densely in slowly flowing water. Their unique structure allows them to cope with tidal changes, and helps to form a habitat protected from storms and storms for a variety of other animals and plants. Although the mangroves help fix carbon dioxide and remove it from the atmosphere, they themselves are exposed to the damages of the climate crisis and extreme weather conditions. According to the IPCC Their loss in the world is expected to get worse, with part of the damage to them in the past being related to tropical storms, floods, droughts and heat waves.

If mangroves still have hope, it comes from the market for trading greenhouse gas emissions, which can provide an economic incentive for investment and restoration of the ecosystems in which they grow. "It's like a business whose output is carbon absorption," previously explained Prof. Yaakov Tzur, from the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at the Hebrew University, inan interview to "Angle". "Instead of financing the reduction of emissions from public funds and donations, the market mechanism makes the matter profitable." If so, a small plot of mangroves can be a creative holiday gift.

Mangrove forest

Mangrove forest. Although the mangroves help fix carbon dioxide and remove it from the atmosphere, they themselves are exposed to the damages of the climate crisis. Photo: Joel Vodell, Unsplash

Microorganisms for oil pollution treatment

The carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air and causes climate change is one of the byproducts of burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the fuel industry pollutes the world in other ways, for example by leaking oil from ships, drilling sites or transport pipelines (like these in Israel). An oil spill can severely damage natural growing environments in the sea and on land, and traditional ways of treating it include using in dispersants (chemicals that make it easier to break down the oil and dissolve it in water, but their environmental consequences are controversial), polluting fires or biological cleaning. Biological cleaning means the use of microorganisms, such as bacteria that break down oil into harmless substances with the help of special enzymes.

For example, after the environmental disaster at the Deepwater Horizon drilling site in 2010, bacteria of the type Cycloclasticus, which can break down carcinogenic chemical compounds found in oil or break down natural gas and use it as a source of carbon and energy. The advantage of biological methods is supposed to be the savings in further damage to the environment. Microorganisms that decompose oil work in the service of nature and help keep the environment clean, healthy and livable.

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