Hello Steemians,
Why do you think weeds exist if they ruin the health of your precious garden crops? Why is pollen everywhere when it can cause pain, alllergies and difficulty breathing? Why do cockroaches, rats, mice, ants, flies and termites thrive if they are all considered pests both in agriculture and household? Why can snakes and spiders just roam around if they are venomous and can kill a man with just one bite? Why are sharks, lions and hyenas there if they look scary and can rip a man's body apart? Why are there lizards, frogs, earthworms and millipedes if they are just plain gross? Admit it, you would run at the first sight of these creatures.
Have you ever thought that they are also scared when they are near you or even a glimpse of you? Have you ever thought that they are there for a purpose? They are there because nature wants them to be. They are part of the so-called food chain. In a grander scheme, they are part of the food web.
It is not always mutualism or symbiotic interaction in nature. Meaning, just like you and your friends who share the same background of interest and inadvertently benefitting from each other (not the "benefit" you are thinking of). I mean, you buy him/her snack, there will come a time that he/she will do the same. Point being, in nature, it is not always apples and oranges.
Here you would see the giraffe being "pecked" by the birds. The giraffe removes the pests while the birds fill their stomachs.
We also have parasitism, competition and predator-prey relationship. They are all important to keep the ecosystem functioning. I maybe talking jargons here, but ecosystem is you, the animals, the plants, the wind, sea and etc that are working interdependently to achieve balance. Parasitism is involving a parasite and a host like a virus. Competition is of course, one out-fitting the other. I placed a hyphen there because I don't want it to sound like one dressing the other for the party. Predator-prey is the lion killing the antelope for food. The connection?
Read further.
Weeds are there because somewhat act like filters and agents to better the plants or the next in line. In nature, it is always survival of the fittest. If you are a plant, and is outgrown by a tiny weed, then you will wither and eventually die unless you adapt and develop ways to counter. Competition molds plants and animals to become healthier, stronger and more resistant. Weeds, on the other hand, when they die, can essentially be natural fertilizers to the next set of crops. You see? They too have benefits.
Pollens in the air encourage cross-pollination and reproduction. This is the way plants spread their kind and proliferate as they static or immobile. A barren land can be a lushious oasis because of dispersed seeds and pollens. Are you still with me?
If yes then, great. Cockroaches, rats, mice, ants, flies and termites are there because they act as the "prey" or the food of many other creatures. Picture this, you would not go into a place or an island where there is less food. Same logic applies, without them, population of their consumers would decrease. This will also affect the population of the next potential food since they will be looking for alternatives for their survival. I mean, without these pets, their natural consumers could be looking for other source of food, like your pets or chunks of wood in your house(kidding). But yeah! It is possible.
For snakes, frogs, sharks wild cats and dogs, why are they there? Need I say more? Yes, I believe I do. They are mostly, the predators, so they regulate the population of their prey which are your dreaded pests: mice, rats, flies, mosquitoes and termites. Without them, the balance is disrupted and the growth of the pests would be exponential gradually destroying the ecosystem. I think you know that earthworms, other than being the food of the chicken and bait for fish, are good at their job in decomposing leaves and dead animals to make the soil healthy which in turn grows your plants.
You see, everything is related. In a food chain, when one component is lost. The other components initially seek alternatives. Seeking alternatives has also its relative consequences but if unable to cope up, the chain is broken.
We must thrive to co-exist and I may sound harsh but we must adapt not just kill and kill and kill. THEY are there for a purpose so as we are here. So live sustainably, not just pure leisurely and comfortably.
THANK YOU!!!
