Soil Mineral Depletion
Can a healthy diet be sufficient in today's world?
There was a time when simply eating a healthy diet and avoiding all anti-nutrients ensured that we got all the minerals needed to stay healthy - research today shows that this may no longer be the case as the nutrient content of our food is on the decline.
Soil is the prime source of minerals on which every living cell depends for its structure and function. Vitamins, enzymes, amino acids (protein) and a host of other biologically active substances are essential for our bodies to function properly. They virtually all include minerals as an integral part of their chemical structure. Dr Linus Pauling, twice noble prize winner, said “you can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency”. Yet, all over the world, minerals are disappearing from agricultural soils at an alarming rate. In 1992, the official report of the Rio Earth Summit concluded “there is deep concern over continuing major declines in the mineral values in farm and range soils throughout the world”. This statement was based on data showing that over the last 100 years, average mineral levels in agricultural soils had fallen worldwide – by 72% in Europe, 76% in Asia and 85% in North America. What has caused this staggering decline?
Most of the blame lies with artificial chemical fertilisers. We now know that plants absorb 70 to 80 different minerals from the soil, while the number returned to it by plants grown with commercial fertilisers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Every crop that is cut or animal that is sent to market marks a further depletion in the mineral status of the soil on which it was raised. Organic wastes that in former times would have been composted and returned to the land are nowadays mostly consigned to landfill sites or incineration.
There are many other ways in which the move to chemical farming prevents crops from taking up even the sparse amounts of trace minerals left in the soil. Soil contains bacteria, fungi, plant and animal life, in a state of constant interaction and balance. Every one of these organisms needs dozens of different minerals to survive and play its part in the ecosystem. Some bacteria have a vital role in converting soil minerals into chemical forms that plants can use. NPK fertilisers (fertilisers used in modern farming that only contain nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) gradually change the soil pH towards acidic conditions in which these bacteria can not survive. To combat soil acidification farmers lay lime on the land adding back calcium and magnesium to raise the soil pH, but it also converts manganese and some other trace minerals into chemical forms that plants are unable to absorb.
Pesticides and herbicides also reduce the uptake of trace minerals by plants. Plants have an important relationship with certain fungi that can form networks covering several acres. The fungus obtains carbohydrates from the plant root, at the same time supplying the plant with nutrients it draws from the soil. This gives the plant access to a vastly greater mineral extraction system than is possible by their roots alone. Chemical fungicide sprays destroy these beneficial fungi and so again reduce the ability of plants to absorb soil minerals. Insecticides can also reduce trace mineral uptake by inactivating choline-containing enzymes in plants, essential for the absorption of manganese and other minerals.
The combined effect of soil mineral depletion and the reduced availability of those minerals that remain is that most of the food that we eat is mineral deficient. The table below summarizes the reductions in the average mineral content of 27 vegetables and 17 fruits, between 1940 and 1991. The results of the latest research are expected to show mineral values in continual decline.
| Mineral | Vegetables | Fruit | ||
| Sodium | -49% | -29% | ||
| Potassium | -16% | -19% | ||
| Magnesium | -24% | -16% | ||
| Calcium | -46% | -16% | ||
| Iron | -27% | -24% | ||
| Copper | -76% | -20% | ||
| Zinc | -59% | -27% | ||
The UK government is putting resources into improving health by encouraging people to eat a healthy diet, including 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, but you scarcely hear a word about the problem of soil mineral depletion. Food seems to be considered as something quite separate from its source and means of production. But this is not rocket science – the foundation of human health is the quality of the food we eat, which relies ultimately on the vitality of the soil on which it is raised.
Minerals are needed for the proper formation of blood and bone, the maintenance of healthy nerve function, heartbeat regulation, reproduction and foetal development. They are essential to the process of growth, healing and energy release. And it is not just the presence of the mineral in the body that is important – they must be in the correct ratio to each other. The level of each mineral has an effect, directly or indirectly, on every other, so if one is out of kilter the whole system is affected.
Minerals are an essential part of our natural diet and a lack of them may in part account for our increasing susceptibility to the “diseases of civilisation” – such as heart disease (magnesium), cancer (selenium), diabetes (chromium) and mental illnesses (zinc). Every one of us should take care to get the minerals we need, for the good of our health.
http://www.physicalnutrition.net/soil-mineral-depletion.htm
Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging and burning.
Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees or derived charcoal are used as, or sold, for fuel or as a commodity, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements. The removal of trees without sufficientreforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade intowasteland.
Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental law are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causingextinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indigenous people.
Examples:
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Coral Bleaching
Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals, due to stress-induced expulsion or death of symbiotic, algae-like protozoa, or due to the loss of pigmentation within the protozoa. The corals that form the structure of the great reef ecosystems of tropical seas depend upon a symbiotic relationship with unicellular flagellate protozoa, called zooxanthellae, that are photosynthetic and live within their tissues. Zooxanthellae give coral its coloration, with the specific color depending on the particular clade. Under stress, corals may expel their zooxanthellae, which leads to a lighter or completely white appearance, hence the term "bleached".
Once bleaching begins, it tends to continue even without continuing stress. If the coral colony survives the stress period, zooxanthellae often require weeks to months to return to normal density.The new residents may be of a different species. Some species of zooxanthellae and corals are more resistant to stress than other species.
Causes of coral bleaching:
Coral bleaching is a vivid sign of corals responding to stress, which can be induced by any of:
- increased (most commonly), or reduced water temperatures
- increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet band light)
- changes in water chemistry (in particular acidification)
- starvation caused by a decline in zooplankton]
- increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff)
- pathogen infections
- changes in salinity
- wind
- low tide air exposure
Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. The saline conditions tolerated by various species range from brackish water, through pure seawater (30 to 40 ppt), to water of over twice the salinity of ocean seawater, where the salt has become concentrated by evaporation (up to 90 ppt).
There are many species of trees and shrubs adapted to saline conditions. Not all are closely related, and the term "mangrove" may be used for all of them, or more narrowly only for the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just for mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora.
Mangroves form a characteristic saline woodland or shrubland habitat, called mangrove swamp, mangrove forest, mangrove ormangal. Mangals are found in depositional coastal environments where fine sediments (often with high organic content) collect in areas protected from high energy wave action. They occur both in estuaries and along open coastlines. Mangroves dominate three quarters of tropical coastlines.
The mangrove ecosystem covers the flora, fauna and ground conditions with in the parameters of a mangrove. From the climatic conditions to the members and relationships in the food chain, the mangrove ecosystem is dependant on the major resources available. The mangrove ecosystem is unique to its area between brackish and fresh water. The mangroves are vital to filtering out the salt from the water to enable the trees to grow.
The fauna in a mangrove ecosystem will include the minute and the massive. The mangrove ecosystem offers shelter and living conditions to insects, birds, arachnids and mammals, from the tiny bush mouse to large mammals, lizards or water dwelling predators.
In the mangrove ecosystem the smallest creatures and plants are still important to the structure of the environment. From the smallest gnat to the largest predator, the relationship between the food chain is vital to the balance of the ecosystem.
Even the plants of the mangrove will become fodder for larger herbivores or small fish and water dwelling creatures. The mangrove ecosystem is balanced by the resources available. The number of trees is maintained by the number of animals or insects using them for their lifestyle or food sources. If the number of predators in the mangrove ecosystem should alter, then the food chain would be unbalanced right down to the fundamental level. Even a slight alteration in the mangrove ecosystem, due to floods, pollution, drought or human intervention, can lead to the destruction of the mangrove ecosystem itself.
The mangrove ecosystem is reliant on the balance being maintained, between growth and decay. While rotting plants, brackish water, carcasses and mulch can offer sustenance to some creatures, the death of a plant is still part of the mangrove ecosystem. The mulch provides the ideal place for germination of other seeds. All this is part of the balance of the mangrove ecosystem.
The mangrove ecosystem includes the life cycle of the larger animals too. Their living, reproducing, hunting and dying all effect the way the mangrove ecosystem achieves balance. Any variation to the numbers of creatures within the mangrove ecosystem could change the fragile balance drastically. Too few predators could mean an over production of marine life that relies on the mangroves. Once the balance is lost, it can be impossible to regain.
The delicate balance of the mangrove ecosystem is vital to the health and vitality of the mangrove itself. From climate conditions, water quality and quantity, to human intervention, or exploitation, the mangrove ecosystem is prone to influences that can alter it forever.
A huge mangrove
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