How Different Organisms Affect the Ecosystem

An oft repeated statement in the conservation movement is that all animals are important to an ecosystem and each species plays its own role within that ecosystem. I’ve even mentioned it before in my post on “The Importance of Helping Endangered Species.” However, I’ve noticed that people don’t usually explain what this statement means and how exactly different species contribute to the ecosystem they reside within. Different types of organisms contribute to their ecosystem in unique ways and I’d like to give a basic idea of how they accomplish this, so you can understand the importance of focusing on helping all different kinds of species!

A lot of these terms and information you probably learned about in middle or high school biology, but likely haven’t heard them much since then. Ecosystems are much more complex than the information I’m giving, but I think it’s important that people have a basic understanding of how ecosystems work, especially in our efforts for conservation. There are three main roles, or niches, in every ecosystem, so I’ll address these and give some information on their roles and the organisms that would be found in these niches.

Producers

A producer is the organism that creates the primary energy used within an ecosystem. Almost always, producers are plants. These organisms use sunlight for photosynthesis, which is how they get their energy in order to grow. Eventually other animals will eat them and the producers pass on their energy as chemical energy. Over time, energy leaves the ecosystem as heat and goes back into the rest of the biosphere. Producers are incredibly important to this process of creating and passing on energy because they’re the first source of energy; without them, an ecosystem couldn’t survive at all. However, producers are often overlooked in conservation efforts in favor of animals.

Examples of producers are moss, seaweed, bamboo, orchids - pretty much any kind of plant that you would find in the environment. People don’t often mention them, but there are endangered plants, such as the Arizona Agave or the Rafflesia Flower. Some of these plants are endangered due to encroachment on their environment, since they can’t move like many animals can. Others are disappearing because of their health benefits to humans (whether real or imagined) and aren’t being replanted at the same rate.

Consumers

Consumers eat producers and use the plants to generate energy. Some consumers also eat other consumers for energy or other consumers and producers (like humans do). The main types of consumers are herbivores (eat only plants), carnivores (eat only meat), and omnivores (eat both). A larger amount of producers are required to provide enough energy for consumers. Most ecosystems are more like pyramids, with producers making up the base.

Generally, conservation efforts are focused on consumers, because they’re the best-known and easiest to identify. Animals like tigers, deer, frogs, snakes, and nearly all other animals are considered consumers.

Decomposers

Decomposers are the final group in an ecosystem and responsible for consuming dead matter. These organisms do not have a very glamorous job, but they’re vital to keeping an ecosystem clean and balanced. As decomposers do their jobs, the remaining energy leaves the ecosystem as heat, moving back into the atmosphere.

Examples of decomposers are worms, fungi, and snails, along with bacteria and various other types of organisms.

Importance of Social Media to Entrepreneurs

The use of technology is widespread and a part of everyday life. Incredible developments have been made in the last couple of decades, leading to technology becoming a staple for businesses. Large companies are completely reliant on technology and using social media for marketing. Because of these developments, social media can make or break the success of a business and the same holds true for entrepreneurs. The use of social media provides entrepreneurs with access to resources they might not have otherwise. If you’re looking to launch a new business, it’s vital you understand the importance of social media and how you can use it to benefit your company. 

A recent study showed that the use of social media for business increases traffic to websites. While this benefit is incredibly useful for a business, another study by the Social Media Examiner found that most marketers use social media, but the majority of them do not understand how to use it as effectively as possible. These results show that entrepreneurs must make an active effort to become well-versed in social media in order to achieve success in their business ventures.

Low cost

For an entrepreneur that’s starting a brand-new business, cost is usually a major consideration when it comes to marketing. Small businesses usually limit the amount of marketing they do in order to save costs and put more funds toward perfecting their product or service. Social media allows companies to get exposure they’d otherwise pay for and a simple Instagram or Facebook ad can lead to new customers. You can spend money to reach a larger audience, but these costs are usually low. With careful planning and research, an entrepreneur can make the most of social media resources for free, designing and sharing logos, news, and images.

Increased traffic

A great aspect of social media is the ability to embed and share links. Entrepreneurs can simply add a link to a post and watch the traffic increase to their website or other social media pages. Having a small giveaway or something that draws people in goes a long way on social media. Just make sure your website and company can handle it.  

Brand recognition

Using social media allows entrepreneurs to get the word out about their new business venture and starts making the brand known to people. By regularly posting on social media and sharing quality posts, entrepreneurs create brand recognition amongst their target audience. A strong social media presence also increases the authority a brand has in their industry, because people recognize the brand and what it provides to consumers.

Understand the consumer

One of the best benefits of using social media as an entrepreneur is the opportunity to understand and connect with the consumer. Before launching your business, you need to identify your target audience. Once you know who you’re marketing to, you’ll be able to research what social media networks they use and how they interact with their favorite brands. Watch what successful companies do to market on social media and take tips from that!

The Disappearance of Bees

For the past few years, concern has increased over the apparent lack of bees. One species has officially been placed on the endangered creature list and scientists are searching for ways to stop them from disappearing. While researchers disagree at the rate of the bee population decreasing, many agree that it is occurring and something we should watch. Educate yourself on the facts about the importance of honey bees and what you can do to help!

Why are bees important?

The biggest reason bees are so important is their assistance with pollination. While bees are not the sole pollinators for the Earth’s plant life, they’re the largest players. Bees pollinate most plants and help cultivate food. Agriculture heavily depends on bees to successfully pollinate crops. The honey industry is also thriving and must continue to do so, though captive bees are not as affected by the decline in population as wild bees. Without bees, we’d have to find other ways to pollinate crops, either by hand or using machines, which would be incredibly difficult. Since it is currently nearly impossible to simulate the amount of work bees do when it comes to pollination, we’d likely face a huge food shortage if bees were to fully disappear.

Bees also contribute to biodiversity, which is incredibly important to the ecological health of the planet. If a single species declines significantly in population or becomes extinct, it severely impacts that environment. Since bees play such a large role throughout the world, it’s even more important that we pay attention to their numbers.

Why are they disappearing?

There has been a lot of conjecture on why bees are vanishing in countries across the globe. One of the first theories was that the invasive species of Africanized honey bee was killing off wild honeybees in the United States and Europe, but not performing the same amount of pollinating native bees did. Since Africanized honey bees have a tendency to act aggressively, many people want to kill them, which could lead to killing native bees that look similar to the Africanized honey bees.

Now, scientists have determined that the main cause is colony collapse disorder (CCD), though it’s still unclear exactly what causes this issue. Most likely, it’s a combination of various factors, but mainly due to the use of pesticides and herbicides. Even though many of these chemicals are illegal, a lot are still used and have a negative impact on the bee population.

What can we do?

One of the best ways to combat bees disappearing is through growing plants native to your area, along with a small garden. Since bees are being harmed by pesticides and herbicides, not using these on your plants will attract the bees and provide them with a food source, so their colony can thrive.

6 Skills You Must Have to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

Being an entrepreneur means you wear many hats throughout your career. When you’re first getting your company started, you’re responsible for doing the majority of the work and acting as the CEO, marketer, sales team, and assembly, often within the same day. As an entrepreneur, you must have many different skills if you want to truly succeed. It may be daunting when you look at the amount of responsibilities you have and what you need to do in order to launch your business, but with a few skills, you’ll find it’s all easier than you originally anticipated. While you don’t need to be an expert at everything, there are some skills that are intrinsic to being a successful entrepreneur.

Organization

First off, to be an entrepreneur, you’ll need to have organization down pat. You’ll constantly have deadlines to meet, people to manage, and tasks to complete that you can’t forget about. Being able to keep track of all your appointments and responsibilities, as well as important papers and information is vital if you want to make running your own business work.

Communication

You’ll be interacting with a lot of people on a regular basis, whether they’re employees, funders, consumers, or other entrepreneurs. You need to feel confident when you talk to them. Make sure you’re equally comfortable giving a sales pitch or instructing employees on what to do to make sure the company reaches its goals. If you can communicate your vision to other people, you’re setting yourself up to be a great entrepreneur.

Leadership

As an entrepreneur, you’re the leader of your company and it’s likely that you’re already a natural born leader, so you command this position well. Take time to constantly improve your leadership abilities to be even more effective. Leading a company is a huge responsibility and you must make sure you’re up to the challenge.

Tech knowledge

Today, technology is a major part of our day-to-day lives. For businesses, it’s necessary that they use technology to market the business and connect with consumers. While most of this marketing involves common social media platforms, you’ll also want to have an attractive website and strong online presence. If you don’t already have a basic understanding of these tech skills, teach yourself or consider hiring someone to design a website and manage the online presence for your company.

Financial savvy

To be an entrepreneur, you’ll have to carefully budget as you’re launching your business so you don’t overspend your funds in areas that aren’t necessities. Being able to budget and stay within those set financial means is incredibly important to your business’s continued success. You’ll probably eventually have an accountant to handle most of your finances, but it's good to have a basic understanding of the financial responsibilities for a business.

Discipline

Being disciplined means you know when to wait before making a decision and when it’s okay to take a risk. You understand the importance of focusing your time and money into one aspect of the business instead of pushing something that’s easier, but not as important. A disciplined entrepreneur can handle what the business throws at him.