Managing specific potentially renewable resources.

Potentially renewable resources are renewable resources that require special attention and management in order to sustain their renewal for human use. Plants and animals are living organisms that humans use agriculturally, industrially, and personally for their own gain. Water and soil are both inorganic resources that are vital for human survival. In the book, Handbook of Sustainable Development, it is explained that for these resources to remain sustainable, they must be used a rate that is far less than that of the natural reproduction rate. Many of these very important resources are under dire strains because of the rapidly growing rate of human consumption all over the world. The all encompassing principle for these natural resources is Biodiversity management. Biodiversity management  includes conservation of natural resources, protection of diversity of living organisms, and the sustainable use of those resources for human consumption. A few of the specific issues pertaining to biodiversity management will be discussed throughout the remainder of this post.

Plants
Trees:    
There is no doubt that trees are a huge benefit to all ecosystems. In fact without trees, humans would have very limited survival options. Trees take the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, out of the environment and release oxygen gas which is necessary for breathing. Forests provide habitats for numerous species of animals and other plants. Trees are important for controlling surface water runoff and soil pollution. Trees also provide lumber.
Humans use lumber to make paper, build houses and furniture, and sometimes fuel. As the Earth grows older, more humans need more resources. Resources like paper and construction material are considered to be fairly vital to human advancement. Deforestation is a problem that has grown with technology and demand. Forests can be cut down and trees can be shipped all over the world for a fairly cheap price.

Example of Deforestation:

 http://www.conservation-economy.org/2010/12/letters-from-cancun-2-global-deforestation-and-national-happiness/

All over the world, people and animals are losing their homes and habitats due to deforestation by major corporations who have nothing invested in the quality of life in the areas where this is taking place. Many places like the Amazon of South America and other tropical rainforests all over the world are facing eminent distinction and the hands of global demand for paper and wood products.
To learn more about deforestation and other tree management principles and issues, visit these websites:
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html
http://www.esf.edu/fnrm/
http://www.treesaregood.com/
http://www.arborday.org/trees/where2getHelp.cfm

Animals 
 Fishing is a major issue in natural resource management.  Many fish have already started to disappear out of lakes, rivers and oceans due to human activity. Ocean fish are an important source of food for many people all over the world. The ocean fishing industry is one of the most unsustainable, environmentally harmful food industries that there are. It has been estimated most of the fish in the oceans could disappear by the  year 2050 if the fishing industry does not change it's ways. Unsustainable fishing, litter, chemical pollution, traffic, and other issues are all reasons for fish endangerment and extinction.
Wild animals, other than fish, do not play as large of a role in potentially renewable resources as others in this post because they are not widely considered to be resources and human survival is not necessarily directly linked with theirs'. They are most definitely a part of the environment that should be protected but they are not directly a resource on a large scale. Hunting for game is very vital in many countries where livestock are not affordable. This use of animals as resources is more of a local resource management issue than a world resource management issue.
Other management issues such as elephant and monkey hunting for their tusks and pelts, as well as for sport is a major issue in some countries. Laws have been set up for animal protection and most of this is taken care of on a national level. However, the population and health of most animals in the world is dependent on the management of renewable, non-renewable and the other potentially renewable resources. Domesticated animals are used industrially and agriculturally to produce food for humans all over the world. The health and numbers of these animals are usually well managed because of demand for animal products and the money associated with "good quality" products.

Ocean pollution is a major threat to all species that live in these waters.

Source: learnshareact.com

To learn more about this issue, visit these websites:
http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/animals/index.html

http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12-65-00-00

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JQP/is_325/ai_30327680/

http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans-fish-fishing-industry.html



Water
The major resource that comes to mind when discussing potentially renewable resources that are in high danger of becoming non-renewable is water.
Water resource use is not only a science or environmental issue, it is the most basic humanitarian issue. The major problem of water management is not necessarily that we are running out of it. The problem is that it is that the majority of it is being diverted for uses other than human consumption and many of those processes leave the water too polluted for human consumption when they have run their course. Many sources of water across the world are highly contaminated and even deadly, yet people have no other sources for their water. This contamination also is a major threat to the biodiversity of our planet. All animals need water to survive. Many aquatic animals are facing extinction because of poor water quality management.
At the point when the water causes the death of humans and animals by toxins it is no longer a renewable resource. There is no doubt that the Earth will eventually be able to filter out these contaminants and restore the water to it's original state, but this time span is most likely far beyond that of our civilization.  It could be renewed if there were inexpensive processes to clean it and restore it's health, but unfortunately, the future of water looks grim.


According to Water.org:
884 million people in the world do not have access to drinking water.
2.5% of the world's water is freshwater, and 70% of it is devoted to agriculture.
Water born diseases cause 1.4 million children to die every year.

Picture of Earth showing if all Earth's water (liquid, ice, freshwater, saline) was put into a sphere it would be about 860 miles (about 1,385 kilometers) in diameter. Diameter would be about the distance from Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, USA.

Credit: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS.

To learn more about this issue, please visit these websites:
http://www.poverty-action.org/safewater?gclid=CKfIlJ2DzKgCFcns7QodhU-xRQ
http://www.ameribev.org/minisites/water/
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/23/061023fa_fact1

Soil 
Soil is arguably one of the most important resources after water. Without soil, our production of food would be greatly limited to near nothing. Since the time of the first agrarian society, soil has been a vital part of the human life. Without soil there is no agriculture. Soil issues vary around the world. Some of the issues included in soil management are erosion, quality and unsustainable farming practices.
It can take hundreds or thousands of years for a quality, usable soil to form by natural processes. Unsustainable farming practices such as too much tilling, too much irrigation, and not enough natural ground cover can lead to major erosion problems. It can take 30 to 40 years of steady erosion for a region to lose it's soil. However, once that soil is lost, there will be no more for the foreseeable future. Quality of soils can be affected by over irrigating, too many fertilizers, too many pesticides and herbicides, and also by the depletion of nutrients by over farming. All of these issues contribute to the steady movement of our topsoils to the bottom of lakes and riverbeds, from which they cannot be brought back.

Soil erosion at it's finest:

Source: newwaytosave.com

Diagram of different types of erosion:

To learn more about this issue, please visit these websites:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/environment/soil/other.htm

Sources:
Atkinson, Giles, Simon Dietz, and Eric Neumayer. Handbook of sustainable development . Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2007. Print.


"Biodiversity Management Strategies - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of endangered species, imperiled species, habitats. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2011.
<http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/habitat_conservation/habitat_conservation_basics/forestlands/biodiversity_management_strategies/>
Kalman, Bobbie, and Janine Schaub. How trees help me . New York, N.Y.: Crabtree Pub. Co., 1992. Print.
Spilsbury, Richard. Deforestation. London:Wayland, 2008. Print.


"Oceans' Fish Could Disappear by 2050 : Discovery News." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, Dinosaurs, History . N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans-fish-fishing-industry.html>.


"Water Facts." Water.org . N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/>.


"Soil: The Fundamental Resource of Society ."Washington State University . N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_agrev/2-soil/soil1.html>.