VOICE of प्रकृति

Dear readers,  Hello, and welcome back to the Voice of Prakriti ! Today we are going to talk about the very first hypothesis that subsequently sparked my interest in ecology.  Like many of you, I was once a beginner. I learnt about the environment and ecology (in detail) for the first time in class 11. Ever since middle school we were taught some familiar warnings -  climate change is bad, species are vanishing because of human actions, conservation is important and biodiversity loss needs to be prevented. Do these lines ring a familiar bell for you, dear readers ? Back then, I couldn’t fully grasp the extent of the problem. There seemed to be a disconnect between the theory we learned and the gravity of reality. This hypothesis, however, gave me a way to measure the seriousness of the situation and understand what we truly stand to gain or lose through our actions. I hope to guide you through the same experience today. The Rivet-Popper Hypothesis: Imagine you’re fly...

Dear readers,  Hello (!) and welcome back to the Voice of Prakriti.  I've been on a break because of health reasons and exam season, but I'm back.  I truly missed connecting with all of you :) Today, let's talk about Interdependence -  the 4th ecology essential in my list of top 10. This world is home to countless living organisms coexisting and interacting with one another. These interactions could be classified broadly as positive or negative.  Textbook definition of Interdependence refers to the mutual reliance and interconnectedness of organisms within an ecosystem; where the actions and interactions of one species or population can have direct/indirect effect on other species, and the overall functioning of the ecosystem. Let's understand types of Interdependence through examples. 1. Competition (-/-) Imagine a tree in a rainforest. And a lizard. There are a lot of insects present, that can act as a food source for lizards. Naturally, lizards will compete f...