Food

At Your Service ...

Continuing on the theme of biodiversity (in celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity), this issue will explore some of the services that ecosystems provide us, and why it's important to protect these benefits.

To begin, an ecosystem is a community of animals and plants interacting with one another and with their physical environment. Ecosystems include physical and chemical components, such as soils, water, and nutrients that support the organisms living within them. These organisms may range from large animals and plants to microscopic bacteria. Ecosystems include the interactions among all organisms in a given habitat. People are part of ecosystems. Our health and well-being depends upon the services provided by our local ecosystems and everything that makes them up ­ organisms, soil, water, and nutrients.  Along Lake Huron, some of our coastal ecosystems include wetlands, bluffs, dune grasslands, alvars, and woodlands.… continue reading »