Q1.
Trees provide food and shelter to some birds and other animals, animals help in spreading seeds after eating fruits, and so on. Can you think of more such examples?
Answer
Yes. Every member of the biodiversity of a region depends on other members. Here are more examples from around us:
- Bees and butterflies carry pollen from flower to flower while collecting nectar, so mango, mustard and pumpkin plants can form fruit. Without them the crop falls sharply.
- Earthworms make burrows in the soil, letting in air and water and turning dead leaves into manure, so plants grow better. Farmers call them the farmer's friend.
- Cattle eat grass and their dung returns nutrients to the soil, from which fresh grass grows.
- Frogs and birds eat insects that would otherwise destroy a paddy field, while snakes eat rats that eat stored grain.
- Fallen leaves rot and become food for fungi, worms and bacteria — which release nutrients that trees take up again through their roots.
- Banyan and peepal fruits are eaten by bats, koels and monkeys; the seeds pass out far away and grow into new trees.
The big idea: these examples show that plants and animals are dependent on each other. Remove one member and the others suffer — if the bees vanish, the mango tree bears fewer fruits; if the trees are cut, the birds lose both food and shelter.