Defining Sustainability

In simple words: sustainability is to endure. To exist for a long period of time. If you ask me, sustainability is “the responsible manage of resources that work towards using them while maintaining an equilibrium.”

Introduced in an actual context.
Sustainability is a term that has gained importance in the social world’s context because the arise of concern about the actual Eath’s natural capacity to sustain human life as it is know. That’s why the concept, in means of development, has been defined as: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

As a social issue, sustainability enters in means of maintaining the resources for future generation. We must understand that for the world natural equilibrium to be maintained, we need to start taking greater conscience about damage we are making to the environment and how we are wearing down its sustainability. That’s why society and specific institutions are working to create policies for the regulation of the human activities that act against sustainability.

In an economic context. The concept of sustainable yield enters into the picture. It is the increase of natural capital. The natural income that can be exploited each year without getting rid of it. MSY (maximum sustainable yield) is based on this last idea.

It’s equal to
-(The total biomass or energy at a time) T1 – (total biomass of energy at a time) T
-Annual growth and recruitment – annual death and emigration.

A few points to achieving a sustainable way of living:

• To control the exploitation of natural resources.
  
• To look for alternative practices that help prevent a loss of equilibrium.
  
• Understand the entire human society structure and the economic system as part of the global environmental system

Sustainability is involved in three different spheres. Each one of the spheres functions as an individual particle, but at the same time are affected by the others.

The measuring Roll

The measurements information is used to value the state of things (good or wrong) and then act towards control the variables.

The methods for measuring biomass vary between ecosystems, biomes and type of organism.

It is important in the vegetation measurement, representing an indicator of productivity and of ecological and management processes in the vegetation.

Vegetation biomass measuring tell us what plant dominates a land by controlling the nutrients and water resources. Estimates of biomass and residual biomass also strongly influence the hydrologic properties of the site including infiltration, runoff, and erosion. Biomass of both grasses and woody plants constitute potential fuels that can be measured to assess the risk of wildfire.

Biomass can be directly measured with little training, although, it is time consuming.

*http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/measuring-biomass.html

The above MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) map above shows the density of plant growth over the entire globe. Very low values of EVI (white and brown areas) correspond to barren areas of rock, sand, or snow. Moderate values (light greens) represent shrub and grassland, while high values indicate temperate and tropical rainforests (dark greens). The MODIS EVI gives scientists a new tool for monitoring major fluctuations in vegetation and understanding how they affect, and are affected by, regional climate trends.

The biomass of a trophic level is likely to be proportional to the number of organisms and the energy found in each level. This could be graphically shown by the use of the ecological pyramid, which are graphical representations of the trophic structure of ecosystems:

*http://scienceaid.co.uk/biology/ecology/food.html

References.

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/veg_measure/Modules/Lessons/Module%206/6_2_Why%20Measure%20Biomass.htm