Mention four significant services that a healthy forest ecosystem provides.

OR

Substantiate with the help of one example that in an ecosystem mutualists (i) tend to co-evolve and (ii) are also one of the major causes of biodiversity loss.

Significant services that a healthy forest ecosystem provides –

i. Provides habitat to the wildlife

ii. Purifies the air

iii. Prevents soil erosion

iv. Contributes in maintaining the water cycle

v. Maintains the nutrient cycles.

vi. Helps in keeping the soil fertile

OR

Mutualists are the pairs of the organisms that benefit from interactions between them.

(i) Mutualists tend to co-evolve. Let’s take the example of a flower and its pollinator. The mutualism between them follows co-evolution. The wasp pollinates the fig flower and in return, wasp uses the fruit for laying eggs and as a source of nourishment for the larvae.

(ii) Mutualists are also one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. In case of any change in any of the participants of mutualism, affects the other participant as well. For example, if the population of bees that pollinate the orchid flower reduces, it will cause the reduction in the population of the orchid plants also i.e. When any one of these two species become extinct - the other species associated with it in obligatory
way also becomes extinct and leads to biodiversity loss.