Animals are part of the world around us. Their influence on man and on the nature of the Earth as a whole is very diverse.
wild nature
Animals are involved in the cycle of substances and the maintenance of biocenosis. What role do animals play in nature? Some of them eat plants, others feed on representatives of the fauna, and others absorb the remains of dead organisms.
Consumers of dead organics are present in all classes of animals. These are worms, larvae of flies, dung beetles, birds and carrion mammals. Processing dead organisms, these animals play the role of orderlies who cleanse the environment from rotting organics.
The importance of animals in human life is also determined by the ability of animals to maintain an equilibrium in the number of living organisms. Predatory animals regulate the number of herbivorous populations, and they, in turn, do not allow plants to multiply excessively. Parasites and predators weed out sick, weak and non-viable individuals.
Insects, birds and mammals contribute to the pollination of plants, and also carry their seeds over considerable distances.
Animals producing limestone skeleton (mollusks, snails, coral polyps, radiolarians) are involved in the formation of sedimentary rocks.
Pets
Mankind domesticated the first animals about 10 thousand years ago. It is believed that dogs became the first helpers of people. A little later, meat and dairy cattle breeding arose , then a man domesticated the horses. The importance of animals in human life is largely determined by the benefits that it receives from domestic species.
First, people used products obtained from wild animals, and then gradually domesticated them and began to breed breeds that are highly productive. This was especially pronounced in beekeeping and poultry farming.
Pets in human life are a source of food and raw materials for industry. They are bred with the aim of obtaining meat, fat, milk, skin, wool, feather and down, eggs. A person receives honey, wax, medicines from bees; he developed breeds of pond fish, learned to reproduce silk in huge quantities.
Humanity uses some species of wild animals for biological control of various pests. In this case, it cannot be said that he domesticated them, but people specifically breed ladybugs and predatory ticks to fight aphids and blood-sucking insects.
Why do you need pets
The role of animals in human life is not limited only to material benefits. As children of nature, we all need to communicate with living beings who are able to give us their love and devotion, to entertain and calm, to make our house beautiful and cozy. And if initially cats and dogs were brought into the house purely for practical purposes, then fish, birds, hamsters, insects and reptiles serve the only purpose - to entertain their owners and decorate their homes.
Doctors pay attention to the fact that communication with pets helps to normalize cardiovascular activity, relieves stress and nervous tension after a long hard day. Communication with horses and dolphins formed the basis of therapy for many diseases in children.
Pest animals
But there is a negative role of animals in human life. First of all, these are parasites that cause various diseases of people. Helminths, protozoa - causative agents of blood diseases, horseflies, mosquitoes and ticks, fleas and lice. Most of them cause harm not only because they themselves are parasitic on humans, but also carry pathogens of other infections.
Also, animals are pests of agriculture. Insects attacking crops; rodents that harm trees and spoil the products of crop production and the meat industry are all examples that reflect the negative significance of animals in human life.
In nature, there are poisonous animals that can cause harm to humans: snakes, insects, inhabitants of sea waters. But one cannot say that such manifestations are harmful to nature as a whole. The world around us does not contain anything superfluous and harmful. A large army of "pests" performs a certain function in a well-tuned natural mechanism. Remove one link and the chain will break, balance will be disturbed, the consequences will be most sad. How many times in the history of the relationship between man and nature have occurred such events.
The situation of animals in the modern world
Mastering the world around us, subjecting it to our needs, humanity inflicts irreparable harm to the Earth and its inhabitants. Cutting down forests, plowing up virgin lands, draining swamps and carrying civilization to the farthest corners of the planet, man deprives animals of their habitat.
The importance of animals in human life is enormous, therefore, governments and international public organizations are developing a whole range of measures aimed at preserving rare species, improving the ecology of industrial production, and preserving natural resources.