Christopher Columbus and his men encountered various deeper biological and environmental issues when they arrived in the New World. These issues significantly impacted them in one or another, as well as their interaction with the new location. Columbus and his men encountered devastating diseases in their arrival to the new world. Some of these diseases include smallpox, typhus, measles, and tuberculosis, which they have never encountered before (Burgoyne 2). Unlike the natives of that location, Columbus’ men were severely affected by these diseases since their immunity was not strong enough to fight them. Many of them died from these diseases, hence raising the mortality rates among them. Columbus and his men’s immunity were defenseless to these diseases because this was their first contact, unlike the natives, who had developed resistance mechanisms due to their several encounters with the diseases. They had experienced various epidemics, thus developing resistance to them, unlike the explorers who were experiencing them for the first time.
The other deep and serious issue encountered by Columbus’ men was the new ecological niche, which consisted of diversified flora and fauna. They found plants and animals they had never seen before arriving in the New World. This was challenging to them because they found it hard to know the edible ones and those not. In some cases, they ended up consuming dangerous and poisonous plants, which affected their health and well-being negatively. They also found it challenging to adapt to the new food sources and environmental conditions available in the new world (Ugorji 1). They had to adapt to new survival techniques that were used in the New World to find food. They had to learn the necessary hunting and fishing skills that suited the newly discovered flora and fauna. However, Columbus and his men embraced this experience as a way to shape and improve their exploration and settlement efforts within the New World.
Columbus and his men arrived with new viruses, bacteria, and microorganisms, which led to the alteration of the microbial communities of the new world. The interaction between the newly introduced microbial community and the already existing one brought negative impacts to both the explorers and the natives. The mixing of these microbes led to composition and functioning changes. These changes paved the way for the introduction of new and severe diseases that their immunity found challenging to fight and prevent. These diseases led to devastating epidemics that affected the lives of both the explorers and the natives (Ferreira et al. 1). Also, the agricultural practices of Columbus and his men, such as the use of non-organic fertilizers, vegetation removal, and intensive deforestation, had a direct impact on the soil microbial communities.
The other issue encountered in the new world due to the arrival of Columbus and his men is the intensive soil degradation. The soils of some areas in the New World were intensively degraded due to intensive agricultural practices introduced by the colonizers. These agricultural practices resulted in erosion where the top and fertile soils were carried away, leaving the land bare and infertile. This became very hard for the explorers and natives to grow crops, which in turn led to food shortages and, hence, starvation. Native people heavily relied on fertile soils to grow indigenous crops, which sustained them throughout, but this was affected by erosion, which caused soil infertility. The soil degradation also resulted in long-term negative effects on the ecosystems in the New World, where people are still struggling with soil fertility issues and poor agricultural productivity.
The other issue met in the new world due to the arrival of Columbus’ men was the introduction of invasive species within this area. While introducing new crops and animals in the New World, the new settlers unintentionally introduced invasive crops in the area, which became challenging to the crops already grown in the area. These invasive species affected the local ecosystems as well as outcompeted the native species for nutrients, space, water, and habitat. This led to the extinction of various native flora and fauna in the New World due to the domination of invasive species. With the introduction of invasive species in the New World, the ecological interactions were also altered, thus directly affecting plant production (Horgan and Netchev 3). This is because essential relationships of plants and animals were disrupted, affecting seed dispersal and pollination.
Work Cited
Burgoyne, Robert. “The Columbian Exchange: Pocahontas and The New World.”
Ferreira, Claudia, Marie-Françoise J. Doursout, and Joselito S. Balingit. “Outbreaks in the New World: 1492–Mid-Nineteenth Century.” 2000 Years of Pandemics: Past, Present, and Future. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. 61-77.
Horgan, John, and Simeon Netchev. “Columbian Exchange.” World History 2022.
Ugorji, Basil. “The Columbus Monument: A Hermeneutical Analysis.” 2021.
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