How do weeds help the earth?

Answer 1

Weeds serve as easily established, easily uprooted ground cover. They provide food, and shelter, for wildlife. They hold banks together, against erosion. They grow in poor soil. They give seasonal color and interest. They engage in photosynthesis. So they take in carbon dioxide from, and add oxygen to, the air. They decompose, and add to soil biomass. When weeds protect from erosion, they help the fish.

Answer 2

Acting as ground cover, adding beauty to the landscape, releasing oxygen while taking in carbon dioxide, and serving as food sources for humans and wildlife are ways in which weeds help. Weeds root and uproot fast. So they quickly settle in and take over a space. This aggressiveness is one of their major criticisms. And yet that same aggressiveness is responsible for landscapes having ground cover where non weeds can't or won't grow.

Weeds also give color and shape at unexpected times and places. Once again, where nothing else grows, weeds put up shoots and blooms. For example, Queen Anne's Lace [Daucus carota] is considered a weed. But it gives delicate structure and clean white looks to landscapes. It's as helpful too in life as in death. Specifically, it makes for an attractive pressed flower.

Also, weeds do what other plant forms do. They take in carbon. They then release oxygen back into the environment.

Additionally, weeds feed humans and wildlife. For example, the blue flowering chickory [Cichorium intybus] is a source of a coffee like drink and coffee flavoring. Its roots are the source of a highly regarded, distinct flavoring to hot drinks. In fact, it's a popular ingredient in colonial recipes and in such modern cuisines as the Cajun of Louisiana.

Answer 3

They don't. Weeds do nothing but steal nutrients and water away from the crop.