Ch 23 , 24 and 25
Species with large bodies, slow population growth rates, and flocking behavior are
particularly vulnerable to human exploitation
Islands tend to maintain consistent number of...
species over time •Result of the rate at which species added •And the rate at which they become extinct -Concept applies to ecological islands •A comparatively small habitat separated from a major habitat of some kind
What is biogeography?
the study of where organisms live now and where they and their ancestors lived in the past
What is functional diversity?
the total amount of roles that are filled within an ecosystem -Ecosystems can have many different niches -How many niches are available? -How many have been filled?
Species diversity tends to decrease from...
the tropics to the poles -Tropical forests and tropical coral reefs are some of the world's most diverse habitats -We do not know for certain why. Some hypotheses: -Greater primary productivity in the tropics -Stronger (and more permanent) habitat gradients due to decreased seasonal variability -Ecosystem complexity: Tropical forests have multiple canopy layers, which each provide a suite of niches (similar to coral reef ecosystems)
What is biodiversity?
the variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem -Can be used to refer to the number of broad classes of organisms in an area -Or to the number of species -Or the genetic diversity within a population
A diverse population has a greater ability to
withstand environmental variability
What is the number of species on Earth?
•1.8 million species have been identified •Estimated that 8.7 million species currently exist •86% of all species on land and 91% of all marine species have not been identified
What is incineration?
•A controlled process of burning mixed solid waste at extremely high temperatures •Reduces volume by 90%, Remaining ash disposed of at landfill •Common is places where land is scarce (e.g. Japan) •Better than open-air burning, but...•...can create new chemical compounds and emit toxic chemicals from the stacks, but they can be filtered and reduced
Biotic province vs. biome (Biome)
•Biome similar environments provide similar opportunities and similar constraints •A biotic province is based on who is related to whom -An evolutionary unit •A biome is based on niches and habitat -If we know the climate we can make predictions about the biome
What are some ways we can reduce?
•Buy used clothing, and donate used clothing •Bring your own cloth bags to grocery stores •Bring your own coffee mug to coffee shops •Stop using disposable plastic bottles •Avoid individually wrapped items •Buy items made of recycled content
What is genetic drift?
•Changes in frequency of a gene in a population simply by chance -Founder effect: Small number of individuals are isolated form a larger population •Less genetic variation than original population -Characteristics present are affected by chance -Individuals may NOT be better adapted
What is Municipal solid waste (MSW)-E-Waste?
•E-waste is the fastest growing part of the waste stream •Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled •For every 1 million cell phones recycled: -35,274 lbs of copper, -772 lbs of silver, -75 lbs of gold,
Where should you dispose your E-Waste?
•Electronics contain hazardous materials (lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium) -need to be disposed properly. •E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. •In FY 14-15, Leon County Solid Waste recycled 284 tons of electronic scrap from 5,840 customers •Electronicsshould be placed at the curb for pickup. Items are picked up on Thursdays.Please call 891.4YOU (4968) or email us at [email protected] request a pickup for Thursday's collection .•The Leon County Solid Waste Management Facility accepts electronics-Hazardous Waste Centerlocated at 7550 Apalachee Parkway,
How did biological diversity come about?
•Evolution! -Charles Darwin (19thcentury) -Explanation of diversity known as biological evolution •Biological evolution -Change in inherited characteristics of a population from generation to generation (appearance and behavior)
What are the four primary characteristics of natural selection?
•Genetic variability •Environmental variability •Differential reproduction that varies with the environment (physical, chemical, and biological) •Influence of the environment on survival and reproduction
A diverse populationhas significant genetic and phenotypic variability through...
•Genotype: the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual •Phenotype: the outward appearance of an organism; the expression of a genotype in the form of traits that can be seen and measured, such as hair or eye color, or disease resistance
How does the Waste to energy method work?
•Many incinerators now generate electricity from waste combustion. •Waste to energy(WTE) facilities use heat from furnaces to boil water. Steam turns turbines and generators. •WTE is efficient and effective, but income from power is low and expense is high, so it takes many years to recoup the investment.
What are some Financial incentives for Reducing waste?
•Movements to cut waste by imposing taxes -As taxes increase people produce less waste •Usage-pricing model for disposing of municipal solid waste. •Users are charged a rate based on how much waste they produce . Pay as You Throw •Over 4,000 U.S. communities have "pay-as-you-throw" trash collection; people who waste more pay more. •Ten U.S. states have "bottle bills," laws that mandate that consumers get money back for returning bottles and cans to where they were purchased.
How do people alter biodiversity?
•People alter biodiversity by: -Direct hunting -Directly disturbing habitats -Introducing exotic species into new habitats -Altering the habitat indirectly (e.g. climate change) -Artificial selection (is the intentional breeding of plants or animal and selecting for specific traits)
What are the 4 R's of Integrated Waste Management?
•Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair -Dominant concept in current waste management -Ultimate objective of the R's is to reduce •Minimize waste and its source -source reduction Reduction facilitated by : •Better design of packaging to reduce waste, an element of source reduction •Reusing is the main strategy to reduce waste
How is Hazardous waste produced?
•U.S. currently produces about 700 million metric tons of hazardous chemical waste per year •Industries produce the most hazardous waste, but it is usually highly regulated. •Household hazardous waste is unregulated. -Paint -Batteries -Oil -Solvents -Cleaning -Pesticides
What is waste?
•Unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or process. There are 3 kinds: 1.Municipal solid waste 2.Industrial waste 3.Hazardous waste
How can we compost waste?
•Yard waste and food scraps make up 25% of the municipal solid waste in the United States •Does not have to go to the landfill because they are biodegradable •Composting (Re-use) -The conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus by encouraging natural processes of decomposition •Process of Composting -1) Put yard and food scraps in a closed container -2) Let it sit and mix occasionally -3) Spread on gardens or fields to enrich soil •Keeps organic waste out of landfills •Provides nutrients to the soil •Reduces the need for chemical-based fertilizers •Increases beneficial soil organisms, like worms, centipedes
What are 6 Strategies for Conserving Biodiversity?
-1) Big is better than small •Island biogeography, bigger supports more species -2) Connected is better than unconnected •Overtime populations in a small preserve can fluctuate •They can experience inbreeding (lack of genetic diversity) •Connectivity allows for genetic exchange and recolonization by migrants •Traveling animals can transport plants as well -3) Near is better than far •When local extinction occurs, reestablishment requires immigrants from a nearby similar habitat •Western US -many connected or nearby preserves •Eastern US -preserves are widely dispersed -4) Buffers matter •Land use around a preserve's edges has a large effect •Without a buffer: noise & pollution enter preserve and any animal that departs briefly is unlikely to survive -5) Accommodate landscape change •Disturbances are a natural part of many ecosystems •Must be maintained for ecosystem health -6) Manage people •Difficult to reconcile needs of wildlife with demands of people for recreation, logging, water, etc. •Enforcement is a major issue •Indigenous people •Protecting people from animals
What are some factors that tend to increase diversity?
-A physically diverse habitat -Moderate amounts of disturbance -A small variation in environmental conditions -High diversity at one trophic level increases the diversity at another trophic level -An environment highly modified by life (e.g. rich soil) -Middle stages of succession -Evolution
What is Solid-Waste Management?
-A problem in many parts of the world (proper disposal, adequate disposable sites, resources, technology) -Many disposal practices inadequate •Open dumps •Illegal roadside dumping -Social problem as much as a physical one •People are simply disposing of their waste as inexpensively and as quickly as possible
How much habitat loss is there?
-By 1900 over 95% of North America's deciduous forests have been logged or cleared for agriculture -Only 1% of the long leaf pine savannahs from the southeastern coastal plain are left -Half of the tropical rainforests are gone •Estimated extinction of 1,000 species in tropical rainforests every year
What are Sanitary Landfills?
-Designed to concentrate and contain waste without creating a nuisance or hazard to public health or safety •prevent groundwater contamination and minimize soil and air pollution. •Regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) and the state's environmental agency
Excavations into modern landfills clear up some misconceptions...
-Dominated by paper products (28.5%), food waste (13.9%), yard waste (13.4%) and plastics (12.4%) -Fast-food packaging accounts for about 0.25% of the average landfill -Disposable diapers, approximately 0.8% -Polystyrene products about 0.9%
When a species is introduced it may be unrelated or distantly related to native species because...
-Ecological and evolutionary adjustments are yet to take place -Introduced species may be superior competitor
What are some factors that tend to decrease diversity?
-Environmental stress -Extreme environments -A severe limitation in the supply of an essential resource -Extreme amounts of disturbance -Recent introduction of exotic species (species from other areas) -Geographic isolation (being on a real or ecological island)
Island biogeography has
-Fewer species than continents -Two new sources of species is migration and evolution -Smaller the island, the fewer the species -The farther away from a continent, the fewer the species -Small islands tend to have fewer habitat types -A small population is easily wiped out by a storm, flood, catastrophe, or disturbance •The smaller the population, the greater the risk of extinction -The farther an island is from the mainland the harder it is to reach
What is a mutation?
-Genes are inherited from one generation to the next •Contained in the chromosomes of each cell •Genes made up of DNA •DNA made up of nucleotides A,C,G,T -When cells divide •DNA is reproduced •Each new cell gets a copy -Mutation -when an error occurs in the reproduction of DNA as it gets passed to new cells -Possible causes -radiation, chemicals or a virus
What is Generalist?
-Have broad niches -Advantage when environmental condition change
Habitat loss occurs commonly through habitat fragmentation by
-Human activities subdivide once-continuous habitat into small fragments (ecological islands) -Individual populations are smaller and less connected -Migration pathways get blocked -Organisms that need large breeding or hunting areas cannot persist
How does a mutation affect the population?
-In some cases offspring with a mutation cannot survive -In some cases a mutation simply adds to genetic variability in the species -In rare cases a mutation (positive or negative) can cause significant enough changes to affect the organisms survival and future reproduction
What are some Disposal practices?
-Modern sanitary landfills are engineered to include multiple barriers to avoid contamination and pollution •Clay and plastic liners to limit the movement of leachate •Surface and subsurface drainage to collect leachate •Systems to collect methane gas •Groundwater monitoring to detect leaks of leachate below and adjacent to the landfill Social considerations -Cheap land, little local opposition -Frequently in areas of low socioeconomic status
What are the four processes lead to evolution?
-Mutation -Natural Selection -Migration -Genetic drift
What is Specialist?
-Narrow niche -Specific requirement -May be less resilient to environmental changes
What are non-native invasive species?
-Non native species introduced to new environments -Through commerce and travel humans have redistributed tens of thousands of species •Some intentional, some not -Many species will be unsuccessful when placed in a new habitat -Others will flourish
What is divergent evolution?
-Organisms have a common ancestor -Population is divided and each evolves separately -May look and act differently but they are still related
What is convergent evolution?
-Organisms have similar features but they don't have a common ancestor -given sufficient time and similar climates species similar in shape and form will tend to appear -May look and act the same but they are not related
What are open dumps?
-Solid waste was once disposed of in open dumps -Refuse was piled up without a cover -Located wherever land is available, without regard to safety, health hazards, or aesthetic degradation -Thousands have been closed -New development of open dumps are banned in the U.S. Ex.) -Payatas dump in the Phillipines
What is natural selection? (factor of evolution)
-Some individuals may be better suited to the environment than others •Those better able to survive and reproduce leave more offspring •Their descendants form a larger proportion of the next generation -The accumulation of changes may lead to reproductive isolation •Resulting in a new species
Biological evolution tells us the following about biodiversity?
-Species present in any one location can change over time and can become geographically isolated from time to time, and undergo the founder effect and genetic drift -Adaptation has no rigid rules •Species adapt in response to environmental conditions •Complexity is a part of nature •We cannot expect threats to one species to necessarily be threats to another
What is leachate?
-The most significant hazard from a sanitary landfill is pollution of groundwater or surface water -If waste comes into contact with water, leachate is produced
What is species diversity?
-The number (or evenness) of species within an ecosystem or on the entire planet -The resilience of an ecosystem is correlated with its species diversity -Diversity also increases productivity Contains: -Species richness -total number of species -Species evenness -relative abundance of species making up the richness of an area -Species dominance -the most abundant species Ex.) -10 species; 100 individuals, 82 elephants, 9 species with 2 individuals each
Within a biotic province species are more likely to be related because
-They evolved and adapted in the same place for a long time
What is migration and geographic isolation?
-Two populations become geographically isolated for a long time •Differences accumulate so that they no longer reproduce with each other •Two new species have formed -Adaptive radiation: organisms diversify rapidly into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, creates new challenges and opens environmental niches
How can hazardous wastes be safely disposed of?
-Uncontrolled dumping can pollute soil and waters •government agencies run Household Hazardous Waste programs that help households recycle or properly dispose of their hazardous wastes
What are some Species that are extinct and it is our fault?
-West African black rhinoceros was a subspecies of the black rhino that was declared extinct in 2011. Cause: poaching and demand for rhino horn -Caribbean Monk Seal was the only known seal which was native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico -2008 officially declared extinct Cause: hunted for their oil and slaughtered by fishermen, who regarded the animals as competitors -BaijiRiver Dolphin ( reincarnation of a Chinese princess/national treasure) -2006 officially declared extinct Cause: overfishing, boat traffic, habitat loss, pollution and poaching ( skin used to make gloves and handbag) -Passenger pigeon or wild pigeon ( endemic to North America), once the most abundant birds in the world, -1914 officially declared extinct Cause: hunting, consumption of meat, cheap for slaves
What is a Biotic Province?
-a region inhabited by a characteristic set of taxa, bounded by barriers that prevent emigration and immigration •There are 6 biogeographic regions -Nearctic, Neotropical, Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australian
What are Endemism/ Endemic Species?
-a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type.
What are biotic factors?
-any living component that affects another organism ▪Competition (resources such as food, water, and mates) ▪Predation, ▪Symbiosis-two or more species that mutually benefit from each other ▪Commensalism occurs when one species benefits and the other is unaffected. ▪Mutualism occurs when both species involved in the symbiotic relationship benefit. Distributional drivers -biotic The remora relies on the shark's fast movement to keep water moving over its gills. It cannot live in still water.
What is Alleles?
-different forms of the same genes, determine various genetic features/phenotypic traits
What is extinction?
-last member of a species dies and it ceases to exist •Extinction natural phenomenon -It is estimated that over 99.9% of all species that ever lived are extinct. •Current extinction rates are likely 100 -1000 times higher than background rate typical during Earth's history •*known extinctions are a vast underestimate of total extinctions since many rare species (particularly in the rainforest and oceans) were not discovered before they went extinct
What are biodiversity hotspots?
-places that have an unusually large number of endemic species -Endemic species are species that is unique to a defined geographic location (e.g. it's not found elsewhere) -Unique habitats, topographic diversity, isolation
What is natural selection?
-primary mechanism of evolution -Traits that enhance survival and reproduction are passed to future generations
What is habitat diversity?
-the different kinds of habitats in a given unit of area
What is a habitat?
-the environment in which an organisms lives (living and nonliving elements)
What is Genetic Diversity/variation?
-total number of genetic characteristics of a specific species, subspecies, or group of species
What is Industrial waste?
-waste generated by businesses from an industrial or manufacturing process •Scrap metal •Plastics •Paper •Sludge •Construction waste •Farm waste •Factory waste •Wastewater 7.6 billion tons of waste produced year by industrial facilities in the USA •97% wastewater -been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence •230 million tons of solid waste = roughly equivalent to amount of municipal solid waste
What are Strategies for Conserving Biodiversity?
12% of Earth's area is currently protected Not all preserves are actually protected, due to limited resources for enforcement
What contributes to habitat loss?
Farming Grazing Clearing forests -logging Urban sprawls -road building
Distributional drivers-abiotic...
Influences of abiotic variables may be dictated by a species' physiological requirements/tolerance to different environmental conditions The importance of each of these factors will vary depending on species and region. Example: ▪Temperature Vs. Ectotherms (cannot internally regulate their body temperature). ▪Due to the lack of an internal heat source most ectotherms maintain optimum physiological performance only across a narrow range of ambient temperature. ▪Use restricted isotherms
What is home range?
Is the area in which an animal lives and travels. •Determined from a set of location points that have been collected over a period of time.
What are some biodiversity species that are threaten?
Mammals, Amphibian Over 500 birds listed as endangered or critically endangered 82% were listed because of habitat loss
What is habitat selection?
Mobile species are able to select their habitat
How does organic waste produce methane?
Organic waste decomposes where there is no oxygen and produces methane -Highly flammable gas -Pumped out of landfills and used for fuel -May seep into the ground -If ignited, it can cause explosions
What is recycling?
Process of converting waste materials into reusable objects to prevent waste of potentially useful materials •Diverts ~55 million tons of materials away from disposal each year •Items are taken to materials recovery facilities (MRFs), where workers prepare them for reprocessing. -Recycling in the U.S. is a $14 billion industry •Generation of revenue, new jobs, increases self-reliance -An increase in the willingness of industry and business to support recycling
What are the 3 steps of recycling?
Step 1: Collection and Processing. Step 2: Manufacturing. Step 3: Purchasing New Products Made from Recycled Materials.
What is Pollution -marine debris?
The majority of marine debris (64%) comes from land-based activities like beach trips, recreation, picnics, and others. 52% of turtles world-wide have eaten debris 56% of cetacean species have been documented to ingest plastic. 22% mortality from stranded marine mammals related to debris digestion 90% of seabirds ingest marine debris/plastic
Which hazardous material takes the longest to break down?
There are many types of hazardous waste. •The worst ones persist for a long time without breaking down: •Heavy metals (mercury, lead, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, tin, copper —from industry, mining, consumer products) •Organic compounds -(synthetic pesticides, petroleum products, rubber, solvents, preservatives...)
What is municipal solid waste? (MSW)
Total of all materials thrown away from households, cities, and towns; Also known as: (trash, refuse, garbage) •MS Waste generated in the USA -251 million tons of MSW -1 ton/person -2 kg trash a day/average American -3% of total solid waste produced -Paper is the biggest component of municipal solid waste in the United States.
What incentive do you need to reduce your waste?
Zero waste lifestyle
In each biotic province certain families of...
animals are dominant and fill ecological niches -For example, large herbivores: •North America -bison and pronghorns •South America -capybara •Australia -kangaroo •Africa -giraffes and antelope
What is hazardous waste?
any garbage or waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive (cleaning agents, paints, pesticides) They pose a danger to human health They can also be: •Ignitable: Can catch fire •Corrosive: Can damage or destroy metals •Reactive: Chemically unstable; can explode or produce fumes when combined with water •Toxic: Harmful or fatal when inhaled, ingested, or touched
Individuals in a population can spatially....
distribute in different ways