Environmental Science Exam 1 - Chapters 1-5
Full-cost pricing (Economics)
to find ways to include in market prices the harmful environmental and health costs of producing and using goods and services. Give customers information about the harmful environmental impacts of the goods and services that they use
Biomimicry
to understand, mimic, and catalog the ingenious ways in which nature has sustained life on the earth for billions of years.
Genetic engineering
transferring segments of DNA with a desired trait from one species to another; scientists alter an organisms genetic material by adding, deleting, or changing segments of its DNA to produce desirable traits or to eliminate undesirable ones.
Artificial selection
used by humans to change the genetic characteristics of populations with similar genes
Organisms developed abilities such as:
using sunlight to make food, and to better find food. These abilities were developed without the use of chemicals and high-temperature and pressure processes. Scientists urge to learn from earth on how to live sustainably.
Since humans have the power to degrade or sustain the earth's life support system:
we may decide whether forests are preserved or cut down, and which species survive or go extinct
Our worldview is developed by our environmental ethics:
what you believe about what is right and wrong in your behavior toward the environment
Population crash
when a population suffers a sharp decline due to using up resource supplies and temporarily exceed the carrying capacity of their environment.
Mutualism
when two species behave in ways that benefit both by providing each with food, shelter, or some other resource.
Background extinction rate
where 99.9% of all the species that have existed on earth are now extinct. Throughout earth's long history, species have disappeared at a low rate.
Exponential growth population
where a population has no control on its growth, and can reproduce rapidly indefinitely. Plotting such numbers against time yield give a J curve.
Biomes
where biologists classify terrestrial ecosystems into large regions characterized by distinct climates and certain prominent species, such as forests, deserts, and grasslands.
Aquifers
where groundwater is collected in, which are underground layers of sand, and water-bearing rock. Some precipitation is converted to ice that is stored in glaciers
Mass extinction
where life on earth has been sharply reduced by a catastrophic event, during which there is a significant rise in extinction rates, well above background rate.
Concepts 1.3 - what causes environmental problems?
Basic causes of environmental problems are human population growth (1), wasteful and unsustainable resource use (2), poverty (3), avoidance of full-cost pricing (4), and increasing isolation from nature (5). Our environmental worldview play a key. Role in determining whether we live unsustainably or more sustainably
Examples of keystone species
Honeybees, butterflies, bats, hummingbirds, wolves, leopards, lions, the American alligator, and some shark species
Why should kelp forests be preserved?
Because kelp forests support many marine plants and animals are one of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems. Can also reduce shore erosion by blunting the force of incoming waves and trapping some of the outgoing sand.
50-95% of all species are wiped out by what?
Major environmental changes such as long-term climate change.
How to implement full-cost pricing?
Shift from harmful government subsidies to environmentally beneficial subsidies that sustain or restore natural capital, and increase taxes on pollution and wastes and reduce taxes on income and wealth
Biological evolution through natural selection
are the most widely accepted scientific theory that explains how the earth's life has changed over the past 3.8 billion years and why we have today's diversity of species.
Concept 3.3 - What happens to energy in an ecosystem?
as energy flows through ecosystems in food chains and food webs, the amount of high-quality chemical energy available to organisms decreases at each successive feeding level
Solutions to sustainability:
compromises or trade offs, and each individual matter—each person plays an important role in learning how to live more sustainably
Poverty
condition in which people lack enough money to fulfill their basic needs for food, water shelter, health care, and education. 900 million people live in extreme poverty, less than $1.90 a day
Biosphere
consists of the parts of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere where life is found.
Detritus feeders (detritivores)
feed on the wastes or bodies of other organisms. Ex: hyena, earthworms, vultures
Water has a wide temperature range because of:
forces of attraction between its molecules, as well as changing its temperature slowly while storing large amounts of heat, and decreasing its density when at freezing temperature. This takes large amount of energy to evaporate water into gas. As a liquid, water dissolves more than any other liquid, filters out UV radiation from the sun to protect water life, and water expands when it freezes making it have less density than water has
Three other principles of sustainability:
full-cost pricing(economical), win-win solutions (political), and responsibility to future generations (ethical).
How are people being isolated?
Urban cities, phone usage are isolating people, nature deficit disorder - suffer from tress, anxiety, depression, and other problems.
Predation
Where a member of one species is the predator that feeds directly on all or part of a member of another species, the prey.
Ecosystem
a biological community of organisms within a defined area of land or volume of water that interact with one another and with the nonliving chemical and physical factors in their environment
Two limitations on adaptation through natural selection
a change in environmental conditions leads to adaptation only for genetic traits already present in a population's gene pool, or if such traits arise from random mutations. Even if beneficial heritable trait is present in population, the population's ability to adapt may be limited by its reproductive capacity. Populations of genetically diverse species that reproduce quickly often adapt to a change in environmental conditions in a short time. (Ex: dandelions, mosquitoes, rats, cockroaches)
Ecosystem
a community of different species interacting with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy
Secondary ecological succession
a community or system, replacing or adding to the existing set of resident species. It begins in an area where an ecosystem is disturbed, removed, or destroyed, but where some soil or bottom sediments remain.
Population
a group of individuals of the same species living in particular place
Species
a group of organisms having a unique set of characteristics that set it apart from other groups
Coevolution
a natural selection process in which changes in the gene pool of one species lead to changes in the gene pool of another species. Important role of controlling population growth of predator and prey species. When populations of two different species interact in such a way over a long time, changes in the gene pool of one population can lead to changes from the other.
Ecological footprint
a rough measure of the total harmful environmental impacts of individuals, cities, and countries on Earth's natural resources, ecosystem services, and life-support system
George Perkins Marsh
a scientist and member of Congress from Vermont, questioned the idea that America's resources were inexhaustible. He researched to show the rise and fall of past civilizations were linked to the misuse of their soil, water supplies, etc. Marsh was one of the founders the conservation movement in the US
Food chain
a sequence of organisms with each serving as a source of nutrients or energy for the next level of organisms
Environmentalism (environmental activism)
a social movement dedicated to protecting the earth's life-support system for species
Niche
a species' way of life in a community and includes everything that affects its survival and reproduction, such as how much water and sunlight it needs, how much space it requires, what it feeds on, what feeds on it, and the temperatures and other conditions it can tolerate.
Microevolution
a theory that states that population of species can change their genetic make-up through a process of natural selection
Genetic adaptions that helped humans to become powerful
strong opposable thumbs allowed humans to grip and use tools better than the few other animals that have thumbs, the ability to walk upright gave humans agility and freed up their hands for many uses, a complex brain allowed humans to develop many skills, including the ability o communicate complex ideas
Specialist species
such as the giant panda, occupies a narrow niche. Such species may be able to live in only one type of habitat, eat only one or a few types of food, tolerate a narrow range of environmental conditions. More likely to become endangered or extinct
Food web
where most consumers feed on more than one type of organism. Organisms in most ecosystems form a complex network of interconnected food chains. Chemical energy stored as nutrients in the bodies and wastes of organisms flow through ecosystems from one trophic level to another in food chains and food webs.
Surface runoff
where most precipitation that fell on terrestrial ecosystems. This water flows over land surfaces into streams, rivers, and the ocean from which some of the water evaporates.
Groundwater
where some precipitation seeps into the soil.
Predatory-prey relationship
a type of species interaction has a strong effect on population sizes and other factors in many ecosystems. Predators would eat their prey to prevent from consuming the rest of the resources.
Genetic variability
a variety in the genetic makeup of individuals in a population
Example of secondary ecological succession
abandoned farmlands, burned or cut forests, heavily polluted streams, and flooded land.
Example of R-selected species
algae, bacteria, and most insects
Less developed countries
all other nations, most from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. People may have middle and/or low income in moderately developed countries or least developed countries.
Life-centered worldview
all species have value in fulfilling their ecological roles, regardless of their potential or actual use to society.
Organism
an individual living being
Commensalism
an interaction that benefits one species but has little to none beneficial or harmful effects on the other.
Genetically modified organism (GMO)
an organism with its genetic information modified in a way not found in natural organisms.
The conservation movement split into two factions: preservationist view
and conservationist view.
Decomposers
are consumers that break down the wastes or remains of plants and animals. The process of decomposition returns these nutrients to the soil, water, and air for reuse by producers. Ex: bacteria and mushrooms
Rule of 70
where the approximate doubling time of the human population can be calculated by using the rule of 70.
Sustainability revolution (fourth major cultural change?)
where we learn to live more sustainably during this century. We avoid degradation and depletion of the natural capital that supports all life and our economies and restoring natural capital that we have degraded. Making this shift involve learning how nature has sustained life for billions of years and using these lessons from nature to shrink our ecological footprints and increase our beneficial environmental impacts.
This stimulate the growth of producers such as algae and various aquatic plants
which can upset chemical cycling and other processes in bodies of water
Evolution by natural selection is not important because it is just a theory. This reveals a misunderstanding of the concept of a scientific theory
which is baed on extensive evidence and accepted widely by the scientific experts in a particular field of study. Numerous polls show that evolution by natural selection is widely accepted by over 95% of biologists because it best explains the earth's biodiversity and how populations of different species have adapted to changes in the earth's environment conditions over billions of years
Producers
are organisms, such as plants, that make the nutrients they need from compounds and energy obtained from their environment
Harmful bacterias have developed genetic resistance against widely used antibacterial drugs
which occurs when one or more organisms in a population have genes that can tolerate a chemical.
But affluence CAN positively allow for:
widespread and better education, and more money available for developing technologies to reduce pollution, environmental degradation, and resource waste
Population of earth
7.6 billion
Human activity affect about:
83% of the earth's land surface as human ecological footprints have impacted the earth.
It is estimated that we would need about how many earths for sustainability?
1.6 Earths to sustain the world's average 2014 rate of renewable resource use per person into the future. 1.7 earths in 2018, and in 2030 we need 2 earths and 2050 three planet earths
Three major cultural changes have occurred:
1. Agricultural revolution (10000 years ago) when humans learned how to grow and breed plants and animals for food, clothing, and other purposes and began living in villages instead of moving to find food. 2. Industrial-medical revolution (300 years ago) when people invented machines for large-scale production of goods in factories. Learned how to get energy from fossil fuels and how to grow large quantities of food. Medical advances to allow longer and healthier lives. 3. Information-globalization revolution (50 years ago) began when new technologies is developed for gaining rapid access to all kinds of information and resources on a global scale.
Concepts 3.2 What are he major components of an ecosystem?: What are the major components of an ecosystem?
1. Some organisms produce the nutrients they need, other get the nutrients by consuming other organisms, and some recycle nutrient back to producers by decomposing the wastes and remains of other organisms, 2. Soil is a renewable resource that provides nutrients that support terrestrial plants and helps purify water and control the earth's climate
Human interference of Phosphorus cycle:1. The removal of large amounts of phosphate from the earth to make fertilizers
2. By clearing tropical forests, we expose the topsoil to increased erosion, which reduces phosphate levels in the tropical soils, eroded topsoil and fertilizer washed from fertilized crop fields, laws, and golf courses carry large quantities of phosphate ions into streams, lakes, and oceans.
Human interference of nitrogen cycle:
1. High temperature from burning gasoline result to converting some of N2 and O2 from the air into nitric oxide (NO), 2. NO can be converted to NO2 and nitric acid vapor (HNO3), which can return to the earth as acid deposition, or acid rain. 3. Remove large amounts of N2 from the atmosphere to make ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+), used to make fertilizers Added greenhouse gas citrus oxide (N2O) to atmosphere by anaerobic bacteria on nitrogen-containing fertilizer or organic animal manure applied to the soil. 4. Altered the aquatic ecosystems by adding excess nitrates (NO3-). Contaminate bodies of water through agricultural runoff of fertilizers, manure, and discharges from municipal sewage treatment systems. His plant nutrient can cause excessive growth so algae that can disrupt aquatic systems
How humans affected the carbon cycle:
1. Humans burned large quantities of fossil fuels, which in turn added tons of CO2 into the atmosphere faster than the carbon cycle can recycle it. Helping warm the atmosphere and change earth's climate, and acidity of ocean is rising when removing CO2. 2. Clearing carbon-absorbing vegetation from many forests, especially tropical forests, faster than it can grow back. Reduced ability of the carbon cycle to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere and it contributes to climate change
Concepts 1.2 - How are we affecting the earth?:
1. Humans dominate the earth with he power to sustain, add to, or degrade the natural capital that supports all life and human economies. 2. As our ecological footprints grow, we deplete and degrade more of the earth's natural capital that sustains us
Concepts 1.1 - what are some key principles of sustainability?:
1. Life on earth has been sustained for billions of years by solar energy, biodiversity, and chemical cycling, 2. Our lives and economics depend on energy from the sun and on natural resources and ecosystem services (natural capital) provided by the earth, 3. We can live more sustainably by following six principles of sustainability.
Three factors sustain the earth's life:
1. One way flow of the energy from the sun (Greenhouse effect - as solar energy interacts with CO2, water vapor and other gases in the troposphere warms it. Earth would be too cold without it), 2. Cycling of nutrients through parts of the biosphere (Nutrients are chemicals that organisms need to survive), 3. Gravity allows the planet to hold on to its atmosphere and enables the movement and cycling of chemicals through air water soil, and organisms
Humans alter the water cycle in three ways:
1. People withdraw freshwater from rivers, lakes, and aquifers at rates faster than natural processes can replace it. Some aquifers are being depleted and some rivers no longer flow to the ocean. 2. People clear vegetation from land for agriculture, mining, road building, and other activities, and cover much of the land with buildings, concrete, and asphalt. Increases water runoff and reduces infiltration that would normally recharge groundwater supplies. 3. People drain and fill wetlands for farming and urban development. Left undisturbed, wetlands provide the ecosystem service of flood control. Wetlands act like sponges to absorb and hold overflows of water from drenching rains and rapidly melting snow
How to deal with resource exhaustion:
1. Shared or open access renewable resource at ta rate well below its estimated sustainable yield. This is done by mutually agreeing t ouse less of the resource, regulating access to the resource, or both. 2. Convert shared renewable resources to private ownership. Why? If you own something, you can protect the investment. This doesn't always happen, and the approach is not possible for open access resources such as the atmosphere, which cannot be divided and then sold as private property.
There have been how many mass extinctions?
5
Concepts 3.1 - How does the earth's life-support system work?:
1. The four major components of the earth's life support system are the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere, 2. Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun through the biosphere, the cycling of nutrient within the biosphere, and gravity
Severe health effects b/c of environmental degradation:
1. life-threatening malnutrition - a lack of protein and other nutrients needed for good health, 2. illness caused by limited access to adequate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water, 3. air pollution from the smoke from open fires or poorly vented stoves. This causes 4.3 million deaths a year in less developed countries
Three big ideas:
1. We can ensure a more sustainable future by relying more on energy from the sun and other renewable energy sources, protecting biodiversity through the preservation of natural capital, and avoiding the disruption of the earth's vital chemical cycles, 2. Achieving a more sustainable future is full-cost pricing—the inclusion of harmful environmental and health costs in the market prices of goods and services, 3. We will benefit ourselves and future generations if we commit ourselves to finding win-win solutions to environmental problems and to leaving the planet's life-support system in a condition as good as or better than what we inherited
What factors threaten frogs and other amphibians with extinction?
Climate change; warming, air and water pollution, habitat loss, UV radiation, eggs lack shells to protect embryo inside from water, pollution, Adult frogs ingest insecticides
Another basic cause of environmental problems is how the marketplace prices goods and services
Companies using resources to provide goods for consumers generally aren't required to pay for most of the harmful environmental and health costs of supplying such goods Ex: timber companies pay the cost of clear cutting forests but NOT for the resulting environmental degradation and loss of wildlife habitat
Harmful effects of poverty:
Daily lives center on survival alone, cause much desperate measures for short-term survival, not worried for long-term environmental quality or sustainability, may degrade forests, topsoil, and grasslands, deplete wildlife population for survival. Poverty doesn't always degrade the environment however:,may increase their beneficial environmental impact by planting and nurturing trees and conserving the soil they depend on
Alligators as keystone species play many roles:
Dig deep holes where it holds freshwater during dry spells and serve as refuges for aquatic life, supply freshwater and food for fishes, insects, snakes, turtles, birds, and other animals, their nesting mounds provide nesting and feeding sites for some herons and egrets, and red bellied turtles lay their eggs in old gator nests, eat many gar and predatory fish, which helps to maintain populations of game fish that gar eat, such as bass and bream, alligator holes help prevent vegetation from invading shorelines and open-water areas. W/o it freshwater ponds and coastal wetlands would fill in with shrubs and trees
Example of commensalism
Epiphytes attach themselves to the trunks or branches of trees in tropical forests. The plant can gain better access to sunlight, water from humid air and rain, and nutrients falling from the trees' upper leaves and limbs.
Most productive Aquatic ecosystems
Estuaries, and Lakes and streams
Pyramid of energy flow
Every use and transfer of energy by organisms involves a loss of some high-quality energy to the environment as low-quality energy in the form of heat, as required by the second law of thermodynamics. Decrease in usable chemical energy available at each succeeding trophic level in a food chain or food web.
How is biodiversity a good thing?
Humans use biodiversity as a source of food, medicine, building materials, and fuel, provides natural ecosystem services such as air and water purification, renewal of topsoil, decomposition of waste, and pollination, earth's variety of genetic info, species, and ecosystems are needed for the evolution of new species and ecosystem services, as they respond to changing environmental conditions, biodiversity is the earth's ecological insurance policy
Three types of survivorship curves
Late loss - (elephants) typically has high survivorship to a certain age, then high mortality, early loss - (annual plants and boney fish species) survivorship is low early in life, and constant loss - (songbirds) shows a roughly constant death rate at all ages
Example of interspecific competition
Lions and hyenas
What improved for people?
Live in houses and cities, computers to enhance intelligence, life span increasing, education becoming more accessible, world poverty decreasing
Concept 3.4 - What happens to matter in an ecosystem
Matter, in the form of nutrients, cycles within and among ecosystems and the biosphere, and human activities are altering these chemical cycles. Matter and energy are transferred from one form to another. Nutrients and living matter are passed from producers to consumers, then broken down by decomposers.
What percentage of earth's vast supply is available as liquid fresh water to humans and other species?
Only 0.024%
Tertiary (high level)
feed on herbivores and carnivores (tigers, hawks, killer whales)
Concept 3.5. - how do scientists study ecosystems
Scientists use field research and laboratory research, and mathematical and other types of models, to learn about ecosystems and how much stress they can take. Uses remote sensing and GIS
Most productive ecosystems:
Terrestrial,tropical rain forests, and swamps and marshes
Nutrient cycle
The elements and compounds that make up nutrients move continually through air, water, soil, rock, and living organisms within ecosystems.
Concepts 4.3 - How does the earth's life change over time?
The scientific theory of evolution through natural selection explains how life on the earth changes over time due to changes in the genes of populations. Populations evolve when genes mutate and give some individuals genetic traits that enhance their abilities of survive and to produce offspring with these traits (natural selection)
Secondary consumers
feed on the flesh of herbivores (spiders, lions, small fishes)
Concepts 4.4 - what factors affect biodiversity?
as environmental conditions change, the balance between the formation of new species and the extinction of existing species determines the earth's biodiversity. Human activities are decreasing biodiversity by causing the extinction of many species and by destroying or degrading habitats needed for the development of new species through natural selection.
Example of primary ecological succession
bare rock exposed by a retreating glacier, newly cooled lava, an abandoned highway or parking lot.
Edward O. Wilson
became one of the world's experts on ants, unlocking secrets to their methods of communication and social behaviors. He wrote The Diversity of Life where he presented the principles and practical issues of biodiversity more completely than anyone had to that point. He is now recognized as one of the world's leading experts on biodiversity
Four ways predators can hunt better
camouflage (praying mantis), Chemical warfare (snakes), speed (cheetah), keen eyesights (eagles)
Many ways prey can avoid predators
camouflage (wandering leaf insect), chemical warfare (skunks), warning coloration (monarch butterflies, poisonous frogs), Run, swim, and fly
Renewable resources
can be used repeatedly b/c it's replenished through natural process as long as it's not used up faster than nature can renew it. Has a sustainable yield
The good of synthetic biology
can create bacterias that can use sunlight to produce clean-burning hydrogen gas for motor fuel, new vaccines
Consumers
cannot cannot produce their own food, they get it by feeding on other producers or consumers, or wastes and remains.
Mutations
changes in the coded genetic instructions in the DNA within a gene. A mutation can result in a new genetic trait, called a heritable trait, which can be passed from one generation to the next. In this way, populations develop genetic differences among their individuals
Example of generalist species
cockroaches, rats, coyotes
Hydrologic cycle (water cycle)
collects, purifies, and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water. The sun provides the energy needed to power the water cycle. Incoming solar energy causes evaporation. Most water vapor rises into the atmosphere where it condenses into droplets in clouds. Gravity draws the water back to the earth's surface as rain
Interspecific competition
competition between different species; plays a larger role in most ecosystems than intraspecific competition—competition among members of the same species.
Hydrosphere (water)
contains all of the water on or near the earth's surface. Found as water vapor in the atmosphere, as liquid water on the surface and underground, and as ice, salty oceans that cover 71% of earth's surface contain 97% of the planet's water and support almost half of the world's species, 2.5% of the earth's water is fresh water and three fourths of that is ice
Win-win solutions (Politics)
cooperation and compromises to benefit people and environment
The bad
create biological weapons such as deadly diseases, destroy oil deposits, interfere with chemical cycles that keep us alive
Examples of environmental degradation:
desert expanding, forests shrinking, water pollution (such as acidity), species becoming extinct, lower atmosphere warming
Rachel Carson
documented the pollution of air, water, and wildlife from the widespread use of pesticides. Her book heightened public awareness of pollution problems and led to regulations of pesticides
Concepts 4.2 - what roles do species play in ecosystems?
each species plays a specific ecological role called its niche, and any given species may play one or more four important roles—native, nonnative, indicator, or keystone—in a particular ecosystem
Omnivore
eat plants and animals (pigs, humans, chimpanzee)
Example of k-selected speices
elephants, whales, and humans
Synthetic biology
enables scientists to make new sequences of DNA and use such genetic information to design and create artificial cells, tissues, body parts, and organisms not found in nature
Environment
everything around you (includes energy from sun, living and nonliving things
Nonrenewable resources
exists in fixed amounts
Inexhaustible resources
expected to last forever on a human timescale
Sharks as keystone species:
feed at or near the tops of their food webs remove injured and sick animals. Without this ecosystem service, the oceans would teem with dead and dying fish and marine mammals. Sharks are being hunted way too often to the point of being endangered
Humans are not exempt from nature's population controls because
fungus destroying potato crop in Ireland killed 1 million people due to starvation. Millions more migrated to other countries, sharply reducing the Irish population. Bubonic plague killed 25 million people across Europe. Humans are still vulnerable to diseases, and having little food to maintain survival
People may live more sustainably if:
harmful environmental and health cots of goods and services were included in market prices of the goods they buy (six principalities of sustainability)
Generalist species
has a broad niche, such as the raccoon. Generalists can live in many different places, eat a variety of foods, and often tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions
Keystone species
has a large effect on the types and abundance of other species in an ecosystem. Without the keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or might collapse. Keystone species play several critical roles in helping to sustain ecosystems: pollination and predators
Carbon cycle
has various compounds of carbon circulate through the biosphere, the atmosphere, and parts of the hydrosphere and geosphere.
Adaptive trait (adaption)
improves the ability of an individual organism to survive and to reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals in a population can under current environmental conditions.
More developed countries
industrialized nations with high average income per person, such as US, Japan, Europe, etc. 17% of population use about 70% of earth's resources
Primary ecological succession
involves the gradual establishment of communities of different species in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem
Conservationist view
promoted by President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, held that all public lands should be managed wisely and scientifically, primarily to provide resources for people
Atmosphere (air)
is a spherical mass of air surrounding the earth's surface that is held to the earth by gravity.
biotic
is living organisms
Abiotic
is non living
Why is the monarch butterfly threatened?
is threatened by bad weather and numerous predators, but face two threats by human activities: 1. steady loss of their small forest habitat in Mexico, due to logging and replacement of forest without avocado plantations, 2. economic development in their coastal destination in Northern California. Reduced access to milkweed plants essential for their survival during migration almost all of the natural praises in the US, which were abundant with milkweed plants, have been replaced by croplands where milkweed plants grow only as weeds between rows of crops and on roadsides.
Sea otters are being threatened by
killer whales when their normal prey, sea lions and seals, began declining, parasites that are in the feces of cats by the coast are infecting otters, and toxic algae and pollutants released by humans can kill otters by accumulating to high levels in the tissues of the shellfish that otters eat
Preservationist view
led by naturalist John Muir, wanted wilderness areas on some public lands to be left untouched sot they would be preserved indefinitely.
Three major categories of environmental worldviews: human centered worldview
life centered worldview, and earth centered worldview
Affluence and unsustainable resource use
lifestyles of many expanding population are built on growing affluence, or resource consumption per person, as more earn higher incomes. Total resource consumption + average resource consumption increases, so do environmental degradation, resource waste, and pollution. US with 4.4% of world population is responsible for ~23% of the global ecological footprint
Concept 1.4 - what is an environmentally sustainable society?:
living sustainably means living on the earth's natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it
Geosphere (crust
mantle, core),contains the earth's rocks, minerals and soil. Consists of an intensely hot core, a thick mantle of very hot rock, and a thin outer crust of rock and soil.
Natural resources
materials and energy provided by nature that are essential or useful to humans. Fall into three categories: inexhaustible, renewable, and nonrenewable resources.
Carrying capacity is not a fixed number
may fluctuate
What is living sustainably?
means living on natural income, which is the renewable resources provided by the earth's natural capital. Preserving and replenishing the earth's natural capital can reduce people's ecological footprints
GPP and NPP are used to
measure the rates at which ecosystems produce chemical energy to compare ecosystems and understand how they interact.
Three levels of biomicicry
micmicking the characteristics of species, mimicking the processes that species use to make shells, feathers, etc., and mimicking the long-term survival strategies and beneficial environmental effects of natural ecosystems, such as forests.
Reproductive isolation
mutation and change by natural selection operate independently in the gene pools of geographically isolated populations. If this process continues for a long time, members of isolated populations of sexually reproducing species can become different in genetic makeup, then they cannot produce live, fertile offspring if they are rejoined and attempt to interbreed. When then happens is speciation occurs and one species become two
Key components of sustainability:
natural capital, natural resources, and ecosystem services
Natural capital
natural resources and ecosystem services that keep animals alive and that support human economies
Ecosystem services
natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost
Scientists used this to develop modified crop plants
new drugs, pest-resistant plants, and animals that grow rapidly
Concept 5.3 - what limits the growth of populations?
no population can grow indefinitely because of limitations on resources and because of competition among species for those resources
Invasive species
nonnative species compete with and reduce an ecosystem's native species. Ex: Wild African honeybees imported into Brazil, but the aggressive African honeybees displaced some of Braizl's native honeybee populations, which led to a reduced honey supply. Have killed thousands of domesticated animals across Latin America and US
Open-access resources
not owned by anyone and can be used by almost anyone, such as atmosphere and open ocean.Shared resources are grasslands, forests, streams and aquifers (underground water). Many of these renewable resources have been environmentally degraded It's a tragedy when people think the little bit used or pollute is not enough to matter, because its's a renewable source. When so many think like this, it adds up use and will degrade the resource. After it being exhausted, no one benefits and loses
Exponential growth
occurs when a quantity increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time. Starts slowly, but after few doublings it grows to big numbers because each doubling is twice the total of all earlier growth. Ex: the exponential growth of bacteria. 1 bacterium splits into two every 20 min; one hour is 8; 10 hours is 1000+
Biological extinction
occurs when an entire species ceases to exist.
Geographic isolation
occurs when different groups of the same population of a species become physically isolated from one another for a long time. The separated populations can develop quite different genetic characteristics because they are no longer exchanging genes. Part of a population may migrate in search of food and then begin living as a separate population in an area with different environmental conditions
Resource partitioning
occurs when different species competing for similar scarce resources evolve specialized traits that allow them to "share" the same resources. Sharing resources can mean using parts of the resources, or using it at different times or in different ways.
Parasitism
occurs when one species (parasite) lives in or on another organism (host), and the parasite benefits by extracting nutrients from the host. Ex: tapeworms, mistletoe plants
Speciation
one species evolves into two or more different species
Trophic level
organisms are classified by ecologists as producer and consumers based on whether they make or find food
Nonnative species
other species that migrate into or are deliberately or accidentally introduced into a new ecosystem. Ex: Chickens and cattle in US
Environmental worldview
our set of assumptions and values about how the natural world works and how we think we should interact with the environment
Nutrient cycles connect:
past, present, and future forms of life. Some of the carbon atoms from the skin may once have been part of another organism, such as a dinosaur skin. We may have breathed the same air as ancients humans have
Earth-centered worldview
people are part of and dependent on nature, and the earth's natural capital exists for all species, not just for humans. Our economic success depend and survival on learning how life on earth has sustained for billions of years
Variations of human-centered worldview:
planetary management worldview and the stewardship worldview. Both says we are separate from nature, and should manage the earth. Stewardship says we have a responsibility to be caring managers of the planet for generations
Photosynthesis
plants capture solar energy that falls on their leaves and use it to combine carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates, such as glucose. They emit oxygen into the atmosphere.
Example of mutualism
pollination of flowering plants by species such as honeybees, butterflies, and hummingbirds that feed on nectar of flowers. Oxpeckers feed on parasitic ticks that infest impala and warn of approaching predators.
Insects are important for:
pollination so plants can reproduce, detritivores or decomposers help return organic matter and nutrients to the soil, and insects that eat other insects help control the populations of at least half the insect species we call pests.
Human activities can degrade natural capital by:using resources too fast
pollution, people finding solutions to the environmental problems we face
Community
populations of different species living in a particular place, and potentially interacting with one another
Several types of consumers:
primary consumers (herbivore), and carnivores.
environmentally sustainable society
protects natural capital and lives on its income. This society would meet current and future resource needs for its people w/o compromising the ability of future generations to meet their resource needs. Protect your capital and live on the income it provides. Deplete or waste your capital and will move from a sustainable to an unsustainable lifestyle
Call to action to overpopulation
reduce severe environmental degradation by slowing population growth w/ the goal of leveling it off at 8 billion by 2050. To do this is by reducing poverty through economic development, promoting family planning, and elevating the status of women
Responsibility to future generations (Ethics)
responsibility to leave the planet's life-support systems in a condition as good as or better than what we inherited fro the benefit of future generations and for other species
Seven principles of of biomimicry
runs on sunlight, does not waste energy, adapts to changing environmental conditions, depends on biodiversity for population control and adaptation, creates no waste because the matter outputs of one organism are resources for other organisms, does not pollute its environment, and does not produce chemicals that can't be recycled by eath's chemical cycles
What are the threats against kelp forests?
sea urchins can consume all kelp available, polluted water running off the land (pesticides and herbicides), global warming of the oceans because kelp require cooler water.
Human-centered worldview
sees the natural world primarily as a support system for human life
IPAT model
shows that the environmental impact of human activities is the product three factors (I): population size (P), affluence or resource consumption per person (A), and the beneficial and harmful environmental effects of technologies (T)
Survivorship curve
shows the percentages of the members of population surviving at different ages
Three scientific principle of sustainability:
solar energy, biodiversity, and chemical cycling
Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability:
solar energy, biodiversity—variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes, and chemical cycling—the circulation of nutrients from the environment through various organisms and back to the environment
Four components of biodiversity
species diversity, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity, and functional diversity.
Endemic species
species found in only one area are especially vulnerable to extinction. Most exist on islands and in other isolated areas, which are unlikely to be able to migrate or adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Many are amphibians
Indicator species
species that provide early warnings of environmental change in a community or an ecosystem, nature's smoke detector. Ex: Harlequin frogs and other amphibians
R-selected species
species with a capacity for a high rate of population increase (r). These tend to have short life spans and produce many, usually small, offspring and to give the little or no parental care or protection. Many offspring die at an early age, and losses can be overcome by producing large numbers of offspring few will likely survive and have many to sustain the species.
5 myths about evolution
survival of the fittest means survival of the strongest. To biologists, fitness is a measure of reproductive success, not strength. Thus the fittest individuals are those that leave the most descendants, not those that are physically the strongest. Evolution explains the origin of life. It does not; however, it does explain how species evolved after life came into being around 3.8 billion years ago. Humans evolved from apes or monkeys. Fossil and other evidence shows that humans, apes, and monkeys evolved along different paths from a common ancestor that lived 5-8 million years ago. Evolution by natural selection is part of a grand plan in nature in which species are to become more perfectly adapted. There is no evidence of such plan
Biodiversity is vital to:
sustaining and increasing the natural capital that keeps us alive and supports our economies.
Governments give companies subsidies such as:
tax breaks and payments to assist them with using resources to run their businesses. Helps create jobs, but can harm environmentally
K-selected species
tend to reproduce later in life, have few offspring, and have long life spans. Offspring of k-selected mammal species develop inside their mothers where they are safe. After birth, they mature slowly and are cared for and protected by one or both parents. They live in herds or groups, until reaches there reproductive stage
As a population approaches the carrying capacity of its habitat:
the J-shaped curve of its exponential growth is converted to an S-Shape curve of logistic growth, or growth that fluctuates around a certain level
Biocapacity (biological capacity)
the ability of an area's ecosystems to regenerate the renewable resources used by a population, city, region, country, or the world in a given time period and to absorb the resulting waste and pollution. If total ecological footprint in an area is larger than its bio capacity, the area is said to have an ecological deficit. Happens when people are living unsustainably by depleting natural capital instead of living off the renewable resources and ecosystem services provided by such capital.
Stratosphere
the atmospheric layer above the troposphere. Ozone layer contains enough O3 to filter 95% of sun's harmful UV, and Acts as a global sunscreen to allow life to exist
Per capita ecological footprint
the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given population or defined area. Human ecological footprint impacted 83% of earth's land surface
Concept 4.1 - what is biodiversity and why is it important?
the biodiversity found in genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes is vital to sustaining life on earth
Nitrogen cycle
the biogeochemical cycle in which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among parts of the biosphere.
Ecology
the branch of biology that focuses on how living organisms interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment
Sustainability
the capacity of the earth's natural systems that support life and human economic systems to survive or adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.
Chemical cycling
the circulation of nutrients from the environment through various organisms and back to the environment.
Phosphorus cycle
the cyclic movement of phosphorus through water, the earth's crust, and living organisms. Most of phosphorus compounds in the cycle contain phosphate ions (PO4 3-), which are an important plant nutrient. Phosphorus doesn't cycle through the atmosphere because few of its compounds exist as a gas. Phosphorus also cycles slower than water, carbon, and nitrogen
Ecosystem diversity
the earth's diversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems found in an area or on the earth, such as deserts, grasslands, oceans, wetlands, etc.
Concept 5.1 - how do species interact?
the five types of interactions among species are interspecific competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and communalism—affect the resource use and population sizes of species
Troposphere
the inner most layer that extends about 12 mi above sea level at the equator and about 4 miles above the earth's North and South Poles. Has 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, other 1% is water vapor, CO2, and methane. Where earth's weather occur and life to survive
How geological processes can affect biodiversity? The movement of tectonic plates has had two important effects:
the locations of continents and oceanic basins have greatly influenced the earth's climate, which plays a key role in where plants and animals can live, the breakup, movement, and joining of continents have allowed species to move and adapt to new environments, this lead to the formation of large number of new species through speciation, earthquakes and volcanos causes fissures in the earth's crust, which can isolate populations of species on either side of the fissure. Can lead to new species over a period of time
Carrying capacity
the maximum population of a given species that a particular habitat can sustain indefinitely.
Ecological succession
the normally gradual change in species composition in a a given area
Species diversity
the number and abundance of the different species living in an ecosystem. Number of species on earth range from 7 mil to 100 mil
Habitat
the place, or type of ecosystem, in which it lives and obtains what it needs to survive (don't confuse w/ niche)
Natural selection
the process in which individuals with certain genetic traits are more likely to survive and reproduce under a specific set of environmental conditions. These individuals then pass these traits on to their offspring.
Biological evolution
the process in which species change genetically over time.
Environmental degradation/natural capital degradation
the process where humans have continually waste, deplete, and degrade much of the earth's life-sustaining natural capital
Gross primary productivity (GPP)
the rate at which an ecosystem's producers (such as plants) convert solar energy into chemical energy, which they store as compounds in their bodies. To stay alive, grow, and reproduce, producers must use some sort of their stored chemical energy for their own aerobic respiration.
Net primary productivity (NPP)
the rate at which producers use photosynthesis to produce and store chemical energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored chemical energy through aerobic respiration. NPP measures how fast producers can make the chemical energy that is potentially available to the consumers in an ecosystem.
Fossils
the remains or traces of past organisms
Concept 5.2 - how do communities and ecosystems respond to changing environmental conditions?:
the species composition of a community or ecosystem can change in response with the process called ecological succession.
Environmental science
the study of connections in the natural environment nature; An interdisciplinary study of: 1. How the earth works and has survived and thrived, 2. How humans interact with the environment, 3. How humans can live more sustainably
Environmental resistance
the sum of all such factors in a habitat, such as sunlight, water, temperature, space, nutrients, etc may impose as limiting factors toward rapidly growing populations.
Solar energy
the sun's energy warms the planet and provides energy that plants use to produce nutrients, the chemicals that plants and animals need
Macroevolution
the theory states that all organisms on the earth an trace their ancestry back to a common life form that arose ~3.8 billion years ago
Genetic diversity
the variety of genes found in a population or in a species. Species w/ greater genetic diversity have better chance of surviving and adapting to environmental changes
Biodiversity (principle of sustainability)
the variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes there are
Biodiversity
the variety of life on the earth.
Functional diversity
the variety of processes such as energy flow and matter cycling that occur within ecosystems as species interact with one another in food chains and food webs; the biological and chemical processes such as energy flow and matter recycling needed for the survival of species, communities, and ecosystems
Because consumers cannot produce their own food
they get it by feeding on other producers or consumers, or wastes and remains.
Native species
those that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem. Ex: Bisons in US
