Environmental Science Final
What groups was Maathai working to engage?
She worked with women to plant trees to replenish local ecosystems and this provided things women could harvest from trees like food and wood for shelter or fuel
Choose one product and present a life-cycle-analysis (e.g., as presented in Chapter 18). Your life-cycle-analysis should include the energy and materials needed to make the product
. In order to make the product, raw materials like glass and metals will have to be harvested for the actual product. Plastic and cardboard will be needed to package it. Fossil fuels will be needed to transport it to the store
What are two characteristics of a biodiversity hotspot?
1. Large number of endemic species 2. Human actions threaten the habitat
include the name of the trophic level, the organisms' name, and details of the roles at all four levels.
A food chain example is algae (primary producer, autotroph), which is eaten by krill (primary consumer), which is eaten fish (secondary consumer) which are eaten by bears (tertiary consumer); decomposers like microbes (in water and on land) and fungi (on land) are active throughout the food chain recycling waste by feeding on dead matter.
Give a detailed example of niche differentiation that we discussed in class, include details on the species, focal resource and how the niches are differentiated in space, time or both.
An example of niche differentiation is the warblers of New England. There are five species of warblers who all live in the same forest and eat the same spruce budworms. To avoid competition, the warblers feed in different areas of the tree canopy (spatial differentiation, divide the tree canopy up).
Describe an ecosystem that was presented in the in the text or Living Library resources.
An ecosystem presented in the Living Library was the Prickly Pear Creek in Montana (USA).
Ecosystem services are defined as
Benefits that the environment provides to humans
Why is climate change expected to disrupt the home range of birds in the U.S.? Is their range expected to grow or shrink by 2080 (hint: review the NYT Article from the Living Library on bird home ranges by F. Barringer (2014).
Climate change could cause draughts which harm insects and impact the survivability of birds in certain areas. Therefore, they may migrate to new areas.
What type of molecules are water and what is the chemical reason for water's unique properties? What are three key roles that water plays in ecosystem and organismal functions?
Dipole bonds between molecules and covalent bonds between atoms. Water is a solvent, cohesive, and adhesive because it is a polar molecule.
What are the components of the IPAT equation?
Environmental Impact= Population x Affluence x Technology
Provide one example that we discussed in class (either in Christensen's text, an in-class example, or the Living Library) to help illustrate this concept. Hint: be sure to include all three steps in the feedback!
For example 1) deforestation on a hillside, like the one in Guatemala that we read about, can cause erosion, then 2) the loss of the trees and their roots makes the soil more exposed and allows erosion to continue, and then 3) more and more soil is lost so there is actually less soil for future plants to grow in. When a new seed falls on this eroded hillside it can't
Describe all four steps and the final outcome using one of the examples we discussed in class (e.g., Galapagos finches, pigeons, or another organism). What is the source of variation? Be sure to include what type of natural selection is taking place (e.g., directional selection, stabilizing, or destabilizing).
For the Galapagos finches, DNA modifications occurred due to random differences in the DNA. This caused some birds to have big beaks and some to have small beaks. The survivability aspect of it occurred when drought hit the Daphne Major island and killed all plants that produce small seeds, and it left only plants that produce big seeds. Only big beaked birds were able to eat these big seeds and survive. Next, these big beaked birds reproduced with each other producing even more big beaked birds, while the small beaked birds died out. Finally, the shift in frequency of this trait was that big beaks became more common because that is all that remains in the population. This is a form of directional selection, because one extreme, the big beaked finches survived.
What are global circulation models?
Global circulation models are computer programs that use previous data to predict future climate patterns.
threats to biodiversity
Habitat loss Habitat fragmentation Overharvesting Non-native Invasive species Pollution Altered patterns of disturbance Climate change
Describe how human land use is contributing to climate change by increasing the flux of CO2 in the atmosphere
Human land use is contributing to climate change through deforestation (reduces plants photosynthesizing) and burning fossil fuels, which increases CO2 contributions to atmosphere.
How do consumption patterns differ from in our grandparent's generation?
In our grandparent's generation, thrifting was considered valuable, as well as saving items and only making large purchases once and making repairs as necessary. Today, only 1% of products are still in use a year after their purchased. Furthermore, advertising is much more prevalent in our daily lives than in our grandparents'.
What is the link between these trees and human well-being; does she emphasize importance of well-being of particular people?
In these ways trees are integral to human well-being. She emphasizes the well being of women and this is an example of ecofeminism.
how much energy it will use over it's lifetime (e.g., If you select an electronic device, then how much energy will it use each year?
It will probably be in use for three years until it breaks or a new one is purchased, and use about 4 kW of energy per years, so over three years a total of 12 kW.
In the late 1800s the federal government began eradicating the grey wolf from Yellowstone because of fear that the wolf population would have a negative impact on the area's elk, which were considered a more desirable species at that time. The eradication of this keystone species continued until the 1930s, when wolves were effectively eliminated from the lower 48 states. In the absence of wolves, elk populations begin to explode and that, in turn, resulted in what has become known as a trophic cascade. Use this information to describe the effects of keystone species eradication and the resulting trophic cascade.
Keystone species are species on which an ecosystem seriously depends. IN this case, the wolf was more of a keystone species than the government had expected. A trophic cascade is the indirect actions which affect an ecosystems; for example, how a wolf keeps river beds intact. Because the wolf eradication, elk populations boomed. This led to them eating more foliage on riverbeds, which destabilized the riverbanks. The plants had a hard time growing back, and the ecosystem was widely impacted.
How was sustainability defined in the 1987 report entitled "Our Common Future" led by Dr. Bruntland?
Meeting the needs of present generations in a fair and equitable way without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Give an example of how these principles apply to a focal system from the text or Living Library.
One example to explain this is the flux of energy on the polar ice caps. We studied that through positive feedback (gains/losses of matter and energy) the polar caps are melting (change is inevitable and essential), and the leftover water (matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed) is increasing temperatures even more.
What is planned obsolescence? Perceived obsolescence?
Planned obsolescence is when a product is designed to become useless, like breaking easily or being designed to be disposed after one use. Perceived obsolescence is the idea that a consumer "needs" the newest fashions or technology to be successful.
Explain why positive feedbacks often destabilize ecosystems
Positive feedbacks often destabilize ecosystems because they reinforce the direction of a change in an ecosystem
Define the four types of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural) and give examples from your system.
Regulating services regulate ecosystem functions, like climate regulation, water flow. Supporting services are the background foundation for other ecosystem processes, and include soil formation and nutrient cycles. Cultural services provide humans with aesthetic, spiritual, and/or recreational benefits and this includes fishing in the creek.
What is the IPCC?
The IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Describe the competitive exclusion principle and niche differentiation.
The competitive exclusion principle holds that two species in direct competition for essential resources cannot coexist—one species will eventually displace the other. Niche differentiation occurs when multiple species utilize different resources in a fundamental niche so that they can coexist and avoid competition.
Do you think that people have a stronger response if a bird they had an emotional tie with was being affected (e.g., a state bird or team mascot)?
The fact that birds are leaving their "home lands" is a very shocking realization, and I think many people would be more concerned if they knew their beloved mascot was in peril.
Understand/describe the levels of the food recovery hierarchy pyramid. What should happen first? What is the "last line of defense"?
The first thing to recover food should be source reduction, i.e. not over producing food that cannot be consumed. The last defense should be throwing away food without composting it, or into a landfill or incinerator.
Describe the concept of "flow of energy" in ecological communities using a food chain.
The flow of energy in an ecosystem refers to the transfer and transformation of energy among food chains, specifically organisms transform what they eat into biomass energy. Biomass energy is food that can be consumed at higher trophic levels. Usually we think of trophic efficiencies as being about 10%, but it can be less for warm-blooded animals that have to maintain body temp and hunt prey, 2-3% for tertiary consumers!
What is the golden arrow? How does it drive the system?
The golden arrow symbolizes shopping. It drives the system by forcing more distribution and consumption
Briefly describe the green revolution in agriculture
The green revolution was an improvement in plant breeding and other farming techniques that increased agricultural productivity conceived by Norman Bolaug
Ecological footprint is defined as
The land area required to produce the ecosystem goods and services for entire human populations or the average individual in such populations
Describe the two key steps in carbon flux between the biosphere and the atmosphere.
The two steps of this breathing are photosynthesis (plants pulls CO2 in from the atmosphere, bring into the biosphere) and respiration (CO2 goes back to the atmosphere when plants & animals access energy).
amount of waste generated
The waste energy include the packaging, but you can send phones to be recycled.
What was the main benefit that came from the green revolution?
Therefore, it increased food production of staple crops.
Which service(s) do you think that she highlights as most important, and what type of ecosystem services do they represent (e.g., provisioning, regulating, cultural, supporting)?
These are provisioning services and they helped meet basic need. Trees also helped restore other services, like water flow regulation (so women don't have to make such long trips to look for water) and cultural services, in the way of mediating tribal conflicts and promoting peace and democracy
Will these populations reach carrying capacity faster than the same number of birds in a larger home range? Why or why not?
These new populations which are pushed into smaller areas will reach carrying capacity faster because there are fewer resources for them to use.
Why are agroecosystems generally more fragile than natural ecosystems?
They are more fragile because they have human interactions which may impact them.
What type of data does this group seek to model?
They seek to model global warming and climate change.
Name two biotic and two abiotic components for your focal ecosystem.
This creek is shared by wildlife, such as fish, and humans (two biotic components!) and the humans' management challenge is to utilize the water in a sustainable way and not take out all the water so that the creek is dry. Some organizations are working with local businesses to keep water in the creek. Two abiotic components of the creek are rocks and water.
What are three steps can be taken to mitigate these anthropogenic contributions?
Three steps that can be taken are stopping deforestation, replanting trees for biostorage, and reducing burning of biofuels (transportation efficiency, transportation conservation).
Indicate two biotic components of your system and two abiotic factors of your system.
Two biotic components of this system include the warblers and the spruce budworms. Two abiotic factors include temperature and rainfall.
What are two unintended, negative outcomes?
Two problems were soil depletion and dependence on artificial fertilizers.
Summarize Wangari Maathai's work on the Greenbelt Movement
Wangari Maathai's work on the Greenbelt Movement was to plant millions of trees in Africa
Why is water so important in our ecosystems?
Water is a universal solvent, and therefore is key in the basic chemical reactions of living things
What are the four steps in natural selection?
a. DNA variation (random mutations) at the individual level which b. are associated with survivability advantages* under some selection pressure c. survivors produce offspring with the same trait and finally d. there are multiple recipients of the same trait; the the trait becomes more common in a population
Describe the five parts of the materials economy that was presented in the video, The Story of Stuff
a. Extraction b. Production c. Distribution d. Consumption e. Disposal
List 3 principles of ecosystem function; please list only three.
a. Matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed. b. Ecosystems are always open to gains and losses in matter and energy. c. Ecosystem change is inevitable and essential.
Describe the three scenarios that global circulation models forecast, outcomes for temperature and one key ecological outcome for each
b. Today's world, which operates saying if right now we stopped releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere all together. This would lead to a less than 1° C increase of the global temp. (0.1° C/decade) but will still result in outcomes like some coral bleaching. c. Business as usual, no reduction in carbon emission release into the atmosphere leading to a 4° C increase in global temp by 2100 & and nearly 40% of species will be at risk of extinction. d. Sustainable world, a dramatic reduction in carbon emission & an effort to return them to current rates within 50 years, leading to a 1.8° C increase in temp by 2100, with outcomes like 30% of species at risk of extinction.
Biodiversity is defined as
the variety of life in all its forms and combinations and at all levels of organization
What is the difference between climate and weather?
• Climate: applies to atmospheric conditions (temperature, humidity, and rainfall) that exist over large regions and relatively long periods of time. • Weather: short-term variations in local atmospheric conditions.
