environmental Science- PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY and Biogeochemical Cycles and their Importance

Systematic study of the physical and biological factors in the environment

ECOLOGY

the ability to move things, do work, or transfer heat

• Thermodynamics is the study of energy.

ENERGY

disorganization, or entropy, increase in natural systems through

any spontaneous process (as energy is used it is degraded to lower forms of energy)

2nd Law

energy may change from one form to another, but the total

amount of energy will remain constant (energy is not destroyed or

created)

1st Law

Founder of modern ecology In the early 1970s, he wrote The Closing Circle, in which he discussed the rapid growth

of industry and technology and their persistent effect on all forms of life.

BARRY COMMONER

Commoner summarized the basics of ecology into what he termed

laws of ecology

Everything is connected to everything else

All thigs are connected to each other, sometimes in

very obvious ways, and sometimes in very complex,

indirect ways.

LAW 1

Everything must go somewhere

This is one law that has become increasingly clear as we attempt to

find ways to deal with the waste that we produce each day.

law 2

• Primary production

• Nutrient cycling

SUPPORTING SERVICES

Nature knows best

-SUPPORTING SERVICES

-PROVISIONING SERVICES

-REGULATING SERVICES

-CULTURAL SERVICES

Billions of years have created the complex,

intricate, and amazing ecosystem services, good,

resources, and systems that humans rely upon for

life and food.

LAW 3

Water, food, wood and other goods are some of the material

benefits people obtain from ecosystems called ´ provisioning

services ´

PROVISIONING SERVICES

Maintaining the quality of water, air and soil, providing flood and disease control,and pollination are some of the regulating services’ provided by ecosystems

REGULATING SERVICES

Recreation, mental and physical health Aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design

CULTURAL SERVICES

Nothing comes from nothing. Everything we do on the Earth has

costs

LAW 4: There is no such thing as free lunch

advocacy for the protection or preservation of the natural environment.

ENVIRONMENTALISM

Components of the Ecosystem

-ABIOTIC COMPONENTS

-BIOTIC COMPONENTS

all living organisms in the individual’s environment such as plants,

animals, and microbes.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS

nonliving chemical and physical factors such as

temperature, light, water, and nutrients.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS

Ecology can be divided into a number of

areas of study:

Organismal ecology

Population ecology

Community ecology

Ecosystem ecology

Concerned with the behavioral, physiological,

and morphological ways individuals interact with

the environment.

ORGANISMAL ECOLOGY

examines factors that affect population size and

composition

POPULATION ECOLOGY

examines the interactions between species and considers

how factors such as predation, competition, disease, and

disturbance affect community structure and organization.

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

is a group of individuals of the same

species living in a particular geographic area.

POPULATION

consists of all the organisms of all the species

that inhabit a particular area.

COMMUNITY

composed of all the biotic components (living things) in an

area along with that area’s abiotic components (non-living things)

ECOSYSTEM

studies energy flow and cycling of chemicals

among the various abiotic and biotic components.

ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY

The study of past and present distributions of individual

species and ecosystems in geographic space and through

geological time.

BIOGEOGRAPHY

reservoir is the air or the oceans (via evaporation)

GASEOUS

is written that at that time in Egypt all the waters in the river turned into blood, and all the fish in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water in the river.

Exodus 7:20-21

reservoir is Earth’s crust

SEDIMENTARY

Gaseous cycles include those of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and water

GASEOUS CYCLE

is the area of the Earth where water movement and storage occur.– as liquid water– beneath the surface– ice– water vapor

HYDROSPHERE

As liquid water on the surface

river,lake and ocean

WATER CYCLE

WATER CYCLE

groundwater

As ice

Water vapor in the atmosphere

water inside living things. • The human body is about 70 percent water. • Water is essential to all organisms and its availability influences rates of ecosystem processes

BIOLOGICAL WATER

The oceans contain 97.5% of water in the biosphere. • Of the remaining 2.5% freshwater: – 68.9% is bound as ice, and – 30.8% is groundwater– 0.3% is on lakes and rivers • A negligible amount is in the atmosphere

Water on Earth

is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water

DESALINATION

by terrestrial plants moves significant amounts of water.

Transpiration

the flow of freshwater over land either from rain or melting ice.

SURFACE RUNOFF

is a significant, subsurface reservoir of fresh water. ▪ It exists in the pores between particles in dirt, sand, and gravel or in the fissures in rocks

Groundwater

is the second most abundant element in organisms, by mass.

Carbon

Carbon compounds contain energy, and many of these compounds from dead plants and algae have fossilized over millions of years and are known as fossil fuels

Fossil fuels