All chapter terms

Environmental value system (EVS)

A worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues. This will be influenced by the cultural, religious, economic and socio-political context.

Environmental movement

Originated in the 1960s when influential individuals, independent pressure groups, corporate businesses, governments, and intergovernmental bodies are taking action to consider and find solutions to global environmental and world development issues.

Bhopal disaster

On December 3rd, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India released 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas, killing 3000 people immediately and over 20 thousand more later. Worst industrial disaster.

Chernobyl

The worst nuclear disaster ever near Kiev, Ukraine in the year 1986. The nuclear power plant reactor exploded, causing a nuclear meltdown which caused a cloud of radioactive material to drift over Europe, causing radiation poisoning and cancer.

Fukushima Daiichi

In 2011, a nuclear power plant was damaged by a tsunami, causing radioactive material to leak into the water, causing 1 million people to evacuate.

Ecocentric worldview

An environmental philosophy that places ecology and nature as central to humanity,

• Emphasizing a less materialistic approach to life.

• Life-centered and respects the rights of nature due to a dependency on nature.

• Followers are known as ecocentrists.

Deep ecologists

Term to describe extreme ecocentrists that follow the ecocentric worldview.

• Puts more value on nature than humanity

• Believes humans have no right to interfere with nature

• Wants reduced human impact

Anthropocentric worldview

Environmental philosophy that believes humans must sustainably manage the global system.

• Promotes the use of taxes, environmental regulation, and legislation

• Human-centered

• Believes nature exists to benefit humans

• Followers are known as anthropocentrists

Technocentric worldview

Environmental philosophy which believes that technological developments will provide solutions to environmental problems.

• Followers are known as technocentrists

Cornucopians

Term to describe extreme technocentrists that follow the technocentric worldview.

• Believes world has infinite resources to benefit humanity

• Technology can solve any problem

• Growth provides all answers

Environmental managers

Term to describe another branch of technocentrists.

• Believes Earth is garden and humans are caretakers (stewardship worldview)

• Government needs to legislate to protect environment

• Look after planet, then planet looks after us

Biocentric worldview

An environmental philosophy that is life-centered and believes all life has value.

• Should prevent the extinction of species

• Animal rights activists often follow this

• Humans are not more important than any other species

System

A set of inter-related parts working together to make a complex whole

• Can be big or small

• Can be stable or unstable

• Can be open, closed or isolated

Open system

A system that exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings

• Movement of material through living organisms (predator-prey)

• Movement of material in nonliving process (stream water)

  • Most ecosystems are open

Transfers

When energy or matter flows and changes location but does not change its state.

Transformations

Occur when energy or matter flows and changes its state.

• Can either be a physical change or a chemical change

  • Light to heat

  • Matter to energy (fossil fuels)

Closed system

A system where energy is exchanged but not matter

• Extreme uncommon

• Earth is closed system (matter doesn’t escape but light energy transferred)

Isolated system

Neither matter nor energy is exchanged in that system

Benefits and disadvantages of models

Benefits

1. Easier to work with

2. Can predict outcomes

3. Helps see patterns

Weaknesses

1. Less accurate

2. Wrong model due to wrong assumption

3. Inaccurate predictions

First law of thermodynamics (Principle of conservation)

Energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed.

Second law of thermodytnamics

The entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will increase over time.

• More entropy means less order

• Energy is always lost when transferred

Entropy

A measure of disorder of a system, referring to the spreading out of energy.

Efficiency

The useful energy or the work or output produced by a process divided by the amount of energy consumed being the input to the process

• Efficiency = Work or energy produced / energy consumed

Feedback loop

When information that starts a reaction in turn may input more information which may start another reaction.

Positive feedback loop

A feedback loop where feedback causes a further increase or decrease in the output that changes the system

• Moves the system towards a new equilibrium point.

Negative feedback loops

A stabilizing feedback loop occurs when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way to reduce change.

Static equilibrium

Type of equilibrium where there is no change over time

• Pile of books does not move or change

Steady-state equilibrium

A characteristic of open systems where there are continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter, but the system as a whole remains in a more or less constant state.

• Water tank stays at constant water level as rate of water goin in and out stays same.

Stable equilibrium

System tends to return to same equilibrium after a disturbance.

Unstable equilibrium

The system returns to a new equilibrium after a disturbance.

Ecosystem resilience

The tendency of an ecosystem to resist change

• Factors that affect ecosystem resilience

  • More diverse and complex

  • Greater species diversity

  • Greater genetic diversity

  • Larger the ecosystem

  • Reproduction rate

Tipping point

When an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state in which there are significant changes to its biodiversity and the services it provides (typically negative).

• Involves positive feedback loops

• Extinction is an example of a tipping point for a population

Sustainability

The use and management of resources that allow full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affect by their extraction and use.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainability indicators

How people measure sustainability

• GDP

• Air quality

• Environmental vulnerability

• Water poverty

Tragedy of the commons

A concept where individuals exploit shared resources for personal gain, leading to depletion and harm to the common good.

Natural capital

Natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services

• Forest

Environmental impact assessment

Report prepared before development project to change use of land.

• Examines environmental impacts

• used in large scale projects

Ecological footprint

Area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population

• Indicates unsustainability typically

Pollution

The addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by human activity at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms within it.

Primary pollutants

Pollutants that are active on emission

• Ex: Carbon dioxide

Secondary pollutants

Pollutants that are formed by primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical changes

• Commonly triggered by water or sunlight

• Ex: Sulphuric acid

Major sources of pollutants

Source	Pollutant	Effect
Combustion of fossil fuels	Carbon dioxide, Sulphur dioxide, photochemical smog	Global warming, acid deposition, respiratory infections
Industrial waste	Heavy metals, heat, lead, acid	Poisoning, disabilities
Agricultural waste	Nitrates, organic waste, pesticides	Bioaccumulation, eutrophication, disease

Point source pollution

Release of pollutants from a single, clearly identifiable site

• Ex: Factory

Non point source pollution

Release of pollutants from numerous widely, dispersed origins

• Impossible to tell where coming from

• Ex: Air pollution from cars

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Pesticides that are resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment.

• Extremely harmful to the environment

• Ex: Polyvinyl chloride

Biodegradable pollutants

Pollutants that do not persist in the environment and break down quickly due to physical processes or decomposers

• Ex: Soap, starch, glyphosate

Acute pollution

When a large amount of pollutant is released causing lots of harm

Chronic pollution

The long-term release of a pollutant in small amounts

• Goes unnoticed typically

• Widespread

• Harmful over time

  • Ex: Air pollution

Pollution management strategy

• Changing human activity

• Regulating pollutant release

• Cleaning and restoring damaged ecosystems

Species

A group of organisms sharing common characteristics that interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time which are capable of interbreeding.

Population density

Average number of individuals in a stated area

Habitat

The environment in which a species normally lives in.

Niche

The specific role or function of an organism or species within an ecosystem, including its habitat, behavior, and interactions with other organisms.

• No 2 species can have the same niche or not enough resources

Abiotic factors

Non living, physical factors that influence the organisms and ecosystems

• Ex: Temperature, sunlight, rock

Biotic factors

The living components of an ecosystem, their interactions or their waste that directly or indirectly affect another organism.

• Ex: Animals, plants, bacteria

Fundamental niche

The full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive or reproduce.

Realized niche

The actual conditions and resources in which a species exists due to biotic interaction

Limiting factors

Factors which slow down the growth of apopulation as it reaches its carrying capacity.

• Typically things like space or food

Carrying capacity

The maximum number of species that can be sustainably supported by a given area.

Population dynamics

The study of the factors that cause changes to population size

• Competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, disease

Competition

The impact organisms have on each other due to the limited supply of a specific resource.

Intraspecific competition

Competition that occurs between members of the same species

• Typically occurs with large population sizes in a limited area

• Helps stabilize population sizes

Interspecific competition

Individuals of different species that are competing for the same resource.

Competitive exclusion

When one species entirely outcompetes another species for a specific resource.

• Ex: Weeds in garden

Predation

Interaction where one organism hunts and consumes another for food, influencing population dynamics and shaping ecosystems.

Herbivory

An herbivore eating a green plant

Parasitism

A relationship between 2 species where one species lives in or on another (host) gaining food from it.

Mutualism

A relationship between 2 species where both species benefit.

• Ex: Lichen with the fungus and algae

Commensalism

A relationship where one species benefits while the other doesn’t experience any good or bad impacts.

S-curves

A population pattern that starts with exponential growth and then plateaus due to carrying capacity.

• Seen with bacteria

J-curves

A population pattern that sees rapid exponential growth at first and then a period of collapses (diebacks) and increases in population (overshoot) which go over and under the carrying capacity.

• Seen with fish and mammals

Community

A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat

Ecosystem

A community and the physical environment it interacts with.

3 key ecological concepts

Photosynthesis, respiration and productivity

Respiration

The conversion of organic matter into carbon dioxide and water in all living organisms releasing energy.

• Used in living processes

Aerobic respiration

Flashcard: Process that uses oxygen to break down glucose into energy, producing carbon dioxide, water, and ATP as byproducts.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants make their own food from water and carbon dioxide using energy from sunlight.

• Chemical formula: Carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + oxygen

  • Creates biomass

Compensation point

The period where the net biomass being created by a plant is at equilibrium. Occurs near night typically due to low light.

Food chain

The flow of energy from one organism to the next.

• Shows feeding relationships between species in ecosystem

Trophic level

The position that an organism occupies in a food chain, or a group of organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains.

Producers (autotrophs)

Green plants that make their food from carbon dioxide.

• Bottom of the food chain typically

Consumers (heterotrophs)

Organisms that feed on autotrophs or other heterotrophs to obtain energy as they can’t produce it.

Hierarchy of feeding

Producers → Primary consumers → Secondary consumers → Tertiary consumers

Food webs

A complex network of int errelated food chains

Omnivore

Organisms that eat plants and animals

Ecological pyramid

Model of a pyramid food chain using numbers, biomass, and productivity at each level.

Pyramid of numbers

Pyramid that shows the number of organisms at each trophic level at one time (standing crop)

Pyramid of biomass

The total biomass of all organisms at each trophic level

Pyramid of productivity

The rate of flow of energy or biomass through each trophic level

• The amount of energy or biomass being generated as food to the next trophic level

• Pyramid for healthy ecosystem should always look like a nice pyramid shape

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of chemicals inside an organism over time

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of a substance, e.g a pesticide, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.

• This occurs because organisms at higher trophic levels eat animals with small amounts of toxins and it build up over time

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)

Insecticide that was banned which significantly impacted animals on the top of the food chain due to bio accumulation

• Ex: Peregrine falcon eggs thinning

Trophic efficiency

Only 10% of the energy in 1 trophic level is transferred into the next trophic level.

Solar constant

The amount of solar energy reaching the top of the atmosphere of Earth being 1400 watts per second.

Productivity

The conversion of energy into biomass over a given period of time.

• Rate of growth of biomass in plants and animals

• measured in unit area per unit time

Primary

Dealing with plants

Gross primary productivity (GPP)

The total gain in energy or biomass per unit area per unit time by green plants.

• Energy converted from light to chemical energy

• Doesn’t consider anything loss

Net primary productivity (NPP)

Total gain in energy or biomass per unit area per unit time by green plants after allowing for losses to respiration

• Increase in biomass of plant

• Calculated with NPP = GPP-R

  • R = respiration