Environmental Systems Science

Maintenance

Using energy for upkeep and repair

Ekman Transport

The overall movement of a mass of water resulting from a balance between the Coriolis force and frictional stress at the bottom.

Native

here prior to colonization

Invasive

enters native areas and displaces native plants. Hard to kill and spreads aggressively

Non-native

introduced to the area intentionally/accidentally, but doesn't spread invasively

Surplus utilization

Using excess energy for specific purposes

Thermal regulation

Methods used by organisms to control body temperature

Natural selection

Process by which organisms with favorable traits survive and reproduce

Endothermic

Warm-blooded organisms that use energy quickly and produce heat

Ectothermic

Cold-blooded organisms that use energy slowly and rely on external heat sources

Flexibility in changing environment

Ability to adapt to varying environmental conditions

Energy capture

Process of obtaining energy

The main categories of energy use across living things include (among others):

Maintenance, Growth, Storage, Protection, and Reproduction

Growth

increase in size

Protection

Using energy for defense and safety

Reproduction

Using energy for producing offspring

Storage

Using energy for storing resources

Surplus Energy =

Gross Energy - Energy Used to Obtain Energy

Organisms use surplus energy for all remaining important tasks

Energy investment in reproduction

Allocating significant energy for reproductive purposes

Benefits of green spaces

Increased likelihood of engagement in physical activity and sense of belonging. Stormwater management, Relaxation, stress reduction, education, reduction of the heat island effect, sound insulation, public space for culture and community

Planetary services

Water regulation, energy redistribution, geothermal reactions, biodiversity

Mesotherms

Animals that regulate body temperature using internal and external heat sources, grows at an intermediate rate

Plate tectonics

Movement of Earth's plates caused by convection in the mantle. Mantle convection.

Biome distribution

- an ecosystem is an interaction of biological communities (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors

- a biome describes similar types of ecosystems, generally characterized by:

1) climate (temp + precipitation)

2) plants and animals that inhabit it

- b/c biome distribution is based on temp + precipitation, biome distribution follows a pattern based on the avg temp and precipitation in a region

The location of the plates impacts what biomes appear on what land mass based on where the plates are located at that given point in Earth history.

Gradient in a steam engine

Difference in temperature between intake and outlet steam

Unique characteristics of water

Solid, liquid, and gas states with physical changes

Gradient

difference in energy between 2 points

A change in the entropy of energy or matter over a specific distance.

How do some of the unique characteristics of water relate to biology/ecology.

water's high specific heat helps with organisms' temperature regulation, surface tension enables plants' capillary action, the fact that water is denser as cold water than as ice cause lakes to freeze top-to-bottom rather than bottom-to-top which allows organisms to live under ice in cold bodies of water all year, etc.

Resistant ecosystem

ecosystem that can resist environmental change without losing function (withstand)

Resilient ecosystem

affected by change but can bounce back and regain function (recover)

Genetic changes

Mutation and crossover

Resistance

The ability of a system to withstand a disturbance.

Resilience:

The ability of a system to return to its set point following a disturbance.

Upwelling

Transportation of deep ocean water to the surface, providing nutrients (from sediment and dead organisms.)

Mutation

random change in genes received from a parent

Crossover

sharing of genes between two parents

Describe one way in which an upwelling can occur, and the ecological effect it can have.

Coastal: Wind moves coastal waters away from certain shores (e.g. Peru) creating a void for deep water Ex: Nutrients from upwelling allows for major coastal fisheries

Convergent evolution

Similar adaptations in unrelated species

Systems

A collection of interacting parts that contain matter and/or energy.

Atom changes: Changing the number of Protons will give you

a new element.

Atom changes: Changing the number of Neutrons will give you

a new isotope.

Atom changes: Changing the number of Electron will give you

a new ion.

Principles of Sustainability

Sustainable use of resources, system perspective, equity and fairness, incentives for sustainable behavior

Principle 1: Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Environmental Services

A sustainable society does not use natural resources or produce wastes faster than they are regenerated or assimilated by the environment

Violation of Principle 1

NR or ES Depletion and Degradation

Using natural resources faster than they are regenerated (Resource Depletion)

- Mining resources that don't replenish themselves (or replenish way slower than we take them)

- 'Best first' principle - societies tend to start with the highest quality resource and work down

Creating pollution faster than it is assimilated by the environment

Principle 2: A System Perspective

A sustainable society must account for the highly interconnected relationship with its environment and how these connections can cause decisions to succeed or fail

Violation of Principle 2

Politics that lack a system perspective ( lack of attention to recognize that human society is part of the Environmental system and that this linkage can cause the effect of human action to differ from intent. (Self-awareness)

- doing to much of something (bad)

Feedback Loops: the output of a system is circulated back as an input

Principle 3: Equity and Fairness

The first two principles must be meshed with the ethical and moral principles that govern fairness among nations, between genders, and among current and future generations

Violation of Principle 3

- Unequal opportunities for human development

- Income inequality

- Gender inequalities

-Richer people consume more( buy more goods and services, translating into the use of more energy, materials, & envy services)connects to resource depletion & Environmental degradation

Principle 4: Incentives for Sustainable Behavior

Social incentives must reward those who act in a sustainable way and punish those who act in a non-sustainable manner

Violation of Principle 4

Externalities and subsides

Externalities: undermine sustainability because they make a good or service appear cheaper than it really is, and hence lead to greater consumption then is desirable

Subsides: also discourage sustainable practices because sustainable practices often increase the cost of production, goods, and services, more than the non-sustainable practice

What are the four Principles of Sustainability? Why are they important?

To avoid compromising the needs of future generations, a society ought to:

not use natural resources or produce wastes faster than they are regenerated or assimilated by the environment

account for the highly interconnected relationship with its environment

align with ethical and moral principles that govern fairness among nations, between genders, and among current and future generations

reward those who act in a sustainable way and punish those who act in a non-sustainable manner

What 3 factors determine what kind of terrestrial biome you are in?

sunlight, water, and temperature

What is the difference between bioconcentration and biomagnification?

Bioconcentration - a specific bioaccumulation in which the concentration of a chemical in an organism becomes higher than the concentration in the air or water surrounding the organism

Biomagnification - accumulate in increasing amounts through the food chain

Bioconcentration

Accumulation of chemicals in an organism's tissues

Biomagnification

Increase in chemical concentration as you move up the food chain

Detritus

Dead or decaying organic matter

Aerobic respiration

Release of energy from organic substrate in the presence of oxygen

Easterlies

surface winds that move from the poles toward the polar front

Solar Insolation

radiant energy received on a given surface area in a given time

Autotroph

organisms that convert inorganic forms of energy to organic forms (Plants)

Physical change

Changes that alter state or phase (solid, liquid, gas, plasma), like melting ice

a change in matter that rearranges molecules but doesn't affect their internal structures; the form of matter changes, but not its composition

Efficiency

useful work produced as a fraction of energy consumed

Convergent evolution

similar adaptations in unrelated species

Power

the rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is used

Coriolis effect

air appears to rotate (but really it's the earth that rotates).

Heterotroph

organisms that obtain energy by eating other organisms

Riparian zone

transition between a waterway and the surrounding land

Respiration:

Biochemical pathways that convert food to energy.

Anaerobic respiration

Release of energy from organic substrate in the absence of oxygen

Spontaneous process

Processes in which entropy increases (ex: salt dissolving in water)

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Energy is not created or destroyed in any energy conversation

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Energy is degraded in quality

Convection cell

Hot water rising and cooler water sinking, causing movement

Entropy

a measure of the disorder of matter & energy

Coriolis effect

Deflective effect of Earth's rotation on moving objects, air appears to rotate (but really it's the earth that rotates).

Rock formation

Sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks

Habitat

location and Environmental conditions where an organism lives

Sedimentary Rock

Under pressure, mineral particles, become

Metamorphic Rock

Under MORE pressure and heat, become

Igneous rock

Under STILL MORE pressure and heat, return to molten material that may eventually become

Niche

Organism's physical needs and activities in an ecosystem, how it interacts with other living things in the ecosystem

Commensalism

One species benefits from another's activity

Amensalism

One species is harmed by another's activity

Mutualism

Two species interact to mutual benefit

Predation and parasitism

One species hunts or harms another species

Competition

Two species rely on a common resource

T or F Mining resources violates the principles of sustainability.

True

T or F Entropy is always decreasing in a natural spontaneous process.

False

T or F Endotherms generally grow more quickly than ectotherms.

True

T or F Energy is not created or destroyed in any energy conversion.

True

T or F Adding more pressure and more heat to a rock eventually generates sedimentary rock.

False

T or F Not all energy makes it to the next trophic level when an organism is consumed.

True

T or F Commensalism is when one species hunts or harms another species directly

False

T or F Early successional plants do better with low light than late successional plants.

False

What determines what kind of terrestrial biome develops?

Precipitation, Temperature, Sunlight

T or F Light, oxygen and nutrients determine what kind of terrestrial biome develops.

False

T or F Cold air holds more moisture than warm air.

False

Nuclear change

Process in which nuclei of certain isotopes spontaneously change, or are forced to change, into one or more different isotopes. The three principal types of nuclear change are natural radioactivity, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion.

Stock

things that can accumulate & be depleted