Freshwater Ecology - Unit 1

Ecology

the study of the interaction between an organism and its environment

Goldilocks Zone

orbital distance where liquid water sits on a planet’s surface

Water withdrawal

water diverted or removed from a surface or groundwater source

Water consumption

use of water that does not return to its source

Millenium Ecosystem Assistant

studies human impact and “ecosystem services”

Ecosystem services

values humans gain from healthy ecosystem

Describe influences of water on human lives

Need it to regulate temperature, hygiene, food source, electricity, economics, body functions

What defines the potential habitability of planets?

Needs to be at a temperature where liquid water is on the planet’s surface

Explain the connection between human distribution and water runoff

Human populations are often more dense around areas that get the most water runoff

Which activity accounts for most of our global water withdrawal? What percentage is attributed to this activity?

Agriculture at 70%

While the U.S. population is rising, what is happening with the total amount of water we use?

It is starting to decrease

Name the top 3 uses of water withdrawal in the U.S.

Thermoelectric, irrigation, public supply

How does domestic vs. agricultural use change with level of development of a country?

The more developed a country, the more water use is for domestic and industrial purposes, rather than agriculture

Explain how the phrase “dilution is the solution to pollution” may have made more sense historically, but does not work presently

Concentration of waste products has increased

New types of waste production which organisms have no evolutionary experience

Biomagnification

Label the water cycle

1. Evaporation

2. Transpiration

3. Condensation

4. Precipitation

5. Runoff

6. Infiltration

Name some ways humans and climate change can alter the water cycle

Not creating spaces for water to infiltrate into the soil, higher temperatures changing how much water evaporates and where the water goes

Explain how the GRACE satellite monitors water on Earth

When pulled to a water source with a high mass, one satellite slows and gets closer to the second, and then later on the second satellite gets further from the first

What have we learned from the GRACE satellite measurements?

Groundwater is increasing in some places and decreasing in others

Name each category of ecosystem service values under the millennium ecosystem assessment and give examples of each

Provisioning services: products - water

Regulating services: an ecosystem cleaning water for us

Cultural services: aesthetic beauty

Supporting services: A river providing clean water for a wetland environment further downstream

How can communities increase ecotourism?

Improve access to ecosystems, partnering the community to learn and value conservation, volunteer programs to clean up ecosystems to make them more attractive

What are some challenges for ecotourism in Kansas?

Lack of public land, lack of funding for the parks department, lack of government action

Explain how it can be dangerous to conserve based solely on economic value.

Could cause ecosystems to be compared to each other, could lead to human developments that are valued higher to replace ecosystems, easy to undervalue ecosystems