Fundamentals of geographical science

Herodotus

-Greek historian 

-First trace of connections between places in a amp 

-430 BC 

 

Eratosthenes

-Greek mathematician 

-Calculated earths circumference  

-Started mapping  

-276BC 

Ptolemy

Father of Geography 

-Defined geography as a view of the whole earth by mapping the location of places 

-Geographic, one of the first ever compilations of the geographical coordinates of the Roman Empire 

-Devised his own approach to latitude and longitude  

-Map of reconstruction from the 15^th centre 

Strabo

-Greek 

-17 books of the characteristics of the areas 

-Considered geography was a branch of philosophy and the maps were for statesmen not mathematicians 

-Descriptive approach  

 

age of exploration

-Each map reflected new discoveries  

-15-17^th century 

-Looking for new trading routes, wealth and knowledge 

 

Meractor

-Developed accurate, standardised and scientific cartographic practices 

-Became the standard for marine charts 

Renowned for his new world map using a new map projection 

-His 1569 map built on current knowledge from explores voyages and was based on a new cylindrical projection which represent sailing courses of constant bearing 

-Still used in current nautical charts 

-Created his own new map projection, two dimensions on a map 

-Based on wrapping a cylinder around a globe representing earth  

-Caused places size to be exaggerates 

what projection was the mercator map

cylindrical

walter crane map

-1886 

-The notoriety of this map can be linked to colonialism 

-Missing Antarctica 

-Uses Mercator projections 

the systematic school of geography

Alexander von Humboldt, pioneered the physical geography/science approach  

-Influenced the use of scientific method to geography by understanding natural features of the surface and focusing on atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere etc 

 

the regional geography school

-Karl Ritter, founder of modern human geography 

-Explored the influence of the natural environment on the development and activities of humans 

Environmental determinism-

The view that the environment (physical factors such as landforms and climate) determines patterns of human culture and societal development 

-Late 19^th century 

-Fredrich Ratzel 

Environmental possibilism

View that the environment sets limitations for cultural development but does not define culture as that is defined by the opportunities and decisions that humans make in response to dealing with limitations 

-Mid 20^th century 

-Vidal de la Blache 

The quantitative revolution in geography 

-A shift which enabled the development of a more rigorous and systematic methodology  

-Brought science into human geography 

The four traditions of geography  

-Willam Pattinson 

-Spatial tradition, relates to the in depth analysis of the particulars of a place using quantitative techniques and tools,  

-Area studies tradition, determines as much as it is possible about a particular place in order to describe and differentiate from other regions or areas 

-Man land tradition, study of the relationship between humans beings and the and they live om  

-Earth science tradition, study of planet earth as the home to humans and its ecosystems  

what was left out of the four traditions

However he left out many important aspects including time as it relates to historical geography and cartography  

emergence of 3 new human geography strands

-Radical and critical geographies, theoretically informed geography promoting social justice  

-Feminist geography, application of theories of feminine studying the human environment 

-Behavioural geography, focus on the cognitive processes underlying spatial reasoning, decision making and behaviour 

-Bigger difference from human and physical 

 

the matrix of geographic perceptions

-The three dimensions of geography 

-A focus on place and scale, techniques of spatial representation and geographical domains  

descriptive maps

Designed to help inform the reader of the relative location of particular features of the landscape  

narrative maps

Designed to convey a specific message or set of messages to the reader by including qualitative information 

rhetorical maps

Designed to influence the readers opinions on a topic  

exploratory maps

- Designed to encourage geographical data exploration 

Biodiversity

Variety of living species on earth or in a given location 

Helps explain how ecosystems function and how physical and human processes interact across different places and scales 

shannon index

Combines richness and evenness to measure uncertainty in predicating a species from a random sample 

simpson index

Measures the probability that two individuals sampled will be of the same species 

-Higher value=lower density 

natural capital

- Includes the world's stock of natural resources that have value to society, it includes living and non-living aspects of ecosystems 

ecosystem services

The benefits people derive from ecosystems, split into four categories 

provisional serice

tangible goods that humans can harvest from the environment e.g. energy crops wild plants

regulating

the benefits ecosystems provide by controlling natural processes pollination flood managment

cultural services

non-material benefits from ecosystems that enhance human health and well being recreation spirituality

supporting service

fundamental processes necessary for all other services nutrient cycling habitats

benefits of wetlands

-Collect organic matter that remains trapped as a store of carbon 

-Hold large amounts of water to help prevent flooding and slowly realise into nearby rivers and lakes 

-Rough surface for energy to be displaced from waves in flood events 

-Provide grazing for cattle 

-Plants breakdown dangerous chemicals and impurities in water 

-Purifies water   

species richness

Measures the number of species in a given area providing a basic count of biodiversity 

species evenness

Evaluates how evenly individuals are distributed among species offering insight into community balance 

living planet index

Monitors changes in the abundance of vertebrate species populations globally signalling ecosystem health

biodiversity intactness index

Estimates the percentage of original biodiversity remaining in a region, accounting for human impacts

species distribution

Tracks shifts in the geographic range of species often driven by habitat loss and climate change 

bioclimatic envelope modles

Predict future changes in biodiversity based on climate and habitat suitability projections  

changes to species habitat

Are shifting as climate change alters environmental conditions 

-Species moving to higher latitudes to escape changing temperatures 

-Causing disruption to ecosystems as species new competitors predators or prey may lead to wrong ecological interactions   

why amphibians at risk of loss

permeable skin absorbs pollutants and pathogens, climate change sensitivity, emerging disease, habitat destruction, no egg shell

reasons for global biodiversity loss

habitat loss

invasive species

over explosion

pollution

climate change

protected area management

designed to protect natural landscapes, habitats and species 

-Goals to protect over 30% of earth's surface by 2030 

-Effectiveness depends on size, connectivity, enforcement, governance and duration 

-Hard to monitor and lack of enforcement 

environmental impact assessment

identify and minimise the potential negative impacts of developments and other human activities before they occur, involve consultations with relevant organisations and local communicatees  

control of invasive species

early indemnification and control can eliminate or reduce the impact of such species on natural habitats and food chains  

rewilding

aims to restore functioning, self-sustaining ecosystems by prioritising natural processes and ecological dynamics 

-Emphasises the restoration of ecological processes and system functioning rather than maintaining ecosystems in their current human managed state 

passive rewilding

A conservation approach that involves allowing natural processes to restore themselves by withdrawing human management and impact from ecosystems 

pleistocene rewilding

Ecological restoration concept that involves reintroducing large grazers that were lost by hunting/climate change 13,000 years ago, with a goal to restore lost ecological functions, revive biodiversity and enhance ecosystem resilience 

translocation rewilding

Involves reintroducing a species that has recently gone extinct or strengthen an existing population, by restoring a balanced ecosystem where all species interact, trophic cascading 

 

ecological footprint

Measures how fast we consume resources and generate waste compared to how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources 

keystone species

An organism that helps define an entire ecosystem, without it no other spices would be able to fill its niche

tropic cascading

Changes in one trophic level that indirectly affect multiple other levels in a food web