Environmental Science (Part 1)

Interdisciplinary Science

natural sciences, social sciences, other sciences

Levels of Organization in Ecology

Species, Population, Community, Ecosystem

habitat

an environment is naturally occurring for a specific organism to survive.

carrying capacity

-Related to sustainability

-The maximum number of individuals that can be sustained by an environment without decreasing the capacity of the environment to sustain the same number in the future.

For the environmental ethics

is a discipline in philosophy that studies or focus on the moral relationship among human beings to the value and moral status of the environment, which includes plants and animals.

Ecosystem

A biological community of interaction between organisms and their physical environment.

food web

The natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community.

Moral Value

Greeks granted to adult male citizens within their community

Ethical extensions

Gradual extension of our sense of a morale value to a broader circle.

inherent value

Intrinsic right to exist

Kinetic energy

Energy in moving objects

Chemical energy

Energy stored in food or carbon compounds

Homeostasis

"To stand equally", dynamic balance in a living ecosystem

Work

is the transfer of energy that occurs when a force is applied over a distance, not due to the difference in temperature

Community

All the populations of organisms occupying and interacting in a particular area

food chain

Composes of a primary producer, herbivore, carnivore

Biome

a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra.

A large geographical region that has a particular type of climax community

region

an area or division, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.

Vertical Zonation

vegetation zones defined by altitude

Deserts

-Rainfall is rare and unpredictable

-Hot or cold yet always dry

-Well Adapted plants have water storing leaves and stems.

-Adapting to prolonged droughts

Grasslands

Also called as prairies, are found in the Interior of North America, Asia, South America and Africa, occur both in temperate and tropical climates.

Animals in Deciduous Forest

Chipmunk, Racoon

Tundra

-Treeless landscape found in high latitudes

-Temperatures are below freezing point

- Hardly any vegitation

-Region that lies south of the ice caps of the Arctic and extends across North America, Europe and Siberia

Coastal Zones

Support vibrant, diverse biological communities

Coral reefs

Known because of their exceptional biological productivity and their diverse, beautiful, organisms— reefs form clusters as colonial aninals

Salt Marshes

Shallow wetlands flooded regularly or occasionally and drained by seawater

Lakes

-Distinct vertical zones

-Many organisms, such as plankton, fish, mosquitoes and insects

Plants in Lakes

Cattails

Anaerbic Bacteria

Not using oxygen

Hypolimnion

Lower, colder, deeper layer that is not combined

Bogs

- Shallow bodies of water

- Ground is comprised of deep layers of peat

-Are areas of concentrated land, and usually, the ground is compromised of peat

Peat

Deep layers of accumulated vegetations

Environmental Factors Affecting Biomes

1. Sunlight

2. Temperature

3. Water and dissolved salts

4. Oxygen

5. Metabolic waste

6. Nutrients

1948

-IUCN

-International Union for Conservation of Nature

-Created to protect and preserve nature in its original form.

1956

- Clean Air Act

- Formed following the Great Smog of London in 1952

- Initially aimed to limit air pollution by controlling the emission of air pollutants.

1960

- WWF

- World Wildlife Fund

- Protect animals and places from human developmental activities

1966

- Green Revolution

- Initiated to understand the negative impacts of uncontrolled and unregulated use of pesticides and fertilizers on the environment.

The Modern Environmental Movement (aka environmentalism)

-1960-1970

-Due to rising pollution levels

Rachel Carson

- Marine biologist

- Silent Spring (1962) awakened the public to the threats of pollution and toxic chemicals

Herbivores

Plant eaters

Scavengers

Remove and recycle dead bodies and waste

Scientific Method

1. make observations

2. Ask a question

3. Gather existing information

4. Formulate hypothesis

5. Collect and analyze data

6. Consult existing information

7. Discuss data and draw conclusions

8. Peer review

environment

Defined as the circumstance surrounding an organism or group of organisms, or the complex social or cultural conditions affecting each organism in the given biotic and abiotic community.

4 Segments of Environment

Atmosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere

atmosphere

Gaseous envelope surrounding the planet

Biosphere

Living organisms of Earth

Hydrosphere

Liquid water on the surface of the Earth

Lithosphere

Stony or rocky matter composing the bulk of the surface of the earth

Science

-defines the systematized body of knowledge that builds and organizes a lot of information in a different form of testable experiments and predictions about everything in the universe.

-It is a process of producing knowledge, methodically, and logically

-Study of nature and the knowledge that we obtain about them.

Environmenal Science

Interdisciplinary academic field in science that integrated all the physical, biological, and information to the study of the environment , our proper place in it and the solution to environmental problem

Natural Sciences

Biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, medicine

Social Sciences

Political Science, sociology, history, philosophy and ethics

Other Sciences

Mathematics, statistics, technology, business and management, law, etc.

Ecology

is a branch of biology concerning interactions among organisms, and their biophysical environment includes both biotic and abiotic compoments.

Biodiversity

A group of different individual life that inhibit the planet Earth that varies on their genetic component and adaptation to the environment.

Sustainability

The ability of a system to exist continually at a cost toward the thermodynamic equilibrium

Ethics

branch of philosophy that could somehow systematize, defend, recommend, and identify what right and wrong behavior is.

Photosynthesis

It is the process of all plants that transform into the release of energy ATP. Light energy of the sun is captured.

Species

-Interbreeding individuals capable to produce offspring

-basic unit of classifying and identifying the taxonomic rank of an organism, a unit or biodiversity. Refers to all organisms of the same kind that are genetically similar to breed.

food chain

A linear network or links in a food web

Instrumental value

Have value because they are useful to someone that matters.

Environmental ethics and Principle

1. Profound respect for nature.

2. Maintain a harmonious relationship with other species.

3. Take responsibility for the impact on nature.

4. Local and indigenous environmental knowledge should be respected.

5. Plan for the long term.

Matter

anything that occupies space and has mass

phases of matter

solid, liquid, gas, plasma, Bose-Einstein condensate

Energy

Provides the force to hold matter together, tear it apart, and move from one place to another.

Potential energy

Stored energy, latent, and ready to use

Thermodynamics

Deals with how energy is transferred in natural processes. Specifically with the relationships of heat, work, and energy.

Optimum

Ideal state

Heat

Transfer or flow of energy because of temperature difference

first law of thermodynamics

energy is conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred and transformed

second law of thermodynamics

With each successive energy transfer, less energy is available. Energy is degraded to lower quality forms, or dissipates and is lost, as it is used.

Entropy

Disorder that tends to increase in all-natural systems.

Population

Consists of all members of a species of the same kind, living in each area at the same time

Trophic Level

- Each step in a food chain or food web. (Remember: ecological rule of 10, 10% energy)

- Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Scavengers, Detritivores, Decomposers

Ecological pyramids

- Inefficient energy chains

- Arrangement of food chain according to the trophic levels

- Tertiary, Secondary, Primary, Producer

food web

Feeding relationships that weave numerous organisms into large, complex, and dynamic networks.

flora

the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period

fauna

The animals of a particular region, habitat, or geological period

Tropical Rainforest

- Found in areas around the equator

- Typically warm and moist

- Variety of plants and animals

Animals in the grasslands

Zebra, Lion, Cheetah

Deciduous Forest

Lose leaves seasonally and there is moderate temperature and Rain

Coniferous Forest

Cone-bearing

Boreal Forest

-Ex. Taiga

-Extreme, ragged edge where forest progressively give way to open tundra

-Extreme cold and short summer limit the growth rate of trees

-Occur at high altitudes

Taiga

- Snow Forest

- Moving south across the Tundra

- Cold winters and short summers

Animals in Taiga

Tiger, Bear, Lynx, Moose

Animals in Tundra

Moose, Snowy Owl

Permafrost

Short growing season of about 60 days

Marine Biome

covers 70% of earth's surface

open oceans

-Associated with biological desert since it generally has low productivity.

-has areas of productive richness and diversity

-Fish and plankton

Phytoplankton

free-floating, microscopic, photosynthetic plants that are essential to support the marine food web.

Mangroves

- Adaptable to tidal areas/ coastal zones

- Trees that grow in salt water

- Take place along calm, shallow, tropical coastlines

- Nurseries for species

Animals in Mangroves

Crabs

Estuaries

-Bays where river water meets the sea

-Mixing of saltwater and freshwater

Tide pools

Depressions in a rocky shoreline that are flooded at high tide but retain some water at low tide

Barrier islands

Low, narrow, sandy islands, that form parallel to a coastline

Protists

Single-celled organisms such as amoebae that float freely in water column in lakes

Benthos/ Benthic

organisms that live attached to or near the bottom of lakes, streams, or oceans

Nekton

free swimming organisms

Epilimnion

Warmer upper layer mixed with wind and warmed by the sun

Wetlands

-Shallow biological systems where the land surface is saturated or lowered in the late part of the water

-Catch and often purify industrial and farm wastewater, while bacteria consume the nutrients and pollutant in the water.