soil lecture 2

ecosystem

sum of biological and non-biological parts

what does the ecosystem interact with?

that interact through energy and materials within boundaries that allow those transfers to be quantified.

Biological and non-biological parts

Living components and nonliving components are both included.

Interactions involving energy and materials

parts do not exist separately; energy and materials move or interact between them.

Boundaries

what is inside the system to quantify transfers across or within it.

enviromentalism

the belief and movement dedicated to protecting, preserving, and improving the natural environment

Anthropocene

to the idea that human activities have become a major force changing Earth's environment. “suggested new epoch”

The balance of nature…

has been part of many worldviews and has been used since ancient times to explain how natural systems function.

Delicate

Nature is viewed as vulnerable or easily disrupted

Robust

Nature is viewed as able to withstand disturbances.

Criticism of balance of nature

potentially vague, value-laden, and unrepresentative of ecological systems in many of its uses.

Flux of Nature

nature as dynamic rather than necessarily maintaining a fixed balance.

Naturalistic Fallacy

a mistake in reasoning and connects it to the idea of balance in nature

Existential risks

Risks linked in the lecture to a runaway situation.

Planetary Boundaries

the scientific safety limits for the earths natural systems