Unit 1 bio

What can we learn from a collapsed Viking Society?

Sustainability is needed for survival

Environmental Literacy

a basic understanding of how ecosystems function and of the impact of our choices on the environment

Wicked Problems

problems complex enough to have no simple solution and whose very nature changes over time

Ecology

branch of biology that focuses on the abundance and distribution of organisms in their environment

Evolution

a unifying concept of biology based on inherited changes in a population over time

Ecosystems

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.. A unifying concept of biology based on inherited changes in a population over time

Does Ecology influence evolution?

yes

Biota

plants (flora) and animals (fauna) living in a region

Abiotic

physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms.

Environmental Biology

The study of the natural world, as a whole or in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity. An interdisciplinary field of research that draws on the natural sciences and social science and the human understanding of the natural world and our relationship to it

Waste management, wildlife management, resource management, economic, and environmental law

Studies the intersection of the above, how everything we do and are here impacts the environment, and methods of living sustainably with the environment.

Sustainability

The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained. Meeting the needs of the present equitably and fairly without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

The Tragedy of the Commons

The tendency of an individual to abuse a public resource (the common) to maximize their own personal interest

Sustainable actions

Actions that meet the needs of the present without reducing the ability of future generations.

The Triple Bottom Line

people, planet, profit. Accounting framework that measures three dimensions of performance

Environmental social and economic

TBL Planet

Measures by pollution output, waste production, energy use, species conservation, etc. Benefits the natural order by maintaining sustainable practices and minimizing environmental impacts.

TBL People

Human health and well-being, equity, access to social resources, and benefits to the community

Any enterprise should seek to benefit multiple constituencies without exploiting or endangering any group of them

TBL Profit

Economic dimension

The pure economic value of any endeavor needs to be seen as a real financial benefit to the host society.

Is it more expensive to be more environmentally friendly?

No

Trade-offs

The imperfect response that we must choose between when addressing complex problems

What are some ways to solve wicked problems?

Trade-offs and looking at the TTB

Triple Bottom Line solutions

Good for the environment, good for society, and affordable

Ecosystems hierarchy of Scales

Cells

Individuals

Populations

Communities

Ecosystems

Biome

Biosphere

Populations

the number of organisms of the same species that live in a particular geographic area at the same time, with the capability of interbreeding

Community

A group or association of population of two or more different species occupying the same geographic area and in a particle time

Energy in Ecosystems

When organisms use energy to perform work, some energy is lost to the surroundings as heat

As a result, energy flows through an ecosystem, usually entering as light and exiting as heat.

Matter in an ecosystem

a substance that has mass and volume

solid, liquid, and gas

Gets reused, and recycled, within and between ecosystems

Open ecosystem

Exchanges both energy and matter with surrounding environments

closed ecosystem

An ecosystem in which no materials can leave or enter, but through which energy from external sources can flow.

In labs that generate them or where people intentionally make them

Energy can enter and leave.

Matter can not enter or leave.

Principles of Ecosystem Function

Matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed

Ecosystems are open to gains and losses of energy and matter

Ecosystem processes are self-regulated

Ecosystem change is essential and inevitable.

Matter cycles and energy flow influence the function

Surrounding ecosystems may influence others

Law of thermodynamics

Matter and energy can be transformed but it can not be created nor destroyed

Dynamic homeostasis

the process by which systems adjust to changes in ways that minimize how much features or processes vary from their normal values

Systems adjust to reduce change from normal

Negative feedback in Dynamic homeostasis

The system reverses a directional change

positive feedback in Dynamic homeostasis

The system reinforces change

Change is...

Change is inevitable and essential

Is Disturbance always bad

no

4 fundamental Principles of Acting Sustainability

Managing resources, Understanding boundaries, Maintaining balance and integration, Embracing change

Managing resources

Must conform to laws of mass and energy conservation

Use of nonrenewable violates that law

Nonrenewable is the amount of resources in an ecosystem that declines with any level of use (coal)

Understanding boundaries

-Boundaries cannot be arbitrary•State lines-Boundaries must be functional•River including watershed

Boundaries must be functional like rivers or watersheds

Maintaining balance and integration

To be sustainable, actions must maintain the homeostatic capacity of ecosystems. Actions must incorporate the complexity of ecosystems

Complexity in the scientific method

difficult to predict outcomes and yields uncertainty

Bases of the Scientific Method

Observation

information detected with senses and/or equipment that extends our senses

Variables

Properties that are being measured

Hypothesis

a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.

Predictions

a forecast of something to happen. If-then statements (what will happen if the hypothesis is supported)

Observational science

doesn't utilize controlled experiments; observes the occurrence of a phenomenon under natural conditions

Correlations

quantitative relationships between different variables

Does observational science show cause and effect?

no

Experimental science

Science that begins with and depends on careful experiments and measurements

The procedure is to reject a hypothesis or determine the efficacy of something previously untired.

Scientists manipulate one or more factors that influence the phenomenon being studied.

Establishes the cause-and-effect relationship between variables

Independent variable

the cause

Treatment variable

What is being tested

The one that is being manipulated

Dependent variable

THE EFFECT

Outcome variable

What is being measured

Evaluated to see if it changes due to conditions in the experiment

Synthesis

Collection of many studies and hypotheses support larger ideas, such as theories

Environmental Economics

the study of cost-effective allocation, use, and protection of the world's natural resources

Economic Systems

organized way a society provides for the wants and needs of its people

Subsistence economy

Society meets the needs of the environment without gaining wealth

Barter and trade; no currency

Planned economy

Gov. regulates all aspects of the economy

Regulates price of goods and services and level of production

Controls by regulations, incentives, subsidies, grants, and taxation

Top notable: North Korea and Cuba

Free market economy

Production and consumption take place in markets guided by prices

Gov. doesn't influence the market

They let the market and prices govern themselves

Commodities run the free market economy

Goods, and services that are exchanges

Currency is used during transactions

Resources harvested from the environment and exchanged for currencies

Ability to generate profit/wealth through this

Supply and demand

Price and production set through supply and demand interactions (equilibrium of buyers and sellers)

Consumers try to get satisfaction from their transactions from producers who want to maximize their profit from transactions.

Economic value: availability

Consumers pay based on price and need

It is not a fixed amount

The less you have the more you are willing to pay and the more you have the less you're willing to pay

Can lead to abuse (tragedy of the commons)

Market Complications

Free markets may deplete and pollute resources

Limited resources

Economic models treat resources as infinite resources and lead to overharvesting to build wealth

Pollution is released because it is cheap to use resources that release them.

Externalized costs and benefits

impact people who are not buyers/sellers

Positive externalities

benefits created by a public good that are shared by the primary consumer of the good and by society more generally.

Consumers benefit

negative externality

Consumers suffer

Economic Valuation

the price tag for nature that people are willing to pay

Marginal value

Willingness to pay compared to alternative (difference in cost)

What is the cost of the alternative and are they willing to pay the cost

Travel- cost Valuation

how much people will pay for travel to visit an ecosystem

Someone willing to pay to go see that

The travel industry

Hedonic valuation

difference of real estate prices affected by environmental alternatives

The difference in the price of location is based on where it is at

Contingent valuation

value based on what people will pay for actions aimed at conservation

Ecological Valuation

the value of the ecosystem measured by the cost of possible loss of the ecosystem. Natural Captial: Earth's resources humans depend on (ecosystem services)

what will it cost us if we lose it

Natural Captial

Earth's resources humans depend on (ecosystem services)

Ecological valuation: what will it cost us if we lose it

Natural capital is all the earth's recourses that are necessary to produce the ecosystem services we depend on