Key terms from each chapter

TOPIC 1.1: FOUNDATIONS OF ESS

Ecocentric

  • Deep ecologists

  • Believe that all development must stop

Antropocentric

  • environmental managers

  • Believe that development is acceptable if it is controlled and moderated

Technocentric

  • cornucopians

  • Believe that human ingenuity and technology will save the day

TOPIC 1.2: SYSTEMS AND MODELS

System

  • a set of interrelated parts and the connection between them that unites them to form a complex whole and produces emergent properties

Inputs

  • identifies the elements that go into the system in order for there to be processes, outputs and feedback

  • inputs are flows that may be physical things such as water entering an ecosystem

    • eg: solar energy for photosynthesis

    • cultural behaviors entering environmental value systems

Processes

  • acts on the inputs and transform them into outputs

Outputs

  • the flows of matter and energy that leave the system

Open system

  • exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings

Closed system

  • exchanges energy but does not exchange matter with its surroundings

Isolated systems

  • exchanges neither energy nor matter with its surroundings

Transfers

  • moves energy or matter from one place to another without changing it in any way

    • eg: the food web moves matter through the living organisms in its links

Transformations

  • moves energy and matter but in the process of doing so, there is a change of state or form

    • eg: water changing its state from solid, to liquid, to gas (matter)

    • incoming light is transformed into heat as it is re-radiated from the earth’s surface (energy)

TOPIC 1.3: ENERGY AND EQUILIBRIA

First law of Thermodynamics

  • energy can neither be created nor destroyed

Entropy

  • the increase in disorder and randomness in a system

  • (terms of energy) an increase in entropy means a decline in the amount of energy available to do work

Second law of Thermodynamics

  • the entropy of a system increases over time; the only way to entropy is a continuous input of additional energy

Negative Feedback

  • the feedback type which promotes stability in a system as it reverses the change and returns the system to the original state of equilibrium

    • eg: predator-prey relationship

Positive Feedback

  • the feedback type which amplifies the change in the system and keeps it going in the same direction

Tipping Points

  • a part of a system that kick-starts self-perpetuating positive feedback loops that push the systems to a new state of equilibrium

Equilibria

  • if everything is in balance, the system is said to be in equilibrium

Steady State Equilibrium

  • has many small changes over shorter periods of time and the changes occur within limits

Stability

  • the ability of an ecosystem to remain in balance

Resistance

  • where the ecosystem continues to function during a disturbance

Resilience

  • the ability of the ecosystem to recover after a disturbance

TOPIC 1.4: SUSTAINABILITY

Natural resources

  • classified according to how long they take to be replaced and they range from non-renewable to renewable

Natural Capital

  • the natural resource that can be used for the long-term supply of goods and services

Goods

  • marketable commodities that can be exploited by humans

Services

  • natural processes that provide benefits for humans such as water replenishments, clean air and protection against erosion

Natural Income

  • the yield from natural capital

Sustainability

  • the management of the exploitation of resources that allows for replacement of the resources and full recovery of the ecosystems that may be affected by extraction

Ecological Footprint (EF)

  • the amount of land and water that is required to support a human population at a given standard of living — providing all the resources and assimilating all the waste

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

  • the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made

  • it is also a formal process that is put into action before something major can be changed

TOPIC 1.5: HUMANS AND POLLUTION

Pollution

  • the addition to substances into the natural environment at a rate that is greater than that at which they can be rendered harmless and which causes adverse changes

Point-source Pollution

  • a single identifiable source of pollution

    • eg: discharge from a wastewater treatment plant

Non-point source Pollution

  • pollution from diffuse sources, often difficult to monitor

Air Pollution

  • the introduction of harmful materials into the atmosphere

Water Pollution

  • generally occurs when pollutants are introduced into a body of water without having harmful substances removed

Land Pollution

  • the result of human misuse of land resources. it is often caused by poor disposal of waste, use of chemicals such as insecticide, pesticides and fertilizers for agriculture that wash into the soil and damage it

Light Pollution

  • one of the less-considered types of pollution, which is caused by poor use of lighting in towns and cities

Noise pollution

  • the presence of loud sounds that can be harmful or annoying

Thermal pollution

  • changes the temperature in an area, usually with a rise in temperature of water or air

DDT

  • (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is an oganochloride insecticide that is colorless, tasteless, and odorless

  • it was first synthesized in 1874 and used as an insecticide in 1939

  • DDT is considered a Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP)

TOPIC 2.1: SPECIES AND POPULATIONS

Biotic components

  • the biotic element of the ecosystem is anything that is living and any interactions between the living components. that includes all the organisms, anything that they consume or that consumes them and human influences

Producers

  • plants that convert energy into matter

Consumers

  • animals that eat plants or other animals

Decomposers

  • organisms that breakdown waste into component parts for reuse

Species

  • a group of organisms with common characteristics that can interbreed to produce fertile offsprings

Population

  • a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time

Abiotic components

  • the biotic elements of the ecosystem interact with the abiotic elements - the non-living things

  • abiotic factors include: temperature, sunlight, pH, alinity, and precipitation

Temperature

  • an important abiotic factor in all ecosystems, as it varies seasonally and dirunally

Sunlight

  • is the base of the vast majority of food chains on earth

  • solar energy makes photosynthesis possible and enables plants to transform light energy into chemical energy

Water

  • an essential to all life on earth and can arrive in an ecosystem as precipitation, groundwater flow or overland flow

Habitat

  • the environment in which a species usually lives

Niche

  • the role an organism plays and the position it holds in the environment

  • it includes all the interactions the organism has with the abiotic and biotic environment

Limiting factors

  • the resources in the environment that limit the growth, abundance and distribution of organisms/populations in an ecosystem

Density dependent factors

  • factors that affect the population only when it reaches a certain density

Density independent factors

  • factors that will control populations, no matter what the density of it is

Carrying capacity

  • the maximum number of individuals of a species that the environment can sustainably support in a given area

J-shaped growth curve

  • a curve which shows exponential population under ideal conditions with plenty of resources and limited competition

  • the population continues to grow until environmental resistance take effect

S-shaped curves

  • exponential growth is only possible for a short period of time because as the population grows, resources are depleted and the growth rate slows and will eventually plateau off

Predation

  • where one organism (the predator) hunts and kills another (the prey) in order to provide it with the energy for survival and reproduction

Herbivory

  • the consumption of plant material by an animal

Parasitism

  • when an organism (the parasite) takes nutrients from another organism (the host)

Mutualism

  • where two organisms of different species exist in a mutually beneficial relationship

Competition

  • where organisms compete for a resource that is in limited supply

Intraspecific competition

  • occurs when members of the same species compete for a limited resource

Interspecific competition

  • where members of different species compete for a resource that they both need

TOPIC 2.2: COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS

Ecosystem

  • a community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they interact with

Community

  • a group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat

Decomposers

  • absorbs and metabolize waste and dead matter on a molecular level then release it as inorganic chemicals that can be recycled through the ecosystem via plants

Respiration

  • animals eat plants (or other animals) the process of photosynthesis is reversed in respiration

Trophic level

  • the position an organism (or group of organisms in a community) occupies in the food chain

Bioaccumulation

  • the increase in the concentration of a pollutant in an organism as it absorbs or it ingests it from its environment

Biomagnification

  • the increase in the concentration of the pollutant as it moves up through the food chain

TOPIC 2.3: FLOWS OF ENERGY AND MATTER

Absorption

  • where light energy is retained by the substance and transformed into heat

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

  • all the biomass produced by primary producers in a given amount of time

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

  • NPP takes into account respiratory losses (R)

Gross Secondary Productivity (GSP)

  • represents the total amount of energy or biomass assimilated by consumers

Sustainability Yield (SY)

  • the amount of biomass that can be extracted without reducing natural capital of the ecosystem

TOPIC 2.4: BIOMES, ZONATION AND SUCCESSION

Hadley cell

  • the cent of the thermal equator (point of greatest heating)

Topography

  • the shape of the land, mountains, altitude and aspect

Aspect

  • the direction in which the slop face, so it has a very localized impact on climate

Biome

  • a collection of ecosystems that are classified according to their predominant vegetation

  • they share similar climatic conditions and organisms that have adaptations to the environment

K-strategists

  • produce very few offsprings but they increase the quality of them by investing in a lot of parental care

r-strategists

  • focuses on the increased quantity of offspring at the expense of quality, with little to no parental care, survival chances are low but high numbers of offspring ensures at least some will survive

Type I survivorship curve

  • indicates K-selected species

  • the curve starts out very flat, showing a high survival rate in early life. This long life expectance causes the line to have a sharp drop at the end, as the mortality increases dramatically

Type II survivorship curve

  • shows the middle ground with a more or less constant mortality rate throughout the organisms life

Type III survivorship curve

  • this is typical of r-selected species

  • the curve drops sharply immediately showing very low survival rates after birth

Succession

  • the predictable change over time

Zonation

  • a spatial change in response to changing conditions

Colonization

  • initiated by pioneer species that are adapted to the extreme conditions

Establishment

  • it follows colonization. In this stage, the ecosystem is just getting going as an ecosystem, as opposed to a collection of constituent part

Competition

  • throughout succession each species is adapted to a very specific set of abiotic conditions — the pioneer species thrive in the harsh conditions of the early stages of succession

Climax community

  • the steady state of equilibrium with the climate and/or soil. the succession has come as far as it can and will be self-perpetuating as long as prevailing climatic conditions

TOPIC 2.5: INVESTIGATING ECOSYSTEMS

Random sampling

  • every item has the same chance of being selected through the use of random numbers

Systematic sampling

  • where samples are chosen in a regular way (or with an nth term)

Stratified sampling

  • when the population is known to contain subsets. it is important to know the size of the subsets in the whole population so that your sample reflects the same proportions

Quadrats

  • an appropriately shaped plot used to identify the area you wish to study

Motile organisms

  • motile animals are the ones that are mobile (that can move)

TOPIC 3.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity

  • the variety of all life on earth. It includes genetic diversity, species diversity and habitat diversity

Species diversity

  • the number of different species in a given area, taking into account the richness and evenness of the species

Genetic diversity

  • refers to the variation of genes within the genetic pool of a population of a species; it is the means by which that population can adapt to change

Habitat diversity

  • the range of different habitants in the same area

TOPIC 3.2: ORGINS OF BIODIVERSITY

Evolution

  • the idea that if you take any two creatures on earth and trace their ancestry back far enough, you will find a common ancestor

Mutations

  • a change in the DNA and it can be a single change or multiple changes. Evolution is usually the result of an accumulation of several mutations

Natural selection

  • the gene variation has survival advantages

Artificial selection

  • human- created selections

Convergent evolution

  • where similar structures have evolved independently in different organisms without the presence of a common ancestor, such as the sperm whale and copepods, have both evolved the same buoyancy control but they are unrelated

Vestigial structures

  • these are parts of an animal that no longer serve any purpose but they serve as reminders of what the organism evolved from

Speciation

  • the formation of a new species through biological processes

Survival of the fittest

  • a concept that encompasses the most important aspects of natural selection: survival and reproductive success

Endemic species

  • unique to a particular location and not found elsewhere

Mass extinction

  • a sudden global decrease in the number of species over a relatively short period of time

Background or normal extinction

  • the standard rate at which species go extinct

TOPIC 3.3: THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY

IUCN Red List

  • International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list

  • aims to provide information and analysis on the status, trends and threats to species in order to inform and catalyze for biodiversity conservation

Biological Hotspots

  • two key elements to the concept are that these sites must have a high level of endemic species and also be under threat

TOPIC 3.4: CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

Environmental Value Systems (EVS)

  • a system in the sense that it has inputs (education, culture, religion, media), and outputs (decisions, perspectives, courses of action) are determined by processing these inputs

Utilitarian value

  • where there is an economic value associated with the use of resources

Non-utilitarian value

  • when use does not have any economic values

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  • a report that categorized the values of biodiversity into the following groups: provision value (freshwater, food etc), regulating value (climate, flood etc), supporting values (nutrient cycling, soil formation, primary production, etc), and cultural values )aesthetic, spiritual, educational and recreational uses)

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

  • non-profit, voluntary organizations usually funded by charitable donations and membership fees

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

  • consist of members from different countries. They are funded by its members, such as the UN

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

  • aims to ensure that international trade does not threaten survival of the species

Umbrella species

  • often large species requiring large habitat areas. Protecting the habitat of this species also protects the habits of other species

Keystone species

  • these species interact through the food web with other species in the community and if lost could lead to the demise of other species

In-situ conservation

  • protection of species in their habitat

Ex-situ conservation

  • improve the probability of survival of the species by taking them out of their habitat

TOPIC 4.1: INTRODUCTION TO WATER SYSTEMS

Hydrological cycle

  • used to describe the movement of water on the planet

Flows

  • the flows can be categorized as either transformations or transfers

Global conveyor belt

  • also called the “thermohaline circulation” is driven by differences in water density, dependent on temperature and salinity of water

TOPIC 4.2: ACCESS TO FRESH WATER

Water stress

  • when demand exceeds the available supply over a certain time period or when the quality of water restricts its use

Reservoirs

  • can be either natural or artificially created lakes, used to collect and store water

Artificial recharge

  • used to increase the amount of water stored in aquifers

TOPIC 4.3: AQUATIC FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Aquatic ecosystem

  • a body of water which can be either marine or freshwater

Capture fisheries

  • harvesting aquatic organisms from their natural environments without artificial intervention

Aquaculture

  • the farming of aquatic organisms

TOPIC 4.4: WATER POLLUTION

Domestic sewage

  • a mainly organic waste, consisting of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, ammonium compounds, as well as soaps, synthetic detergents and dissolved salts

Industrial discharge

  • usually varies in composition depending on the on-site processes and materials used

Organic waste

  • waste that is biodegradable and is food source for micro-organisms naturally found in the environment

Synthetic compounds

  • man-made compounds that only have been prevalent since the 1940s

pH

  • pH often reflects the local geology and soil

Suspended solids

  • small particles that can block sunlight penetrating through the water, reducing photosynthesis

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

  • the measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen used to breakdown the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic activity

Indicator species

  • biological monitoring method which uses organisms which can indicate whether the water quality has declined and whether there have been episodes of pollution between periods of sampling

Biotic index

  • used to determine water quality using aquatic organisms

Eutrophication

  • often caused by domestic or industrial effluent discharges and run-off from farms

TOPIC 5.1: INTRODUCTION TO SOIL SYSTEMS

Soil

  • a mixture of 4 basic parts — minerals, organic matter, air and water. It is a medium for plant growth. Soil supplies the plants with nutrients and water and a place for them to anchor

Minerals

  • the minerals of a soil come from the weathering of the parent material. Weathering is the breakdown of the parent material by physical, chemical and biological processes

Organic matter

  • organic matter comes from the organisms that are on and in the soil

Gases

  • certain plants fix atmospheric nitrogen and change it into nitrates and ammonia compounds in the soil

The Organic horizon (O horizon)

  • the top of the soil and includes all the DOM that accumulates on the top of the soil

The A horizon

  • known as the mineral layer. This layer is usually dark in color due to the high proportion of organic matter

The B horizon

  • known as the sub-soil and tends to be the zone of illuviation or accumulation

The C horizon

  • the decomposed parent material

TOPIC 5.2: TERRESTRIAL FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND FOOD CHOICES

Organic farming

  • prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), chemical fertilizers and restricts the use of chemical pesticides

Intensive subsistence farming

  • this type of farming tends to be widespread in many parts of Asia

TOPIC 5.3: SOIL DEGRADATION AND CONSERVATION

Erosion

  • erosion typically removes the fertile topsoil. The loss of organic matter also leads to a reduction in water retention capacity

TOPIC 6.1: INTRODUCTION TO THE ATMOSPHERE

Troposphere

  • this is the layer closest to the earth’s surface and includes where we live. It extends up to about 10km above sea level

Greenhouse effect

  • when energy from the sun enters the earth’s atmosphere as short wave radiation, some of it is absorbed by the earth’s surface. As the ground warms, heat energy is radiated back into the atmosphere in the form of long wave radiation

Stratosphere

  • this layer extends from 10 to 50km above sea level and is where the stratospheric ozone absorbs UV radiation from the sun. Temperature is constant at about -60℃ in the lower part of the stratosphere, which is shielded by the ozone layer but then increases with altitude

Mesosphere

  • this layer ranges from 50 to 80km and is where without the presence of ozone or other particulates to absorb UV radiation, the temperature declines with height

Thermosphere

  • this layer extends beyond about 80km to between 500km and 1,000km. Within the thermosphere: UV and X-radiation from the sun is absorbed which breaks apart molecules into atoms

TOPIC 6.2: STRATOSPHERIC OZONE

Ozone

  • is formed by sunlight energy breaking the bonds within diatomic oxygen molecules to form atomic oxygen which in turn reacts with oxygen molecules to form ozone

Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs)

  • are very stable compounds. They were initially considered to be non-problematic to the environment due to their high stability

Montreal Protocol (1987)

  • targets set on production and consumption of ODS are legally binding

  • it sets out a timetable to reduce production of CFCs by 50% and freeze production of halons

TOPIC 6.3: PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG

Particulates

  • produced during combustion of fossil fuel and emitted into the atmosphere. Suspended particulates such as smoke and soot are often categorized according to size

PM10

  • particulate matter with a diameter of 10µm or less. Exposure to PM10 has also been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease

PM2.5

  • particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5µm or less. PM2.5 which can travel deep into the lungs, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases and cancer

Photochemical smog

  • photochemical smog occurs when sunlight activates reations between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), resulting in the formation of ozone and peroxyacyl nitrates (PAN)

TOPIC 6.4: ACID DEPOSITION

Wet deposition

  • when pollutants are incorporated into the clouds or falaling raindrops and result in acidified rain or snow

Dry deposition

  • when atmospheric pollutants are removed by gravity or direct contact under dry conditions

TOPIC 7.1: ENERGY CHOICES AND SECURITY

Fossil fuels

  • formed from dead plants and animals under pressure over millions of years. They provide a finite source of energy and if use continues they were eventually become exhausted

Hydropower

  • the energy obtained from the movement of water has historically been used to drive a variety of machinery from grinding flour and sawing wood

Energy security

  • the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price

TOPIC 7.2: CLIMATE CHANGE — CAUSES AND IMPACTS

Climate

  • the “average'“ weather over the long term (eg. years) often at a regional level

Weather

  • refers to the conditions over a short time scale (eg. day to day) at a local level. Changes in weather over time are presented as statistics

Tricellular model

  • a model used to explain transfer of heat through the atmosphere

Hadley cell

  • as air is heated at the equator, it rises and cools with altitude which stops it rising further. As the air moves towards the pole, it is deflected towards the right in the northern hemisphere and towards the left in the southern hemisphere

Farrel cell

  • as the air moves from the Hadley cell towards the pole, it enters the Ferrel cell where it picks up moisture as it crosses the sea

Polar cell

  • air that moves from the Ferrel cell to the Polar cell, rises and continues moving towards the pole. As the air cools it descends, creating a high pressure region and some of the air moves back towards the equator forming the polar fronts that meet the Ferrel cell

El Niño

  • where one part of the world influences the weather and climate in another area

Ice albedo

  • when a white and reflective surface starts to melt, it reduces the amount of solar radiation that is reflected back into space. Dark surfaces which replace the ice and snow increase absorption of sunlight and contribute to global warming

Tipping point

  • a level of change in system properties beyond which a system reorganizes, often abruptly, and doesn’t return to the initial state even if the drivers of the change are abated

TOPIC 7.3: CLIMATE CHANGE — MITIGATION AND ADAPTION

Mitigation

  • a human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs)

Adaption

  • the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaption seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

  • set up by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. The aim of the IPCC is to provide a scientific view of the current knowledge and understanding of climate change and its impacts

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

  • it came to force in 1994 with the aim of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels by providing a framework fro protocol agreements

TOPIC 8.1: HUMAN POPULATION DYNAMICS

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

  • the number of births/1000/year

    • formula: CBR = number of births/total population x1000

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

  • the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

  • IMR is the number of babies that die in their first year of life/1000 live births/year

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

  • the number of deaths/1000/year

    • formula: CDR = number of death/total population x1000

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

  • the combination of fertility and mortality to determine population size

    • formula: NIR = (CBR-CDR)/10

Population pyramids

  • known as “age-sex pyramids” or “age-gender pyramids”. they are a graphical illustration to show the age and gender distribution of a population

Stage 1 of population pyramid: Pre-industrial society

  • it shows concave sides to the pyramid and a very large drop in numbers between 0-5 and 6-10 year age groups. This indicates high mortality rates, especially child mortality

Stage 2 of population pyramids: Urbanizing/industrializing

  • a pyramid with straighter sides means low mortality between age groups and a population that will be expanding rapidly

Stage 3 of population pyramids: Industrial

  • pyramids with a narrower bas indicates a falling birth rate

Stage 4 of population pyramids: Post industrial

  • by this stage birth rates, death rates and NIR are all low. However the population is already large having gone through a period of high growth

Stage 5 of population pyramids: Post industrial

  • death rates now exceed birth rates due to an increase in the so-called lifestyle diseases, such as low exercise and high levels of obesity causing cardiovascular diseases

Demographic transition models (DTM)

  • was developed in the 1920s and was based on the observation of the demographic changes in selected countries over the previous 200 years

TOPIC 8.2: RESOURCE USE IN SOCIETY

Economic natural capital

  • something tangible that has monetary value

Living natural capital

  • something that must be managed carefully and used sustainably

Non-living natural capital

  • renewable in a way that we cannot change (such as wind, tidal, solar etc)

TOPIC 8.3: SOLID DOMESTIC WASTE

Non-biodegradable waste

  • anything that will not breakdown into simple components

Landfill sites

  • a hole in the ground where waste materials are buried

Incineration

  • a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of waste. Initially incineration was simply burning trash in a hole in the ground

Recycling

  • to recycle something the original product is transformed into a new raw material that can be used for another product

Composting

  • the act of piling up organic material and leaving it until the next growing season

TOPIC 8.4: HUMAN POPULATION AND CARRYING CAPACITY

Biocapacity

  • the biological capacity of an area/region/country to generate the resources and absorb the wastes of a given population

Agenda 21

  • where 178 governments voted to adopt the this program. it is a UN initiative for multilateral organizations, and governments to be executed at local, national and global levels