CONNECTION BETWEEN CHAPTER 3 AND 6

6.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE ATMOSPHERE

6.3 PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG

6.4 ACID DEPOSITION

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO BIODIVERSITY

3.2 BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

3.3 THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY

3.4 CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth and the essential interdependence of all living things. It is a broad concept encompassing total biodiversity which include species diversity, genetic diversity and habitat/ecosystem diversity.

Types Of Biodiversity

Species Diversity

Genetic Diversity

Habitat Diversity

The number and relative proportion of different species in an area.

Amount of variation that exists between different individuals within different populations of a species.

Variation in diversity from one habitat to another.

The atmosphere is a mixture of gases (N2, O2, smaller amounts of CO2, O3, argon, water vapor and other trace gases (SO2, N2O, CH4).

Split into 5 Layers

Troposphere

Mesosphere

Stratosphere

Thermosphere

Exosphere

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect of the atmosphere is a natural and necessary phenomenon maintaining suitable temperatures for living systems.

Main greenhouse gases: water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4).

Albedo Effect

Albedo is the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface.

Human Activity

Human activities impact the atmosphere composition through altering inputs and outputs of the system.

Changes in the concentrations of atmospheric gases such as ozone, CO2, water vapor have significant effects on ecosystem

6.2 STRATOSPHERIC OZONE

Biological Variation

Genotypic

Photochemical smog is a mixture of primary and secondary pollutants formed under the influence of sunlight. Ozone is the main pollutant.

Current Extinction Rate

100 species per million species/year

Phenotypic

Biodiversity and Evolution

Natural Selection

Biodiversity arises from evolutionary processes

Main pollutants and sources

In a population, there is genetic diversity (Variation)

Primary pollutants are those pollutants that are emitted directly. The main primary pollutants leading to acid deposition are sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which react with water forming strong acids.

Secondary pollutants are substances that are formed from the primary pollutants such as sulphurous acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid.

Due to natural variation, some individuals will be fitter, fitter individuals have an advantage and will reproduce more successfully

Offspring of fitter individuals may inherit genes for same advantage.

Factors that lead to threats

Others estimate 30.000 - 60.000 species/year

Human activities that led to the emission of these pollutants are the combustion of fossil fuels in motor cars, industry, and thermal power stations.

Environmental Changes

Natural Hazard (act of nature) ex. eruptions, earthquakes, storms, and others

Environmental Disaster (human caused) ex. oil spill

Those not suited to the changes will not survive

Example

Early Fox Population

Effects of acid rain

Spreads to the North

Direct effects

Weakening tree growth in coniferous forests, acid falling on lakes and ponds decreasing the PH water level and harming the aquatic organisms.

Spreads to the South

Loss of Habitat: Human destroyed or changed habitat

Different environmental conditions lead to different selective pressures and evolution into two different species.

Arctic Fox

Factors that help maintain biodiversity

Adapted to cold through heavier fur, short ears, short legs, short nose. White fur matches snow for camouflage.

Complexity of ecosystem ex. Complex food webs

Gray Fox

Adapted to heat through lightweight fur and long ears, legs, and nose, which give off more heat.

If they are already stable in a good stage or the later stage of succession

Toxic effects

Aliminium leaches out of soil, disrupts salt, water, and oxygen regulating mechanisms in fish, and can adhere to fish gills causing suffocation.

Isolation

Limiting factors ex. Abiotic Factors (water, light, heat, nutrients).

Isolation maybe on an island, mountain, body of water (lake or pond).

Nutrient effects

Soil particles cannot retain nutrients in acidic environment so those nutrients are leached out of soil which would not be available for the trees.

Some populations mix freely but they are isolated in other ways: their mating seasons are not synchronized or their flowers mature at different times.

Example

Dissolved aluminium ions damage root hairs which is responsible for absorbing nutrients. Due to this, the trees are unable to absorb as many nutrients.

Lemurs in Madagascar, mountain blue bird lives at high elevation, eastern bluebird prefers low elevation,

Damage to human infrastructure because acid rain dissolves limestone structures, especially buildings and statues.

Speciation

Speciation is the formation of a new species when populations of a species become isolated and evolve differently.

Species can develop into 2 or more new species if their population is split by some kind of factors

Physical Barriers

Land Bridges

Continental Drift

The role of IUCN Red List

Founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species

A mountain range or ocean will split the gene pool, no mixing anymore, the two populations can develop in different directions.

Can form from previously unconnected plates allowing species to invade new areas.

Resulted in new and diverse habitats. During drifting different climate zones forced species to adapt and resulted in an increase in biodiversity.

Determines conservation status of a species based on pop size, degree of specialisation, distribution, reproductive potential and behaviour, geographic range and degree of fragmentation, quality of habitat, trophic level, and the probability of extinction.

Educates the public, advises the government, and assess new world heritage sites.

Pollutants

Primary pollutants are emitted directly from the polluting process. The process could be natural or anthropogenic. The fossil fuel combustion primary pollutants include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter.

Secondary pollutants are formed when primary pollutants undergo reactions with other chemicals that are already present in the atmosphere. This is also called as a photochemical reaction.

Tropospheric ozone

CO, CO2, SO, NO, and volatile organic compounds are released from the burning of fossil fuels.NO and VOCs release oxygen atoms under the action of UV light which is combined with O2 in the troposphere, forming ozone.

Effects of tropospheric ozone

Plants

Humans

Materials and products

Ozone absorbed into plants though leaves which degrades the chlorophyl. It reduces the photosynthesis and productivity.

Reduces actions in lungs causing breathing difficulties. There is insusceptibility to infection. There is also eye, nose, and throat infection.

Attacks rubber, cellulose, and some plastics. It reduces the life of car tires and beaches fabrics.

Effects of UV

Beneficial effects

Damaging effects

What is it?

Ozone (O3) is a reactive gas, produced by the action of sunlight on O2 molecules.

Ozone is a greenhouse gas but also absorbs incoming (and some outgoing) UV light.

The stratospheric ozone is a good ozone because it protects living things from damaging UV light. Unlike tropospheric ozone which is the bad ozone.

Stimulates the production of VitD in animal bodies. It treat skin diseases such as psoriasis and vitiligo, kills pathogenic bacteria in air and water. Industrial uses in lasers that allows them to view old scripts and forensic analysis.

Genetic mutation and subsequent effects on health, damage to living tissues, cataract formation in eyes, skin cancers, suppression of the immune system, damage to photosynthetic organisms, and damage to consumers of photosynthetic organism.

Ozone Depleting Substances

ODS are man made. An example would be halogenated gases such as CFC that is stable on ground but not stable in the stratospheric ozone.

Another examples of ODS includes HCFC, methyl bromide, and many more.

Lets the sun's short wave radiation reach the earth, but trap some of the long wave coming from the earth.

CONNECTION BETWEEN CHPT 3 AND 6

Threat to biodiversity due to photochemical smog

Photochemical smog is unhealthy to humans, animals, and can kill plants. This threatens the biodiversity in big cities with bad pollutions and their surroundings. Ozone absorbed into plants though leaves degrades the chlorophyl. It reduces the photosynthesis and productivity.

Threat to biodiversity due to acid deposition

Episodic acidification

This is characterized by short intense acidic events. An example would be winter snowmelt and heavy rains can deliver large loads of acid to ecosystems in a short period of time. These can have significant biological effects that include the loss of biodiversity and changes in community structure.

Chronic acidification

Refers to streams, lakes, and soil ecosystems that have lost their ability to neutralize acidifying events. When ecosystems are exposed to excessive, long-term acid deposition, the neutralizing chemicals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, and other chemicals become depleted. This can make the system more vulnerable to episodic acidification events and may lead to chronic surface water acididty.

Aluminium toxity

The release of heavy metal aluminium from the soil due to increased acid deposition can create unsuitable living conditions for many freshwater fish species.

Ozone causes dead patterns on the upper surfaces of the leaves of trees. Ground-level ozone also can interfere with the growth and productivity of trees.

Threat to biodiversity due to greenhouse effect

Effects on land biodiversity

Rising temperatures already affect the world's polar regions. Diminishing ice packs reduce the habitats of polar bears, penguins, and other Arctic creatures. As the ice melts, it increases the sea level, which affect and destroy ecosystems on coastlines.

Effects on ocean biodiversity

Rising sea levels will also cause changes to ocean temperatures and currents. Such changes would have a strong impact on zooplankton, an essential part of the food chain in the ocean. Shifts in where planktons live and the size of their populations could effect the biodiversity in the Earth's waters. An example would be whales as they require mass amounts of plankton to survive.

Evolution caused by pollution

An example are the adaptation of metabolism in some bacteria to be able to feed on toxic waste, e.g., Carbon tetrachloride.

Species has undergo the process of evolution through natural selection for millions of years, even until now. Now that the world is changing and not as clean as before, pollution can indeed trigger evolution in species as they are forced to adapt with the current situation.

Value of Biodiversity

Direct Value

Indirect Value

Food Source: Human eats other species, old varieties still has to be conserved in case needed, pests and diseases can wipe-out non-resistant strains, wild strain needed to find resistant genes.

Natural products : Medicines, fertilizers, pesticides are derived from plants and animal; guano (sea bird droppings), oil palms, rubber, rattan, cotton, silk, honey, timber.

Human health - antibiotics originally obtained from fungi

Human rights – if biodiversity is protected, indigenous communities can continue to live

Recreational - areas of outstanding national beauty and parks

Ecotourism – biodiversity is often the subject of aesthetic interest

Ethical / intrinsic value - each species has a right to exist

Biorights self perpetuation - diverse ecosystems help to preserve their component species

Conservation vs Preservation

Conservation: process of maintaining sustainable nature which includes human to maintain sustainable nature, including acts of creating local income, education, etc.

Preservation: Process of preserving intrinsic worth of nature to retain all parts of nature regardless it will be useful or harmful to humans.

How Conservation Organization Works

IGO (intergovernmental Organization:

Composed of and answering to a group of member states (countries)

Also called international organization

Exp: UN, IPCC

GO (governmental organization)

Part and funded of a national government

Highly bureaucratic

Research, regulation, monitoring, and control activities

Eg: Environmental Protection Agency of the USA (EPA), Department of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia.

NGO (Non-governmental organization)

Not part of a government

Not for profit

May be international or local funded

Some run by volunteers

Very diverse

Eg: greenpeace, wwf, irf (international rhino fund), WALHI

Types of Conservation

Species Based Conservation

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora)

Captive breeding and zoos

Botanical gardens and seed banks

Flagship species

Keystone species

Habitat Based Conservation

In-situ

Ex-situ

Conservation of species in their natural habitat (on site)

E.g. natural parks, nature reserves

Conserving species in a specific area outside their natural habitat (off site)

E.g. zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks

Designing protected areas: Surrounding land used for conservation and distance from urban centres are important factors for consideration in conservation area design.

Edge effects occurs in ecotones where 2 habitats meets and there is a change near the boundary (e.g. more wind, warmer, less humid compared to the interior).

Corridors: use to increase animal movement to increase gene pool and allows seasonal migration, but negative because easier to be poached and invasive species enter via corridors

Conservations help vulnerable species stay away from dangerous pollutants

As most types of conservations are located in a rather isolated areas, the level of air pollution in those areas are usually low and controlled. Therefore, the air is cleaner and the species are not threatened by the air pollutants.

Reasons of why to conserve

Reduces environmental damage (soil erosion, sedimentation, flooding)

Produces sustainable resources (wood, fuel, timber, food, medicine)

It is considered to be an ethical responsibility

Maintains oxygen/carbon dioxide balance = reduces global warming

Maintains biodiversity

The pollutants that can danger these animals include acid rain, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances.

That is why, we have to conserve and protect their existing habitats. So that they could stay safe and sound there.

Plate Activity

Every year continental drift moves at about 50 – 100 mm/year.

When Plates Meet

Slide past each other

Diverge (could cause physical separation)

Converge, may cause collide and both be forced upwards as mountains (physical barrier); collide and the heavier one sinks underneath the lighter continental plate (land bridges).

Causes of Mass Extinction

Tectonic Plate Movement

Volcanic Eruption

Meteor Impact

Climate Change over a long period

Human Activities

Indicator of Ecosystem Health

Biodiversity if often used as a measure as high biodiversity usually equates with high ecosystem health.

Advantages of High Genetic Diversity

Resilience and stability due to the range of plants present of which some will survive drought, floods, insect attack, disease.

Resistance to diseases

Some plants there will have deep roots so can cycle nutrients and bring them to surface making them available for other plants

Disadvantages of Diversity

Diversity could be the result of fragmentation of a habitat or degradation when species richness is due to pioneer species invading bare area quickly

Managing grazing can be difficult as plant species have different requirement and tolerance to grazing

Some stable and healthy communities have few plant species so are an exception to the rule

Threat to biodiversity due to the tropospheric ozone

Loss of species diversity (less variety of plants, animals, insects, and fish)

Changes to the specific assortment of plants present in a forest.

Changes the habitat quality.

Changes to water and nutrient cycles.

Acid rain is typically caused by the burning of fossil fuels, can acidify smaller bodies of water and soil, negatively affecting the species that live there by changing breeding and feeding habits.

Rapid, manmade climate change speeds does not allow ecosystems and species time to adapt. Climate is a major factor in the distribution of species across the globe; climate change forces them to adjust. But many are not able to cope, causing them to die out.

Pollution may act as a pressure for speciation

It can cause genetic drift of alleles by killing a large number of individual in a population. This might lead to speciation. Pollution can confine a certain population to a particular geographical area due to niche reduction. This geographical barrier can lead to speciation event. So basically as soon as pollution exerts a selective pressure, there will be natural selection and thus evolution.

Difficulties in Estimating Numbers of Species

Some species are very small & difficult to find

Some species lives in deep ocean, deep soil, high canopies
(Location)

Lack of finance for scientific research

Huge effort is required to catalog species.