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CONNECTION BETWEEN CHAPTER 3 AND 6 - Coggle Diagram
CONNECTION BETWEEN CHAPTER 3 AND 6
6.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE ATMOSPHERE
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).
Lets the sun's short wave radiation reach the earth, but trap some of the long wave coming from the earth.
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
6.3 PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
Photochemical smog is a mixture of primary and secondary pollutants formed under the influence of sunlight. Ozone is the main pollutant.
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
Ozone absorbed into plants though leaves which degrades the chlorophyl. It reduces the photosynthesis and productivity.
Humans
Reduces actions in lungs causing breathing difficulties. There is insusceptibility to infection. There is also eye, nose, and throat infection.
Materials and products
Attacks rubber, cellulose, and some plastics. It reduces the life of car tires and beaches fabrics.
6.4 ACID DEPOSITION
Main pollutants and sources
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.
Human activities that led to the emission of these pollutants are the combustion of fossil fuels in motor cars, industry, and thermal power stations.
Effects of acid rain
Direct effects
Weakening tree growth in coniferous forests, acid falling on lakes and ponds decreasing the PH water level and harming the aquatic organisms.
Toxic effects
Aliminium leaches out of soil, disrupts salt, water, and oxygen regulating mechanisms in fish, and can adhere to fish gills causing suffocation.
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.
Dissolved aluminium ions damage root hairs which is responsible for absorbing nutrients. Due to this, the trees are unable to absorb as many nutrients.
Damage to human infrastructure because acid rain dissolves limestone structures, especially buildings and statues.
3.1 INTRODUCTION TO 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
The number and relative proportion of different species in an area.
Genetic Diversity
Amount of variation that exists between different individuals within different populations of a species.
Habitat Diversity
Variation in diversity from one habitat to another.
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
3.2 BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
Biological Variation
Genotypic
Phenotypic
Biodiversity and Evolution
Biodiversity arises from evolutionary processes
Natural Selection
In a population, there is genetic diversity (Variation)
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.
Environmental Changes
Those not suited to the changes will not survive
Different environmental conditions lead to different selective pressures and evolution into two different species.
Example
Early Fox Population
Spreads to the North
Arctic Fox
Adapted to cold through heavier fur, short ears, short legs, short nose. White fur matches snow for camouflage.
Spreads to the South
Gray Fox
Adapted to heat through lightweight fur and long ears, legs, and nose, which give off more heat.
Isolation
Isolation maybe on an island, mountain, body of water (lake or pond).
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
Lemurs in Madagascar, mountain blue bird lives at high elevation, eastern bluebird prefers low elevation,
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
A mountain range or ocean will split the gene pool, no mixing anymore, the two populations can develop in different directions.
Land Bridges
Can form from previously unconnected plates allowing species to invade new areas.
Continental Drift
Resulted in new and diverse habitats. During drifting different climate zones forced species to adapt and resulted in an increase in biodiversity.
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
3.3 THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
Current Extinction Rate
100 species per million species/year
Others estimate 30.000 - 60.000 species/year
Factors that lead to threats
Natural Hazard (act of nature) ex. eruptions, earthquakes, storms, and others
Environmental Disaster (human caused) ex. oil spill
Loss of Habitat: Human destroyed or changed habitat
Factors that help maintain biodiversity
Complexity of ecosystem ex. Complex food webs
If they are already stable in a good stage or the later stage of succession
Limiting factors ex. Abiotic Factors (water, light, heat, nutrients).
The role of IUCN Red List
Founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species
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.
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.
3.4 CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Value of Biodiversity
Direct 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.
Indirect Value
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
Conservation of species in their natural habitat (on site)
E.g. natural parks, nature reserves
Ex-situ
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
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
6.2 STRATOSPHERIC OZONE
Effects of UV
Beneficial effects
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.
Damaging effects
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.