Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Intro to Environmental Science - Coggle Diagram
Intro to Environmental Science
STEWARDSHIP- Managing natural resources through actions, programs, and human well being for greater good of society.
SUSTAINABILITY- Continues indefinitely without depleting resources or energy.
Essential transitions for a sustainable future: 1. Population transition (growth), 2. Resource transition, 3. Technology transition (production systems), 4. Political/Sociological transition(needs of ppl, eliminating poverty), 5. Community transition (start growth/build up).
ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY
SPECIES: Group of individuals that share certain certain characteristics. Distinct from other species, Cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring. (Binomial Nomenclature)
Ecological Hierarchy:
Populations: make up reproducing group
Biotic Community (Biota): groups of populations in natural area – Includes vegetation, animals, microbes, etc.
Abiotic Factors: non-living environmental factors
Biomes: large area with same climate and similar vegetation Biome: large geographical biotic community
Biosphere: system of all living things (the earth)
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Optimal range – best response occurs for an organism
Range of tolerance – entire span that allows for growth
Zones of stress – between optimal range and high/low limits of tolerance
Limits of tolerance – high/low ends of range of tolerance
Habitat: area particular species is adapted to live in, defined by plant community and physical environment
Niche: sum of all conditions and resources under which species can live
SOUND SCIENCE-Basis of understanding of how our world works and how we should interact with it .
SCIENTIFIC METHOD- 1. Natrual Laws: Provide empirically confirmed data. 2. Concepts: Valid experiments used to make predictions. 3. Theories: Over arching concepts.
JUNK SCIENCE- No scientific method or data explained.
ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS: Social science involving production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services with theory and management of economic systems.
GOODS: Materials extracted from the Earth for human use. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: Actions provide economic well-being and support life.
TWO TYPES OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: 1. Centrally Planned (Rulers decide) 2. Free Market (Market decides what will be exchanged).
GREEN ECONOMY: 1. Produced Capital, 2. Natural Capital, 3. Intangible Capital.
Gross National Product (GNP) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)
LEGAL PROCESS: 1. Legislative, 2. Executive, 3. Judicial.
Federal level policies (EPA,CWA,CAA) and State level (DEP,Pay as you throw, NJ freshwater wetlands protection act).
NOTABLE PEOPLE: John Muir, Wangari Maathai, Muhammad Yunus, Garrett Hardin, Aldo Leopold, Teddy Roosevelt.
MATTER AND ENERGY
Matter – Anything that occupies space and has mass – Made up of: Atoms, Elements, Molecules, Compounds
Potential Energy: Energy storage (chemical energy)
Kinetic Energy: Energy of motion
Energy is measured in calories
BIODIVERSITY
Instrumental value: Value for humans
Intrinsic value: Value for own sake
Biological Wealth: biota and their ecosystems
Genetic diversity
Species diversity
Range of communities and ecosystems
POPULATION AND COMMUNITY
Population: group of species living in certain
area
Biotic Potential: number of offspring under ideal conditions
Environmental Resistance – Biotic vs. abiotic factors cause mortality and limit population increase
Top down regulation: control of population by predation
Bottom up regulation: control of population due to resource scarcity
Critical number: minimum population for
species to survive in environment
Intraspecific: competition for resources between same species
Interspecific: competition for resources between different species
EVOLUTION
Selective pressure: environmental resistance
factors
Natural selection: process of specific traits
favoring survival of certain individuals
1.Species can adapt to changing conditions
Migrate to an area with more favorable conditions
Or become extinct
ECOSYSTEMS
Consumptive: harvest food, shelter, tools, fuel, and clothing
Common in developing countries and even in rural US
Productive: exploitation for economic gain
Enormous source of revenue
PROTECTION
Conservation: management and regulation of ecosystem use
Preservation: ensure continuity (of ecosystem or species), regardless of potential utility
Restoration Ecology: Study and means of restoring damaged ecosystems
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): highest possible rate of use system can match with own rate of replacement/maintenance
HUMAN POPULATION
Carrying capacity R vs K
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
ADHESION-Water attaches to other surfaces/COHESION-Water attaches to itself
HYDROLOGY
Hydrology: the branch of environmental science that deals water properties and its movement and distribution on Earth
CYCLE- Soaked into water by infiltration, Surface runoff into surface water bodies
AQUIFER= Layer of permeable rock that water can be extracted from with a well (CONFINED AQUIFER VS UNCONFINED)
Irragation 70%, Industry 20%, Direct Human 10% (WATER USAGE)
Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to groundwater quality degradation, including drinking water sources, and other consequences.
SOIL
HORIZONS- O,A,E,B,C,R
FORMING FACTORS:(1)Climate (2)Biota (3) Parent material (4) Topography (5) Time
TEXTURE: Sand, Silt, Clay, Loam
SOILS= Organic and Geological materials broken down from parent material
ISSUES: Degradation, Erosion (Wind – Water • Splash • Sheet • Rill • Gully)
FOOD PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
SUBSISTENCE VS MODERN
Modern- 1. Modern machinery 2. Infrastructure 3. Chemicals 4. Irrigation 5. Expansive land 6. Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
Subsistence- Poor and cannot survive crop failures – Common in: Asia, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa – Many depend on imported food and prices are soaring
Neolithic, Industrial Revolutions
Transgenic – gene taken from completely different organism
Marker-assisted breeding – traditional breeding sped up using molecular biological techniques
Pros: Tolerance to enviro, Less manipulation of soil, pest resistance, improved nutrient content
Cons: Pesticide resistance, ecological impacts, safety to people, new toxins, pharmcrops
GMOS