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Environmental Science - Coggle Diagram
Environmental Science
Ecology (the science of organisms and their environment)
Ecosystems (energy, patterns, and disturbances)
Disturbances (event or process that significantly alters the structure and function of an ecosystem by disrupting its populations, resource availability, or phyrical environment)
Fire and Succession
Resilience (ability of ecosystems to return to normal after disturbance)
Serotiny (some plants require disturbance to release seeds) (E.g. some pine species require fire)
Tipping Point (situation in human impacted ecossytem where small action catlayzes major change in system state)
System Equilibrium (species interact constantly in well-balanced relationship) (Often respond to disturbances)
Succession (transition of one biotic community to another)
Primary (area lacking plants and soil is initially invaded by plants when soil forms)
Secondary (area cleared by disturbance and then reinvaded by plants and animals from other ecosystems)
Aquatic (soil particles eroded from land or plant detritus build up in ponds or lakes, eventually filling them)
Management (manage ecosystem in current state)
Ecosystem Services
Restoration (return ecosystem back to original state)
Requires (1) Abiotic factors unaltered or can be returned to original state (2) Viable populations formerly inhabiting ecosystem must still exist
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - A Governing Board (4 year project involving 1400 scienteists, produced reports on state of Earth's ecosystems in 2005)
Sustainability
Problems to Focus On: (1) World population will increase tremendouslt over next half century (2) N and P cycles raise nutrients in land and water 2-3 times (3) 15% more agriculture land (4) Global deforestation (5) More water diverted (6) We may lose up tp 50% of the world's biodiversity at estimated loss rate
Ecosystem capital
Ecosystem use
Consumptive
Productive
Protecting ecosystems
conservation
preservation
Maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
Consequences of rights of tenure
(1) provate ownership (2) communal ownership (3) state ownership (4) open access
Consequences
Deforestation (productivity reduced, reduction in nutrients and biomass, biodiversity reduces, soil erosion increased, etc)
Tropical forests (primarily cleared for agriculture)
Marine fisheries
Bottom trawling
Aquaculture
Oopen ocean aquaculture (farming coastal species in ocean several miles from shoreline)
Characteristics
Ecosystem Biomes (large geographical area with similar biotic community)
Aquatic (saltwater, brackish water, freshwater bodies, coral reefs)
Disturbances: pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, habitat pollution
Terrestrial (grasslands, forests, shrublands, deserts/dunes, tundra)
Disturbances: wildfires, deforestation, invasive species, climate change)
Wetlands (transition between terrestrial and aquatic; marshes, swamps, bogs, ponds)
Major Biomes (may have areas different from overall biomes)
Tropical rainforest, savanna, desert. temperate forest, taiga, tundra, grassland, etc
Microclimate (localized areas within larger biomes where specific climate conditions vary due to geographic features or human activities)
(e.g. cities have more head absorbing surfaces and reduced vegetation, mountains have altittude variations that lead to temperature changes)
Trophic Levels (food level defined by primary source of energy)
Food Chains or Webs (trophic levels and complex interactions)
Terrestrial (pyramic shape)
Relative Biomass at Each Tropic Level
Total combined mass of all producers = biomass of first tropich level (100)
Total combined mass of all herbivores = biomass of second tropic level (10)
Total combined mass of all carnivores = biomass of third trophic level (1)
Total combined mass of third-order consumers = biomass of fourth trophic level (1/10)
Bottom of Triangle to Top: Producers (trees, grass flowering plants, crops) -> Primary Consumers (butterfly, grasshoppers, bee) -> Secondary Consumers (rat, sparrow, frog) -> Tertiary Consumers (snake, owl) -> Quaternary Consumers (eagle)
Aquatic (reverse compared with terrestrial pyramid)
Top or Bottom of Triangle to Bottom or Point of Triangle (BIomass of large fish -> Biomass of small fish -> Biomass of zooplankton (consumers) -> Biomass of phytoplankton (producers)
Detritus Food Chain
Detritus (dead organic matter like dead leaves -> Decomposers (bacteria, fungi) -> Dentrivores (invertebrates, insects, earthworms) -> Higher-Level Consumers (small predators or scavengers)
Trophic Categories
Producers
Autotrophs (produce organic compounds to survive) (most plants, algae)
Chemotrophs (producers use inorganic molecules like H2S to gain energy for survival) (some bacteria in extreme environments like hydrothermal vents)
Consumers
Heterotrophs (consume organic material to survive) (humans)
Biological wealth (total variety and abundance of life)
Provides (1) Food and raw materials (2) Sources for medicine (3) Recreational
Intrinsic Value (Land ethics and Aldo Leopold. Nature has worth in and of itself, independent of any benefits or services it may provide to humans)
Religious support (God created the Earth and all living things, humans are caretakers of God's creation)
Biodiversity (dimensional)
(e.g. genetic diversity, species diversity, range of communities and ecosystems)
Population growth: puts pressure on species
Overexploitation: overharvesting of particular species faster than they can replenish
Consequences
(1) loss of ecosystem services (2) keystone species (3) aesthetics and nature-based tourism (4) k vs r strategies (5) many unknown unsequences
Main Reasons for Species Decline
Habitat Destruction (greatest source of loss
(1) Conversion: clearing rainforests for palm oil plantations (2) Fragmentation: large habitats broken up into smaller patches due to roads (3) Simplification: reduces complexity through monoculture farming (4) Intrusion of Other Species: non native species can outcompete, prey on, or harm native species
Invasive Species (Organisms not native to area that causes envirnomental damage)
Reasons for Invasion (1) Accidental (2) Deliberate (3) Gradual)
Pollution
Chemical (Nutrients, pesticides (EDCs), industrial waste)
Biological (Pathogens, parasites)
Physical (Sediments, light, noise, thermal)
Conservation
Endangered species legislation
Lacey act
endangered species act
alternatives/roadblocks: special interest groups
Successes
Whooping crane, grey wolf of yellowstone, birds of prey and DDT, california condors, karner blue butterflu, kitland's warbler
Hunting
Game animals: those hunted for sport
International efforts
IUCN, CITES, convention on biological diversity, critial ecosystem partnership fund
Hot spots: direct limited conservation resources towards these areas to protect as many species as possible
Restoration
Restoration ecology (study and means of restoring damaged ecosystems)
Global Forest Resource Assessment
(1) Loss in forest cover (2) Deforestation rate 7.3 million HA/yr (3) used for production of wood (4) 13.5% national parks or reserves (5) large role in combatting climate change (6) pests and forest damage
Protection
Wilderness
National parks and wildlife refuges
Human population
Demography (field of collecting, compiling, and presenting information about human populations)
Carrying capacity, r-strategist, k-strategist
Population growth: births > deaths
Total fertility rate (TFR)
Replacement-level fertility rate
Projecting profiles
population profile (bar graph depicting age structure of males and females in a population)
Countries and rapid growth
environmental footprint
population growth formula ( I = P
A
T)
Affluent nations
wealthy nations, responsible for most consumption