Environmental Sciences Second Month

Environmental sciences : 

Environmental sciences Second month

How to prevent a global version of the Easter island disaster : 

How to prevent a global version of the Easter island disaster Understand how the natural world works Understand how human and natural systems interact

Earth is essentially a CLOSED SYSTEM: : 

Earth is essentially a CLOSED SYSTEM: Some resources are limited, and as the population grows, the resources will be used more rapidly. We will produce wastes more quickly than we can dispose of them. Environmental problems are global, but whatever we do to our environment locally, eventually, affects the environment globally.

Main environmental problems : 

Main environmental problems 1. Resource Depletion: 2. Pollution 3. Loss of Biodiversity

Resource Depletion : 

Resource Depletion Renewable resource: resource that can be replaced relatively quickly by natural processes. Examples: Nonrenewable resource: resource that forms at a much slower rate than the rate that it is consumed. Take millions of years to replenish it. Examples:

Slide 6: 

Resources are said to be depleted when a large fraction of the resources has been used up. ALE: acción líderes económicos

Pollution : 

Pollution Undesired changed in air, water or soil that affects the health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms. Biodegradable pollutants: can be broken down by natural processes. Ex: sewage, stack of newspapers They are a problem only when they accumulate faster than they can be broken down. Non biodegradable pollutants: do not breakdown, can build up to dangerous levels. Ex. Mercury, lead, plastic

Loss of Biodiversity : 

Loss of Biodiversity Biodiversity: number and variety of species that live in an area. Organisms become natural resource and a nonrenewable resource

Population and Consumptions : 

Population and Consumptions Environmental problems = 2 main causes 1) Population growth quicker than environment can support 2) people using, wasting, or polluting natural resources faster than they can be renewed, replaced or cleaned up.

Population and Consuption : 

Population and Consuption Overpopulation can cause: Not enouph natural resources for everyone Deforestation, topsoil exhaust, animal extinction Malnutration and starvation

Population and Consuption : 

Population and Consuption Consuption Trends Developed nations use about 75% of the world’s resources even though they make up about 20% of the world’s population.

Indicators of development : 

Indicators of development

Population & Consumption : 

Population & Consumption Overpopulation can cause: Not enough natural resources for everyone Deforestation, topsoil exhaust, animal extinction Malnutrition and starvation which are gateway to disease Education and job creation insufficient

Things that can be done: : 

Things that can be done: Preserve habitats Decrease and reuse waste Use efficiently renewable resources Lower pollution levels by introducing clean energies

Slide 15: 

How much do you NEED to live? VS How much do you consume?

All living things need: : 

All living things need: Food Shelter Energy to live and grow Water In the case of human beings, the amount of resources needed will depend in their life style.

Slide 17: 

We are reducing our natural resources just by our daily life activities. The impact that one person, city or country has on Earth to satisfy its needs (consumption) and to absorb its waste is known as ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Ecological footprint : 

Ecological footprint Shows the productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country. It estimates the land used for crops, grazing, forest products, and housing. It also includes the ocean area to harvest seafood and the forest area needed to absorb the air pollution caused by fossil fuels.

Calculating your ecological footprint : 

Calculating your ecological footprint HW FOR MONDAY: BASKETS INSTRUCTIONS: ENTER THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE http://www.myfootprint.org/ Answer the questions so you can find how many earths you need to live the way you live now. Calculate your ecological footprint. Print and hand in the page of you results, plastic cover.

Slide 20: 

People that live in urban areas traditionally have a larger ecological footprint than those who live in rural areas. in rural areas people Use less water Have less electronic devices Produce their own food Travel by foot/help of animals Use less plastic containers Produce less waste

Topic 3 : 

Topic 3 Organisms and their relationships OBJECTIVES Define the different levels of organization Compare habitat

BIOSPHERE: : 

BIOSPHERE: Biosphere is the layer of earth, from high in the atmosphere to deep in the ocean, that supports life. BIOTIC FACTORS ABIOTIC FACTORS All living organisms that non living parts of an habitat an environment organism’s environment

BIOSPHERE : 

BIOSPHERE The biosphere is too large and complex for most ecological studies. So to study relationships within the atmosphere, ecologists look at different levels or organization. Ecosystem, biome, population, organism, biosphere, biological community

The levels of organization are: : 

The levels of organization are: 1. organism: individual, living thing composed of many cells. Ex. Single fish 2. population: group of organisms of one species that share the same geographic location at the same time. Ex School of fish 3. biological community: group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographic area at the same tie. Ex. Fishes, coral and the marine plants. 4. ecosystem: community with its non living surroundings. (biotic and abiotic factors together) ex. Coral reef, sea water, water temperature and light availability

Slide 25: 

5. biome: large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities. Ex. Coral reef off the coast of the Florida Keys. Marine biome 6. biosphere: highest level of organization. Portion of earth that supports life.

The Habitat is the ADRESS : 

The Habitat is the ADRESS A squirrel that lives in a pine forests A howler monkey rain forest A cactus – in the dessert A fish that lives a coral reef will die if the reef is destroyed

A niche is an organisms pattern of use of its habitat : 

A niche is an organisms pattern of use of its habitat Requirements of living space, Tº, moisture, conditions for mating and reproduction.

HABITAT AND NICHE : 

HABITAT AND NICHE Example: 3 members of a group of bees have the same habitat, but a different niche: one is the queen, the workers and the drone bees.

COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS : 

COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS ORGANISMS THAT LIVE IN A BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY ARE CONSTANTLY INTERACTING. INTERACTIONS include competition for basic needs such as water, food, shelter, mates.

Community interactions : 

Community interactions 1. competition 2. predations 3. symbiosis Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism

Mutualism : 

Mutualism Relationship between two or more organisms that live closely together and benefits from each other. Both parts have benefits

Commensalism : 

Commensalism Relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is neither helped nor harmed. The organism is benefited and the other one in not affected much.

parasitism : 

parasitism Symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefit at the expense of another organism.

Topic 4: ENERGY FLOW IN AN ECOSYSTEM : 

Topic 4: ENERGY FLOW IN AN ECOSYSTEM

The producers: Autotrophs : 

The producers: Autotrophs Organisms that use energy from the sun to manufacture their own nutrients. Organism that produce their own food in an ecosystem.

Autotrophs: “self- feeders” : 

Autotrophs: “self- feeders” Green slime, also known as algae, may have been among the earlist life on Earth. Algae self-feeds by way of photosynthesis. If it werent fot the photosynthetic activity of these eartly organism, Earth’s atmoshpere would still be without oxygen. The appearance of oxygen- dependen animals, incluing humansj, would never have ocurred.

The consumers: Heterotrophs : 

The consumers: Heterotrophs Organism that cannot make their own food and must feed on other organisms. Heterotrophs: herbivores, feeds only on plants; carnivores, kill and eat other animal; detrivores or detritus feeders, eat animals that have already died; omnivores, eat a variety of foods that include both, animal and plant materials

Slide 38: 

Matter and energy flow through organisms in ecosystems.

Slide 39: 

Suffix- vore comes from the latin word vora, which means eat or devour

decomposers : 

decomposers Organism, normally a fungus or bacterium, that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organism and return nutrients to the soil, air and water where the nutrients can be reused by organisms.

Importance of decomposers and detrivores : 

Importance of decomposers and detrivores What would happen in this world without the decomposers and detrivores?

Importance of detritivores and decomposers : 

Importance of detritivores and decomposers The entire biosphere would be covered with dead organism. Their bodies would contain nutrients that would no longer be available to other organism. So… the detritivores are an important

photosynthesis : 

photosynthesis Process by which auxotroph, such as algae and plants, convert the energy of sunlight into chemical energy stored in the bonds of glucose and releases oxygen. Carbon dioxide + water = sunlight/ nutrients = glucose + oxygen

Cellular respiration : 

Cellular respiration Chemical process where the food molecules (glucose= are breakdown to produce energy (ATP)

Slide 45: 

Ecologist study food chains and food webs to model the energy flow in ecosystems Is a simplified model representing the transfer

Topic 4 Energy Flow in an Ecosystem : 

Topic 4 Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

FOOD CHAIN : 

FOOD CHAIN Is a simplified model representing the transfer of energy form organism organism. Energy flows through communities from photosynthetic producers through several levels of consumers. Each categories (each step) of organisms is called a trophic level.

FOOD CHAIN : 

FOOD CHAIN 1. primary producers plant / phytoplantation 2. primary consumers herbivore / zooplankton 3. secondary consumers carnivores / carnivores 4. tertiary consumers carnivores / carnivores 5. Quaternary consumers carnivores / carnivores

FOOD WEB : 

FOOD WEB Food Web: represents the many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy flows through a group of organisms.

Slide 50: 

Another way that ecologist study the flow of energy through ecosystems is by studying the ecological pyramids An ecological pyramid is a diagram that can show the relative amounts of: Energy Biomass Number of organisms At each tropic level in an ecosystem

Pyramid of Energy : 

Pyramid of Energy Each level represents the amount of energy that is available to that trophic level. With each step there is an energy loss of 90%.

Pyramid of Biomass : 

Pyramid of Biomass Each level represents the amount of biomass consumed by the level above it.

Pyramid of Numbers : 

Pyramid of Numbers Each level represents the number of individual organisms consumed by the level above it.

Activity 2 Topic 4: Construct a Food Web : 

Activity 2 Topic 4: Construct a Food Web Procedure: Red foxes feed on raccoons, crayfishes, grasshoppers, red clover, meadow voles, and gray squirrels. Red clover is eaten by grasshoppers, muskrats, red foxes, and meadow voles. Meadow voles, gray squirrels, and raccoons all eat parts of the white oak tree. Crayfishes feed on green algae and detritus, and they are eaten by muskrats and red foxes. Raccoons feed on muskrats, meadow voles, gray squirrels, and white oak trees.

analysis : 

analysis Identify all the herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores Describe how the muskrats would be affected if disease kills the white oak trees. Guidelines for this activity: Get together with your final project group It is to turn in on WEDNESDAY baskets Don’t forget the Daily heading.