ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INTRODUCTION and ECOLOGY

ECOLOGY The study of the environment ECOLOGISTS study BIOTIC & ABIOTIC factors in the environment & how they influence each other.

Environmental Science An interdisciplinary area of study that includes both applied & theoretical aspects of human impacts on the world. An environmental scientist thinks of the environment as EVERYTHING that affects an organism during its lifetime.

Environmental decisions Nature: recycling, natural resources, landfills, urbanization, global warming Politics: animal protection, international dumping, off shore drilling, alternative power sources, international pollution Ethics: hunting, animal treatment, land use

Ecosystem Approach Ecosystem: All the living and non-living things in an area and how they interact with one another. Arctic ecosystem: polar bears, glaciers, ice, snow, fish, whales, seals, water, sea lions, air, etc.

BIOMES Biomes are ecosystems around the world with similar animals, plants, geographical features, temperature, precipitation, altitude & latitude Desert, tundra, tropical rain forest, taiga (coniferous forest), deciduous forest (temperate forest), fresh water, ice, marine (salt water), estuary, grassland

Limiting Factors A limiting factor restricts (or limits) the success of a species. These can be biotic or abiotic. Ex) Limiting factors to a deer are: hunters, drought, forest fire, lack of food, cars, weather, wolves, disease

Cycles in nature 1. Water 2. Nitrogen 3. Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide 4. Phosphorus These things get recycled naturally in the environment….

Acid Rain / The Greenhouse Effect / Global Warming These are situations that we as humans have done to the environment. They are “mistakes” in the cycles. Example: -acid rain is a mistake in the water cycle -greenhouse effect & global warming are mistakes in the carbon cycle

Succession What would happen to a field if we stopped cutting it for several hundred years? 1. Tall weeds, grasses 2. Small bushes 3. Small pine trees 4. Large pine trees, small deciduous trees 5. CLIMAX COMMUNITY: large deciduous forest

Biodiversity Different types of life in an area. Biodiversity is GOOD! Eventually with no biodiversity, an area’s populations will become extinct. Biodiversity comes from natural selection.

Exotic Species Non-native species that have no natural predators in an area. Example: zebra mussels, sea lamprey, Japanese beetles, fake “cattails”, purple loosestrife

Conservation Saving the environment or a species. We make laws, habitats, reintroduction programs to save species.

Why do we have to learn about the environment? Anything that we (as humans) do, affects our environment. We either hurt or help our environment with everything we do. What can we do to turn around the bad things we have already done?