Introduction

Definition Environmental Science – an interdisciplinary field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. It provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.

Ecology Ecology is the study of the relationships between an organism and its environment. Ecologists might investigate the relationship between a population of organisms and some physical characteristic of their environment, such as concentration of a chemical; or they might investigate the interaction between a two populations of different organisms through some symbiotic or competitive relationship

Population A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area.

Community Consists of all the organisms of all the species that inhabit a particular area

Ecosystem Consists of all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of species that exist in that area

Components of an Ecosystem 1. Biotic – the living components; predators, preys, parasites, competitors 2. Abiotic – non living chemical and physical factors such as temperature, light, water and nutrients. It also includes soil, altitude, climate, latitude

Types of Ecology 1. Ecosystem ecology – examines the energy flow and cycling of chemicals among the various abiotic and biotic components 2. Landscape ecology – deals with the array of ecosystems and their arrangement in a geographic region 3. Population ecology – examines factors that affect population size and composition

Classification of Living Things Kingdom – the highest rank; either plantae or animalia Phylum or phyla can be thought of as grouping organisms based on general specialization of body plan as well as developmental or internal organizations. The best known animal phyla are the Mollusca, Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Arthropoda, Echinodermata and Chordata, the phylum to which humans belong, along with all other vertebrate species

Classification of Living Things Example: dog Kingdom animalia Phylumchordata Class mammalia Ordercarnivora Familycanidae Genuscanis Speciesfamiliaris Scientific name: canis familiaris

Hierarchy of Life Atoms molecules organelles cell tissue organs organism

Hierarchy of Life Organism population community ecosystem biosphere

Biosphere Biosphere is the sum of all ecosystems including all living things from plants, animals and all microscopic forms, including bacteria and viruses. It is referred to as the zone of life on Earth. It includes land, water and air in which organisms survive.

Aquatic Biomes Aquatic Biomes may be: 1. Marine – with an average salinity of 3% Marine 2. Freshwater – with an average salinity of 1% Freshwater 3. Brackish – combination of marine and freshwater Brackish

Terrestrial Biomes