1. Limitations in Environmental Science Cannot prove or disprove Human-generated bias Statistics and sampling Confounding factors Testable hypotheses ***These are the same limitations as other sciences

2. Matter Anything that has mass and takes up space Cannot be created or destroyed (law of conservation of matter) Can change form

4. Energy Capacity to do work or transfer heat Potential energy – stored energy Kinetic energy – energy being use/released Governed by two laws

5. First Law of Thermodynamics Energy cannot be created or destroyed Energy can only change form (transformation)

6. Second Law of Thermodynamics With transformation, some energy converted to heat (lower quality) Entropy Energy Efficiency 16% energy produced in US performs useful work (41% lost by entropy)

7. System System – set of components that function together Systems respond to change Positive feedback loops – changes in same direction Negative feedback loops – changes in opposite direction

9. Prey Numbers Increase Predator Numbers Increase Prey Numbers Decrease Predator Numbers Decrease

10. Thresholds/Tipping Points Threshold – system pushed to a new functional state Can be irreversible

11. What Do We Study? ** Biome Level

12. Population Level Distribution (limiting factors, tolerance, fundamental niche) Density

14. dN/dt = rN dN/dt = rN((K-N)/K)

15. Population Level Population Growth – positive or negative changes can help in understanding nature of response Challenge is recognizing multiple factors might be involved Example – Science Focus p. 110

16. Why is Sea Otter Population Increase Slow? Slow reproduction Increase # orcas Cat parasites via kitty litter Toxic algal blooms (urea from fertilizer) PCBs & other pollutants (otters as biomagnifiers)

17. Recognizing Strategies of a Population: r-selected and K-selected species

18. Populations fluctuate around K or do not reach it? Why?

19. Community Level Role of Interactions Competition Predation Parasitism Mutualism Commensalism Have proximate (ecological) and ultimate (evolutionary) impacts

20. Competition – Evolutionary Influence Prevent species from reaching carrying capacity Change niche (realized niche) - barnacles Competitive exclusion

21. Competition – Evolutionary Influence Resource Partitioning

22. Competition – Evolutionary Influence Character Displacement

23. Predation Population regulation “Coevolutionary dance”

24. Evolution Avoidance strategies Enhancement strategies The arms race (or is it?)