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TS incomplete: Know food chains and Types of Farming

Ecosystems Unit 1

Phosphorus Cycle (Lithosphere):

1. Weathering of rock into soil and water

2. Phosphorus collects under bodies of water, and geological uplift forms new phosphorus-rich rock

3. Phosphorus is absorbed by plants, which are eaten by animals

4. Animals die, and are decomposed by bacteria, which puts phosphorus back into the soil Nitrogen Cycle (Nutshell: Bacteria turn atmospheric N2 into NO3 and Ammonium for plants)

1. Nitrogen Fixation - Bacteria turn N2 from the air into Ammonium

2. Nitrification- Bacteria convert ammonium to Nitrites (NO2) and later nitrate (NO3) a. Abiotic processes such as lightning and fires can turn N2 directly into Nitrates (NO3)

3. Assimilation - Nitrate and ammonium are absorbed by plants

4. Ammonification - Dead animals and waste (shi) are converted to Ammonium

5. Denitrification - Bacteria convert Nitrate (NO3) into Nitrous Oxide —-> than back into N2

Types of Animal Relationships: Mutualism (Think Mutual gain) - Both Benefit Commensalism - One benefits while the other is unaffected Parasitism- One animal is harmed while another benefits Predation One animal kills another 🥀 Competition Two animals compete for the same resource

Gross is total, while primary is usable Primary Productivity is a rate: Energy/Area/Time NPP (net primary productivity)The amount of energy that remains after the producers have used some of it for their own respiration and metabolic processes

GPP (Gross Primary Productivity)Represents the total amount of chemical energy created by primary producers (like plants) during photosynthesis in a given time.

NPP = Gross Energy used for respiration

Ecosystem Services:

Provisioning : Products that an ecosystem can provide Lumber, Water, Fish, Meat, etc

Regulating : Ecosystem provides regulation Cleans the air, cleans the water, pest control, reduces flooding risk

Cultural : Non-Physical benefit Hiking, Swimming, Recreation, Ecotourism, Spiritual, etc

Supporting : Support the other three categories Water cycle, soil formation, habitats, nutrient cycling

Ecological Succession (Gradual change in an ecosystem)

Pioneer speciesFirst species to colonize rocks (Usually moss or lichen) Keystone species most important species in preserving the food chain

Primary Succession Secondary succession

• Starts from bare rock - Keeps Soil

• Weathering, a lichen breaks down rock to form soil

• Must be faster and more common than Primary

• Volcano Eruption

• The glacier is exposing bare rock

• Fire, landslide, flood, logging, etc

Biodiversity Unit 2

Species Richness : Number of different species Species evenness : How population sizes of each species compare (Similar number of each species = High species evenness) Bottleneck : Sudden reduction in the size of a population, leading to a loss in genetic diversity

• Genetic Diversity increases an ecosystem's resilience

Population Unit 3

Type 1 = K species Type 2 = In between, such as sparrows and other birds Type 3= R species Think R = Reproduce (Lots of kids but don’t care abt them)

Doubling time:

Demographic transition model:

• Higher Fertility rates in developing countries are high due to a lack of education for women and a lack of contraceptives

• They also have high mortality rates due to poor healthcare

• Stage 5 is hypothetical (countries like Japan are approaching), low birth rates, an aging population, population is decreasing

Earth Systems and Resources Unit 4

Types of plates: Divergent : Plates push away, creating mountain ranges or volcanoes, or sometimes earthquakes Convergent : Plates push towards each other, usually creating volcanoes or earthquakes Transform : Slide past each other, creating shallow but frequent earthquakes

Soil: Parent material: Rock that forms the soil (At the bottom of the soil horizon) Causes of Soil Erosion: Deforestation, Overgrazing, Tilling, Pesticides and fertilizers Sheet erosion Water removes soil in sheets Rill erosion Channels of erosion from water flow, Gully erosion Wider rill erosion

Atmosphere: The troposphere has the most particles (weather), and the Stratosphere has ozone

El Nino : Hotter Water temperatures in Western Mexico cause flooding in the Southern US La Nina : Colder Water temperatures in the Western Mexico area cause drought in the southern US Hot air is less dense Think more kinetic energy, more frequent collisions, more space between air molecules Insolation: Solar Radiation/Area The surface most perpendicular to the sun will receive the most solar radiation.

Large bodies of water help stabilize temperatures on land

Land and Water Use Unit 5

Clearcutting:

• Dries out the soil, contributing to desertification

• Increased erosion

• More carbon dioxide in the air

• Loss of habitat

• Increase of albedo

• Air pollution CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations)

• High waste, but very efficient

• Animals' waste contributes to eutrophication

• Often have antibiotics

Free range

• Uses more land, less efficient

• Healthier meat but more expensive

• Can lead to overgrazing and desertification

• No preventative antibiotics Most Important: Slash and burn - Burning trees down for agricultural land- decrease in soil moisture, fewer trees, tons of negatives Monocropping - One plant grown, decreases biodiversity, increases susceptibility to pests and disease Tilling - Creates erosion Drip Irrigation - Best type of irrigation, low erosion, expensive Integrated pest management- Natural pest remedies such as insects, oils/scents, birds, traps, etc Types of fishing: Long line (Long line with lots of hooks): Catches lots of fish, but also lots of bycatch Drift/Gill net (Large tubular net that snags gills): Catches lots of fish, lots of bycatch, Purse Seine (Circular net that goes around a school): Bycatch, catches lots of fish Trawling (net dragged across the bottom or mid of the ocean): Kills all benthic ocean ecosystems Sonar (tells you where fish are): Wall hacks for fishing, confuses mammals like whales Solutions to overfishing: Catch limits based on MSY (max sustainable yield), Limit by age or gender, protect fish by law, turtle holes in trawling nets

Urban Runoff Solutions More green areas, permeable roads/driveways, Building up, not out

Energy Resources and Consumption Unit 6

• Oil and Gas form in sedimentary rock

Energy Sources: Note: You can say high maintenance and upfront cost is a cons for every system

Nuclear: Nuclear fission: the process by which the nucleus of a heavy atom (like uranium-235 or plutonium-239) splits into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons and a large amount of

energy.

Biofuel

• Could be wood, peat, or liquids like ethanol and biodiesel

• Renewable, but emits greenhouse gases

Solar

Active solar : Uses mechanical or electric equipment to collect, store, or distribute solar

energy (Solar panels )

Passive solar : Heat is directly absorbed by the sun without mechanical or electrical usage

(window)

Solar Pannels

Pros

• Reduce habitat destruction depending on placement (on rooftops)

• Renewable, clean energy

• Off the grid

Cons

• It could hurt desert ecosystems

• Expensive upfront

• Limited lifespan of non-renewable PV cells

• Dependent on sunlight

Geothermal

Pros

• Clean energy

Cons

• Expensive

• Only works in some areas

• Potential earthquakes

Hydroelectric

Pros

• No air pollution

• Inexpensive electricity generation

Cons

• Hurt fish spawning and movement

• Flooding of land for the reservoir

• High cost of construction

• Most usable sites have already been constructed

Wind

Pros

• Clean energy

• Low land usage (land can still be used for agriculture, for ex.)

Cons

• Kills anything that flies

• Loud

• Inconsistent power supply

Atmospheric Pollution Unit 6

Most harmful pollutants (SPLONC):

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

• Particulate Matter (PM)

• Lead (Pb)

• Ozone (O3)

• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)

• Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Primary Pollutant Pollutants that form secondary pollutants when released

Burning fossil fuels creates primary pollutants, which include:

• Carbon Monoxide

• Nitrogen Oxides

• Hydrocarbons and VOC (Gasoline and Formaldehyde)

• PM 10 and PM 2.5

Photochemical Smog is a combination of PANs (Peroxyacyl Nitrate), Ozone (O3), and

aldehydes

Smog is formed by: NOx+ O2+VOC+UV light= O3+ PANS (smog)

Catalytic converter Converts pollutants in cars into water, O2, nitrogen, and CO2

Thermal Inversion traps pollutants in valleys

Indoor Pollutants include Asbestos, smoke, mold, radon, carbon monoxide

Acid Rain affects agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, and erodes man-made structures

• Affects communities far away from the source

Noise pollution Can cause hearing loss, anxiety, depression, etc

• Causes stress in animals (interferes with animals' sonar) and can affect migration

patterns

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) Chlorine Ions break down the Ozone layer

Unit 8 Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution

Point source : Pollution from a recognizable source (ie, pipe) Nonpoint source pollution : Cannot be traced to a single entity (i.e., pesticides) Endocrine disruptors Disrupt the hormone system

Oil spills are bad for organisms

Wetlands

• Very productive, water purification, shoreline stabilization, and flood control

Eutrophication Excess nutrients in a body of water create algae growth

• Oxygen is rapidly consumed by bacteria that consume the algae, decreasing water

oxygen levels, which kills fish

Water oxygen levels As water gets warmer, it holds less O2 Think of greater rates of

gas release due to higher kinetic energy between H2O molecules

POP (persistent organic pollutant)organic, often in rings with a chlorine, polar,

synthetic

• Ex: DDT, PCBs

• Contaminate everything

Waste treatment:

LD50 The Amount of substance required to kill ½ of the animals exposed

The higher the number, the lower the lethality

Climate Change Unit 9

Ozone Depletion : CFCs (Coolants and refrigerants)

• Thins ozone

• Disrupts photosynthesis

• Disrupts food chains

• Skin cancer and cataracts increased

GWP Essentially, how powerful a gas is in relation to Carbon Dioxide in contributing to

the greenhouse effect

Ocean acidification The Ocean gets more acidic due to the absorption of carbon dioxide

• Impacts coral bleaching and shell formation

The ocean is the largest carbon sink

Anthropogenic decreases in biodiversity:

HIPPCO

• Habitat loss

• Invasive species

• Population growth

• Pollution

• Climate change

• Over exploitation

Vital laws and regulations:

EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency

Know that all the complicated ones that you cant infer by the name are for regulating or

cleaning up hazardous waste

1. Clean Air Act - Set limits for specific pollutants (lead is a big one)

2. Clean Water Act – Makes pollutant discharge illegal without a permit

3. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) - Regulates the trade of products created from/through endangered animals

4. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund - Fund to clean up hazardous/toxic waste

5. Montreal Protocol - The main goal was to help protect the stratosphere- Phase out CFCs

6. Kyoto Protocol - An International agreement for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

7. Endangered Species Act - Aims to protect endangered species by preventing the killing, import, or export in the US. Helps preserve the habitat of endangered species

8. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)- Protects drinking water sites (reservoirs and such)

9. Delaney Clause of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act- Carcinogens are banned from food products (Things that cause cancer)

10. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or “cradle to grave ”- Gave the EPA control over hazardous waste at all levels