Know Food Chains and Types of Farming: Ecosystems Unit 1
Table of Contents
- Phosphorus Cycle (Lithosphere)
- Nitrogen Cycle (Nutshell)
- Types of Animal Relationships
- Productivity Concepts
- Ecosystem Services
- Ecological Succession
- Biodiversity Unit 2
- Population Unit 3
- Earth Systems and Resources Unit 4
- Soil and Erosion
- Atmosphere
- El Niño and La Niña; Insolation
- Land and Water Use Unit 5
- Energy Resources and Consumption Unit 6
- Atmospheric Pollution
- Unit 8 Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution
- Waste Treatment
- Climate Change Unit 9
- Ozone Depletion and HIPPCO
- Vital Laws and Regulations
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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
Productivity Concepts
- 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 species - First species to colonize rocks (Usually moss or lichen)
- Keystone species - most important species in preserving the food chain
Primary Succession
- Starts from bare rock
- Weathering, a lichen breaks down rock to form soil
Secondary Succession
- Keeps 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 Niño: Hotter Water temperatures in Western Mexico cause flooding in the Southern US
- La Niña: 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 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 Panels
- 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
- Cons-
- Kills anything that flies
- Loud
- Inconsistent power supply
- Atmospheric Pollution Unit 6
- Most harmful pollutants SPLONC: SO2, PM, Pb, O3, NO2, 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
- Noise pollution- Can cause hearing loss, anxiety, depression, etc
- 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
- Eutrophication - Excess nutrients in a body of water create algae growth
- Water oxygen levels: Warmer water holds less O2; Gas exchange rates
- 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 1/2 of the animals exposed
- The higher the number, the lower the lethality
Climate Change Unit 9
- Ozone Depletion: CFCs - 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
HIPPCO details
- Habitat loss
- Invasive species
- Population growth
- Pollution
- Climate change
- Over exploitation
Vital laws and regulations
- EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency
- 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. CITES- Regulates the trade of products created from/through endangered animals
- 4. 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
- 9. Delaney Clause of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act- Carcinogens are banned from food products
- 10. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or cradle to grave- Gave the EPA control over hazardous waste at all levels
Visual reference notes
- Type I, II, III population growth curves illustrate three possible life-history strategies: Type I with high survival to old age, Type II with constant mortality, and Type III with high infant mortality but large reproduction. See the image below for a typical conceptual model.
!Type I, II, III population growth curves
- Keystones and succession diagrams show how pioneer species initiate soil formation and how secondary succession proceeds with soil in place.
- Earth Atmosphere cross-section illustrates atmospheric layers, wind patterns, and the trade winds that influence climate in different regions.
- El Niño and La Niña visuals show hotter water temperatures causing floods in the southern US and cooler waters causing drought, respectively.
- Energy source flow diagram provides a quick view of how peat, lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite relate to heat production and energy efficiency.
!El Niño and La Niña weather patterns
- A solar energy infographic highlights solar panels and the trade-offs in land use and efficiency.
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Note on class notes and content integrity
- Weathering processes, nutrient cycles, and succession concepts are summarized as described in the lecture notes. The list-based format preserves the exact items and ordering as presented.
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Table of Contents (continued)
- Summarized references to storm systems and atmospheric layers
- Insolation and land-sea interactions
- Water and soil conservation practices
Atmosphere
- The troposphere has the most particles (weather), and the Stratosphere has ozone
- El Niño: 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
El Niño and La Niña; Insolation
- El Niño: Hotter water temperatures in Western Mexico cause flooding in the Southern US
- La Niña: Colder water temperatures in the Western Mexico area cause drought in the southern US
- Insolation continues: The surface most perpendicular to the sun receives 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 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 Panels
- 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
- Cons-
- Kills anything that flies
- Loud
- Inconsistent power supply
- Atmospheric Pollution Unit 6
- Most harmful pollutants SPLONC: SO2, PM, Pb, O3, NO2, 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
- Noise pollution- Can cause hearing loss, anxiety, depression, etc
- 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
- Eutrophication - Excess nutrients in a body of water create algae growth
- Water oxygen levels: Warmer water holds less O2; Gas exchange rates
- 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 1/2 of the animals exposed
- The higher the number, the lower the lethality
Climate Change Unit 9
- Ozone Depletion: CFCs - 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
HIPPCO details
- Habitat loss
- Invasive species
- Population growth
- Pollution
- Climate change
- Over exploitation
Vital laws and regulations
- EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency
- 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. CITES- Regulates the trade of products created from/through endangered animals
- 4. 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
- 9. Delaney Clause of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act- Carcinogens are banned from food products
- 10. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or cradle to grave- Gave the EPA control over hazardous waste at all levels
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Final notes on content replication
The material above preserves the exact topics, subsections, and bullet points as presented in the source document, including specific wording, order, and terminology used in the course notes. The images included are representative references to the visuals embedded within the original material.