Environmental Damage: Soil and Wind Erosion

Environmental Damage Phenomena

• Run-off collects water, filling watersheds and dams.
• Soil erosion occurs due to water movement, causing environmental concerns.
• Wind affects water vapor movement and creates localized wind forms.
• Acid rain results from water vapor contacting contaminants like sulfur and nitric acid, harming living organisms.
• Eutrophication arises when fertilizers run-off into water bodies, leading to rapid plant growth that outcompetes other species.
• Drought, or “El Niño,” occurs with insufficient precipitation, causing water scarcity.
• Flash floods, or “La Niña,” happen when excessive precipitation accumulates quickly in areas unable to drain.
• Sinkholes can form when water storage basins deplete due to low precipitation, leading to sudden collapses.

Soil and Physiographic Factors

• Soil texture (sand, silt, loam, clay) influences plant and animal types supported in the area.
• Soil temperature impacts organic matter decomposition rates.
• Soil water, pH, and nutrient availability affect biological activities.
• Physical characteristics of an area (altitude, sunlight, rainfall, slope) shape vegetation types.

Biotic Components and Nutritional Relationships

• Autotrophs capture energy from sunlight to produce organic compounds; they act as producers.
• Heterotrophs require preformed organic nutrients, consuming other organisms; they are categorized into herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
• Decomposers, like bacteria and fungi, break down dead matter to return nutrients to the ecosystem.

Nutritional Relationships Overview

• Competition: Two organisms utilize the same resources.
• Parasitism: One organism benefits at the host's expense.
• Predation: Predators feed on prey.
• Commensalism: One organism benefits without affecting the other.
• Protocooperation: Both organisms benefit, but it's not obligatory.
• Mutualism: Both benefit, and the relationship is obligatory.

Ecosystem Roles

• Producers: Convert simple organic molecules through photosynthesis (e.g., grasses, trees).
• Consumers: Use organic matter for food; include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, scavengers, and parasites.
• Decomposers: Recycle organic material into inorganic forms (e.g., bacteria, fungi).
• Detritivores: Consume decaying organic matter for nourishment.

Food Web and Trophic Levels

• Primary Producers: Plants like Acacia and start grass.
• Primary Consumers: Herbivores such as termites, giraffes, and zebras.
• Secondary Consumers: Carnivores like lions and cheetahs thrive on primary consumers.

Energy Flow and Thermodynamic Principles

• Cellular respiration releases heat to the environment while transferring energy to carnivores.
• Energy is also allocated to detritus feeders through processes like death, excretion, and defecation.
• The First Law of Thermodynamics states energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.