ESS Definitions PDF

ESS defenitions Unit 1: foundation of ess Major landmarks in the modern environmental movement include: Minamata, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the Save the Whale campaign, Bhopal, and the Chernobyl disaster. These led to: environmental pressure groups, both local and global the concept of stewa...

ESS defenitions Unit 1: foundation of ess Major landmarks in the modern environmental movement include: Minamata, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the Save the Whale campaign, Bhopal, and the Chernobyl disaster. These led to: environmental pressure groups, both local and global the concept of stewardship increased media coverage raising public awareness. ​ An environmental value system (EVS) is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues. It is influenced by the cultural, religious, economic and socio-political context. ​ The Ecocentric worldview – puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies. ​ The anthropocentric worldview – believes humans must sustainably manage the global system. ​ The technocentric worldview – believes that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems. ​ Cornucopian include those people who see the world as having infinite resources to benefit humanity. Cornucopian think that through technology and our inventiveness, we can solve any environmental problem and continually improve our living standards ​ A society is a group of individuals who share some common characteristics, such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, value system. ​ ​ Intrinsic value means that something has value in its own right, i.e. inbuilt/inherent worth. ​ A system is a set of inter-related parts working together to make a complex whole. ​ A systems approach is a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal. ​ Biosphere refers to the part of the Earth inhabited by organisms that extends from upper parts of the atmosphere to deep in the Earth’s crust. ​ Transfers occur when energy or matter rows and changes location but does not change its state. ​ Transformations occur when energy or matter rows and changes its state – a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or a change in energy. ​ open system exchanges both energy and matter with its surroundings ​ closed system exchanges energy but not matter ​ isolated system does not exchange anything with its surroundings. ​ A model is a simplified description of reality (designed to show the structure or workings of an object, system or concept.) ​ The first law of thermodynamics is the principle of conservation of energy, which states that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed. ​ the second law explains that energy is lost from systems when work is done, bringing about disorder (entropy). ​ Entropy is a measure of the amount of disorder in a system. An increase in entropy arising from energy transformations reduces the energy available to do work ​ A steady-state equilibrium is the condition of an open system in which there are no changes over the longer term, but in which there may be oscillations in the very short term. ​ A stable equilibrium is the condition of a system in which there is a tendency for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance. ​ Positive feedback loops (destabilizing) will tend to amplify changes and drive the system towards a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted. ​ Negative feedback loops are stabilizing and occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way to reduce change – it counteracts deviation ​ A tipping point is the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state. ​ Sustainability is the use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use. ​ Natural capital is used for resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services ​ Natural income is the yield obtained from resources. ​ An ecological footprint (EF) is the hypothetical area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population. ​ Pollution is the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms within it. ​ Point source is a single source of identifiable pollution. ​ Non-point source is a pollution from different pollutions combined hence hard to monitor and control. ​ Biodegradable means capable of being broken down by natural biological processes. ​ DDT (dichlorodiphenyl- trichloroethane) is a synthetic pesticide with a controversial history. DDT exemplifies a conflict between the utility of a pollutant and its effect on the environment. ​ ​ 7. Efficiency is defined as the useful energy, the work or output produced by a process divided by the amount of energy consumed being the input to the process. ​ 8. ​ 26. The resilience of a system measures how it responds to a disturbance. The more resilient a system, the more disturbance it can deal with. Resilience is the ability of a system to return to its initial state after a disturbance. ​ 27. Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Unit 2: Ecosystems and ecology ​ A niche describes the particular set of abiotic and biotic conditions and resources to which an organism or population responds. ​ The fundamental niche describes the full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive and reproduce. ​ The realized niche describes the actual conditions and resources in which a species exists due to biotic interactions. ​ Abiotic factors are non-living, physical factors that influence the organisms and ecosystem. eg temperature, sunlight, pH, salinity, pollutants. ​ Biotic factors are the living components of an ecosystem – organisms, their interactions or their waste – that directly or indirectly affect another organism. ​ Carrying capacity refers to the number of organisms – or size of population – that an area or ecosystem can support sustainably over a long period of time. ​ Predation occurs when one animal (or, occasionally, a plant) hunts and eats another organism. ​ Herbivory is an interaction where an animal feeds on a plant. The animal that eats the plant is called a herbivore. ​ Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits at the expense of the other. ​ Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. ​ An organism that causes disease is known as a pathogen. Pathogens include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and single-celled animals called protozoa. The disease-causing species may reduce the carrying capacity of the organism it is infecting. ​ Interspecific competition: Individuals of different species could be competing for the same resource. Interspecific competition may result in a balance, in which both species share the resource. ​ Intraspecific competition is between members of the same species. When the numbers of a population are small, there is little real competition between individuals for resources. ​ A population is a group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, and which are capable of interbreeding. ​ Population dynamics is the study of the factors that cause changes to population sizes. ​ S and J population curves describe a generalized response of populations to a particular set of conditions. ​ Sigmoidal curves (S-curves) are population growth curves which show an initial rapid growth (exponential growth) and then slow down as the carrying capacity is reached. Population size fluctuates around a set point (carrying capacity) ​ A J-curve is a population growth curve which shows only exponential growth. Growth is initially slow and becomes increasingly rapid; it does not slow down ​ Limiting factors are factors which slow down growth of a population as it reaches it carrying capacity. ​ A community is a group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat. ​ An ecosystem is a community and the physical environment it interacts with. ​ Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants convert light energy from the Sun into useable chemical energy stored in organic matter. ​ Respiration is the conversion of organic matter into carbon dioxide and water in all living organisms, releasing energy. ​ An autotroph is an organism that makes its own food – it is a producer. / form the first trophic level in a food chain. ​ Consumers (also called heterotrophs) which feed on autotrophs or other heterotrophs to obtain energy (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, detritivores and decomposers). ​ A trophic level is the position that an organism occupies in a food chain, or a group of organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains. ​ Food chains are direct feeding relationship between one organism and another in a single hierarchy. ​ There is a complex network of interrelated food chains which create a food web. ​ Ecological pyramids include pyramids of numbers, biomass and productivity and are quantitative models and are usually measured for a given area and time. ​ Pyramid of numbers records the number of individuals at each trophic level coexisting in an ecosystem. Quantitative data for each trophic level are drawn to scale as horizontal bars arranged symmetrically around a central axis. ​ Pyramid of biomass represents the biological mass of the standing stock at each trophic level at a particular point in time measured in units such as grams of biomass per square metre (g m–2). Biomass may also be measured in units of energy, such as J m–2. ​ Pyramids of productivity refer to the flow of energy through a trophic level, indicating the rate at which that stock/storage is being generated. ​ Bioaccumulation is the build-up of persistent/non-biodegradable pollutants within an organism or trophic level because they cannot be broken down. ​ Biomagnification is the increase in concentration of persistent/non-biodegradable pollutants along a food chain. ​ Primary in ecology means to do with plants. Secondary is to do with animals. ​ Biomass is the living mass of an organism or organisms but sometimes refers to dry mass ​ Gross primary productivity (GPP) is equivalent to the mass of glucose created by photosynthesis per unit area per unit time in primary producers. ​ GPP = NPP + R ​ Net primary productivity (NPP) is the gain by producers in energy or biomass per unit area per unit time remaining after allowing for respiratory losses ® ​ NPP = GPP − R ​ Gross secondary productivity (GSP) is the total energy or biomass assimilated by consumers and is calculated by subtracting the mass of faecal loss from the mass of food consumed ​ GSP = food eaten − faecal loss ​ Net secondary productivity (NSP) is calculated by subtracting respiratory losses (R) from GSP ​ NSP = GSP – R ​ Net secondary production (NSP) is the gain by consumers in energy or biomass per unit area per unit time remaining after allowing for respiratory losses ​ NSP = GSP – R ​ Sustainable yield (SY) is the rate of increase in natural capital (i.e. natural income) that can be exploited without depleting the original stock or its potential for replenishment. ​ Biomes are collections of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions. They can be grouped into five major classes – aquatic, forest, grassland, desert, and tundra. ​ ​ The tricellular model of atmospheric circulation explains the distribution of precipitation and temperature, and how these influence structure and relative productivity of different terrestrial biomes. ​ the tricellular model is made up of the polar cell, the Ferrel cell in mid-latitudes and the Hadley cell in the tropics. Downward air movement creates high pressure.  Upward air movement creates low pressure and cooling air that leads to increased cloud formation and precipitation. ​ Climate change is altering the distribution of biomes and causing biome shifts. ​ zonation is the arrangement or pattern of communities in bands in response to change in some environmental factor over a distance ​ Succession is the process of change over time in an ecosystem involving pioneer, intermediate, and climax communities. ​ A pioneer community can be defined as the first stage of an ecological succession that contains hardy species able to withstand difficult conditions ​ A climax community can be defined as the final stage of a succession, which is more stable than earlier seral stages and is in equilibrium. A climax community is a community of organisms that is more or less stable (i.e. in steady-state equilibrium), and is also in equilibrium with natural environmental conditions such as climate. It is the end-point of ecological succession. ​ Primary succession is succession occurring on a previously uncolonized substrate (e.g. rock) ​ Secondary succession occurs in places where a previous community has been destroyed (e.g. after forest fires). Secondary succession is faster than primary succession because of the presence of soil and a seed bank. ​ Species that are r-strategists grow and mature quickly and produce many, small offspring(Pioneer communities ) ​ K-strategists are slow growing and produce few, large offspring that mature slowly.(climax communities) ​ Simpson diversity index, N is the total number of organisms of all species found and n is the number of individuals of a particular species. ​ ​ A dichotomous key is a stepwise tool for identification where there are two options based on different characteristics at each step. ​ A quadrant is a frame of specific size (depending on what is being studied), which may be divided into subsections. ​ A transect is a sample path/ line/strip along which you record the occurrence and/ or distribution of plants and animals in a particular study area. ​ Salinity is the concentration of salts expressed in ‰ (parts of salt per thousand parts of water).  ​ Turbidity is the cloudiness of a body of fresh water. ​ Species richness is the number of species in a community. ​ Species diversity is the number of species and their relative abundance in a given area or sample. ​ Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) is the largest crop or catch that can be taken from the stock of a species without depleting the stock. The MSY is equivalent to the net primary or net secondary productivity of a system. Unit 3 Biodiversity and Conservation ​ Biodiversity is a broad concept encompassing total diversity, including species diversity, habitat diversity, and genetic diversity. ​ A species is a group of organisms (living things) sharing common characteristics that interbreed and produce fertile offspring. ​ Species diversity in communities is a product of two variables, the number of species (richness) and their relative proportions (evenness), in a community ​ Richness is a term that refers to the number of a species in an area, and evenness refers to the relative abundance of each species ​ A community is a group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat. ​ A habitat is the environment in which a species normally lives. ​ Habitat diversity is the range of different habitats per unit area in a particular ecosystem or biome. ​ Genetic Diversity is the range of genetic material present in a gene pool or population of a species. ​ Conservation biology is the sustainable use and management of natural resources. ​ Preservation biology attempts to exclude human activity in areas where humans have not yet encroached. ​ Evolution is the cumulative, gradual change in the genetic composition of a species over many successive generations, ultimately giving rise to species different from the common ancestor. ​ Natural selection is where those more adapted to their environment have an advantage and flourish and reproduce but those less adapted do not survive long enough to reproduce.  ​ Natural selection occurs through the following mechanism: ​ within a population of one species there is genetic diversity, which is called variation ​ because of natural variation, some individuals will be fitter than others ​ fitter individuals have an advantage and will reproduce more successfully ​ the offspring of fitter individuals inherit the genes that give the advantage; these offspring therefore survive and pass on the genes to subsequent generations. ​ A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of biodiversity that is under threat from human activities ​ Speciation is the formation of new species when populations of a species become isolated and evolve differently. ​ A mass extinction is a period in which at least 75 per cent of the total number of species on the Earth at the time are wiped out ​ The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes data in the Red List of Threatened Species in several categories. ​ Endemic species refer to species that are exclusively found in a specific geographic area Unit 4 Water, food production systems and society ​ Storages in the hydrological cycle include organisms, soil water and the atmosphere, and various water bodies such as oceans, groundwater (aquifers), lakes, rivers, glaciers, and ice caps. ​ Flows in the hydrological cycle include evapotranspiration (EVT), sublimation, evaporation, condensation, advection (wind- blown movement), precipitation, melting, freezing, flooding, surface run-off, infiltration, percolation, and stream-flow/ currents. ​ Sublimation - conversion of a substance from the solid to the gaseous state without its becoming liquid. ​ Water budget is a quantitative estimate of the amounts of water in storages and flows of the water cycle. ​ A fishery exists when fish are harvested in some way. It includes capture of wild fish (also called capture fishing) and aquaculture or fish farming.  ​ Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms in both coastal and inland areas involving interventions in the rearing process to enhance production ​ Water pollution is the contamination of bodies of water by pollutants either directly or indirectly. ​ Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity. BOD is used to indirectly measure the amount of organic matter in a sample ​ Indicator species Indicator species are certain species of plants and animals whose presence can be indicative of the level of pollution. ​ A biotic index indirectly measures pollution by assaying the impact on species within the community according to their tolerance, diversity and relative abundance. ​ Eutrophication can occur when lakes, estuaries and coastal waters receive inputs of nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) which result in an excess growth of plants and phytoplankton. Unit 5 Soil Systems and Society Soil system storages include organic matter, organisms, nutrients, minerals, air, and water. ​ Materials are sorted and layers are formed by water carrying particles either up or down known as translocation ​ Where the minerals are left behind when the water evaporates irrigation and is called Salinization ​ water flows down in the soil, dissolving minerals and transporting them downwards called leaching ​ LEDCs Low economically developed countries: a country with low to moderate industrialization and low to moderate average GNP per capita. ​ MEDCs More economically developed countries: a highly industrialized country with high average GNP per capita. ​ Agribusiness: the business of agricultural production including farming, seed supply, breeding, chemicals for agriculture, machinery, food harvesting, distribution, processing and storage. ​ Commercial agriculture: large scale production of crops and livestock for sale  ​ Subsistence Agriculture: farming for self-sufficiency to grow enough for a family. Unit 6 Atmospheric systems and societies ​ The atmosphere is a dynamic system (with inputs, outputs, flows and storages) which has undergone changes throughout geological time. ​ Greenhouse gases, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, and methane, are gases that absorb infrared (long-wave) radiation that can lead to global warming. ​ Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. ​ photochemical smog. ​ tropospheric ozone ​ Thermal inversion ​ Acid decomposition Unit 07 Climate change and energy production ​ Energy security refers to a country’s ability to secure all its energy needs, whereas energy insecurity refers to a lack of security over energy sources. ​ Climate describes how the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time whereas weather describes the conditions in the atmosphere over a short period of time. ​ Global climate models are complex and there is a degree of uncertainty regarding the accuracy of their predictions. Unit 08 Human systems and resource use ​ Demographic tools for quantifying human population include crude birth rate (CBR), crude death rate (CDR), total fertility rate (TFR), doubling time (DT) and natural increase rate (NIR). ​ Age/sex pyramids and the demographic transition model (DTM) can be useful in the prediction of human population growth. The DTM is a model which shows how a population transitions from a pre-industrial stage with high CBR and CDR to an economically advanced stage with low or declining CBR and low CDR. ​ Carrying capacity is the maximum number of a species or load that can be sustainably supported by a given area. ​