ENVISCI PRELIMS PDF

1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE is the study Living things Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc. of the interaction of humans with the natural Non-living thin...

1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE is the study Living things Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc. of the interaction of humans with the natural Non-living things environment. Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks Our built environment The environment includes all conditions that Buildings, human-created living centers surround living organisms: Social relationships and institutions Climate Air and water quality HUMANS EXIST WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT Soil and landforms Humans exist within the environment and Presence of other living organisms are part of nature. Our survival depends on a healthy, Environmental science is the study of: functioning planet. How the natural world works The fundamental insight of How the environment affects humans environmental science is that we are and vice versa part of the natural world. With environmental problems come Our interactions with its other parts opportunities for solutions. matter a great deal. Environmental science and the issues that it HUMANS AND THE WORLD AROUND US studies are complex and interdisciplinary. Humans depend completely on the (Concepts and ideas from multiple disciplines) environment for survival. Enriched and longer lives, increased 1 (Economics) A community decides to use coal wealth, health, mobility, leisure time for electricity, as it is the cheapest source But natural systems have been available. degraded 2 (Geology) The coal must be mined from under Pollution, erosion, and species extinction the soil. Seginge 3 (Engineering) The coal must be transported to Environmental changes threaten the population center by road or rail. long-term health and survival. 4 (Chemistry) When it is burned at a power plant, air pollution is released. Some of that pollution is NATURAL RESOURCES: VITAL TO HUMAN SURVIVAL converted to acid in the atmosphere. Natural resources = substances and energy 5 (Meteorology) This falls as acid rain somewhere sources needed for survival downwind. RENEWABLE RESOURCES 6 (Ecology) The acid stresses plants by affecting - Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, their nutrient absorption. wave energy 7 (Politics) Laws are passed requiring the plant to - Renew themselves over short periods of install pollution scrubbers. time: timber, water, soil Environment: the total of our surroundings - These can be destroyed NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES: can be depleted ENVIRONMENT: THE TOTAL OF OUR - Oil, coal, minerals SURROUNDINGS All the things around us with which we interact: GLOBAL HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH E.g. The lesson of Easter Island: people More than 6.7 billion humans annihilated their culture by destroying their Why so many humans? environment. Can we act more wisely to - Agricultural revolution conserve our resources? - Stable food supplies - Industrial revolution HOW THE NATURAL WORLD WORKS - Urbanized society powered by fossil fuels Environment impacts Humans - Sanitation and medicines Its goal: developing solutions to - More food environmental problems An interdisciplinary field Thomas Malthus - Natural sciences: information about the - Population growth must be controlled, or natural world it will outstrip food production. - Environmental Science programs - Starvation, war, disease - Social sciences: study human interactions and behavior - Environmental Studies programs Neo-Malthusians - Population growth has disastrous effects. IS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - Paul and Anne Ehrlich. The Population ENVIRONMENTALISM? Bomb (1968) - HINDI - Agricultural advances have only The pursuit of knowledge about the postponed crises. natural world Scientists try to remain objective THE “ECOLOGICAL” FOOTPRINT” WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTALISM? - The environmental impact of a person or Environmental activism population A social movement dedicated to - Amount of biologically productive land + protecting the natural world water - For resources and to dispose/recycle THE NATURE OF SCIENCE: waste - A systematic process for learning about Overshoot: humans have surpassed the Earth's the world and testing our understanding capacity to support us. of it - The accumulated body of knowledge We are using 30% more of the planet's resources that results from a dynamic process of than are available on a sustainable basis! observation, testing, and discovery SCIENCE IS ESSENTIAL: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - To sort fact from fiction Can help us avoid mistakes made by - Develop solutions to the problems we past civilizations. face - Human survival depends on how we interact with our environment. - Our impacts are now global. - Many great civilizations have fallen after depleting their resources. SCIENTIFIC METHOD Rooted in the belief that: - Scientific Method is a logical sequence - Humans can live compatibly with nature. of thought processes and activities - Humans can act equitably toward each designed to gather information and test other. ideas. - A human's well-being is inextricably Inductive Reasoning – involves drawing a bound to environmental quality. conclusion based on several observations. It - We and the system create an impact on moves from the specific to general. the total environment. - People can make informed decisions Ex: My dog loves to rub their skin on me, I guess all dogs that consider future generations. do it. - Critical and Creative thinking, decision-making, and communication, Deductive Reasoning – involves drawing specific as well as collaborative learning, must be conclusion from some larger assumptions. It emphasized, and are essential for active moves from general to specific. and meaningful learning, both in school and over a lifetime. Ex: All mammals produce milk therefore the dolphin is a mammal. ECOLOGY “Ecology” is a term derived from Greek meaning STEPS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD learning about (logos) the ecosystems, where 1 Define or State a Problem/Question. Develop a “eco” comes from the Greek word “oikos” question or problem based on the observed meaning (household). event or natural phenomenon. 2 Formulate Hypotheses. Design temporary FOUR MAIN LEVELS IN ECOLOGY working explanations or tentative solutions to 1 Species: a group of living organisms consisting your problem. of similar individuals capable of exchanging 3 Collect Data. Gather data related to the stated genes or interbreeding. hypotheses. Data could be qualitative (by 2 Population: a group of the same species senses) or quantitative (by numerical data). occupying a specific geographic area and time. 4 Test the Hypotheses. Perform further 3 Community: A group of different populations observations and experimentations to test the distributed into a specific geographical area. reliability and validity of the hypotheses. 4 Ecosystem: Different communities work as a 5 Formulate a Conclusion or Generalization. unit, interacting with both their physical and Draw a conclusion from the analyzed data. biological environments. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION THE REGION OF THE EARTH A process by which people develop awareness, EARTH SPHERES concern and knowledge of the environment and 1 Lithosphere - solid Earth learn to use this understanding to preserve, 2 Hydrosphere - all water found on, under, and conserve and utilize the environment in a over the surface of Earth sustainable manner for the benefit of the present 3 Atmosphere - the gasses that surround the Earth and future generations. (its air) Biosphere - all life on Earth 2 THE ECOSYSTEM omnis, meaning “all or everything,” and vorare, meaning “to devour or eat.” is a chain of interactions between organisms and their environment. SCAVENGERS - animals that eat dead animals. DECOMPOSERS - organisms that break down is the structural and functional unit of ecology dead plants or animals into the substances that where the living organisms interact with each plants need for growth. other and the surrounding environment. 2 ABIOTIC COMPONENTS - a non-living part of an 2 COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM ecosystem that shapes its environment. In a 1 BIOTIC COMPONENTS - A biotic factor is a living terrestrial ecosystem, examples might include organism that shapes its environment. In a temperature, light, and water. freshwater ecosystem, examples might include aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, and algae. 1 Sunlight is the main source of energy on Earth, Biotic and abiotic factors work together to which makes it an extremely important abiotic create a unique ecosystem. factor. 2 All living organisms need water. Plants must Basic Photosynthesis have water to grow. Even plants that live in the the process by which plants use sunlight, water, desert need a little bit of water to grow. Water is and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and the universal solvent. energy in the form of sugar. 3. Temperature - All types of ecosystems through shifts in species distribution and population Chemosynthesis structure and increase the risk of species They obtain energy by oxidizing inorganic extinction. compounds such as ammonia, nitrites, and sulfides, and they use this energy to synthesize Poikilotherms, also known as cold-blooded organic compounds. animals, are animals that make use of external sources of heat to regulate their internal Heterotrophs temperature. The Greek words hetero for “other” and trophe Homeotherms: An animal that maintains a for “nourishment.” A heterotroph is an organism constant internal body temperature, usually that eats other plants or animals for energy and within a narrow range of temperatures. These nutrients. animals are Warm-Blooded. 3 TYPES OF HETEROTROPHS EFFECT of temperature on plants: 1 HERBIVORES- An herbivore is an animal that Photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration, mainly eats plants. germination, and flowering. 2 CARNIVORES - A carnivore is an organism that mostly eats meat or the flesh of animals. THERMOPERIOD - refers to daily temperature Sometimes called predators. Organisms that change. carnivores hunt are called prey. 3 OMNIVORES - is an organism that eats plants 4. Wind - Influences the rate of evaporation and and animals. The term stems from the Latin words transpiration. The force of the wind is also important because it can move soil, water, or 7 Entisols: Entisols have no diagnostic horizons, other abiotic factors, as well as an ecosystem's and are unaltered from their parent material, organisms. which could be unconsolidated sediment, or rock. AMIHAN - Northeast Monsoon: Nov to Feb HABAGAT - Southwest Monsoon: June: to Oct 8 Inceptisols: Soils that exhibit minimal horizon development. They are more developed than 5. ATMOSPHERIC GASSES Entisols, but still lack the features that are characteristic of other soil orders. 6. ROCKS AND SOIL: TYPES OF SOIL ACCORDING TO THE NATURE 9 Vertisols: Clayey soils that have deep, wide PARENT MATERIAL, CLIMATE, AND VEGETATION cracks for some time during the year. They shrink as they dry and swell as they become moist. 1 Oxisols: Highly worn soils called "tropical red soils" or "latosols" grow in tropical and subtropical 10 Histosols: bogs, moors, peats, or mucks. The areas. Due to the significant amounts of iron and central concept of Histosols is that of soils that aluminum present, these soils have a deep red or are dominantly organic. yellowish-red 11 Andisols: Soils that have formed in volcanic 2 Aridisols: Soils that are too dry for the growth of ash or other volcanic ejecta. mesophytic plants. They are common in the deserts of the world. CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES 1 Inorganic Substances: 3 Mollisols: soils that have a dark colored surface - Acid: (H+) Hydrogen ions horizon relatively high in content of organic - Base: (OH-) Hydroxyl ions matter. The soils are base rich throughout and - Salt: Neutralizations reactions therefore quite fertile. 2 Water: H2O 3 Carbon Dioxide: CO2 boosts agricultural 4 Alfisols: Moderately leached soils that have productivity and improves drought resistance, relatively high native fertility. These soils have 4 Carbohydrates: the body's main source of mainly formed under forests and have a energy subsurface horizon in which clays have 5 Proteins: preserve muscle mass as well as vital accumulated. function and regulate whole-body metabolic health. 5 Ultisols: Strongly leached, acid forest soils with 6 Lipids: essential fatty acids and sterols which relatively low native fertility. They are found are considered to be important drivers of primarily in humid temperate and tropical areas ecosystem health and stability. of the world. 7 Nucleic Acid: the storage and expression of genomic information. 6 Spodosols: Formed from weathering processes that strip organic matter combined with aluminum (with or without iron) from the surface layer and deposit them in the subsoil. FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS FOOD WEB - Several interconnected food chains -explains the flow of energy at each trophic form a food web. A food web is similar to a food level. chain but the food web is comparatively larger than a food chain. This energy is transmitted to different trophic levels along the food chain. It is able to show the proper representation of energy flow, as it displays the interactions The first law states that energy is neither created, between different organisms. nor destroyed; it can only be converted from one form to another. This is true in energy flow in the PERIODIC DISTURBANCES Ecosystem. (ENTROPY) Fire: - Joules energy ang measurement Surface fire: those burning in surface fuels such as litter, downed woody debris, and The second law states that there is loss of energy low-level living plants. at each step of energy flow. This law also stands Ground Fire: can occur in areas with true in ecology as there is progressive decrease large accumulations of dead vegetation in energy at each trophic level. over time, such as humus and peat. - Kcal ang measurement Crown Fire: a forest fire that advances - Heat loss often at great speed from crown to crown often well in advance of the fire Energy Flow - The chemical energy of food is the on the ground main source of energy required by all living organisms. LIMITING FACTORS AND TOLERANCE Limiting Factors - anything that constrains a ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM - The energy flow in population's size and slows or stops it from the ecosystem is one of the major factors that growing. support the survival of such a great number of Law of minimum: yield is proportional to organisms. the amount of the most limiting nutrient. Law of tolerance: The survival and For almost all organisms on earth, the primary existence of some organisms depend on source of energy is solar energy used by plants to a complex set of circumstances, with carry out photosynthesis. each having specific minimum, maximum, and ideal ecological FOOD CHAIN - A food chain explains which requirements to determine success. organism eats another organism in the environment. The food chain is a linear sequence HABITAT of organisms where nutrients and energy is - Place where an organism lives transferred from one organism to the other. - Focuses on how the environment impacts the organism This occurs when one organism consumes For example, a wild horse's habitat is grassland. another organism. It begins with the producer organism, follows the chain and ends with the decomposer organism. NICHE - derived from “bio” meaning biosphere, - Organism's role within that environment. “geo” meaning the geological - Focuses on how the organism impacts components and “chemical” meaning the environment. the elements that move through a cycle TYPES OF ECOSYSTEM THE WATER CYCLE (HYDROLOGIC CYCLE) 1 Terrestrial (Land) - It is concerned with the origin, 2 Aquatic (Water) distribution, and properties of water on the globe 3 ECOLOGY 1 EVAPORATION - The physical state of water is changed from a liquid state to a gaseous state the study of organisms, plants and animals in 2 CONDENSATION - the process by which water relation to others and to their nonliving vapor changes its physical state from a vapor, environment. most commonly, to a liquid. Water vapor condenses onto small airborne particles to form Derived from the Greek word "Oekologie" Oekos: dew, fog, or clouds. home or surround and Logos: Study. 3 PRECIPITATION - process that occurs when any and all forms of water particles fall from the Is the study of earth's households including - atmosphere and reach the ground plants, animals, microorganism and human 4 PERCOLATION - movement of water though the beings’ lives together as interdependent soil, and its layers, by gravity and capillary forces. components. 5 TRANSPIRATION - occurs mostly in the day. Water inside of plants is transferred from the plant 4 MAIN LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION IN ECOLOGY to the atmosphere as water vapor 1 Biosphere - The part of Earth that contains all ecosystems OXYGEN CYCLE 2 Ecosystem - Community and its nonliving - When they're exposed to light, green surroundings plants use carbon dioxide from the 3 Community - Populations that live together in a atmosphere to manufacture living defined area matter and release oxygen into the air. 4 Population - Group of organisms of one type - This process is called photosynthesis. that live in the same area Carbon - dioxide is produced through ORGANISM - Individual living thing the respiration of animals and plants, which consume oxygen and release BIOSPHERE: carbon dioxide. ATMOSPHERE - Air PHOTOSYNTHESIS - process by which plants use LITHOSPHERE - Land sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create HYDROSPHERE - Water oxygen and energy in the form of sugar. RESPIRATION - the process of breathing in oxygen BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES and breathing out carbon dioxide - Mainly refers to the movement of nutrients and other elements between biotic and abiotic factors.” NITROGEN CYCLE - Process which transforms the EUTROPHICATION - a process driven by the inert nitrogen present in the atmosphere to a enrichment of water by nutrients, especially more usable form for living organisms. compounds of nitrogen and/or phosphorus, leading to: - Most important part of the cycle is bacteria (Helps the nitrogen change 1 increased growth, primary production and between states so it can be used.) biomass of algae; 2 changes in the balance of organisms; NITROGEN FIXATION - Any natural or industrial 3 and water quality degradation. process that causes free nitrogen (N2), which is a relatively inert gas plentiful in air, to combine SULFUR CYCLE - Sulfur is an important element in chemically with other elements to form the metabolism of salt marshes and subtidal, more-reactive nitrogen compounds such as coastal marine sediments because of its role as ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites. (78% in Earth an electron acceptor, carrier, and donor. Atmosphere) Sulfate is the major electron acceptor for NITROGEN FIXATION PROCESS - The role of respiration in anoxic marine sediments. nitrogen-fixing bacteria is to supply plants with the vital nutrient that they cannot obtain from the air themselves. Nitrogen-fixing microorganisms do what crops can't – get assimilative N for them. Bacteria take it from the air as a gas and release it to the soil, primarily as ammonia NITRIFICATION - The process of conversion of ammonia or reduced nitrogen compounds into the easily absorbable form of nitrogen that is nitrates and nitrites. It is an aerobic process. Chemoautotrophic bacteria play a major role in this process. PHOSPHORUS CYCLE - is significant because phosphorus is a crucial ingredient for supporting life on Earth. Plays a crucial role in the structure of genetic material, the function of cell membranes, and the development of bones and teeth.