2.

1 Organisms and their

Environment

• Ecology: The study of organisms, their

environment, and how they interact with
each other.
– Includes studying things living and non-living,
but is still a large part of Biology.

http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/gator.htm
 2.1 Organisms and their
Environment
• Biosphere: The part of the Earth that
sustains life.
– All living things on Earth are found in the
biosphere.
– If you shrank the Earth to the size of an apple,
the biosphere would be the thickness of the
peel.
– Includes from high in the sky to deep in the
oceans.
 2.1 Organisms and their Environment
• Abiotic Factors: Anything that is part of
an organism’s environment, and is not
living.
– Ex. Wind, Water, Sand, Soil.
• Biotic Factors: Anything that is part of an
organism’s environment, and is living.
– Ex. Trees, plants, Other Organisms.

http://www.theragens.com/photos/Turkey_Vulture_Photos.htm
 2.1 Organisms and their Environment
• Interactions
– Organisms – One member of a species
– Populations: Group of organisms in the same
species that live in the same place and interbreed.

http://animals.mongabay.com/crabs.html

– Community: Many groups of different populations

(different species as well) that live together.
• A collection of interacting populations
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/
2.1 Organisms and their Environment
• Habitat: The place where an organism lives out its life.
– Habitats can change, or even disappear.

• Niche: An organism’s role or position a species has in

http://www.locatelli1.net/thema/picture.php?ref=bre021&lg=en

its environment.
– Includes how it gets food, how it survives, and how it
reproduces. Describe the niche of a beaver.
 2.1 Organisms and their
Environment
• The interactions between organisms and the
abiotic factors around them forms an
ecosystem.
• Different ecosystems:
– Terrestrial
– Aquatic
• Marine
• Freshwater
http://www.cfra-nc.org/acfrb.htm
http://www.oceanfutures.com/gallery/gallery_archi
ve.asp#october

http://www.borealforest.org/world/world_management.htm
 2.2 Nutrition and Energy Flow
• There are many different ways an
organism can obtain the energy that it
needs to survive.
• First, some organisms can use the
sun’s energy OR chemicals in the
environment to produce energy for
themselves
• These organisms are called
autotrophs.
http://eebweb.arizona.edu/herb/plantphotos.html
 Energy Flow
• Producers (autotrophs):
harness sunlight to
produce food
 Energy Flow
• Chemoautotrophs: use energy from chemical
compounds (in hydrothermal vents) to produce
food
2.2 Nutrition and Energy Flow

• Some organisms must

obtain energy from
ingesting (eating)
other organisms.
• They are called
heterotrophs.
• Consumers (heterotrophs)
2.2 Heterotrophs
• Come in many forms.
– Carnivore = Eats meat
• Ex. Lions,
• Scavenger- What would the Earth look
like if there were no scavengers?
– Herbivore = Eats plants
• Ex. Cows, Wildebeests
– Omnivore = Eats plants and animals
• Ex. Humans, Raccoons, Opossums
http://www.jpbutler.com/tanzania/travelogue-06800.html

– Detritivore = Eats dead remains

(detritus)
• AKA: Decomposers
• Ex. Bacteria, Fungi

http://www.personal.u-net.com/~chilton/fungi.htm
 2.2 Matter and Energy Flow

• A food chain is a model used to

illustrate the flow of energy through
an ecosystem.
– Ex. Grass » Cow » Human or
Algae » Carp » Heron » Lion
Create your own food chain!
• Food chains usually have no more
than five steps.
http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm
•    With each step the amount
of energy transferred decreases  

 2.2 Matter and Energy Flow

• trophic level
• The levels in a food chain represented by
each organism
• The word trophic is from the Greek tropho
and basically means food.
 2.2 An Ecological Pyramid
Label your pyramid
Top level - carnivores
Energy, Mass, & Pop. Size Decreasing

3rd level - carnivores

2nd level - the herbivores

1st level- the producers/autotrophs

 2.2 Matter and Energy Flow
• Ecological pyramid, the amount of energy
retained decreases as you go up to the top.
• With every passing level, 90% of all energy is
lost!
– Only 10% of the producer’s energy actually makes it
into the herbivore’s system!
– Only 10% of the herbivore’s energy actually makes it
to the first carnivore in the chain! And so on………
– Assume there are 1000 units of energy on the bottom
level of your pyramid……label the amount of energy
at each level
 2.2 Matter and Energy Flow
• A food chain is not that complicated, but in real
life, feeding involves more than just a simple
food chain.
• A food web describes all of the possible
feeding situations that can occur in an
ecosystem.

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/food%20web.

htm
 Cycles of Matter
• The water cycle:
– All living things require
water to survive
– Evaporation: Water changing
from liquid to gas
– Transpiration: Water vapor
evaporating from leaves of
plants to enter the
atmosphere
 Cycles of Matter
• The Carbon Cycle:
– Carbon is the key ingredient
of living tissue
– 1. Atmospheric CO2 is released by
volcanoes, respiration by animals,
burning fossil fuels, and
decomposition of matter
– 2. Plants use CO2 to build
carbohydrates
– 3. Carbs are eaten by consumers
– 4. Carbon compounds break down and
return to the atmosphere
 Cycles of Matter
• The Nitrogen Cycle
– Necessary for amino acid production
– Nitrogen makes up 78% of our atmosphere
– Nitrogen is added to the biosphere by humans with the use of
fertilizers
– Nitrogen Fixation: Nitrogen fixing bacteria on roots “fix”
atmospheric nitrogen to be used by plants.
– Consumers get nitrogen by eating producers / plants
– Denitrification: Soil bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas
 The Phosphorus Cycle
• Phosphorus is essential because all living
organisms require the element for growth
and development.
• Plants obtain phosphorus form the soil.
• Phosphorus remains mostly locked up in the
rocks in earth. When the rocks are exposed
it becomes part of the cycle again.
 Short Cycle
• Plants obtain it from soil
• Animals eat the plants
• Animals died and decompose returning the
phosphorus back to the soil.
 Symbiotic Relationships
• Close interactions between different
biological species
 Organisms and their Environment –
Symbiotic Relationships
1. Commensalism: a symbiotic relationship in which
one species benefits and the other is unaffected.
– Ex. Orchids that grow in trees

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0010-0301-2004-5140.html

2. Mutualism: a symbiotic relationship in which both

species involved benefit.
1. Ex. Rhinos and birds
2. teeth cleaner fish.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/acacia.htm
Organisms and their Environment
3. Parasitism: A symbiotic relationship in
which one species benefits and the other is
harmed.
– Ex. Ticks, Tapeworms, Tree fungus.

http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/helmint/platyhel/cest0100.htm
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegallery/ticks/iscapm.html
Organisms and their Environment

Commensalism + o

Mutualism + +

Parasitism + -
 Population Dynamics

• Competition: competing for

resources such as food, water,
reproduction.
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Ardea_cinerea.htm
• Predation: One animal constantly
preying on another can often keep the
size of a population in check.
– Ex. Owls keeping a mouse population
small, or hunters keeping deer numbers
in check.
– Predator can’t eat all prey or food will
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Pests/spiders.htm
be gone for good.
How do increases and decreases in the
moose population affect the wolf
population?
60 2400

50 2000

40 1600

30 1200

20 800

10 400

0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

Moose Wolves
 Communities
• Succession: natural changes and the
replacement of different species in the
communities of an ecosystem.
– Succession occurs in different stages and
can often take decades, centuries, or even
thousands of years.
– Plants most important organisms when
talking about succession.
• See pg. 94, Fig. 4-7

Example: Old Field Succession

http://bioweb.wku.edu/faculty/Ameier/oldfield1.htm
 Communities
• Primary Succession: The first arrival of
communities of organisms in a formerly
lifeless area.
• Pioneer Species: The very first species
to colonize a lifeless area.
– Colonization: Moving from a familiar
habitat to a new unfamiliar area.

Example of a pioneer species: Marram grass

on sand dunes
 Communities
• Climax Community: A stable community
in which change does not occur on a
regular basis.
– Ex. A mature forest with large trees, vines,
grasses, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, etc.
could be a climax community if there are no
new species showing up and no extinctions.
– Simply put: nothing coming, nothing going!

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_national_forest/nc/hik_kilm.htm

Example: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

 Communities
• Secondary Succession: The changes in a
community that occur when a natural or
unnatural disaster destroys most of the
individuals in a community. These same
species of animal and plant then return to
their habitats.
– Ex. A fire
– Ex. A farmer stripping and abandoning his
fields
http://build.tripod.lycos.com/imagebrowser/phot – Ex. A volcano erupts ash and debris
os/Landscapes/Volcanic_Eruptions/categories1.
html
 Communities
Succession
Primary Secondary

Barren Soil
http://www.threeleaf.com/stock-photography/picture-
Ex. Lichen Ex. Grasses http://www.planetware.com/photos/TZ
A/TZA100.HTM

view.htm?id=zr2vhwgejv&returnPage=pictures005.htm&retu
rnText=Plants
Begins on Rock, Begins After Disaster
Sand, etc.
Pioneer Species Previous Species
Aquatic Biomes

• Biome: A large group of ecosystems

that share the same type of climax
community.
– Ex. Many will be given throughout the
chapter.
 Aquatic Biomes
• Marine Biomes: biomes that are found
in salt water are marine biomes.
– Photic Zone: The portion of the marine
biome that is shallow enough for light to
penetrate.
• Main resource for food is plankton, which are
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep6c.htm small organisms that include small plants and
tiny baby marine animals.
– Aphotic Zone: Deeper water in the marine
environment that never receives sunlight.
• Food falls from above.

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep6c.htm
 Aquatic Biomes
• Estuary: Anywhere where a river
joins the ocean and fresh water
tends to mix with salt water.
– The salinity of the water can change
depending on the tides or on other
weather factors.
– This brackish water can often lead far
http://www.fish.washington.edu/naturemapping/water/2habestu.html inland up the river.

Ex: Cape Fear entering Carolina

Beach (Snow’s Cut)
 Aquatic Biomes
• Intertidal Zone: The area that is
completely covered by water at high
tide, but exposed at low tide.
– Found on beaches, lake shores, river
beds, etc.
http://www.scubayogi.de/tidepool.html
– Ex. of wildlife living there: snails, sea
stars or starfish. They have suction
cups to hold them in place when the
tide is coming in or going out.

http://www.maltavista.net/en/list/photo/1775.html
 Aquatic Biomes
• Freshwater Biomes: No salt in the
water.
– Photic zones usually reach to the
bottom of the lake.
– With deep lakes, an aphotic zone
appears and once again no vegetation
grows.
http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/1116/16biomes.htm
– The temperature in freshwater varies
greatly, as do the types of organisms
that live there.
Cape Fear, Town Creek,
Black River
Terrestrial Biomes

• The amount of rainfall and the

average yearly temperature
determine what type of
terrestrial biome that you are in.
– See Fig. 4-11 pg. 99
 All the World’s Major Biomes

Tundra Taiga Desert Grassland Temperate Forest Tropical Rain Forest

 Terrestrial Biomes
• Tundra: Cold, little rainfall.
– Permafrost occurs because the
temperature rarely reaches above
freezing
– Short growing season of plants is a
strong limiting factor.
– Few large animals
– Horrible, dark winters.
– Preserved Woolly Mammoth found here!
http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/woolly.htm
Terrestrial Biomes

• Taiga: A bit warmer than tundra, and

a bit more rainfall.
– Long, severe winters, short, mild
summers.
– Plants have time to grow and develop.
– More large animals than in the tundra
– Many trees
Terrestrial Biomes

• Desert: Extremely dry, not always

hot.
– Very little vegetation
– One desert in Chile, the Atacama,
receives no rain fall, EVER!
– Large areas of no life
– Strange adaptations of organisms to
tolerate the conditions
Terrestrial Biomes
• Grasslands: large communities
covered in grasses and other similar
plants.
– Ususally has dry seasons so that tree life
cannot be supported.
– Many different animals can live here-
large and small alike.
– First biome where we start to see a lot of
humus: dead, decaying plant and animal
matter which helps make up the
underlying soil.

http://mbgnet.mobot.org/sets/grasslnd/animals/
 Terrestrial Biomes

• Temperate Forest: Medium

http://www.kjsl.com/~dave/hummingbirds/hummingbirds.html
precipitation, noticeable seasons.
– Trees everywhere, and most lose their
leaves annually.
– Clay found under humus
– Many species of plant and animal, some
migrate into warmer areas.

http://staff.washington.edu/timk/wildlife/mammal/squirrel/squirrel.html
 Terrestrial Biomes
• Tropical Rain Forest: Characterized
by intense rainfall, many species
from all kingdoms, and warm
climate.
– Located near the equator
– Has different levels within the forests,
providing many different niches- see p.
86.
– Little humus because dead organisms are
decomposed quickly
– Being destroyed by humans

http://mbgnet.mobot.org/sets/rforest/animals/
 Population Dynamics

• Populations often change size over

time.
– Some increase in size, others decrease.
• We will concentrate on population
growth:
– How fast?
– For how long will growth continue?
Population Growth
Around the World
since 1 A.D.
http://desip.igc.org/mapanim.html
 Factors that Affect Population
Growth
• # of Births
• # of Deaths
• # of individuals that enter or leave the
population.
– Immigration = Into
– Emigration = Exiting
 Population Dynamics
• Population growth
can be exponential:
• Individuals
reproduce at a
constant rate
• Unlimited growth
• J shaped curve
 Population Dynamics
• Population growth can be Logistic
• As resources become less available, the growth of a
population slows or stops

• S shaped curve
Carrying capacity

Time (hours)
Population Dynamics
• Is it possible for a population to grow
exponentially in nature?
– Why?
• Which graph that you’ve seen seems
most likely?
 Limiting Factors
• Limiting Factors: Biotic or abiotic
factors that restrict or prevent the growth
of a population
– Ex. A predator such as a lynx is a limiting
factor for a prey such as a hare.
– Ex. A cold snowy winter is a limiting factor
http://www.yukonman.com/pictures2-8.asp
for thousands of species that would die
under those conditions.
– Ex. In brackish water, fish can’t pass from
salt water to fresh water. The salinity of the
water is a limiting factor.

http://www.fotosearch.com/COR356/110000/
• Nutrients, competition, predation,
parasitism, water, humans can all be
limiting factors
Population Dynamics
• Tolerance: The ability of an organism to
withstand changes in abiotic or biotic
factors around them.
– Ex. Many plants have a tolerance for shade,
but those that don’t will surely die without
the proper amount of sunlight.
– Ex. Many animals that live in warm climates
have a tolerance for coldness, while others
will die after just one cold night.
 Population Dynamics
• Carrying Capacity plays a big factor
in population growth.
– Carrying Capacity = The number of
organisms of one species that a habitat
or environment can hold.
http://buten.net/max/My2001/10_monkeys/index_10_monkeys.html

# of Individuals

http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/image-files/xfamily.jpg

Time
 Population Dynamics
• Review: Limiting Factors can be
biotic or abiotic factors.
• Additionally, when discussing
populations, limiting factors are
http://www.facethewind.com often split into two categories.
Abiotic

Biotic

http://www.spottycat.com/marlos/emporium/cougar/bigcat11.jpg
 Population Dynamics
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/00/eth6.stm
• Density Dependent Factors: Factors
that limit the size of a population and
only exist because the size of that
population got too big.
• “Depend on population size”
– Ex. Disease, competition, parasites, and
a limited amount of food.
– None of these would have caused so
many problems had the population
remained small.
 Population Dynamics
Floods
• Density Independent Factors:
Limiting factors that would affect all
populations regardless of their size or
crowdedness.
– Most are abiotic factors.
http://www.danieldesign.com/otherlinks.htm – Ex. Floods, hurricanes, drought, habitat
Volcanic Eruptions destruction.

Fire

http://www.arenal.net/ http://www.worldphotos.com/s/worldphotos/weather.html
Lynx Chases Hare
 Predation
• One animal constantly preying on another
can often keep the number of a population
in check.
• –Ex. Owls keeping a mouse population
small, or hunters keeping deer numbers in
check.
• –Predator can’t eat all prey or extinction
would occur
 Population Dynamics
• Competition: A density dependent
factor. Individuals competing for
limited food source.
• Crowding and Stress: Not completely
understood, but we have seen it
causes fighting, infertility, decreased
parental care and immunity to
disease, and often death.
http://www.lifeisajoke.com/pictures292_html.htm
 Human Population Growth
• Until about 500 years ago, the world’s
human population remained fairly stable.
Then, as advances in medicine, agriculture,
and technology occurred, the human
population began growing very rapidly.
Today, the world’s human population is
greater than 6 billion people, and it
continues to grow, but at a slower rate.
Human Population Growth
Industrial
Revolution
Agriculture begins
begins Bubonic
Plowing plague
and
irrigation
Human Population Growth

• Demography: the study of human

population growth characteristics.
– Scientists called Demographers.
 Human Population Growth
• Birth Rate: Usually it’s the number of
babies that were born in the past year.
– Look at a sample population of 1000
individuals, and find out how many of those
individuals were born in the last year.
• Death Rate: Usually it’s the number of
people who have died in the past year.
– Look at a sample population of 1000
individuals, and find out how many of those
individuals died in the last year.

http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfruf/popfac.htm
 Human Population Growth
• Fertility Rate: The number of
babies each woman is having
during her fertile years.
Total Fertility
rates in the
U.S. from
1917 to2000.

http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfruf/els_fertility_rates.htm
 Human Population Growth
• Age Structure: can be used to determine
Age Structure how quickly a country or area is growing.
Diagram – Are most individuals post-reproductive?
– Are most individuals reproductive?
– Are most individuals pre-reproductive?
– Which of these would most likely be growing the
fastest?
– The slowest?
–   Populations that are not growing have
about the same numbers of each age group.  
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfruf/popagestruc.htm 
Age Distribution
 Human Population Growth
• Immigration: movement by individuals
into a country or area.
– Canadians immigrate into the U.S. from
Canada
• Emigration: movement by individuals
out of a country or area.
– Canadians emigrate out of Canada to the
U.S.
http://www.terragalleria.com/america/alaska/alaska-misc/picture.alas6416.html

• Neither change world populations but

both change populations of the
countries involved.
What effect might this increase in
population have on the environment
and on other people?
• What will happen when humans reach their
carrying capacity on Earth?

• What do you think the carrying capacity of

humans on the Earth is?
 Human Impact on the Biosphere
Human activities that affect the biosphere are:
1. Hunting and Gathering = Can cause mass
extinctions
2. Agriculture = Enabled the dev. of civilization
3. Industry = Can pollute air, water, and soil
4. Urban Development = Produce wastes that
must be disposed of, consumes natural habitats,
stresses plant and animal pops
 Vanishing Species
• Biodiversity: Biological Diversity.
- the number of species that
inhabit an area.
– The variety of life in an area
– Tropical regions contain over 2/3
of all animal species

http://www.divetrip.com/galapgos/galapgal.htm
 Vanishing Species
• Island Biodiversity: The larger the
island, the greater the biodiversity.
– Assuming the islands are in the same
biome (tropical rain forest, tundra, etc.)
this almost always holds true.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/
galleries/biodiversity/index.html
 Vanishing Species
• Why is it important to retain
biodiversity in nature?
– Food chains and food webs cannot exist
without it.
– For example, if there is only one
producer or herbivore in an ecosystem,
and that species dies, there will be no
species to take its place and the food
web will collapse.

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0309-2612-2932.html
 Vanishing Species

• Why is it important for humans to

retain biodiversity?
– The more species that exist, the more
food we have to eat.
– The more species that exist, the more
drugs to make medicines we will have
access to- and we may not even know it
yet!
• Penicillin, Quinine, a cure for
cancer?? AIDS??

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0209-0121-0016.html
Vanishing Species
• Extinction: The complete
disappearance of a species from the
face of the Earth.
– Happens naturally
• Passenger Pigeon
– Happens because humans make it
happen.
• Tasmanian Wolf
• Stellar’s Sea Cow
 Vanishing Species
• Threatened Species: What a species
is considered when a population
declines rapidly.
– African Elephants- went from 3 million
to 700,000 in 20 years.
• Endangered Species: When numbers
http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0012-0301-1514-4826.html

of a species get so low that extinction

is a possibility.
– Black Rhinoceros- Killed for horns
which are used in medicines or for knife
http://www.lpzoo.com/tour/factsheets/mammals/blk_rhino.html handles
Vanishing Species
• Habitat Loss: Destruction of habitats.
– A forest becomes a parking lot
– A rain forest becomes a hotel complex
– A pond is dried up so that an office
building can be built.
–   The biggest threat to
biodiversity!   

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0018-0310-1813-2806.html
 Vanishing Species
• Habitat Fragmentation: The
separation of wilderness areas from
other wilderness areas.
– A road comes through a habitat
– Snow’s Cut
– A dam is built
– Can prohibit migration

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0027-0312-1217-0544.html
 Vanishing Species
• Edge Effect: Edges of an ecosystem
are negatively affected by habitat
destruction.
– Ex. A rainforest is partially cleared and
the edges of the remaining forest dry
out.
– Ex. A building is placed next to habitat
where wind is important to pollinate
plants. The building blocks the wind
and plants on the edge of the habitat
(next to the building) cannot reproduce.

http://www.junglephotos.com/conservation/deforestation/lonehut.html
 Vanishing Species
Invasive Species: called invasive simply
exotics
• These species are “ non-indigenous”
or “non-native”
• They adversely affect the habitats and
bioregions by invading economically,
environmentally, and/or ecologically.
 Vanishing Species
• Exotic Species: Species not native to a
particular area, but now live and thrive
in their new environment.
– Can be very harmful to their new
surroundings.
– Can grow exponentially because they
have no predators.
– Can take over other animals’ niches,
causing possible endangerment or
extinction.
– Ex. Rabbits or pigs in Australia
http://piratesvsninjas.typepad.com/photos/lara/kudzu.html

KUDZU!!!
 Vanishing Species
• Habitat Degradation: The damage to a habitat
by pollution.
– 3 types: air, water, and land pollution.
These are major examples of Bioaccumulation
which are accumulation of substances, such as
pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an
organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an
http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0027-0312-2707-4139.html organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate
greater than that at which the substance is lost.

• Acid Precipitation: Rain, snow, sleet, or fog

with low pH values (acidic).
– Car exhaust and burning of fossil fuels causes precip.
To become acidic.
• Think Water Cycle!

http://www.ggw.org/RochesterEnvironment/acid_rain.htm
 Vanishing Species
• Water Pollution: Largely fertilizer
runoff and animal waste.
– Also can be spilled oil or chemicals
from factories or oil tankers.
– Includes physical pollution such as trash
and abandoned nets that kill large fish.

http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/publicwk/swm/wq/CommonWQProbs.htm#manure
 Vanishing Species
• Land Pollution: Largely garbage
produced everyday by people such as
you and me.
– Landfills cause habitat destruction
– Pesticides such as DDT caused many
problems
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
• Rachel Carson: Silent Spring
• Insects that lived had DDT in their system
• Birds ate the insects
• Egg shells became thin and ineffective
• Baby birds died frequently, populations
declined
• DDT was eventually banned in 1972
http://www.csun.edu/~vceed002/BFI/sunshine.html#photograph
 Vanishing Species
• Ozone Layer: Layer of O3 (3 oxygen
atoms attached to each other) that
helps protect the Earth and
everything on it from the sun’s
harmful ultraviolet radiation.
– CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons) are the
major culprit in the destruction of the
ozone layer.
– Results: deformities in animals, skin
cancer increases, etc.

http://www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/part1.html
 Nutrient Loading
• Overabundance of nutrients due to
various agricultural, industrial, and
urban activities which generally
fall into 2 categories:
• point
• non-point source.
• Point source pollutants
• municipal or industrial waste discharges
- stem from a particular location
- can be clearly identified
-easier to regulate, monitor, and treat.
• Non-point source pollutants
• transported over a broad area
through watersheds, making them
difficult to identify, measure, and
regulate
• Sources : runoff from agricultural
lands, construction sites, urban
areas, and atmospheric deposition.
 Vanishing Species
Global Climate Change (Global Warming)
-The increase in the average temperature of the
biosphere
-Hypothesis for today’s climate change: In part due to
human activities that add carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases to the atmosphere
-Ex: Burning fossil fuels
-Effects
-Sea Level rise = flooding of coastal areas
-Droughts in parts of N.Am. during summer growing
season
-Affect ecosystems = threatened/extinct species
Conservation of Biodiversity

• Conservation Biology: A new field

of science that studies methods and
implements plans to protect
biodiversity.
– Based on principles of ecology.
– Protection of land and the animals
– Need to understand laws, politics,
sociology, and economics.
 Conservation of Biodiversity
• U.S. Endangered Species Act: Signed
into law in 1973 by Richard Nixon,
this law made it illegal to harm any
species on the threatened or
endangered species list.

http://www.nature.com/nsu/031222/031222-2.html

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/PR3/Turtles/turtles.html
 Conservation of Biodiversity
• Parks and Recreation: Habitats are
preserved when land is turned into a
park or wildlife refuge.
– Only 6% of Earth’s land surface is
protected this way.
• Sustainable Use: Letting people use
resources on this protected land in
such a way that no habitats are
destroyed and no species are
negatively affected.

http://www.main.nc.us/graham/hiking/joycekil.html
 Conservation of Biodiversity
• Habitat Corridors: Natural strips of
land that connect two protected
areas.
– Created by people that are trying to
preserve migratory routes or natural
habitats of species in an area.
"It is our ethical
responsibility to save the animal and plant
species from the terrible finality
of extinction. If we are to succeed, we must
save their habitat."
http://www.earthvoice.org/animal.habitat/habitat.corridors.htm
 Conservation of Biodiversity
• Reintroduction Programs: When a
species goes extinct in a certain area
and ecologists reintroduce the species
to that area.
– These animals still may exist in other
parts of the world, or in captivity.
– Ex. Swift Fox from population video,
California Condor, Brown Pelicans.
– Ex. Ginkgo trees kept in captivity by
Chinese Monks and reintroduced years
The Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program later into all parts of the world
http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Change/reintroduction.htm
 Stewardship
• Stewardship is an ethic that
embodies responsible planning and
management of resources
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that
involves systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of right and
wrong behavior.
What are examples of ethical behavior?