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Bio life complexity > Ecosystem in the anthropocen > Flashcards

Ecosystem in the anthropocen Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

The Carbon Cycle

A

The global carbon cycle refers to the exchanges of carbon within and between four major reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, land, and fossil fuels. Carbon may be transferred from one reservoir to another

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2
Q

The Carbon Cycle pathway

A

The global carbon cycle refers to the exchanges of carbon within and between four major reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, land, and fossil fuels. Carbon may be transferred from one reservoir to another

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3
Q

The Carbon Cycle and it relates to anthropogenic climate change

A
  • human have changed processes in the carbon cycle such as deforestation ( lower amount of plant for carbon sink), using fossil fuel. release up to 9 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere
  • the carbon cycle cannot remove all the CO2 we released into the atmosphere fast enough (only 50%) and the rest remain in the atmosphere
  • this imbalance leads to increase in atmospherics green house gas concentration. 40% since1850
  • risen from 280ppm to 378ppm
  • this lead to increase in earth temperature
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4
Q

Impacts of carbon emissions on the atmosphere, land and ocean

A
  • Atmosphere
  • Greenhouse warming
  • Increased storm frequency/severity
  • Ocean
  • Acidification
  • Warmer water temperatures
  • Sea level rise
  • Land
  • Some increased plant growth, but limited
  • Forest fires
  • Melting permafrost
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5
Q

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations responsible for advancing knowledge on human-induced climate change.

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6
Q

Global climate scenarios

A

a climate scenario refers to a plausible future climate that has been constructed for explicit use in investigating the potential consequences of anthropogenic climate change. Such climate scenarios should represent future conditions that account for both human-induced climate change and natural climate variability

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7
Q

Different RCP value and their meaning

A

-stand for representative concentration pathway( greenhouse gas concentration pathway)
RCP 2.6- low concentration of greenhouse gas. require medate and high effort to achieve ( shift to renewable energy, change in beviour and emission capture). the change to temp would be low and rise in them is less than 2
RCP 4.5- still require mediate and effort to achieve. result in moderate climate impact. sea increase 0.5 meter and temp increase 2-3
RCP 8.5-little to no effort is made sea increase by 0.63 and temp rise to 4

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8
Q

Climate Impacts in Australia

A

KEY MESSAGES FOR SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA
•Average temperatures will continue to increase in all seasons
•More hot days and warm spells
•Fewer frosts
•A continuation of the trend of decreasing winter rainfall
•Spring rainfall decreases
•Increased intensity of extreme rainfall events
•Mean sea level will continue to rise and height of extreme sea-level
events will also increase
•A harsher fire-weather climate in the future

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9
Q

Climate Mitigation

A

Climate Change Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behavior. It can be as complex as a plan for a new city, or as a simple as improvements to a cook stove design.

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10
Q

Climate Adaptation

A

Climate Change Adaptation refers to implementing changes in　natural or human systems to prepare for actual or expected　changes in the climate in order to minimize harm, act on　opportunities or cope with the consequences

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11
Q

events in 1980

A
  • growing awareness on our impact on nature and ourselves (air pollution leading to acid rain, Amazon being cleared at an unprecedented rate, increase in desertification, plastic pollution in ocean)
  • published the Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which show our effect on the ecosystem => higher awareness
  • proposal for a large dam in Tasmania was prevented by Bob Hawk, a pro-environmental politician vote by the people
  • created the Flora and Fauna act in 1988, Threaten Species Conservation act 1995
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12
Q

Rio earth summit 1992

A
  • An UN conference aim at cooperative development issue in post cold war era, focus on enviromental issue
    -Created the conversion on Biological Diversity
    • every nation need a National biodiversity strategies and actions plans which is reported upon
    • Global strategy for plant conservation
    • Nagoya protocol (Fair access to genetic resources) • Cartegena protocol (GMOs)
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13
Q

IPBES Global Assessment

A

Intergovernmental platform for biodiversity and ecosystem services

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14
Q

What are ecosystem services

A

“Ecosystem services are the benefits provided to humans through the transformations of resources (or environmental assets,
including land, water, vegetation and atmosphere) into a flow of essential goods and services e.g. clean air, water, and food”
-benefit provided to human by the nature
+Provisioning
+Regulate
+Supporting
+Cultural

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15
Q

Nature underpins all aspects of life

A

2 billion people rely on wood as their primary energy
4 billion people rely primarily on natural medicines
70% of all drugs are natural or copies of natural drugs
75% of all crops are animal pollinated
Natural systems are the ONLY carbon sink (5.6 Gt/yr)
Natural pollinators = $560B/yr
… but its capacity to do so is declining everywhere

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16
Q

Plants and animals threatened with extinction

A
  • UN created a red list to identify threatened species

- species are listed as: less concerned, near threaten, vulnerable, endanger, critically endanger and data insufficient

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17
Q

1M species at risk of extinction….Really?

A

percentage threatened x number of species = number threatened
• non-insects:
• 0.25 * 2.6M = ~ 0.65M
• insects:
• 0.1 * 5.5M = ~0.55M
• ~ 8.1M animal and plant species (Mora et al. 2011)

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18
Q

What are the global drivers?

A

 75% of the land area is significantly altered;
 66% of the ocean area is experiencing increasing　cumulative impacts;
 85% of wetland area has been lost
 Half the live coral cover on coral reefs has been　lost since 1870 – loss accelerating
 Marine plastic pollution increased tenfold since　1980
 32 million hectares of primary or recovering　tropical forest were lost between 2010 and 2015

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19
Q

Australia – a unique, megadiverse nation

A

• 1 of 17 mega-diverse nations
• More species than any other developed nation
• Endemism - 87% mammals, 93% reptiles, 94% frogs found only here
110 extinctions since European invasion
1800 now listed as at high risk
35% of all modern global mammal extinctions
• Australia’s ecosystems are changing rapidly – biodiversity loss more rapid than any other developed nation

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20
Q

The evil sextet ( MAIN CAUSE OF EXTINCTION)

A
  • Overexplotation
  • Disease
  • invasive species
  • loss of habitat/habitat fragmentation
  • Climate change
  • Co-extinction
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21
Q

Ecosystems

A

interactions between living and non-living components

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22
Q

Australian ecosystems

A 
Characteristic interactions:
Ice and snow – snow gums
Fire – eucalypt forests
Sitting water – wetland species
High rain – rainforest species
Low rain – desert species
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23
Q

Melbourne’s Mountain Ash forests and their services

A

• Worlds largest flowering plant (Eucalyptus regnans) – arguably world’s tallest tree
• Trees live for ~350yrs
• 1900 tonnes of carbon/hectare
• Average tropical forest stores 200-500 t/ha
-The world largest carbon store forest( low turn over of carbon and soil carbon store)
=> must be kept at a stable state
150,000 megalitres per year from a single
catchments (Thompson)

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24
Q

Value of ecosystem services in Central Highlands

A

-Timber (30 million) is outweighed by many other services: water provision (60M), crop and fodder(80M), cultural and recreation (40M) and Carbon sequestration (15M)

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25
Q

Ecosystem collapse

A

-Collapse is a transformation of identity, a loss of defining feature and/or replacement by another ecosystem
• Ecosystems provide benefits to people that support societies and wellbeing - ecosystem collapse will have catastrophic impacts on society and economy

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26
Q

Red list of ecosystem

A

-IUCN create a red list of ecosystem and method to identify if an ecosystem is under threat
- Assessment of five criteria and their threasthold
+Declining distribution
+Resticted distribution
+Degration of abiotic environment
+Alteration in biotic process and interaction
+Qualitative risk analysis

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27
Q

Mountain Ash forests - risk of collapse

A

-high rate in loss of species
-loss of tree hollow (defining feature)
-loss of old growth area
=> highly endangered

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28
Q

transformative change

A

changes in our action could lead to greater biodiversity

  • Reduced consumption
  • sustainable production
  • Cut pollution
  • Climate change action
  • Conservation. restoration
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29
Q

Funding problem

A
  • it’s estimated that 1.688 billion dollars are needed for conservation effort
  • but the government only provide 120000 dollar (<1/10) even though Australia as a nation can afford it
  • the fund has always been in decline regardless of who is in charge
30
Q

Hope in action

A
  1. Private protected areas
  2. Nature-friendly agriculture
  3. Indigenous land management
  4. Community action
  5. Science and innovation
31
Q

. Private conservation organizations

A

-rely on donations from the people to conserve threatened species and ecosystems. also aim to restore them.
-30 sites in aus
-look after 6.5 million hectare
work included: feral cat and fox control, herbivore control, fire management and weed control
- best know for predator proof fences

32
Q

Preddator proff fences

A
  • enclose areas that contains species that are susceptible to feral predator
  • many cannot survive without the fences
  • provide protection for 45 species
33
Q

Managing and restoring ecosystems: nardoo hills

A
  • the restoration of nardoo hill also lead to an increase in many endangered species such as fat-tailed dundat, monitor lizard and swift parrot
  • drought caused die back in tree species there
  • bush heritage Australia predict the possible change in climate and introduced tree from the same genus that are more resistance to climate change
34
Q

Sustainable farming practices

A

~60% of Australia’s landmass is used for agriculture in some form
-it is the main driver for biodiversity loss
-sustainable biodiversity-friendly farming is required in order to preserve biodiversity
-farmer are paid by gov to help maintain biodi
Ex: bitten are preserved by small action such as letting water into field earlier, reduce predation and create breeding habitat

35
Q

Impact investment

A 
-investment that provide positive return to investor and conservative efforts
900 megalitres to Murray-Darling
wetlands as a result of the Fund
100 megalitres traded to cover the
costs of watering events
36
Q

Tiverton farm

A

-have predator proof fences and provided a safe habitat for endanger specoes

37
Q

Indigenous land management

A

-indigenous people own 9% of Australia’s land but 44% of protected area

38
Q

martu country

A
  • 136,000km2
  • most intact arid land ecosystem
  • have many endangered species such as night parrot that where thought to be extinct
  • fire management help the maintainace of ecosystem
  • engage in modern scientific practice
39
Q

Fire management

A

-increase in cool fire of Indigenous people help reduce hot fire-> less total fire and less total carbon releease

40
Q

Community action – Merri Creek

A
  • important area for threatening species and ecosystem
  • used for agriculture and wasteland, planned to turn into highway
  • was prevented by community action and turned into a community reserve
41
Q
  1. Science in partnership

Mountain pygmy possum

A 
• Translocated 6 males from Mt
Hotham in Oct 2011 – 50% juveniles hybrids
• F1 hybrids fitter, bigger, more
pouch young, lived longer
• 87% pop now (2015) have some
Mt Hotham genes
42
Q

western swamp tortoise

A
  • small pop due to climate change
  • less water flow into habitat-> cannot feed and breed properly
  • habitat is intensively managed by gov
  • move some individuals to different sites (southern & cooler)
  • pop in new habitat thrived there
43
Q

“Western” worldview

A

• “Western” worldview is dominated by a divide between Nature and Culture
• Nature-Culture dualism
• This worldview considers the environment along a continuum:
Low human influence “Pristine”
High human influence “degraded”

44
Q

“Indigenous” worldview

A

• “Indigenous” worldview is one in which people are embedded in the world around them. There is no divide between “nature” and culture
• This worldview considers the environment along a continuum:
low human influence “Sick country”
High human influence “Healthy country”

45
Q

Caring for Country

A
  • Caring for Country embodies set stewardship values for land and sea menvironments which are deeply embedded in Aboriginal culture
  • Responsibility for and the inherent right to manage one’s Country in a way that is ecologically, socially, culturally and economically sustainable
  • Using resources
  • The spirit and future generations
  • Health, education and economy
46
Q

Cultural Burning

A

Burning practices developed by Aboriginal people to enhance the health of the land and its people.
Intimate and reflexive – boots on the ground
Performed at the right time for the right purpose

47
Q

Cultural burning can include:

A
  • Burning or prevention of burning of Country for the health of particular plants and animals
  • Patch burning to create different fire intervals across the landscape or it could be used for fuel and hazard reduction.
  • Burning to gain better access to Country, to clean up important pathways, maintain cultural responsibilities and as part of culture heritage management.
  • It is ceremony to welcome people to Country
  • Or it could also be as simple as a campfire around which people gather to share, learn, and celebrate.
48
Q

Removal of Aboriginal people and their care for Country effect on them

A
  • Removal of Aboriginal people and their care for Country has had devastating impacts on Australia’s ecological integrity
  • The inability to Care for Country has had major impacts on the physical, mental and social health of Aboriginal people
49
Q

Tropical savanna

A
  • Most fire-prone environment on Earth (found either side of the equator where there is a prolonged seasonal dry period, but where biomass production is high.
  • Currently, most of Australia’s tropical savannas burn late in the dryseason, when fuel loads are high and dry and when lightning begins to strike
50
Q

Tropical savanna climate

A
  • Warm tropical climate
  • 6-7 month long dry season
  • Intense 5 month wet season
  • 1 month “build up” at the end of the dry season
  • Dry lightning strikes
51
Q

Tropical savanna – late dry season wildfires

A
  • Unburnt fuel accumulated through the dry season to the build up
  • Dry lightning strikes ignite huge, hot and canopy destroying fires
  • Carbon released into the atmosphere contributes ca.3% of Australia’s carbon emissions
52
Q

Tropical savanna – Indigenous cultural burning

A

• Indigenous burning aims to target small areas early in the dry-season, while fuel load are low and still
moist – fires can be controlled and new growth over the next months attracts animals.
• This is a highly managed and sophisticated management regime based on strict laws (kinship and cosmology).
• Has big knock on effects for biodiversity (landscape heterogeneity) and ecosystem health.

53
Q

Carbon savings can be traded (the future is uncertain…)

A

Above the 1000 mm p/a isophet (now 600 mm p/a) changing the timing of fire can be used to offset carbon emissions – savanna burning.
WALFA – West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement • Agreement between Conoco-Phillips and West Arnhem Land communities (mediated by NAILSMA - North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance) • Pay to pollute agreement ($15,000,000 for 15 years - $1,000,000 p/a) • $1,000,000 of carbon offsets annually
• Additional savings can be traded

54
Q

Huge effort in benchmarking carbon release for a 7 year baseline period prior to WALFA

A

Direct measurements of carbon stocks, carbon release under differing fire regimes, mapping fire scars, etc…
Huge effort of coordinating autonomous communities in different environments to meet a single objective
Significant “co-benefits”:
• Return to country
• Health effects (physical and psychological)
• Biodiversity effects

55
Q

The net effect of cultural burning

A
  • Reduced landscape fuel loads
  • Reduced vertical connectivity of fuels
  • Protection of fire sensitive ecosystems
  • Connection to country and improved Indigenous lives and livelihoods.
56
Q

• The British Invasion

A

• The British Invasion has let to an increase in landscape-scape fuel loads
• This has produced a more fire-prone environment
• This has produced the situation that has led to catastrophic bushfires we are now experiencing
-The removal of indigenous people from these land also make the problem worse
• Climate change has exacerbated these trends

57
Q

Nature-based solutions

A

Nature-based solutions refers to the sustainable management and use of nature for tackling socio-environmental challenges

58
Q

Effect of nature based system

A
  • It can replace many of our engineering infrastructure with added benefit
  • Forrest and grassland as carbon store (vegetation and soil)
  • Mangroves as storm surges protection
  • wetland as water retention
  • Must be studied roughly before implimetation
59
Q

Requirement of nature base solution

A
  • Must contribute to climate adaptation or prevention
  • -Must be informed by scientific knowledge
  • Synergetic, help to reduce or avoid emission in its area
  • Co-designed and co-implemented with indigenous people and stake holder in mind
  • Effect must be measurable for evaluation
60
Q

Problem with eagle restoration

A
  • eagle was endangered in NA and Canada
  • it is culturally important in that area
  • restoration plan was used and was so successful that eagles are now common
  • problem with too many eagle (competition with other birds)
61
Q

Future forrest

A
  • Imagine and measure the effect of planting tree in suburban environment
  • 4 model: No policy change, climate retrofit ( plant as many trees as possible to combat climate change), Re-wild ( create a suitable habitat for humans and animals), Suburban savannah ( create nature experience for humans)
  • plant species are chosen base on possible climate scenario and goal of the model
62
Q

Trade of in different urban forrest model

A

-different in amount of trees, canopy, diversity and GHG sequestration

63
Q

No Policy change

A 
Trees: 14,890
Canopy Cover: 16%
Diversity: High species
Stormwater: 5,860 m3/year
Habitat: low
Air Quality: 0.9 t/year
GHG sequestration: 60 t/year
GHG storage: 4000
64
Q

Climate Retrofit

A 
Trees: 30,650
Canopy Cover: 44%
Diversity: High species & size
Stormwater: 14,070 m3/year
Habitat: medium
Air Quality: 2.4 t/year
GHG sequestration: 135 t/year
GHG storage: 9660
65
Q

Re-Wild

A 
Trees: 27,190
Canopy Cover: 28%
Diversity: High age & structural
Stormwater: 9,830 m3/year
Habitat: high
Air Quality: 1.6 t/year
GHG sequestration: 107 t/year
GHG storage: 5340
66
Q

Health & Wellbeing

A 
Trees: 29,000
Canopy Cover: 29%
Diversity: High size
Stormwater: 10,060 m3/year
Habitat: medium
Air Quality: 1.7 t/year
GHG sequestration: 99 t/year
GHG storage: 5310
67
Q

Urban stream restoration in Vancouver

A
  • Change in stream system highly impacted many species including salmon
  • Work start to restore stream, collaboration between many group scientist, youth, artist , community
  • Being cared for volunteer who engage in social science
  • release salmon spawn in stream
  • salmon start to return
68
Q

Cheongyenchon river`

A

Highway converted into a river with high biodiversity

69
Q

Birrarung river

A
  • Many part are highly poluted
  • Planned to restore within 1000 years
  • Requiered collab between scientist, policy maker, community
70
Q

Yarrar river keeper association

A
  • work to collect rubbish
  • Restoration work project
  • 1700 volunteers

Bio life complexity (6 decks)

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