Environmental Flashcards
uk warming stripes
evidence that its getting warmer
global changes in 2020/21/22
-floods
-droughst and wildfires
-extreme temps
heat domes
high pressure pushing warm air down like an oven
wacky jet stream
-ice on electrical systems
drought and wildfires
-Wildfires becoming more frequent, longer lasting
-Difficult to control
-Impact on society, infrastructure, wildlife and biodiversity, atmospheric chemistry
costs associated with climate change
Cost $150 billion in US for 2022
For context:
Global Military Expenditure in 2020 nearly 2$ trillion
Global fossil fuel subsidies, although 40% down in 2019, still $180 billion in 2020
Anthropocene syndrome
a complex of environmental degradation, biological annihilation in the form of species losses, non-communicable disease epidemics, climate change, and increasing incivility in public and professional discourse. Image: Susan Prescott.
human influence on the earth system affects infrastructure and economy jellyfish
-The Nomura jellyfish invasion has plagued Japanese fishermen—and probably stems from pollution in China’s Yangtze River
environmental justice
disproportionately affects communities of colour and low-income communities
-(toxic waste landfill in black community)
key research questions
Increased population leads to higher demand for food, leading to more pressure on environmental systems
Associated environmental impacts
Unsustainable use of natural resources
Habitat destruction/pollution
Loss of biodiversity
Threats to global systems
Climate
Habitability
what is environmental stability
The United Nations (UN) defines sustainability simply as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
It asks us to consider two things; first, what are ‘needs?’ And secondly, what is life beyond ourselves?”
When looking at life beyond the present, it becomes clear that environmental sustainability involves a level of selflessness to ensure that the people of the future are also being considered
natural capital
World’s stocks of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things
It is from this Natural Capital that humans derive a wide range of goods and services which make human life possible.
These are often delivered by ecosystems, which has led to them being called ecosystem goods and services.
ecosystem
A community of plants, animals and micro- organisms, along with their environment, that function together as a unit. An ecosystem can be as large as a rain forest or as small as a rotting log.
millenium ecosyystem assessment
Provided information about the current state of the world’s ecosystems
ecosystem services delivered by trees/forests
supporting
supporting
-nutrient cycling
-soil formation
-water cycling
-photosynthesis
Ecosystem services delivered by trees/forests
* Provisioning
– Wild food – berries, mushrooms,
game, honey
– Timber – fuel, construction, furniture, matches
– Medicines – e.g. aspirin (willow), taxane (yew – anti-cancer)
– In USA forest ecosystems provide water – as much as 65% run off comes from forests (excluding Alaska)
Ecosystem services delivered by trees/forests
* Regulating
– Large scale clearing can alter rainfall patterns and decrease overall amount of
rain.
– Act as sponge and soak up and store water – evens out annual waterflows from forested watersheds.
– Reduce soil erosion – sediment damages roads, harms fish populations, fills ditches.
– Vegetation protects soil from force of rain and roots hold soil in place
– Filter pollutants.
– Trap airborne particulate matter and ozone that can be harmful to humans.
– Can regulate temperature – in an urban setting provide cooling through shading and evapo-transpiration.
– Absorb carbon dioxide, sequester carbon – reduce greenhouse gases.
Ecosystem services delivered by trees/forests
* Cultural
– Recreation
– Inspiration
– Artistic uses of forest
products
biomes =
- Biome - major ecological community, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment
- affected by precipitation and air temperature and soil
five major types of biome
– Aquatic
– Grassland – Forest
– Desert
– Tundra
Ecosystem services – not a comprehensive list
Nutrient cycling
* Soil formation
* Photosynthesis
* Climate regulation
* Regulation of water quality and quantity
* Food, fuel
* Genetic resources
* Cultural services
conversion of natural systems for agriculture
No other human activity has had a greater impact on the Earth’s biodiversity than agriculture.
Expansion of agriculture has resulted in significant impacts on global biodiversity:
1. Loss of wild biodiversity and species shifts resulting from conversion of native ecosystems to agroecosystems;
2. Influence of agroecosystem structure and function on agrobiodiversity;
3. Offsite impacts of agricultural practices;
4. Loss of genetic diversity among and within agricultural species
Some other impacts of agricultural systems
- Intensive water use – irrigation, livestock production, other uses
- Impacts on local and global climate – loss of forest releases
carbon, forests influence local climate/precipitation - Loss of soil ‘quality’ and erosion
- Alteration of nutrient cycles
- Desertification
Extent of agriculture
- Cultivated systems cover approximately 24% of Earth’s surface.
- Defined in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment to be areas in which at least 30% of the landscape is in croplands, shifting cultivation, confined livestock production, or freshwater aquaculture in any particular year.
Cultivated systems
- Between 300,000 to 500,000 plant species exist, 30,000 thought to be edible
- Only 7,000 have been either cultivated or collected as food
- Only 20 species have provided 90% of the world’s food requirements, with wheat, maize and rice accounting for 60% of human diet – plus grass etc. for livestock
- Most are grown as monocultures
- Compared with natural ecosystems, plant diversity is very low (especially as weeds are removed) – impacts on other species
deforestation
- Forests have a big influence on rainfall patterns, water and soil quality and also flood prevention.
- Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide. If forests are cleared, or even disturbed, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
- Majority of the deforestation is linked to meat, soya (a large proportion to feed livestock) and palm oil.
Betsiboka Estuary, Madagascar (nasa.gov)
Forests and biodiversity
- Forests are home to most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
- Forests provide habitats for 80% amphibian species, 75% bird species and 68% mammal species.
- About 60% of all vascular plants are found in tropical forests.
- Mangroves provide breeding grounds and nurseries for numerous species of fish and shellfish and help trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are habitats for many more marine species.
soil health
- Healthy soil is physically, nutritionally, and biologically balanced, productive, and stable, and can withstand environmental impacts without loss of fertility, structure, and biological activity.
- Soil-based biological processes may become disturbed or altered by factors such as addition of agricultural inputs, improper land cultivation, and irrigation.
soil organisms
- *
Microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, archaea, and viruses)
Fauna (protozoa, annelids, arthropods, nematodes, and molluscs)
Flora (plants and algae)
desertification
- Persistent or irreversible reduction in the capacity of ecosystems to supply ecosystem services for several decades in drylands.
- Direct factors contributing include management and land use, irrational use of water resources, deforestation, overgrazing, and climate related processes.
- Indirect factors include population growth and density, urbanization, politics, governance, economic conditions, technology, and globalization.
- In particular, irrigation agriculture in dry subhumid regions has caused salinization, acidification, and soil erosion.
conversion of terrestrial biomes
- Impossible to estimate accurately extent of different biomes prior to significant human impact
- Can determine “potential” area of biomes based on soil and climatic conditions.
- Figure shows how much of this area estimated to have been converted by 1950, how much was converted between 1950 and 1990, and how much would be converted under the four MA scenarios (low certainty) between 1990 and 2050.
- Most of the conversion of these biomes is to
cultivated systems - agriculture.
The Cerrado vegetation complex
Brazil s second largest source of biodiversity
favourable factors for agriculture in the cerrados
Great extensions of arable lands Appropriate climatic conditions Landscape suitable for mechanization Good physical characteristics of the soils Availability of basic infrastructure
Availability of mineral resources
scale in ecology
- Scale has a major influence on how people conduct ecological studies, interpret results and understand the links between processes operating at different rates.
- All of these factors influence the ability to predict responses to change.
- The ecological patterns and variability observed range from millimetres to across
ocean basins and from seconds to the expanse of evolutionary history. - Patterns apparent at one scale can collapse to noise when viewed from other scales, indicating that perceptions of the importance of different processes vary in a scale- dependent manner.
- Moreover, rather than the environment simply providing an arena within which organisms are born grow and die, many organisms interact with the environment, altering it for both for themselves and for other species.
- Because of these factors, studying ecological systems is far from simple and scale needs to be considered in study design and analysis.
biodiversity definitions
– The diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the
world as a whole)
– The variety of plant and animal life found in an ecosystem and the variation in their genetic makeup
– The variety of life forms, the different plants, animals and micro- organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form
What do we mean by biodiversity?
All hereditarily based variation at all levels of organisation, from the genes within a single local population or species, to the species composing all or part of a local community, and finally to the communities themselves that compose the living parts of the multifarious ecosystems of the world.
How much diversity is there?
- Approx. 2 million species of animals, plants and fungi described currently – but there may be 5-15 million – a lot of uncertainty!
- We have identified and named a greater proportion of vertebrates and plants than insects and fungi
Megadiversity Countries
- Megadiversity Countries is a term used to refer to the world’s top biodiversity-rich countries.
- 17 countries which have been identified as the most biodiversity-rich countries of the world, with a particular focus on endemic biodiversity.
- Together, the Megadiversity Countries account for at least two thirds of all non-fish vertebrate species and three quarters of all higher plant species.
species
Often defined as ‘a group of organisms that reproduce naturally with one another and create fertile offspring’.
* Some organisms don’t fit this definition.
* Asexual organisms have just one parent, so they do
not reproduce with each other.
* Some organisms reproduce with similar species in
the wild, forming genetic hybrids. E.g. wild polar bear–grizzly bear hybrid found in Canada. “Pizzly” or “grolar” bears, can produce fertile offspring.
* Approximately 25% of plant species and 10% of animal species are known to hybridize to varying degrees.
natural selection
- Natural selection - process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change.
- Individuals in a population are naturally variable. Thus some individuals will have traits better suited to their particular environment than others.
- Individuals with traits that give them an advantage are more likely to survive and reproduce. Over time, the advantageous traits become more common in the population.
- Natural selection can lead to speciation.
speciation
Speciation occurs when a group within a species separates from other members of its species and develops its own unique characteristics.
plant-pollinator interactions
- Interactions are generalised i.e. few where one species of plant depends on one species on animal
- Vary through time and space
- Lavandula latifolia in Southern Spain – visited by at least 85 species of dipteran, hymenopteran, and lepidopteran pollinators - insects vary in quality as pollinators
Brassicaceae
Mustard family (Brassicaceae or Cruciferae) consists of 338 genera and approximately 3,700 species.
* Very important to agriculture and the environment, accounting for approximately 10% of the world’s vegetable crop produce and serving as a major source of edible oil and biofuel.
Biodiversity and medicine
Bark extract used for centuries to relieve pain
* Salicylic acid synthesised in 1850s – but damaging to mucous
membranes
* In 1893, Bayer Company obtained a patent on acetylsalicylic acid
biodiversity and medicine
- Discovery of penicillin attributed to Alexander Fleming in 1928. He showed that, if Penicillium notatum was grown in the appropriate substrate, it would exude a substance with antibiotic properties, which he called penicillin.
- Can be synthesised (1957) - opened the way to the development of particular penicillins to combat particular bacteria.
- By the early 1960’s, researchers started producing hundreds of kinds of experimental penicillin.
What causes changes in biodiversity?
- Habitat change/destruction
- Invasive species *
Pollution - Climate change
Habitat fragmentation
- Populations become small and isolated
- Increased genetic drift, inbreeding depression and increased risk of extinction if population very small
- Genetic drift: change in the relative frequency with which an allele occurs in a population due to random variation
Impact of urbanisation
The changes in plants and animals included alterations in body sizes, shifts in behavioural patterns and adjustments in reproduction.
fishing issues
Destructive fishing is a factor in shallower waters
– bottom trawling homogenizes three- dimensional benthic habitats
– dramatically reduces biodiversity.
invasive species effects on fish
- Introductions of new species can cause abrupt changes in populations in coastal ecosystems.
- E.g. introduction of the invasive, carnivorous ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (a jellyfish-like animal) in the Black Sea
- Eats eggs and larvae of fish.
- Caused rapid loss of 26 major fisheries species and has been implicated (along with other factors) in the continued growth of the oxygen-deprived “dead” zone.
- The species was subsequently introduced into the Caspian and Aral Seas, where it had similar impacts.
pollution
- Nutrients
- Pesticides
- Other pollutants e.g. mining and industrial waste
regulation of pests and disease
- Predators consume crop pests e.g. ladybirds, hover fly larvae consume aphids, frogs consume a range of invertebrates
- In many agricultural areas, pest control provided by natural enemies has been replaced by the use of pesticides – such pesticide use has itself degraded the capacity of agro-ecosystems to provide pest control
climate change
- Climate change likely to affect the distribution of many species – animals and plants
- Also likely to affect their phenology (e.g. flowering time of plants and emergence time of insects) so that they become de- synchronized
Conservation
- Can focus on species (e.g. pandas) or habitats (e.g. savanna)
- More focus in recent times on habitats
Some ecosystem recovery is now underway – particularly through afforestation and reforestation
BUT - rates of ecosystem conversion remain high or are increasing for specific ecosystems and regions
Biodiversity off-setting
‘Biodiversity offsets are conservation activities that are designed to give biodiversity benefits to compensate for losses - ensuring that when a development damages nature (and this damage cannot be avoided) new, bigger or better nature sites will be created
reconstructing ecosystems - coral reef
Coral reefs
– artificial reefs
– removing coral predators can help build resilience to thermal stress and bleaching prior to their occurrence
Reconstructing ecosystems
*
Tropical rainforest
– One approach is to plant appropriate trees on the periphery of rainforest – birds and bats fly out and drop seeds – leads to gradual re-establishment
– Could be used to ‘join-up’ fragments of rain forest
Reconstructing ecosystems
* Re-wilding Britain
– ‘Rewilding seeks to reinstate natural processes – for example, the free movement of rivers, natural grazing, habitat succession and predation. It is not geared to reach any human-defined optimal point or end state. It goes where nature takes it’
– ‘The reintroduction of missing species may be a necessary part of rewilding where it’s needed to achieve the full range of natural processes and healthy functioning ecosystems’
What are the things about biodiversity that we need to be concerned about now and in the future?
- Will the loss of biodiversity have an impact on the Earth and human well-being?
- Is ‘quantity’ or ‘quality’ important?
- Are there some species that we just can’t afford to lose?
no species lives in isolation community and ecosystem definitions
Community: assemblage of species populations that occur together in space and time.
Ecosystem: the biological community plus the abiotic environment in which it is set.
The community consists of a series of interconnected trophic interactions: a food web
Species within the community can be classified into functional groups according to the way they acquire energy.
Energy flows in a food web from one part of the ecosystem to another (trophic dynamics).
competition predation
They both concern the requirement for individuals to obtain resources for survival, growth and reproduction.
Competition occurs where resources are limited.
Predation concerns acquisition of food by herbivore and carnivore heterotrophs in a food web.
competition
Interaction between organisms in which the fitness of one or both is lowered by the presence of another when they have a shared resource.
Intraspecific competition – between members of the same species.
Interspecific competition – between different species with similar ecological requirements.
Competition may be asymmetric, but in many cases both competitors suffer a fitness reduction.
resources
Biotic or abiotic components of the environment.
Consumed or used by an organism.
Solar radiation, other organisms, water, space.
In real populations, growth is not exponential
-resources are limited which slows population growth
Population regulation involves density dependence:
-Rate of population growth is slowed with increasing population density.
-Population is affected in proportion to its size.
-Density-dependent mortality; density-dependent fecundity.
intraspecific competition can result in an S shaped population curve
1)Population growth of Lactobacillus sakei in nutrient broth.
2)Population of shoots of the annual plant Juncus gerardi in salt marsh.
3)Population of willow trees in an area where myxomatosis disease had prevented rabbit grazing.
inter vs intra competition
The same basic idea of density dependence apply to intra- & inter-specific competition.
Interspecific competition can result in co-existence or exclusion of 1 species population by another, depending on resource availability and conditions.
Again – important for conservation of biodiversity.
two competitions of how species interact via aggression etc…
Interference competition:
-Individuals interact directly, e.g. via aggression
-interfere with foraging, reproduction, or by directly preventing physical establishment.
Exploitation competition:
-Individuals do not interact directly.
-Rather one individual is affected by the amount of resource that remains after it has been exploited by others.
-i.e. consumption of food depletes the amount available to others.
predation
-Consumption of one organism (the prey) by another (the predator).
-The prey is alive when the predator attacks it.
3 types of predators
True predators
-Kill prey straight after attack, consume several or many prey in lifetime.
Grazers
-Consume only part of each prey, not usually lethal, attack several or many prey in lifetime.
Parasites
-Consume only part of prey, may not be lethal, attack one or very few hosts, intimate association.
Predation is not just a transfer of energy
-Predators are agents of mortality and regulate prey populations.
-The prey is a resource and regulates the predator population.
-Results in coupled density dependence : reduces large populations and increases small populations.
-Seen in nature in a few cases: Wolf-moose on Isle Royale, Michigan
ecology
competition, predation and environmental management
Competition and predation combined: apparent competition
By increasing predator abundance, each prey species is indirectly decreasing the abundance of the other prey species.
invasive exotic species
-Non native species accidentally or deliberately introduced to an area outside of its natural range, which establishes and spreads and causes economic, environmental / ecological damage.
-Cause damage because:
-Compete so successfully in new ecosystems that they displace native species.
-Damaging effects through predation.
-Some also transmit pathogens to native species.
Second biggest cause of biodiversity loss.
Characteristics of invasive species
-Tolerate a variety of habitat conditions.
-Grow and reproduce rapidly.
-Compete aggressively for resources (like food, water, and nesting sites).
-Lack natural enemies in the new ecosystem. This allows them to proliferate.
-These things may be linked: lack of natural enemies may allow a species to be more competitive because it is more abundant.
Trying to control invasive species: Classical biological control
-The intentional introduction of an exotic predator as a biological control agent for permanent establishment and long term pest control.
Based on the ‘NATURAL ENEMY RELEASE HYPOTHESIS’.
-An organism invades a new geographic area (usually moved accidentally by people). In so doing, it escapes its “natural enemies”. Its population is no longer controlled and it becomes a pest.
This is a major reason for the success of invasive species.
why use stats in environmental
Describe features of a dataset
Make inferences about a population using sample data
* Estimate parameters (such as means) with a certain level of confidence * Test hypotheses about specific parameters or relationships
Predict future values based on past dat
In 1980, the National Science Foundation funded the first Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites to provide a longer view of ecological systems
LTER sites serve the wider ecological community by:
* Making almost 40 years of sustained observations publicly available,
* Developing and maintaining large-scale experiments,
* Providing long-term context and deep knowledge of place for researchers working on shorter-term projects training in interdisciplinary and collaborative team science
Data =
A collection of observation – measurements made of something
A variable =
Another name for a collection of data. Variable because it is unlikely that the data are all the same.
data types include discrete continuous and categorical =
See Bar Chart for Discrete
* See Histogram for Continuous
a population can be thought as
Every possible object (or entity) from which the sample is selected
* The complete set of all possible measurements that might hypothetically be recorded
* The complete “thing” that you are interested in studying but which can’t be measured in
its entirety.
a measure of spread and variation is confidence intervals =
range of data around the mean, where we expect (within a certain percentage) that the true population mean will be contained.
normal curve
-also known as Gaussian distribution
-negative to positive infinity
-95% of the area under the curve lies within 1.96 SDs
-99% of the area is within 2.58 standard deviations from the mean
if a data set is approximately normal the probability of selecting (at random) an observation that is within 1.96 standard deviations of the mean
is p = 0.95; within 2.58 standard deviations is p = 0.99
stat tests that require normally distributed data
students t test and ANOVA
we can test data for normality
Shapiro-Wilk Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test
NON NORMAL IS SKEWED and you can LOG IT
teh quartile (QQ) plot
-useful and better than histogram to identify data normality and outliers
if NORMAL THEN SHOULD BE STRAIGHT LINE
hypothesis testing process
- Define the Null Hypothesis (No Difference)
- Define the Alternative Hypothesis (There is a Difference) 3. Specify the Alpha Value (typically ⍺=0.05)
- Calculate the Test Statistic
- Compare to the Critical Value
one sample t test
measures the number of standard errors the sample mean is a hypothesised value
A p-value of 0.95% or greater means we can be at least 95% confident that the true (population) mean is not the hypothesized value
two sample t test and f test
Considers the probability that two samples of data do not have the same population mean
An F-test is used to compare the sample variance and see if any difference could be due to chance.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
-used to test whether three or more groups of data have teh same population mean
-Considers the variations between groups relative to the variation within groups
non-parametric tests definition
do not begin with fixed assumptions about how the data and the population are distributed (e.g., normal distribution).
-However, if the assumptions (normality) are met it is better to use a parametric test
parametric vs non-parametric
Parametric Tests for Normally-Distributed Data Include: Two-sample t-test
ANOVA
Non–parametric tetsts include: Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test
Kruskil Wallis Test
correlation coefficients =
describe the degree of association between two sets of paired values
Pearsons correlation coefficient (R)
measures the strength of the straight- line relationship of two variables
regression =
a statistical technique that relates a dependent variable to one or more independent (explanatory) variables. This technique can be used to:
* Summarize data
* Make predictions
* Explain what causes what
bivariate regression =
finds a line of best fit to summarise the relationship between two variables.
This line can be used to make predictions for what the Y value would be for a given value of X
The amount of variation in Y that is explained by X
is the R2 – a metric of linear fit from 0-1.
a multiple regression
is when two or more X variables are used to explain the Y variable
The use of multiple regression requires checking for multicollinearity
It is often helpful to standardize the variables so their effects can be compared
The aim of modelling should be to find the minimum adequate model for the purpose of the research question.
exploring spatial relationships
- It is sometimes useful to understand where something is happening.
- This may help explain what is happening and/or why it is happening
- If geographic patterns exist in a dataset, there is reason to believe that the pattern did not arise by chance.
Population growth in an uncrowded environment
Whooping crane (Grus americana) – an endangered species recovering from near extinction.
Breeds in Canada, overwinters in Texas. Protected in 1916.
15 birds alive in 1941.
Showed an exponential increase in numbers on wintering grounds.
During this time, birds are being born and others are dying. Births > deaths.
Population growth in crowded environments: intraspecific competition results in an S-shaped population curve
When the population grows, births > deaths. When it is constant, births = deaths.
Predator prey dynamics can result in coupled oscillations
Predators are agents of mortality and regulate prey populations.
The prey is a resource and regulates the predator population.
Results in coupled density dependence : reduces large populations and increases small populations.
complex predator prey relationships
-effected by biotic and abiotic factors
-competition and predation are density dependent processes and tend to be stabilising for populations over long term
disturbance events
determine population change (very bad weather)
K value
values = differences in successive values in previous column, i.e. deaths in one of the phases
Conservation: the problems of protecting endangered species
Land use change through human activities affects other organisms through loss or degradation of their habitat
Some populations are now restricted to protected areas
How do you decide how large these protected areas must be to keep a population viable?
Conservation: the problems of protecting endangered species
To conserve species, you need to understand the factors that determine their population size.
The number must be large enough to withstand chance variations in
births and deaths
environmental changes
genetic drift
catastrophic events
Minimum viable population (MVP) =
the number of individuals necessary to ensure the long-term survival of a species
a 99 % chance of survival for 1000 years despite the foreseeable effects of demographic and environmental stochasticity and natural catastrophes.
How is the MVP determined?
It depends on the life history of the species and the ability of individuals to disperse among habitat patches
Genetic models suggest that vertebrates with populations of an actual size less than 1000 are highly vulnerable to extinction
For species that have large fluctuations in population size (many invertebrates and annual plants), the estimated MVP is 10,000
Understanding of Minimum Viable Population Size and Carrying Capacity
Once the MVP for a species has been determined, the area needed to support the population must be estimated
This is the MINIMUM DYNAMIC AREA (MDA)
Need to understand
carrying capacity of the habitat
the home range size of individuals, family groups, or colonies
Gives an estimate of the area requirement per individual
migration is really important for population dynamics
Migration is a vital factor that influences abundance.
Landscapes are usually heterogeneous: areas of suitable habitat are interspersed between unsuitable areas.
Many populations are fragmented and patchy. Dispersal between patches affects the overall population dynamics.
Key features are:
‘habitable site’ (size, number, life span)
‘dispersal distance’.
A patch =
a relatively homogeneous area of suitable habitat that differs from its surroundings.
the meta population concept
Combines patchiness and dispersal.
A metapopulation consists of a collection of sub-populations.
Each sub-population has a chance of going extinct and appearing again through colonization.
Metapopulation dynamics is a balance between extinction and colonisation.
Conservation and the metapopulation concept land use change
Land use change – especially intensive farming – has resulted in large scale loss of habitats for most species plant and animal species and is driving the current mass extinction.
lynx metapopulation
In 1900 it was found in much of Spain and Portugal.
Now restricted to Iberian Peninsula.
World population is below 1000 individuals distributed among 9 spatially and genetically isolated populations.
Its existence depends upon maintaining genetic exchange among the local populations.
ecological communities
Determinants of community structure.
Keystone species are really important for determining community structure.
Apex predators are often keystone species. The affect community composition through a ‘trophic cascade’.
how does a community form
ecological succession =
the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
primary succession
the development of a community on newly exposed substrate. The site has never supported a community before.
Early colonizing pioneer species tolerate the novel conditions and initiate ecological processes.
Later species grow more slowly, but are able to outcompete the colonizers.
Reasonably predictable sequence of species.
secondary succession
the re-colonization of a community after disturbance.
founder controlled communities
Coral reefs: most reef fish are active by day and need hiding places to shelter from predators (sharks) at night.
Suitable territories (with good hiding places) are patchy. When one becomes vacant, individuals of different fish species have an equal chance of occupying it.
All species are good colonists of a gap and equal competitors.
Species equivalent in ability to invade gaps.
using ecological knowledge to protect the environment – some basic ideas.
Understanding succession, meta-populations, patchiness and community structure is important for conservation & sustainable living.
We are undergoing the 6th mass extinction event on Earth:
changes in land and sea use (industrial farming);
direct exploitation of organisms;
climate change;
pollution
invasive alien species.
How to save the planet?
Produce enough food for us and do so in an environmentally sustainable way.
Stop over exploitation of wild organisms.
Put significant areas over to wildlife.
Improve connectivity & join up patches.
Make landscape multifunctional – farming and wildlife together.
‘Joined up’ policies: inclusive, enabling politics, economic reform etc.
Habitat connectivity
Suitable habitat patches need to be connected to allow wildlife to move freely
ecology =
The scientific study of (i) the distribution and abundance of organisms, and the interactions that determine their distribution and abundance; (ii) the relationships between organisms and their environment
community consists of a series of interconnected trophic interactions: a food web
Energy flows in a food web from one part of the ecosystem to another (trophic dynamics).
Energy is fixed and released through metabolic processes that drive all the living components of the biosphere.
Species within the community can be classified into functional groups according to the way they acquire energy.
endosymbiosis and sunlight and photosynthesis
The first ecosystems probably comprised unicellular chemosynthetic bacteria releasing energy from inorganic molecules.
But since 3 billion years ago, oxygenic photosynthetic organisms have supported the majority of ecological communities that have developed on Earth.
Energy enters the biosphere mainly as sunlight.
Radiant energy on earth = 5 x 1010 J m-2 per year
Both chemosynthetic and photosynthetic organisms are autotrophs (literally ‘self nourishers’).
primary producers
Photosynthetic organisms utilize the radiant energy of sunlight, and water as an electron source, to synthesize carbohydrates.
6CO2 + 6H2O ——> C6H12O6 + 6O2
carbon dioxide water radiant energy glucose oxygen
Only 44% of light is at wavelengths used by photosynthetic pigments. Typically, around 2% of the energy that strikes the leaf surface is fixed in sugars. Nevertheless, the biomass of photoautotrophs is the principal source of energy for all major ecosystems.
gross primary productivity (GPP)
the total amount of energy assimilated from photosynthesis
respiration (R)
the energy used in metabolism
net primary productivity (NPP)
the energy available for growth or reproduction after that used in respiration
NPP formula
NPP = GPP - R
Temperature, water and nutrients control primary production in terrestrial ecosystems
measures of NPP plotted against precipitation and temp prove that
Evapotranspiration and productivity: the wetter the better (oo-err, sounds a bit rude)
A combination of warm temperatures and good water supply for transpiration give higher primary productivity.
TRANSPIRATION: the evaporation of water from plants while they are photosynthesizing.
Actual EVAPOTRANSPIRATIONn is the combined value of land surface evaporation and transpiration from plants. It reflects the demand and supply of water.
The demand is a function of incoming radiation and temperature.
The supply is a function of precipitation.
Temperature, light and nutrients control primary production in aquatic ecosystems
Photosynthetic organisms can only grow when GPP > R.
Compensation point: light intensity is such that GPP = R.
The most productive waters are coastal:
Shallow waters allow greater transport of nutrients from bottom sediments to surface waters, aided by wave action and tides.
Coastal waters receive larger nutrient inputs from rivers.
Energy moves from primary producers to
the rest of the food chain
energy wasted from primary
metabolism heat and waste
The efficiencies of these transformations are expressed as percentages.
Assimilation efficiency = Energy assimilated (A)/Energy consumed (C)
Production efficiency = Energy fixed in tissues (P)/Energy consumed (C)
Growth efficiency = Energy fixed in tissues (P)/Energy assimilated (A)
Production efficiencies of animal groups
Endotherms have lower efficiencies because they have higher metabolic costs, associated with maintaining a constant body temperature.
Energy flow through the food chain (N American grassland ecosystem)
a lot of energy passes to decomposer community
Pyramids of energy
The
transfer of energy between
trophic levels can be represented as a pyramid.
What goes up must come down: Ecosystems have 2 major food chains: the grazing food chain & the detrital food chain
The distinction is the source of energy for first level consumers – the herbivores.
grazing = NPP (living plant biomass)
Detritus = dead organic matter.
The 2 chains are linked.
Energy transfer between producers and reducers
In most ecosystems the bulk of the energy fixed by primary producers pass straight to the decomposer community.
This fuels the productivity of the decomposers whilst also driving the recycling of nutrients.
The decomposer community is essential for ecosystem survival: Most essential nutrients are recycled within the ecosystem
Decomposition and nutrient recycling are complex processes involving a wide variety of organisms.
Leaching, fragmentation, changes in physical and chemical structure, ingestion, excretion.
Bacteria are the dominant decomposers of dead animal matter; fungi are the major decomposers of plant material.
Insects, mites, millipedes, earthworms, nematodes, protozoa.
Decomposition proceeds as plant litter is converted into soil organic matter.
The rate of decay is related to:
The quality of plant litter as a substrate.
Features of the physical environment that directly affect soil organisms (soil texture, pH; temp.erature, precipitation).
Nutrients in organic matter are mineralized during decomposition
biogeochemical cycles
-Not every nutrient transformation is biologically mediated.
-All nutrients flow from the nonliving, to the living, and back to the nonliving components of the ecosystem.
-This cyclic path is known as a biogeochemical cycle.
Human appropriation of net primary productivity, HANPP
Humans appropriate the Earth’s NPP:
Growing plants for food, fibre, fuel, timber.
Convert land to less productive forms: tropical forest to pastures, growth of cities, desertification through over grazing.
Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) population and per capita
-Population and per capita consumption interact to determine regional scale impact.
-E- & S Asia, with half the world’s population, appropriates 72% of its regional NPP but has the lowest per capita consumption of any region.
-The average HANPP of industrialized countries is double that of developing nations, which comprise 83% of the world population.
What does this mean for a sustainable world?
Less consumption of NPP per capita in industrialized countries. And for developing countries?
Future agriculture (agroecology) – efficient production for people & leave room aside for nature.
How far can we reduce HANPP?
How do we do it?
what percentage of the earths water is fresh water?
2.5%
infiltration
Some water from rain and snow infiltrates into subsurface soil and rock
* Some will remain in shallow soil layer, where it gradually moves vertically and horizontally through soil and sub-surface material
* Eventually, it might enter a stream by seepage into stream bank
* Much of the water moves vertically downwards and ends up as ground water
ground water storage
-large amounts stored in ground
-upper layer of soil is unsaturated zone = where water is present in varying amounts that change over time but does not saturate soil
-below this layer is saturated zone where all pores, cracks, and spaces between rock particles are saturated with water. Term ‘GROUND WATER’ is used to describe this area.
Top of surface where ground water occurs is called WATER TABLE.
aquifer
is another term for ground water - although usually used to describe water-bearing formations capable of yielding enough water to supply people.
* After entering an aquifer, water moves slowly toward lower lying places and eventually is discharged from aquifer from springs, seeps into streams, or is withdrawn from ground by wells.
* Water may travel long distances and remain in ground water storage for long periods.
ground water
Groundwater is one of most important natural resources globally.
* For example, provides much of public and domestic water supply in USA, supports agricultural and industrial economies, and contributes flow to rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
* About 40 percent of public water supply in USA is from groundwater in principal aquifers.
* More than 40 million people, including most of rural population, obtain drinking water from wells.
regulation of water quality and quantity
Determined by physical processes and ecosystems
* Ability of ecosystems to regulate water is strongly influenced by changes
in land cover, for example replacement of forests with crop land.
* In recent years we have allowed a lot of additional pollutants to enter water environment.
Water quantity regulation
It is important to balance needs of society (industry, agriculture, and people) and environment (rivers, lakes, wildlife and habitats), including the need to dilute pollutants.
water quantity
- Very major impact in many parts of world on humans (including agriculture) and ecosystems
- Has impact on distribution of human population
- Supply affected by climate change, land use and rate of extraction/use
Irrigation circles USA -
centre-pivot irrigation. Water is pumped from underground aquifer and distributed through giant sprinkler more than 100 m long that pivots around a central point. Based on fossil water supplies that are not being recharged.
milenium ecosystem assessment re-visted
5 to possibly 25% of global freshwater use exceeded long-term accessible supplies
– 15 - 35% of irrigation withdrawals exceeded supply rates and were therefore unsustainable
Competition for resources e.g. water in Australia!
The SA environment department estimates 10,000 camels are flocking to water sources
* The camels destroy air conditioners to access moisture
* Traditional owners previously mustered and sold the camels, but numbers are now too large
california drought
California’s water shortage was building during several years of below-normal rain and snow
millenium ecosystem assessment re-visted
-Capacity of ecosystems to buffer from extreme events has been reduced through loss of wetlands, forests, mangroves
– People are increasingly occupying regions exposed to extreme events
regulation of water quality
Globally, water quality is declining, although in most industrialised countries pathogen and organic pollution of surface waters has decreased over last 20 years
water quality regulation
-pollutants =can be: inorganic (soil particles), organic sediments or particulate matter, plant nutrients (which lead to eutrophication), especially nitrogen, phosphorus (principal cause of blue-green algae blooms, which lead to anoxia), pesticides.
-agriculture
nitrate concentration has grown rapidly in last decades
as a result of intensive agriculture.
regulation of water quality parasites
Cryptosporidium - protozoan parasite that causes a severe diarrhoeal disease known as cryptosporidiosis.
Spread easily by contaminated food and water.
While rare, there have been outbreaks of water-borne cryptosporidiosis in both UK and US.
Generally, these have been caused by inadequate water treatment or breaches of integrity of distribution systems.
salinisation
- Excessive increase of water-soluble salts in soil.
- Often associated with irrigated areas where low rainfall, high evapo- transpiration rates or soil textural characteristics impede washing out of salts which subsequently build-up in soil surface layers.
- Irrigation with water with high salt content worsens problem.
- Natural disasters in coastal areas, such as tsunamis, can cause severe salinisation problems with several years of low fertility of affected soil before recovery.
- De-icing of roads with salts can lead to localised salinisation.
how are humans trying to help water problems
- Lay down certain end results that must be achieved in every Member State.
- National authorities have to adapt laws to meet these goals, but are free to
decide how to do so. - Each directive specifies date by which national laws must be adapted.
- Directives bring different national laws into line with each other, and are particularly common in matters affecting operation of single market (e.g.
product safety standards).
Water Framework Directive
framework for the protection of all waters including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater, and their dependent wildlife/habitats under one piece of environmental legislation.
Aims to:
* protect/enhanceallwaters(surface,ground
and coastal waters)
* achieve “good status” for all waters by
December 2015
* manage water bodies based on river basins or
catchments
* involve the public
potential flood regulations include
Provide vegetative cover – will slow and filter flow. Vegetation traps organic and mineral particles that are then incorporated into soil, while plants take up any nutrients.
* Manage drainage.
* Maintain rivers – by increasing channel conveyance (flow) or where
appropriate, restoring meanders.
* Install infiltration devices – work by enhancing natural capacity of ground to store and drain water.
* Dry basins - designed to promote infiltration of surface water to ground.
* Ponds - permanently wet basin designed to retain storm water and permit
settlement of suspended solids and biological removal of pollutants.
artificial recharge
- Practice of increasing amount of water that enters a groundwater reservoir by artificial means.
- Includes, for example, direction of water to land surface through canals, irrigation furrows or sprinkler systems, and injection of water into sub-surface through wells.
wetlands
=areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres
lands ecosystem services
- Hydrological regimes – groundwater recharge and discharge, water storage for agriculture and industry.
- Pollution control and detoxification – retention, recovery and removal of excess nutrients and pollutants. Some wetlands reduce concentration of nitrate by >80%.
- Erosion protection – retention of soils and prevention of structural change (coastal erosion, bank slumping).
- Natural hazards – flood control, storm protection
- Soil formation – sediment retention, accumulation of organic matter
- Nutrient cycling – storage, recycling, processing, acquisition of nutrients
- Biodiversity – habitats for resident and transient species
Wetlands – ecosystem services
* One of most important roles may be in regulation of climate change through sequestering and releasing major proportion of fixed carbon in biosphere.
Although covering only 3–4% of world’s land area, peatlands estimated to hold 25–30% of global carbon contained in terrestrial vegetation and soils.
Significant impacts linked to temperature trends
- Weather patterns
- Precipitation trends
trends - Increased occurrence of extreme weather events (flooding, wildfires)
- Environmental change
- Retreat of land ice, loss of sea
ice - Thawing of permafrost,
chemical cycling * Ecological changes - Shifting habitat ranges * Phenological shifts
Venus as a super greenhouse
When sun was cooler, Venus thought to have had oceans
* Boiled away the oceans, runaway green house effect.
* Under UV, water dissociates to release hydrogen. Oxygen forms other greenhouse gases with Carbon
* Atmosphere now 96.5% CO2
Radiative Forcing
-earth absorbs radiation from sun and re-radiates energy into space and these are near EQUILIBRIUM
-any factor that changes the energy impinging on the earth being re-radiated will alter the equilibrium
-definied as Wm^2
radiative forcing =
The change in average net radiation at the top of the troposphere which occurs because the concentration of a greenhouse gas or some other change in the overall climate system. (Houghton)
climate feedbacks
processes that can either amplify or diminish the effects of radiative forcing.
-precipitation
-clouds
-greening of forests
-desertification
-ice albedo
climate tipping points
Conditions beyond which changes in a part of the climate system become self-perpetuating.
-cyrosphere
-ocean- aatmosphere
-biosphere
non-anthropogenic drivers
- Long–term factors
- Earth Orbital changes
- 100,000 years – orbital eccentricity: Milankovitch cycle
how do we get historical temperatures data
- Several locations in Greenland and Antarctica
- At Vostok, Antarctica, drilling has gone on for more than 25 years; Longest core 3.5 Km
- Snow falls, and is compressed, trapping air bubbles and dust particles (carbon dating)
- Oxygen isotope ratios allow temperatures to be estimated.
- Also provides atmosphere samples for CO2 and CH4
How do we get historical temperature data?
oxygen
18O measurements can give estimates of temperature
* Water has 2 isotopes of oxygen
* Ratio heavy:light O isotopes in
seawater = 0.
* When evaporates, 16O is preferentially
evaporated, so 18O is lost, altering the
ratio.
* Further cycles of rain and evaporation
as the water vapor heads to poles
depletes 18O more.
* In warmer conditions the greater the
depletion of 18O through multi evaporative cycles.
Milankovitch cycles
- In planetary warmer period
- BUT Earth’s more recent warming has
taken place over time scales of decades
to centuries. - In last 150 years, Milankovitch cycles
have not changed the amount of solar energy input.
non-anthropogenic drivers
Short–term factors
* Sunspots, volcanoes
sunspots
-Sunspots – eruptions on surface of the sun – increase radiative output.
-Had fewer sunspots over last 40 years
volcanoes
-Huge contribution of particulates to atmosphere – block out the sun.
-Temporary negative impact on global temps.
greenhouse gases
-water vapour
-nitrous oxide
-methane
-carbon dioxide
historical carbon dioxide trends
Temperature derived from 18O measurements.
CO2 concentration of air trapped in core.
Carbon isotopes used for dating. CO2 changes linked to temperature changes of Milankovitch cycles – feedback loops!
drivers of CO2 in teh atmosphere
-increase in CO2
-decrease in O2 due to burning
-decrease in 13C
anthropogenic CO2
=refers to the additional
burden of CO2 added to the atmosphere by
human activities.
- (i) CO2 from fossil fuel burning and cement
‘anthropogenic emissions’ consist of two fractions:
production, released from hundreds of millions of years of geological storage - (ii) CO2 from deforestation and agricultural
development, which has been stored for decades to centuries
RCP projections
- Global surface temperature change for the end of the 21st century is likely to exceed 1.5 °C relative to 1850 to 1900 for all RCP scenarios except RCP 2.6.
- It is likely to exceed 2°C for RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5, and more likely than not to
exceed 2°C for RCP 4.5.
significant impacts linked to temp trends
- Weather patterns
- Precipitation trends
trends - Increased occurrence of extreme weather events (flooding, wildfires)
- Environmental change
- Retreat of land ice, loss of sea
ice - Thawing of permafrost,
chemical cycling * Ecological changes - Shifting habitat ranges * Phenological shifts
biogeochemistry =
the earth is an evolving biogeochemical system
-scale of processes from physiological to global
-microbes and abiotic reactions are involved in transforming compounds in the environment
geological components
tectonics
volcanism
what do we gain by understanding of biogeochemical cycles
Basis for understanding physicochemical conditions on Earth – Past
– Present – Future
* Knowledge of microbial activities (metabolism) on modern Earth and integration with geochemical record allows to unravel
– How biogeochemistry of Earth has evolved and how it responds to changes
– How life may have evolved and whether/where we may find extraterrestrial
life
* Biogeochemical cycles are not static
– Have changed during Earth’s history
– Currently changing due to human activities
– Allows to model how changes will affect global ecosystem(s) and Earth system
archaean period
3.8-2.5 Gya
there may have been life on earth before the archaean
- Hadean: from Greek Hades, god of the ‘underworld’
- Time from about 4.6 Gya to 3.8 Gya
-Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a
4.1 billion-year-old zircon
-* Last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of cellular life predated end of late heavy bombardment (3,900 Mya) - Molecular clock-based analysis suggest LUCA may be 4519-4477 Ma ago
- Life may be almost as old as Earth itself
The great oxygenation “event” GOE
- Oxygenation of the atmosphere due to oxygenic photosynthesis is one of the most dramatic changes in the Earth system brought about by living organisms
- The GOE about 2.4 Gya, marked an increase in free O2 in the atmosphere to about 1-10% of present atmospheric levels
stromatolites and O2 production
Stromatolites are “living fossils” thought to contain ancestors of cyanobacteria.
Present in archaeal oceans 3.5 billion years ago.
Oxygenic (O2-evolving) photosynthesis altered the chemistry of the oceans and atmosphere
Example: ‘Bio-geo-chemistry’ of methane (CH4)
Biological methane production
– Produced by methanogenic microorganisms
– Degraded by methanotrophic microorganisms
Global methane budget
Methanotrophic microorganisms are present in most environments and affect the net flux of methane to the atmosphere.
They also take up methane from the atmosphere
Biogeochemical Cycles – Biomass and Back
-cycling of elements that are part of biomass of living organisms or that are transformed during energy generating dissimilatory metabolism
Main elements in biomass are C, N, P, and S, but other essential elements occur in small amounts (e.g. metals in enzymes)
* Energy gaining transformations in (microbial) metabolism, e.g. O2, nitrogen, sulfur, iron, manganese etc.
* Transformation of matter from inorganic form to organic form and back
* Movement of matter from non-living to living compartments and back
energy metabolism
- Some forms of specific elements may also be cycled due to energy yielding reactions, without becoming assimilated into biomass
Examples are the electron acceptors of respiratory metabolism, - Major proportion of biogeochemical cycling usually driven by microbes, some conversions exclusively by microorganisms
Nitrogen
-key building block of proteins an indispensable component of the protoplasm of all organisms
-nutrinet that plants require
-one of few nutrients that is lost by volatilisation and leeching
-some N compounds can be pollutants
-nitrogen requires conservation and maintenance
why do microbes ,modify nitrogen?
energy yields of reactions important in teh nitrogen cycle!! nitrogen fixation costs and does not yield
mineralization of nitrogen
-N is organic matter
-if N is assimilated by a microbe or plant it is immobilised (no longer available to plants or other microbes until cell die)
-and needs to be mineralised back to INORGANIC
putrefaction =
The anaerobic decomposition of proteins with the production of very foul-smelling intermediates such as mercaptans and specialized amines such as Cadaverine and Putrescine.
nucleic acid metabolism
-second to proteins in importance as nitrogenous substrates for microbes
decomposition of urea
- a product of teh destruction of teh nitrogenous bases contained in nucleic acids
-urea is used as
1. An intermediate in microbial metabolism
2. An animal excretory product
3. A fertilizer
…makes it a key compound in the N cycle
urease
enzyme that microbes posses which catalyses the hydrolysis of urea
ammonia volatilisation from urea
-pH rises as NH3 is produced from urea and in the immediate vicinity of particles may reach as a high as 8 or 9 ->At these high pH’s the product is NH3 (not NH4+) which can lead to volatilization
-this may remove 10-70% of the urea-N
controlling loss of urea-N through ammonia volatillization lies in
- Sub-surface rather than surface application
- Application to low pH soils – not high
- Adequate soil moisture
- Natural Alternatives?
Consequences of Nitrate Enrichment
Eutrophication: Promotion of plant growth in an aquatic ecosystem by rapidly adding substantial amounts of nutrients
-he recommended levels of nitrogen in estuaries to avoid algal blooms is 0.1-1.0 mg/L.
Consequences of Nitrate Enrichment Cont’d
-methemoglobinemia = causes blue-baby syndrome if high nitrate water is drank
-formation of nitrosamines = enzymatic and non-enzymatic byproducts
what qualities that microbes capable of denitrification use
-all are aerobes that use NO-3 as an alternate e- acceptor.
* Denitrifiersaccountfor0.1-5%of soil bacterial
* Some fungi and actinomycetes have been implicated in N2O production via incomplete denitrification.
farming and overuse of fertilisers
armers in the Yaqui Valley often use roughly double the amount of nitrogen fertilizer necessary and that much of the excess nitrogen is being lost to the environment.
For the farmer, the cost of fertilizing too much is less than the cost of fertilizing too little. That’s because they are not considering the environmental cost.
anthropogenic nitrogen
nthropogenic nitrogen now accounts for about 80% available
Globally the human distribution of nitrogen fertilizers has doubled the annual inputs of available nitrogen to the land surface.
However, only 10% ends up in the food we eat – the remainder is lost to the atmosphere or leaching
global N budget
-Numbers represent global land N storage in 1012 g N or annual N exchange fluxes in 1012 g N yr−
Greenland ice pack nitrogen
The 200-year record of nitrate in layers of the Greenland ice pack and the annual production of NOy by fossil fuel combustion in the United States.
A small portion of NOy undergoes long-distance transport in the troposphere, accounting for excess nitrogen deposition in the oceans and Greenland snow.
along with nitrogen phosphorus …
controls many aspects of ecosystem function and global biogeochemistry.
Phosphorus is an essential component of DNA, ATP, and the phospholipid molecules of cell membranes.
Increasing nitrogen availability has shifted the limitation of net primary production in some systems from N to P.
the global phosphorus cycle
. Each flux is shown in units of 1012 g P/yr (1012 = one trillion). Values for P production and reserves are taken from the U.S. Geological Survey.
microbial communities provide unique challenges
-epiflurescence microscopy of stained microbial communities
-visual characterisation uninformative
-limited morphological diversity
-no identification possible
-does not reveal physiology
why study microbial communities
study active vs inactive communities and how they interact
only a small fraction of microorganisms have been cultivated because
-one gram of soil harbours possibly up to 10,000 different species
Cultivation biases
Countless studies have shown:
It is not possible to analyse microbial diversity in environmental samples using cultivation
Cultivable bacterial diversity not matched by that obtained using cultivation-independent approaches
The vast majority of environmental microorganisms are often said to be ‘unculturable’
Common statement (overly simplified): 99% of bacteria have not been cultured
enumeration of microbial abundance by epiflurescnce microscopy
1)UV-fluorescent stains that bind DNA are added to environmental sample (e.g. Hoechst, DAPI, acridine orange, Sybr Green etc)
2)Sample is incubated in the dark
3)Enumeration of fluorescent particles by UV epifluorescence microscopy
4)Result is referred to as the Total Count
Microbial plate counts
-the number of colony forming units (cpu) of a sample is determined by plating serial dilutions onto solidified media
-teh cpu is related back to the sample volume and gives the total viable count (e.g. 106 cfu g-1 soil)
cfu also referred to as the viable count!
Direct counts are higher than cfu
Colony forming units are usually approx 1% to 10% max of the total count
why are direct counts higher than viable counts?
-Physiological diversity of microorganisms?
Inability to culture the vast majority of microorganisms using highly selective laboratory media?
Interdependence of microorganisms, disruption of consortia?
the great plate anomaly
The fraction of bacteria that can be grown in the lab, as colonies on an agar plate, is only a small fraction of the number of cells that can be observed using microscopy
rRNA became THE universally used marker gene for diversity studies
Certain molecular sequence data can be useful for phylogenetic analysis
Must be universal
Ideally contain variable and conserved regions
Should not be subject to horizontal gene transfer
Must be truly homologous
RIBOSOMAL RNA GENES FULFIL THESE CRITERIA AND WERE WIDELY ADOPTED
16S rRNA gene
-approximately 1550 bp (in most bacteria)
-conserved and variable regions
-useful taxonomic marker
phylogenetic identification of microorganisms
Can be done on single bacterial isolates but also be used for complex microbial
communities
microbial community analysis typical workflow
1)Retrieval of environmental sample
2)Extraction of nucleic acids (DNA and/or RNA)
3)PCR amplification of marker genes
-16S rRNA for ‘taxonomic diversity’
-Functional marker genes for studying ‘functional diversity’
4)Analysis of diversity of marker genes by high throughput sequencing (or clone libraries)
5)Statistical comparison of communities from different samples, time points etc.
Recent discovery of the Candidate Phyla radiation
Ribosomal RNA gene surveys of environmental sequences show that large numbers (even complete phylogenetic groups of bacteria and archaea) have remained uncultivated
Red dots = candidate phyla without cultivated representatives
clones vs isolates from same sample
Comparison of 127 strains and 58 cloned rRNA genes from Oregon coastal Pacific
Little overlap between diversity
Most abundant bacterioplankton are NOT readily cultivable
problems with microbial communities
Microbial Communities Are Taxonomically and Functionally Diverse
rRNA genes do not indicate the ‘function’ (metabolic potential) of uncultivated microbial taxa
Functional genetic markers
Genes that encode key enzymes of metabolic pathways, function elucidated in model organisms
Presence of the functional marker gene indicates metabolic potential (function)
Diversity of functional genes can be analysed using
-PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing analogous to rRNA approach
-Sequencing community genomes (metagenomics)
global meta e budget
Methanotrophic microorganisms are present in most environments and affect the net flux of methane to the atmosphere.
They also take up methane from the atmosphere
microbial genetics approaches
on posters
metagenomics
-Taxonomic level of sampling selected by the user, typically using a percent sequence similarity threshold for classifying microbes within the same, or different, OTUs. (e.g. around 97% cut-off for 16S rRNA genes)
Binning instead of or in combination with assembly
Based on compositional features or alignment (similarity), or both
Various algorithms/classifiers
Anthropocene
unofficial unit of geological time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.
antrhoposcene geological perspective
In May, 2019, the AWG completed a binding vote determining two major research questions:
“Should the Anthropocene be treated as a formal chrono-stratigraphic unit?”
“Should the primary guide for the base of the Anthropocene be one of the stratigraphic signals around the mid-twentieth century of the Common Era?”
golden spike
the transition from one geological strata to another
stratigraphic signals
Some still argue that the proposed Anthropocene is unjustified
“It is too recent a time period to be suited for geological definition”
“It is a political statement” “It is valuable as an informal concept but there is no need to formalize it”
Anthropocene other perspectives
Social scientists argue that geological thinking is leading the charge for qualifying the Anthropocene.
“The Anthropocene resembles an attempt to conceptually traverse the gap between the natural and the social [sciences]…through the construction of a bridge from one side only (the geological), leading traffic in one direction opposite the actual process…”
biosphere perspective
highlights habitat loss and 6th mass extinction event
Anthropocene historical perspective
Why is dating the start of the Anthropocene important?
Different views on dates reflect underlying mindsets about contemporary human pressures on the Earth system
Megafaunal extinctions
associated with humans expansion of africa
anthropscne could be effected by agriculture
rice production -> methane
global warming threshold?
or have we yet to enter the Anthropocene?
Begin when we reach critical threshold, i.e. 2oC warming
anthroposcne cultural perspective
scientific to popular culture
anthroposcnee cultural critique
The Anthropocene has become synonymous with large-scale capitalistic, technocentric world-view, common in western society
What do we mean by “anthropo”? Who is included in this collective?
responding to Anthropocene
-Many argue to work within planetary boundaries to manage effects humans have already caused
-Others state we should utilize human ingenuity…and profit from the Anthropocene
Or that catastrophe cannot be averted
For most of human history, biological agents were the most significant factor in health.
-now currently cardiovascular and cancer
-infectious disease = 22 million deaths per year
-malnutrtion and poor sanitation and lack of medical care play a role in all these deaths
Chemical agents also have significant effects on environmental health.
Examples include pesticides, toxic heavy metals, dioxins, and endocrine disrupters
Chemical agents also have significant effects on environmental health. METALS
Heavy metals (e.g., mercury, lead, & cadmium) are typically produced as by- products of mining and manufacturing processes.
* Heavy metals biomagnify (become more concentrated in species with increasing food chain level).
* Mercury from polluted water can accumulate in swordfish to levels toxic to humans.
* When toxic heavy metals get into the body, they accumulate in tissues and may eventually cause sickness or death
the pesticide DDT used for decades
Seen as an ideal pesticide because it is inexpensive and breaks down slowly in the environment.
* BUT, this led to biomagnification through the food chain.
chemical agents also have significant effects on environmental health
- Populations of bird species at the top of the food chain (eagles), are greatly affected by DDT in the environment.
- When birds have sufficient levels of DDT, the shells of their eggs are so thin that they break, making reproduction impossible.
- After DDT was banned in the United States in 1972, affected bird populations made noticeable recoveries, including the iconic bald eagle.
environmental health is concerned with preventing =
disease, death and disability by reducing exposure to adverse environmental conditions and promoting behavioural change.
Environmental health risks can be grouped into two broad categories
-Traditional Hazards are related to poverty and the lack of development
-Modern hazards, caused by technological development, prevail in industrialized countries where exposure to traditional hazards is low.
Poor people increasingly experience a double burden of traditional and modern environmental health risks.
environmental health and child survival
Malnutrition (the condition that occurs when body does not get enough nutrients) is an important contributor to child mortality— malnutrition and environmental infections are inextricably linked.
Children are especially susceptible to environmental factors that put them at risk of developing illness early in life.
* DiarrhealDiseases(poorwater, sanitation, and hygiene);
* AcuteRespiratoryInfections(from indoor air pollution);
* InfectiousDiseasessuchas malaria.
poor water and sanitation access
1.1 billion people lacking access to safe drinking water
2.6 billion without adequate sanitation
-Each year contaminated water and poor sanitation contribute to 5.4 billion cases of diarrhoea worldwide and 1.6 million deaths
intestinal worms
which thrive in poor sanitary conditions, infect close to 90 percent of children in the developing world which may lead to malnutrition, anemia, or stunted growth.
Trachoma
is a disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.
The disease affects eyes and causes blindness.
About 6 million people are blind from trachoma, a disease caused by the lack of clean water combined with poor hygiene practices.
indoor air pollution
Responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths per year and for 2.7% of global burden of disease.
-It is estimated that half of the world’s population, mainly in developing countries, uses solid fuels (biomass and coal) for household cooking and space heating.
High indoor levels of nitrous acid (HONO)
Also, HONO is a mutagenic substance; it converts exocyclic amino groups of DNA to
carbonyl groups and forms interstrand cross- links in duplex DNA.
HONO also participates in reactions with other pollutants: it can lead to the production of mutagenic and carcinogenic N-nitrosamines through reaction of nitrogen oxides and HONO with amines.
infectious disease emerging disease
A variety of environmental factors may contribute to re-emergence of a particular disease, including temperature, moisture, and human encroachment (habitat loss).
Disease re-emergence may be caused by the coincidence of several of these environmental and/or social factors to allow optimal conditions for transmission of the disease.
antibiotic resistance (AR)
occurs when bacteria change in a way that reduces the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections.
AR may cause diseases to re- emerge.
Livestock antibiotic use is the main route for antibiotics to enter the environment
environmental toxicology
The study of the health effects associated with exposure to toxic chemicals occurring in the natural, work, and living environments.
The term also describes the management of environmental toxins and toxicity, and the development of protections for humans and the environment.
three main routes of exposure to chemicals
INHALATION: Breathing in chemical gases, mists, or dusts that are in the air
SKIN OR EYE CONTACT: Getting chemicals on the skin, or in the eyes. They can damage the skin or be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream.
INGESTION: This can happen when chemicals have spilled or settled onto food, beverages, cigarettes, beards, or hands.
Once chemicals have entered your body, some can move into your bloodstream and reach internal
organs, such as the lungs, liver, kidneys, or nervous system.
what health effects can chemicals cause
An acute effect of a contaminant hazardous substances, pollutants, and chemicals is one that occurs rapidly after exposure to a large amount of that substance.
A chronic effect of a contaminant results from exposure to small amounts of a substance over a long period of time.
Chronic effect are difficult to measure, as the effects may not be seen for years. Long-term exposure to cigarette smoking, low level radiation exposure, and moderate alcohol use are all thought to produce chronic effects.
Lethal dosage
A dose that is lethal to 50% of a population of test animals is called the
A dose that causes 50% of a population to exhibit any significant response (e.g., hair loss, stunted development) is referred to as the effective dose-50% or ED-50.lethal dose- 50% or LD-50.
arsenic
-naturally occurring element (air, water soil)
-therefore most gets through in ingestion
bioremediation and associated processes
t is probably not unscientific to suggest that somewhere some organism exists which can, under suitable conditions, oxidise any substance which is theoretically capable of being oxidised
the principle of microbial infallibility
For every organic compound, there is a microbe or enzyme capable of its degradation
bioremediation
The use of microorganisms to degrade or transform contaminants in order to clean up contaminated sites
biostimulation =
Modification of environmental conditions, such as the addition of nutrients of terminal electron acceptors, for the purpose of enhancing remediation or contaminants by indigenous microorganisms
what if required microbes are not present?
bioagumentation =
ntroduction of specific microbes into contaminated ites for the
purpose of enhancing the biological activity of the indigenous populations
enhanced bioremediation
Enhanced activity due to genetic transfer of plasmid from introduced microbe to indigenous population
Bioaugmentation not dependent on donor survival
Can facilitate degradation of contaminants via conjugation, transduction, and transformation
phytoremediation:
The direct use of plants for in situ remediation of contaminated soil, sludges, sediments, and ground water through contaminant removal, degradation, and containment
Bioremediation and Associated Processes natural attenuation
Less expensive than remediation
Cen be effective form of “treatment” if contaminant poses no imminent threat for humans or environmental damage
how many people produce food
- Approximately 3.4 billion people – or 45% of the world’s population – live in rural areas.
- Roughly 2 billion people (26.7% of the world population) derive their livelihoods from agriculture.
- In 2016, an estimated 57% of people in Africa were living in rural areas. 53% of the population was economically active in agriculture.
sustainable development goals (SDGs)
adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030
2030 food estimate
It is estimated that nearly 670 million people will still be undernourished in 2030 – 8 percent of the world population, which is the same percentage as in 2015 when the 2030 Agenda was launched.
This is 78 million more undernourished people in 2030 compared to a scenario in which the pandemic had not occurred
causes of hunger poverty
- Poverty is the main cause of hunger. The causes of poverty include lack of resources, unequal income distribution, in the world and within specific countries, conflict and hunger itself.
- In 2018, 80% of people who were below the international poverty line lived in rural areas.
- Half of the poor were children.
- Women are overrepresented among the poor globally and also across most
regions of the world. - About 70% of the global poor aged 15 and over have no schooling or only some
basic education. - Globally, extreme poverty dropped by an average of about 1% per year from 1990 to 2015, but the rate of decline slowed from 2013 to 2015 to 0.6%
per year. - Between 2015 and 2017, the rate slowed further, to 0.5%. Given this decelerating trend, the goal of bringing global extreme poverty to less than 3% by 2030 was already at risk
hunger is also a cause of poverty
and therefore hunger, in a cyclical relationship.
By resulting in poor health, stunting, low energy levels and reduction in mental capacity, hunger can lead to even greater poverty by reducing the ability to work and learn, thus leading to even greater hunger.
causes of hunger weather
- The weather is also a cause of poverty and hunger, exacerbated by climate change.
- Climate change is a particular threat for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia — the regions where most of the global poor are concentrated.
- Drought is a key factor affecting undernourishment in parts of sub-Saharan Africa for example.
- In a number of countries, a large proportion of the poor live in areas that are both affected by conflict and facing high exposure to extreme weather events.
es of hunger - conflict
- Conflict is a key factor explaining the apparent reversal in the long- term declining trend in global hunger, thereby posing a major challenge to ending hunger and malnutrition. The number of conflicts is increasing and the world is becoming more violent, in increasingly intractable ways.’
causes of hunger - conflict
- Conflict in rural areas interferes with food production and distribution. For example, when transport or market infrastructure are affected, land is seized, or resources are destroyed, or the violence forces people to leave home
- In addition to impacting food systems, conflict can also impact the economy, driving up food prices and making it difficult to buy essential food
- In areas of severe violence, it may be difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to address hunger
Food security
- Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
- Household food security is the application of this concept to the family level, with individuals within households as the focus of concern
food insecurity in industrialised countries
-fewer grocery shops and more fast food in low-income neighbourhoods (a food desert) is a problem in the USA and canada
current food debates
- Weather in Spain and North Africa
- Energy crisis – not growing so much in UK greenhouses – too expensive
- Poor prices paid to UK growers by supermarkets
how should we produce food in future
- Environmental impact of food production
- Different farming ‘systems’
- Change in diets?
- How much might genetic engineering help?
- ‘Indoor’ farming?
key environmental impacts of food production
- Soil degradation
- Fertilisers
- Pesticides
- Transformation of ecosystems
soil
Composed of five ingredients — minerals, soil organic matter, living organisms, gas, and water
what is healthy soil
Healthy soils maintain a diverse community of soil organisms that help to control plant disease, insect and weed pests, form beneficial symbiotic associations with plant roots; recycle essential plant nutrients; improve soil structure with positive repercussions for soil water and nutrient holding capacity, and ultimately improve crop production
impacts of fertilisers and pesticides
- Pollution
- Eutrophication
- Loss of biodiversity
conversion of natural ecosystems for agriculture
- Loss of biodiversity - monoculture
- Soil loss/degradation
- Changes in climate – local and global
Intensification versus extensification
➢ Is it better to use more land to grow crops but reduce ‘pressure’ from fertilisers and pesticides or to use less land, but grow crops more intensively?
➢ Similarly is it better to farm animals intensively in a way that reduces environmental impact – rather than farm them extensively (e.g. for animal welfare)?
organic versus conventional
- Organic likely to use more land for same yield
- Organic may use less energy per unit area (by not using synthetic fertilisers) but not necessarily per tonne
- Organic may use more fuel (mechanical weeding)
- Organic – impact of pesticides generally less
Conservation agriculture
- Approach to managing agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment.
- Characterized by three linked principles:
– Continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance
– Permanent organic soil cover
– Diversification of crop species grown in sequences and/or associations
Regenerative agriculture
Regenerative agriculture
* ‘Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services.
* It aims to capture carbon within soil and above ground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation.
* At the same time, it offers increased yields and resilience to climate instability’.
NO TILL FARMING
Agroecology
- Loosely defined, agroecology often incorporates ideas about MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIAL RESPONSE TO AGRICULTURE, one that focuses not only on production, but also on the ecological sustainability of the productive system.
- This definition implies a number of features about society and production that go well beyond the limits of the agricultural field.
- At its most narrow, agroecology refers to the study of purely ecological phenomena within the crop field, such as predator/prey relations, or crop/weed competition.
vegan or vegatarian
On average, 10 grams of vegetable protein are needed to generate 1 gram of animal protein
how might genetic engineering help?
benefits = speeding up the breeding of resident crops
-risks = unintended effects spreading of unwanted genes into the wild population electing for resistance loss of genetic diversity
Indoor farming’ for the future?
-vertical farming
-Insects as human food – or food for other animals
-synthetic meat
methane CH4
-2nd most important greenhouse (RF) gas after CO2
-half life in teh atmosphere of around 10 years
-molecule for molecule 25 times as efficient as CO2 at absorbing re-radiated energy
nitrogen compounds
-nitrous oxide (N2O) most important N gas for radiative forcing
-joint 3rd most important GHG
Molecule for molecule is 230 times more efficient than CO2 as a greenhouse gas
Is long-lived in the atmosphere, unlike NH3 and Nox (NO and NO2): 110 years vs 50 days
Concentrations of N2O have risen from about 270ppb in pre-industrial times. Current levels are about 326ppb (20% increase)
source of nitrous oxide
Annual emissions have increased by 40-50% since pre industrial period, due to human activity
halocarbons
Lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone
But also potent greenhouse gases in their own right – x1000 more efficient than CO2 as a greenhouse gas
Overall, are the 3rd most significant for RF, contributing 12% of that due to Long Lived GHGs
The most significant are CFC – 11, CFC-113 which are decreasing and CFC-12 which has plateaued
Long – lived in the atmosphere (45 – 100 years for the major species)
Entirely man made
Use limited by the Montreal Protocol
Climate past, present and future
The climate has undergone rapid changes over the last 100 years and this trend has accelerated.
Expected to continue
Impacts of warming are multiple and interconnected
How do we predict future climate and consequences
1)Need good climate models, and ecological models
2)Understand how past changes in anthropogenic activity have influenced climate
3)Predict how anthropogenic activities may change in the future
4)Fit these together
Climate Predictions
Climate predictions are based on a range of models
Atmosphere – Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs)
Earth models of intermediate complexity (EMICs)
Simple climate models (SCMs)
From emissions to climate
Climate models need to incorporate prediction of several steps from emissions to climate response
Multiple step contribute to the overall uncertainty of a climate model projection, shown by CIs.
RCP projections
Global surface temperature change for the end of the 21st century is likely to exceed 1.5 ℃ relative to 1850 to 1900 for all RCP scenarios except RCP 2.6.
It is likely to exceed 2℃ for RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5, and more likely than not to exceed 2℃ for RCP 4.5.
Common trajectories
Global mean surface temperature increase as a function of cumulative total global CO2
All models on same trajectory with CO2 increase, but achieve atmospheric concentrations over different timescales.
Limiting progress down this trajectory is key
Future global surface temperatu
Greatest temperature increases over land and in the high northern latitudes
Less warming over the Southern oceans and North Atlantic
Continues trends in 20th century
Future global precipitation
Greatest increases over the high northern temperate regions
Decrease around tropics sub tropics.
Continues trends in 20th century
Future weather extremes
Decrease in frost days
Very likely that heatwaves will become more intense
Minimum temperatures will rise faster than maximum
Increase in growing season
Oceans and Climate
Oceans cover ¾ of the earth’s surface
They are major components of the earth weather system
They are also affected by climate change
Predicted changes include
Temperature
Sea levels
Acidification
Ecological change
Ocean Temperature
Temperature varies with location and season
Average surface temperature has increase by ~0.4-0.8 in past 100 years
Sea Surface
Less warming over the Southern oceans and North Atlantic
But this obscures the accumulation of heat in deeper waters
Ocean at depth
Lots of heat bound up in oceans
Over time this sink of heat my re-emerge, contributing to warming
warming impacts sea ice
Ice only likely to be retained over long term under a RCP 2.6 mitigation scenario
Loss would improve navigation around polar regions
But a cost of major ecological changes e.g. species dependent on sea ice
coral bleaching
Thermal threshold for bleaching is only 1-2℃ above summer maxima for 3-5 weeks
More common with warming
Thermal thresholds vary with latitude and sea temperatures – corals highly adapted
ocean acidification
CO2 binds water to make bicarbonate and H+ ions
H+ increases acidity, but also binds free carbonate in solution, so carbonate unavailable to make calcium carbonate in shells.
estimated species extinctions
Estimated 10-15% of the world’s species could become extinct over the next 30 years
Biodiversity underlies all ecological goods and services
Developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate change
Impacts are worse - already more flood and drought prone and a large share of the economy is in climate sensitive sectors
Lower capacity to adapt because of a lack of financial, institutional and technological capacity and access to knowledge
Climate change is likely to impact disproportionately upon the poorest countries and the poorest persons within countries, exacerbating inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water and other resources.
Net market sector effects are expected to be negative in most developing countries
Food production needs to double to meet the needs of an additional 3 billion people in the next 30 years
Climate change is projected to decrease agricultural productivity in the tropics and sub-tropics for almost any amount of warming
increased risks of floods
potentially displacing tens of millions of people, due to sea level rise and heavy rainfall events, especially in Small Island States and low-lying deltaic areas
Bangladesh is projected to lose about 17% of its land area with a sea level rise of one meter - very difficult to adapt due to lack of adaptive capacity
food the transformation of agriculture
that began in 1945 has seen a doubling in the yields of wheat. The production increases can be attributed roughly equally to irrigation, fertilizer, and seed development
What can we learn form the past?
Plant breeders have bred dwarf varieties where photosynthetic investment in the stem is reduced dramatically as the shorter plants are inherently more stable mechanically. As a result the plants can redirect their energies to grain production, amplifying in particular the effect of chemical fertilizers on yield.
High yielding varieties significantly outperform traditional varieties in the presence of adequate irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers. In the absence of these inputs, traditional varieties may outperform these new varieties.
water
We all need water to survive but to much can kill us
Change in rainfall patterns can have drastic consequences
Also altered use of available water can have unforeseen consequences
One third of the world’s population is now subject to water scarcity
-Population facing water scarcity will more than double over the next 30 years
-Climate change is projected to decrease water availability in many arid- and semi-arid regions
irrigation = good or bad
-The global cost of irrigation-induced salinity is equivalent to an estimated US$11 billion per year
-Water is taken from the water course there are ways of maximising the efficiency of irrigation systems
meat consumption
Model projections show that substituting 20% of per-capita ruminant meat consumption with MP globally by 2050 (on a protein basis) offsets future increases in global pasture area,
Cutts annual deforestation and related CO2emissions roughly in half.
Also lowers methane emissions.
fertilisers
Phosphorus, made from phosphate rock, is a major component in industrial fertiliser and is also used in organic farming.
At Current usage only about 60 years of phosphorus left? (Depends who you talk too may be 300years).
In organic farming some potassium and phosphorus is supplied from animal manure.
need to adapt agriculture
Current agricultural models estimate that climate change will directly reduce food production from maize, soybeans, wheat and rice by as much as 43 percent by the end of the 21st century.
What we eat could matter(CO2 and food)
-Cows produce methane! Methane warms the planet 20 times more than carbon dioxide
Anaerobic fermentation of waste can be used to produce biogas for local heating and electricity
Switching away from red meat and dairy to vegetables or even fish, poultry and eggs substantially reduces the carbon footprint of your food
Damage due to flooding and coastal erosion
Met Office confirmed the UK had seen its wettest winter in records since 1910
;)
Runoff Attenuation Features
Can be effective and low cost
Retention time of flood water can be more than doubled
Who maintains the structures
Are farmers compensated for flooded land
Nordic bioeconomy for sustainable change
The cases were selected and evaluated based on five criteria, all necessary for a sustainable and innovative bioeconomy. The aim was to detect the most significant trends in the utilisation of biological resources in the region, as well as to identify ways of optimising resource efficiency and value creation in the bioeconomy.
Wood fuel
is the only source of fuel for one third of the world’s population
Wood demand will double in the next 50 years
Forest management will become more difficult due to an increase in pests and fires
Responding to climate change
Involves an iterative risk management process that includes both adaptation and mitigation
Needs to takes into account:-
climate change damages,
co-benefits,
sustainability,
equity and attitudes to risk
mitigation =
the globally responsible thing to do
actions that reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change
adaption =
the locally responsible thing to do
actions that minimise or prevent the negative impacts of climate change
Mitigation, through reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will primarily be addressed through greater resource efficiency including:
Improving energy efficiency performance of new and existing buildings and influencing behaviour of occupants
Reducing the need to travel and ensuring good accessibility to public and other sustainable modes of transport
Promoting land use that acts as carbon sinks
Encouraging development and use of renewable energy
Reducing the amount of biodegradable waste landfilled
energy generation and supply
All energy originates from the sun eg Wind, Solar, Oil, Gas etc) it is how we harvest that energy which could be crucial.
It is estimated that solar cells if efficient could supply all our energy requirements
Global Energy Supply
Oil has declined in relative importance with gas and nuclear in particular increasing in relative terms – the latter almost all occurring in the OECD and FSU. Nuclear contributes almost 30% in the EU.
future projections
-CO2 emissions from energy use are projected to increase 45% to 110% if fossil fuels cintinue to dominate energy production through 2030 with up to three-quarters of future emission increases coming from developing countries
the energy gap
created by UK power station closures, as projected by energy company EDF (2006). This graph shows the predicted capacity of nuclear, coal, and oil power stations, in kilowatt-hours per day per person. ageing coal, gas and nuclear power generators will be paid an extra £1bn in 2018 alone for guaranteeing to stay open and keep the lights on.
energy from renewables
-Challenge: to ensure constant and reliable supply
which is affordable & does not harm the environment
-No single technology will be the solution
-Many renewables by their nature are dispersed
- Must consider centralised v’s localised production
models
Potential solutions for energy supply?
Improved supply and distribution efficiency;
Fuel switching from coal to gas;
Nuclear power;
Renewable heat and power (hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy);
Combined Heat and Power;
Early applications of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) (e.g. storage of removed CO2 from natural gas);
CCS for gas, biomass and coal-fired electricity generating facilities; advanced nuclear power;
Advanced renewable energy, including tidal and wave energy, concentrating solar, and solar photovoltaics
economy Challenges to change
-Economics: how do alternatives compare with existing
technologies / oil price? Not market forces alone
-Security for long term investment in alternatives
-Global responses to maintain equity – local changes may
mean trade moving; stop local subsidy of fossil energy
-Guarantee of supply
-Effects on environment (deforestation), poor and land
use causing resistance
Sustainable development
inspiring people in all parts of the world to find solutions that improve their quality of life
without storing up problems for the future, or impacting unfairly on other people’s lives.
It must be much more than recycling bottles or giving money to charity.
It is about thinking and working in a profoundly different way.
Materials and transport
CO2 fixation not biodegradability is now the key.
Renewable materials or recycling of waste will be important.
What will future cars run on?
