Lecture 21 Flashcards
Why is Ecology important?
*Ecology is a vitally important scientific discipline (it is how life on earth works)
* Ecology is essential for understanding the
existence and evolution of life and how the
biosphere works
* Ecological principles must guide human
development, if we wish to live on Earth for a long period of time
What is fundamental ecological research?
*Fundamental research (aka basic research or pure research) helps us to understand the natural world
* Provides insight into the station and role of humans
* Results of fundamental research routinely
provide unforeseen applications
(ideas that inform us in meaningful ways)
* Research that is driven by the motivation to find out how something works in the world (driven by curiosity)
Applied ecological research
Applied ecological research focuses on
understanding and resolving environmental
problems:
* Lack of sustainability
* Loss of biodiversity
* Ecological knowledge
required in agriculture,
forestry, fisheries, etc.
* Focus is on understanding and resolving a problem
ex.
Can we grow biofuels on mine waste?” helps to reduce environmental impacts
ex.
Trevor pitcher research advanced the
ecology of captive rearing
- how do we keep a specific from going extinct
ex.
How can we use bioacoustic research to protect animals in decline?
- can figure out# of birds
Ecology and sustainability
We previously discussed sustainable development and ecologically sustainable development
(Chapter 15)
* Human development today is unsustainable (in economic sense and in context of ecological sustainable development):
* Population growth
* Resource use
* Pollution
* Biodiversity loss
Unsustainable population growth
Human population increasing rapidly
* 1900: 1.6 billion
* 1960: 3.0 billion
* 1999: 6.0 billion
* 2011: 7.0 billion
* Fall 2022: 8.0 billion!
* 2050: 10.0 billion?
Unsustainable population growth
- Human population growth continues at a
rate of approximately 1.14 percent per year - Large areas required for agriculture and cities
- Per capita (per person) resource use is increasing
*As we grow, we need to use more of the biosphere to support us
Unsustainable resource use
Both renewable and non-renewable
resources are rapidly depleted:
* Fossil fuels
* Some metals
* Water
* Agricultural land
* Timber
* Fish stocks
*renewable resources being used in non-reusable ways
Unsustainable pollution
- Pollution harms organisms and influences
climate change - Long-lasting effects of pollutants are probable
- Chemicals used in normal households can
have detrimental effects on the ecosystem
ex. Nickel roast-yard in Sudbury used 1912-1918 remains almost vegetation-free today
(wastelands)
Unsustainable biodiversity loss
Damage to three levels of biodiversity:
* Genetic diversity is increasingly diminished
in many populations
- Many species are on a path to extinction
(species richness in decline) - Many communities are increasingly rare
Environmental impact
Environmental Impact of humans on biosphere (I):
I = P × A × T
P = Population size (count how many people are living there)
A = per capita Affluence (per capita (per person) GDP rough way of calculating all the wealth in the country)
T = Technical development (energy usage per person)
- Which cultures and populations have the largest environmental impact?
* Calculations of Environmental impact show that wealthy countries with high technological development have disproportionate impact
- large pop
- large affluence and large technological impact
ex.
* Canada’s population is smaller than China, India
* Per capita data on energy use and financial status
(GDP) show that the average Canadian has a
disproportionate environmental impact
* Canada has the most environmental impact compared to India and china because of our affluence and technological advances
Ecological integrity
Ecological integrity is the ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain ecological processes and a diverse community of organisms
Natural environmental stressors are not
implicated in ecological integrity
* Environments with high or low productivity and high or low diversity can both have high integrity
Indicators of an ecosystem with a high level of ecological integrity
There are many indicators of ecological integrity:
* High resistance to stressors (can systems resist stressors)
* High resilience to disturbance (how quickly and efficiently it can return to its previous states
* Complex structure, function
* Top carnivores present
* Large species present
* Nutrient cycling sustainable (all diff nutrient cycles should be functioning normally)
* Low anthropogenic influence
* Native species, not aliens
Using pollen to infer ecological conditions of the past is called ?A. dendrochronlogyB. diatomologyC. palynologyD. pollenologyE. polloecology
c
What is the principle of superposition? A. Top predators hold superpositions in food webs. B. Autotrophs hold superpositions in food webs. C. Sediments are deposited with the newest material at the bottom D. Sediments are deposited with the oldest material at the bottom E. All of the above are good summaries
d
How does an ecological economy differ from the conventional economy? A. An ecological economy assigns value to ecosystem services. B. An ecological economy recognizes the costs of overharvesting C. A conventional economy is not ecologically sustainable. D. A conventional economy assumes that infinite growth is possible. E. All of the other statements are true.
e
