Ecology

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Ecology
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Keep this in mind
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In California

• LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 A 10-year-old boy admitted
  that he accidentally started one of the largest
  of last weeks Southern California wildfires
  while playing with matches, enforcement officials
  say.
• Fanned by high winds and hot, dry weather, it
  spread quickly, driving 15,000 people from their
  homes, destroying 21 houses and 22 other
  buildings, injuring three people and blackening
  more than 38,000 acres

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In Iceland

• Volcano in Iceland erupted twice in one month.
  The volcano has erupted for the second time in
  less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke
  and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of
  people to flee rising floodwaters. The volcanic
  ash has forced the cancellation of many flights
  and disrupted air traffic across.

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SUCCESSION

• What happens to an area after a disturbance?
• A predictable set of stages begins to change the
  area
• The changes are plant based referred to as
  ecological succession.
• What does it mean if you call someone a
  successor?
• EXAMPLE The prince is the kings successor.

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Ecological Succession

• Natural, gradual changes in the types of plant
  species that occupy an area
• You have studied pond succession!

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Primary Succession

• occurs on an area of newly exposed rock, sand,
  lava or any area that has not been occupied
  previously by a living (biotic) community

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Secondary Succession

• takes place where a community has been removed,
  i.e. a plowed field, clearcut forest, forest
  fire

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• Complete the Succession WS
• What is a pioneer species?
• What is a climax community?

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Do Now

• What type of succession would occur on this land?
  
• If a fire occurred 100 years into succession of
  this land what type of succession would occur?
• HAND IN!

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Population

• Populations are dynamic!
• 3 important characteristics of populations
  geographic distribution, density and growth rate

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What is density?

• 1. 2.
• 3. 4.

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Nutrients can limit plant growth

• Plant life grows best when all nutrients are
  present
• Not present?
• Limited nutrient
• Animals have limiting factors that affect growth
  as well
• Density-dependent factors
• Density-independent factors

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Factors that influence density

• Other Limiting Factors
• environmental influences that prevent species
  from obtaining a high population generally
  populations decrease in size
• Two categories
• Density-dependent limited factors
• Density-independent limited factors

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Density-dependent factor

• Density-dependent factors- affects populations
  due to their size
• Example- predation

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Density-independent factors

• Density-independent factors- affects all
  populations in similar ways, regardless of
  population size
• Example- hurricane

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Density-dependent or density-independent?

• Competition
• Earthquake
• Flood
• Parasitism
• Disease
• Seasonal cycles
• Available mates

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Do Now

• Define population density.
• Label each factor as d.dependent or
  d.independent
• Territory (available space)
• Food
• tornado

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Population Growth

• Three factors affect population size
• Number of births
• Number of deaths
• Number of individuals that enter or leave the
  population
• Immigration movement of individuals into an area
• Emigration movement of individuals out of a
  population

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Population

• Exponential Growth (J-shaped graph)
• Logistic Growth (S-shaped graph)

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Exponential Growth

• Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources,
  a population will grow
• Industrial revolution 1820-1870
• Current population 6 billion

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Exponential growth faces problems

• Exponential growth does not continue in natural
  populations for very long
• As resources become less available, the growth of
  a population slows or stops

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Logistic Growth

• Acceleration, high growth period, deceleration,
  fairly steady state

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Carrying capacity

• the number of individuals who can be supported in
  a given area within natural resource limits
• Carrying capacity- K

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Carrying capacity

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Patterns of Population Growth

• Human population cannot keep growing
  exponentially forever because Earth and its
  resources are limited
• Study of human population is demography
• Birthrate, death rates and the age structure of a
  population help predict population increases and
  decreases of countries
• Age-structured diagrams

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Population pyramid

• Birth vs death rate within a population

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US population pyramid
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Human limits?

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World Resources

• Renewable
• Nonrenewable

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Renewable Resources

• A resource that can be continually reproduced
• Capable of being replaced by- natural
  ecological cycles or- sound management practices
• humans need to think of "renewable"
  asreplenishable only in the right
  circumstancesand within the laws of the balance
  of nature

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Do NOT Think

• "Oh well, it's renewable so we can use as much as
  we want"
• "It's OK to log these forests- trees grow back
• "Industries can pull all the water they want from
  the Great Lakes, without limitation.  After all,
  water is a renewable resource, like air."

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• Renewable" resources become non-renewable due to
  mis-management by humans and pollution of the
  environment by humans.
• What are examples of renewable resources?
• trees, wildlife, oxygen, and fresh water

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Nonrenewable Resources

• A resource that cannot reproduce
• Once the resource is used up- it is gone
• Humans are using up natural resources at a great
  rateand at a great cost to the health of the
  natural environmentand life on Earth.
• What do humans use A LOT of? (think carbon cycle)

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Nonrenewable Resources

• Fossil fuels- oil, natural gas, coal
• How do they form?
• How long does it take for these resources to form?

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The world at night from space
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Human Impact

• Acid Rain
• What it is, where does it come from and what
  damage can it cause?

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What is acid rain?

• Acid rain is rain that is lower on the pH scale
  than normal rain water
• Acid rain carries the chemicals sulphur dioxide
  and nitrogen oxide
• pH may vary 5.5 to 3.0 (normal water is 7-5.6)
• (ocean water 7-8)

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Acid rain cycle
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Damage from acid rain

• Lakes and streams are normally acidic, acid rain
  can make them so acidic that it damages animal
  and plant life.
• Acid rain can cause a mass killing to trees.
• Area's can become very hazy and foggy due to acid
  rain
• linked to breathing and lung problems in
  children, and people who have asthma.
• Stone buildings and monuments are targets of
  damage from acid rain.

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Damage of acid rain

• Acid "rain" isn't just rain acid snow, acid fog
  or mist, acid gas, and acid dust all have the
  same effect as acid rain.

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So much pollution!!! (dont write, just read)

• 40 of Americas rivers and 46 of Americas
  lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or
  aquatic life
• 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm
  water, and industrial waste are discharged into
  US waters annually.
• Polluted drinking waters are a problem for about
  half of the worlds population. Each year there
  are about 250 million cases of water-based
  diseases, resulting in roughly 5 to 10 million
  deaths.
• Each year, U.S. factories spew 3 million tons of
  toxic chemicals into the air, land, and water.
• Every year, one American produces over 3,285
  pounds of hazardous waste.
• Seventy-three different kinds of pesticides have
  been found in groundwater, which is potential
  drinking water
• Over 80 of items in landfills can be recycled,
  but theyre not.

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What should be recycled?

• NOT GUM!!!
• Plastic bottles, cans, paper, card board

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Pollution
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Biomagnification

• Humans use of DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroetha
  ne)
• insecticide and pesticide (world-wide use)
• 30 years prior to its cancellation, a total of
  approximately 1,350,000,000 pounds of DDT was
  used domestically
• DDT is a persistent, toxic chemical which easily
  collects in the food chain posing a proven hazard
  to non-target organisms such as fish and wildlife
  and otherwise upsetting the natural ecological
  balance

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Biomagnification

• Prime example of a non-target animal that was
  hurt by the use of DDT
• The bald eagle-

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What can be done to help?

• Recycle
• Turn off electronics
• Take shorter showers
• Educate yourself!
• ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ?

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Alternative Energy

• The Alternative Energy Institute (AEI) was formed
  in 1977 at West Texas State University, Texas,
  USA
• Consequences are minimal
• renewable and are thought to be "free" energy
  sources
• lower carbon emissions, compared to conventional
  energy sources

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Alternative Energy

• These include
• Biomass Energy,
• Wind Energy,
• Solar Energy,
• Geothermal Energy,
• Hydroelectric Energy sources

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Alternative energy
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Human Impact

• What is the differences and similiarities
  between
• Ozone layer depletion
• Greenhouse effect
• Global warming

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Ozone layer

• Affects earths climate
• Gas that occurs naturally
• vital role by shielding
• humans and other life
• from harmful ultraviolet
• light from the Sun

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Ozone depletion

• chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
  hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
• Depleted protective layer
• International agreement to limit emissions

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Greenhouse effect

• Affects earths climate, especially temperature
• Positive and natural occurrence
• Greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon
  dioxide, ozone and methane
• Greenhouse gases slow down the rate at which heat
  is released back into space
• Too much of these gases is a bad thing!

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Greenhouse effect
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Global warming

• Affects the earths climate
• Especially temperature! Not only in the air but
  on land
• Overabundance of greenhouse gases? higher
  temperature
• Burning of fossil fuel, deforestation
• Possible effects of global warming
• Melting ice? results in water level rising
• Stronger hurricanes
• Ice age
• More drastic weather cycles