Using Natural Resources

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Using Natural Resources

• Chapter 23

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Organisms and Their Environment

• Ecosystem a community of organisms and their
  abiotic environment.
• What does community mean?
• What is abiotic?
• We cannot understand the definition without
  knowing the vocabulary!

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• Community a group of species that live in the
  same habitat and interact with each other.
• Example Sharon Woods many different organisms
  (trees, flowers, squirrels, deer, rabbits,
  birds), living in the same area, interacting with
  one another.

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• Abiotic factors non-living parts of the
  environment (examples sunlight, air, soil,
  water, temperature)
• So, an ecosystem is defined as two things
• living and non-living parts of the environment,
• and how they interact.

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• Ecosystems can be any size.
• The entire Earth is one giant ecosystem.
• However, the smallest rain puddle is also an
  ecosystem.
• Ecosystems are composed of communities that
  contain many different populations of organisms.

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• The basis of an ecosystem depends on a balance
  between the living and non-living components of
  the environment.
• This balance depends on cycling energy and matter
  (examples carbon cycle, water cycle)

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• Every living and non-living aspect of the
  ecosystem affects other parts of the ecosystem!
  (Interrelatedness)

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• One change can affect the entire ecosystem.
• If something changes, time and natural forces
  work to return the system to its previous state.

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• Fire ecology describes areas in which large-scale
  fires are a necessity.
• In Yellowstone National Park, fire plays an
  important role in pine cone germination.
• Fires also return nutrients to the soil, making
  it more fertile.

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• Succession is a term used to describe how an
  ecosystem develops gradually over time.
• The final result of succession is a community
  where birth, death, growth, and decay take place
  continually.
• This will keep the ecosystem stable.

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• Short-term ecosystem changes include the seasons.
  
• These changes are marked by animal migration or
  hibernation, and plants losing vegetation

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• Invasive and non-native species also cause
  changes in ecosystems.

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• Almost all energy comes from the sun.
• Plants convert energy from the sun into chemical
  energy
• Herbivores eat plants, and get the plants
  energy.
• Carnivores get energy second-hand, that other
  animals have got through plants and the sun.

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• Carbon is cycled through many processes
  photosynthesis, decomposition, combustion,
  respiration

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• When plant matter and organic materials are
  buried for a long time, pressure and heat begin
  to turn these materials into fossil fuels (like
  oil).
• Fossil fuels can be liquids, solids, or gases.
• Fossil fuels are LIMITED.
• Because fossil fuels take so long to form, they
  are nonrenewable.

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• Humans are using up these resources much faster
  than they can be replaced.
• There are alternatives
• Renewable resources can be replaced by natural
  processes in a short amount of time.

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• Some energy alternatives include
• Solar power
• Wind power
• Water power (hydroelectric)
• Geothermal power (beneath Earth)
• Nuclear power

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• Pollution undesirable change in natural
  environment from substances that harm living
  organisms.

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• Combustion from fuels causes most pollution.

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• Manmade pollution is the most common, but
• Some pollution is caused naturally.

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• Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning it
  forms a blanket over the Earth, and holds in
  heat.
• Normally, the Earth loses some of its heat
  through the atmosphere.
• With excess carbon dioxide, some of the heat
  stays in, contributing to global warming.

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• Combustion from factories and automobiles not
  only contribute to global warming, but they also
  contribute to acid rain.
• New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania are both
  GREATLY impacted by Ohios coal-burning power
  plants. Acid rain occurs there because of
  pollutants released by Ohioans.

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• Pesticides and fertilizers also contribute to
  water pollution.
• These chemicals cause eutrophication.
• Eutrophication is an increase in the amount of
  nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem. It causes
  lakes and ponds to fill in quicker than they
  normally would.
• Chemicals are ingested by wildlife, as well.

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• A way to prevent pollution is to recycle.
• Recycling uses products that have been disposed
  of to make new products.
• Recycling also reduces the amount of waste in
  landfills.