Ecology Unit

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Ecology Unit

• Chapters 2-5

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What is Ecology? The
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• Ecology-
• the study of interactions between
• organisms and organisms
• organisms and their environment

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Where do we fit in? (What is our environment?)
The Biosphere!
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Factors that effect us
1. Abiotic Factors
Moisture
Wind/Air currents
Light
Temperature
Soil
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• A- stands for non
• Bio- stands for living
• Abiotic Factors- nonliving factors

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2. Biotic Factors
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• Biotic- Living factors

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What is the organization of Ecological Study?
Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere
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Levels of Organization

• Individual- one organism (living)
• Ex a moose

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Levels of Organization

• Population- groups of individuals that belong to
  the species and live in the same area.
  (living-living same species)
• Ex many moose

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Levels of Organization

• Community- groups of different populations (more
  than one population or different groups of
  species)
• Ex many groups of moose beavers, trees, grass
  (all living)

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Levels of Organization

• Ecosystem- all organisms in a particular area
  along with the nonliving. (living and nonliving)
• Ex many groups of moose beavers, trees, grass,
  rocks, water, mountains

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Levels of Organization

• Biome- group of ecosystems that have the same
  climate and similar dominant communities
• Biomes tropical rain forest, tropical dry
  forest, tropical savannah, temperate grassland,
  desert, temperate woodland and shrubland,
  temperate forest, northwestern coniferous forest,
  boreal forest (taiga), tundra, mountains and ice
  caps

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Levels of Organization

• Biosphere- all of the planet where life exhists,
  includes land, water, and, air
• Life extends 8 km up and 11 km below the surface

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IN AN ECOSYSTEM
Organisms live in a Habitat
Organisms fit into a Niche of the environment
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Habitat vs. Niche

• Habitat- an area where an organism lives
• Niche- an organisms role in its environment
• The Long Version ? full range of physical and
  biological conditions in which an organism lives
  and the way in which the organism uses those
  conditions. Includes where in the food chain it
  is, where an organism feeds
• Habitat is like an address in an ecosystem and a
  niche is like an occupation in an ecosystem.

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Community Interactions

• when organisms live together in an ecological
  community they interact constantly.
• Three types of interactions
• Competition
• Predation
• Symbiosis

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Competition- competing for resources

• occurs due to a limited number of resources
• Resource- any necessity of life. water,
  nutrients, light, food.
• Competitive exclusion principle- no two species
  can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at
  the same time

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Predation

• Predation- when an organism captures and feeds on
  another organism.
• Predator- hunter
• Prey- hunted

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Symbiosis

• Symbiosis- any relationship where two species
  live closely together. (3 types)
• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Parasitism

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Symbiosis

• Mutualism- both species benefit from a
  relationship.
• Lichens (fungus and Algae)

One example is the lichens, little non-descript
patches of stuff you see growing on rocks and
tree bark. This is a symbiosis, consisting of a
fungus and an alga. The fungus provides a
protective home for the algae, and gathers
mineral nutrients from rainwater and from
dissolving the rock underneath. The alga gathers
energy from the sun. There are thousands of
species of lichen in the world actually
thousands of species of fungi with just a few
species of algae which can form a partnership
with almost any of them.
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Symbiosis

• Commensalism One member of a symbiotic
  relationship benefits and the other is neither
  helped or harmed
• Ex. Holes used by bluebirds in a tree were
  chiseled out by woodpeckers after it has been
  abandoned .

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Symbiosis

• Parasitism- One creature benefits and one
  creature is harmed
• Ex tapeworm. Feeds in a humans intestines
  absorbing his/her nutrients.

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Relationships
Symbiosis Living Together
a) commensalism
b) mutualism
c) parasitism
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Identify these relationships
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ENERGY FLOW
Autotrophs vs. Heterotrophs
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Energy Flow (Trophic Levels)

• Producers- make their own food

• Consumers- get energy from consuming producers

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Producers

• Producers- capture energy from sunlight or
  chemicals and use the energy to produce food.
• Producers are autotrophs- they make food from
  their environment

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2 main types of autotrophs

• Another type gets energy without light- by
  chemosynthesis

• One type gets energy from the sun-by
  photosynthesis

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Consumers

• Consumers are heterotrophs- get energy from other
  organisms

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Types of Consumers

• Herbivores- eat only plants
• Carnivores- eat animals
• Omnivores- eat both plants and animals
• Detritivores- eat dead matter (plants and animals)

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Feeding Relationships

• Energy flows through an ecosystem in one
  direction from
• 1. the sun or inorganic compounds
• 2. To autotrophs (producers)
• 3. To heterotrophs (consumers)
• Decomposers get energy from decomposing dead
  organisms

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Food Chain- a series of steps in which organisms
transfer energy by eating or being eaten.

• Food Web- A network of feeding relationships.
• (More realistic that a food chain)

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Food Web
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They can become very complex!
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Trophic levels

• Each step in a food chain or a food web is called
  a trophic level.
• Producers are the first trophic level
• Consumers are the second, third, or higher
  trophic level
• Each trophic level depends on the one below for
  energy

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Energy Pyramid

• Only part of the energy stored in one level can
  be passed to the next- most energy is consumed
  for life processes (respiration, movement, etc.,
  and heat is given off)
• Only 10 of the energy available within one
  trophic level is transferred to organisms in the
  next trophic level

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Biomass Pyramid

• Biomass- the total amount of living tissue within
  a given trophic level.
• A biomass pyramid represents the amount of
  potential food available for each trophic level
  in an ecosystem.

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Energy Losses

• Energy transfers are never 100 percent efficient
• Some energy is lost at each step
• Limits the number of trophic levels in an
  ecosystem
• Energy flow is a one way path! (not a cycle)

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All Heat in the End

• At each trophic level, the bulk of the energy
  received from the previous level is used in
  metabolism
• This energy is released as heat energy and lost
  to the ecosystem
• Eventually, all energy is released as heat

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Biogeochemical Cycles(Matter moving through the
environment)

• All living organisms need certain
  elements/compounds for life processes
• Ex your cells need C,H,O,P,N S in order to
  live and reproduce (make more cell)
• Cycles in nature keep these elements moving
  from organisms to organism (and sometimes into
  the atmosphere)

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Biogeochemical Cycles(Matter moving through the
environment)

• The flow of a nutrient from the environment to
  living organisms and back to the environment
• Main reservoir for the nutrient is in the
  environment
• Transfer rates to and from reservoir are usually
  lower than the rates of exchange between and
  among organisms.
• Matter is recycled through an ecosystem not one
  way flow

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Three Categories

• Hydrologic cycle
• Water
• Atmospheric cycles
• Nitrogen and carbon
• Sedimentary cycles
• Phosphorus and sulfur

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CYCLES IN NATURE
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Carbon Cycle

• Carbon moves through the atmosphere and food webs
  on its way to and from the ocean, sediments, and
  rocks
• Sediments and rocks are the main reservoir

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Carbon Cycle
diffusion
Atmosphere
Bicarbonate, carbonate
Terrestrial Rocks
Land Food Webs
Marine food webs
Soil Water
Peat, Fossil Fuels
Marine Sediments
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Carbon in the Oceans

• Most carbon in the ocean is dissolved carbonate
  and bicarbonate
• Ocean currents carry dissolved carbon

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Carbon in Atmosphere

• Atmospheric carbon is mainly carbon dioxide
• Carbon dioxide is added to atmosphere
• Aerobic respiration, volcanic action, burning
  fossil fuels, decomposition of organic materials
• Removed by photosynthesis

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Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen is used in amino acids and nucleic acids
  (all living organism need nitrogen to make
  proteins)
• Main reservoir is nitrogen gas in the atmosphere
• Decomposers are vital to convert ammonia into
• usable nitrites nitrates for plants (nitrogen
  fixation)
• nitrogen gas (denitrification puts it back
  into the atmosphere)

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Phosphorus Cycle

• Phosphorus is part of phospholipids and all
  nucleotides
• What are these?
• It is the most prevalent limiting factor in
  ecosystems
• Main reservoir is Earths crust no gaseous phase
  (it never enters the atmosphere like carbon and
  nitrogen)

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Phosphorus Cycle
mining
FERTILIZER
excretion
GUANO
agriculture
weathering
uptake by autotrophs
uptake by autotrophs
weathering
LAND FOOD WEBS
DISSOLVED IN OCEAN WATER
MARINE FOOD WEBS
DISSOLVED IN SOILWATER, LAKES, RIVERS
death, decomposition
death, decomposition
leaching, runoff
sedimentation
setting out
uplifting over geolgic time
ROCKS
MARINE SEDIMENTS
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Chapter 3 Communities Biomes

• Vocabulary to Know
• Limiting Factor
• Succession
• Primary
• Secondary
• Climax Community

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Community

• All the populations that live together in a
  habitat
• Habitat is the type of place where individuals of
  a species typically live
• Type of habitat shapes a communitys structure

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Limiting Factors

• Definition?

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What factors would limit these communities?
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What is Succession what causes it?

• Changes to a community

• Biotic Factor
• Abiotic Factors

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2 Types of succession

• Primary
• From nothing
• Even the soil must be created
• Secondary
• From soil
• Disaster can strike and make it start over

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Primary Succession
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Secondary Succession
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Pioneer Species

• Species that colonize barren habitats
• Lichens, small plants with brief life
  cycles
• Improve conditions for other species who then
  replace them

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Climax Community

• Stable array of species that persists relatively
  unchanged over time
• Succession does not always move predictably
  toward a specific climax community other stable
  communities may persist

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The trend of Succession
Pioneer stage ??????? Climax Community
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Biogeography

• The study of the distribution of organisms and
  the processes that underlie distribution patterns

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Factors that Affect Distribution

• Geologic history
• Topography
• Climate
• Species interactions

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Climate

• Average weather condition in a region
• Affected by
• amount of incoming solar radiation
• prevailing winds
• elevation

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Rotation and Wind Direction

• Earth rotates faster under the air at the equator
  than it does at the poles
• Deflection east and west

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Seasonal Variation

• Northern end of Earths axis tilts toward sun in
  June and away in December
• Difference in tilt causes differences in sunlight
  intensity and day length
• The greater the distance from the equator, the
  more pronounced the seasonal changes

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Ocean Currents

• Upper waters move in currents that distribute
  nutrients and affect regional climates

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Rain Shadow

• Air rises on the windward side, loses moisture
  before passing over the mountain

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Soil Characteristics

• Amount of humus
• pH
• Degree of aeration
• Ability to hold or drain water
• Mineral content

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Biogeographic Realms

• Six areas in which plants and animals are
  somewhat similar
• Maintain their identity because of climate and
  physical barriers that tend to maintain isolation
  between species

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Biomes

• Regions of land characterized by habitat
  conditions and community structure
• Distinctive biomes prevail at certain latitudes
  and elevations

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Biomes
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Biome Chart (to fill in during presentations) Crea
te a Biome Table with the Following Columns 1.
Name of Biome 2. Major Location(s) 3. Avg.
Temperature/climate 4. Avg. Rainfall convert to
inches 5. Major plant life 6. Major
animals 7.Other include things such as other
major identifying factors of the biome, alternate
names of the biome, limiting factors of the biome
for plants/animals, etc.  
Note
To convert rainfall from cm to in 1cm X .39
in
 
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Example Chart
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Chapter 4Population Biology

• What is a population?
• What is exponential population growth?
• What happens to a population when it reaches its
  carrying capacity?

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How many mice are in the following
population? Estimate! Ready SET
Go!
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How many did you count?

• What is the best way to count them?
• SAMPLING

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Population Sampling

• Sometimes, the entire population to be studied is
  small enough for the researcher to include the
  entire population in the study.
• This type of research is called a census study
  because data is gathered on every member of the
  population.
• Usually, the population is too large for the
  researcher to attempt to survey all of its
  members.
• A small, but carefully chosen sample can be used
  to represent the population.
• The sample reflects the characteristics of the
  population from which it is drawn

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Sampling Methods

• There are LOTS ways to sample a population
  including
• Biased sampling, Systematic sampling, Stratified
  sampling, Judgment sampling, Quota sampling,
  Snowball sampling, Counting method, Hit-or-miss
  method, etc
• HOWEVER, the most common methods are
• Random and non-random sampling
• Each gives you a best estimate of the
  population size

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Population Size

• Factors that affect
• Natality
• Mortality/Fatality
• Immigration
• Emigration

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Population Growth Curves

• Explain what is happening to the populations
  below

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Population Growth Curves

• Explain what is happening to the populations
  below

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Biotic Potential Reproductive Potential

• Rate at which a population could grow if it had
  unlimited resources
• If a population reached its biotic potential it
  would have exponential growth

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The J Curve
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The S Curve
This graph shows a typical population growth
curve. Under ideal conditions a population would
have a growth with a slow start, then a very fast
rate of increase and finally the growth slows
down and stops.
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Population Density

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Environmental Limits on populations

• Density-dependent
• Disease
• Food
• Parasitism
• Predation
• Competition
• Intraspecific
• Interspecific

• Density-independent
• Temperature
• Storms
• Floods
• Drought
• Habitat Disruption

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Density Dependent

• Here is a dramatic example of how competition
  among members of one species for a finite
  resource in this case, food caused a sharp
  drop in population.
• The graph shows a population crash in this case
  of reindeer on two islands in the Bering Sea.

Inter or Intra?
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Density Dependent

• This graph shows the effect of interspecific
  competition on the population size of two species
  of paramecia, Paramecium aurelia and Paramecium
  caudatum.
• When either species was cultured alone with
  fresh food added regularly the population grew
  exponentially at first and then leveled off.
• However, when the two species were cultured
  together, P. caudatum proved to be the weaker
  competitor. After a brief phase of exponential
  growth, its population began to decline and
  ultimately it became extinct. The population of
  P. aurelia reached a plateau, but so long as P.
  caudatum remained, this was below the population
  density it achieved when grown alone.

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Density Independent

• This graph shows the decline in the population of
  one of Darwin's finches on Daphne Major, a tiny
  (100-acre) member of the Galapagos Islands. The
  decline (from 1400 to 200 individuals) occurred
  because of a severe drought that reduced the
  quantity of seeds on which this species feeds.
  The drought ended in 1978, but even with ample
  food once again available the finch population
  recovered only slowly.

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Organism Interactions Limit Populations

• Predation
• Competition
• Both types
• Parasitism
• Crowding/stress

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The Human Population
Figure 4.10 pg 104
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Demography Vocabulary

• Age Structure
• Immigration
• Emigration
• Birth/Death Rate

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Age Structure Pyramids

• These pyramids compare the age structure of the
  populations of France and India in 1984. The
  relative number () of males and females is shown
  in 5-year cohorts. Almost 20 of India's
  population were children 15 years or less in
  age who had yet to begin reproduction. When the
  members of a large cohort like this begin
  reproducing, they add greatly to birth rates. In
  France, in contrast, each cohort is about the
  size of the next until close to the top when old
  age begins to take its toll.

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Age Structure Pyramids

• These population pyramids show the baby-boom
  generation in 1970 and again in 1985 (green
  ovals).
• Profound changes (e.g. enrollments in schools and
  colleges) have occurred and continue to occur
  in U.S. society as this bulge passes into
  ever-older age brackets.

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Chapter 5 Diversity Conservation

• Importance to nature

• Importance to people
• Oxygen
• Diet
• Medicines

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Loss of Diversity

• Threatened Species
• Endangered Species
• Extinction of Species

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• Pennsylvania -- 17 listings
• Rhode Island -- 17 listings
• South Carolina -- 42 listings
• South Dakota -- 12 listings
• Tennessee -- 96 listings
• Texas -- 91 listings
• Utah -- 47 listings
• Vermont -- 8 listings
• Virginia -- 71 listings
• Washington -- 41 listings
• West Virginia -- 21 listings
• Wisconsin -- 16 listings
• Wyoming -- 18 listings
• American Samoa -- 4 listings
• Guam -- 12 listings
• Northern Mariana Islands -- 13 listings
• Puerto Rico -- 75 listings
• Virgin Islands -- 13 listings

Endangered Species/State 2004 Data

• Maine -- 15 listings
• Maryland -- 26 listings
• Massachusetts -- 24 listings
• Michigan -- 21 listings
• Minnesota -- 13 listings
• Mississippi -- 38 listings
• Missouri -- 25 listings
• Montana -- 17 listings
• Nebraska -- 13 listings
• Nevada -- 38 listings
• New Hampshire -- 12 listings
• New Jersey -- 23 listings
• New Mexico -- 42 listings
• New York -- 26 listings
• North Carolina -- 63 listings
• North Dakota -- 8 listings
• Ohio -- 26 listings
• Oklahoma -- 20 listings

• Alabama -- 115 listings
• Alaska -- 11 listings
• Arizona -- 60 listings
• Arkansas -- 29 listings
• California -- 300 listings
• Colorado -- 33 listings
• Connecticut -- 19 listings
• Delaware -- 20 listings
• District of Columbia -- 3 listings
• Florida -- 111 listings
• Georgia -- 66 listings
• Hawaii -- 317 listings
• Idaho -- 25 listings
• Illinois -- 28 listings
• Indiana -- 29 listings
• Iowa -- 14 listings
• Kansas -- 15 listings
• Kentucky -- 47 listings

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Threats to Biodiversity

• Habitat Loss
• Habitat Fragmentation
• Biotic Issues
• Abiotic Issues
• Habitat Degradation
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Land Pollution

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Exotic Species
Example Page 124

• Non-native organisms that move-in to a
  particular area
• There can be a lack of competitors exponential
  growth
• Can take over the niches of native species

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Conservation

• Sustainable use
• Use what you need, but dont damage the ecosystem

Is this a good example of sustainable use?
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Conservation
Habitat Corridors
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Conservation

• Reintroduction Programs
• Captivity Breeding

Example The Ginkgo Tree would probably be
extinct if it were not for Chinese monks keeping
it in captivity around temples
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Humans The Environment

• Pest Control
• Benefits vs. Problems
• EX DDT

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Humans The Environment

• Ozone (O3) Depletion
• O3 forms a good layer around the Earth
• CFC release is breaking down the protective ozone
  layer
• UV rays increase skin cancers other cell
  mutations to plants animals!

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Humans The Environment

• Acid Precipitation
• In the form of rain, snow, dew or fog
• Created when gases such as nitrogen oxide (NOx)
  and sulfur oxide (SOx), generated in the burning
  of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, react in
  the atmosphere with sunlight to produce acids
  such as nitric and sulfuric acid. These acids
  dissolve in rain to become acid rain.

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How is Acidity Measured?

• When we observe acid rain, acidity is measured in
  units called pH.
• The pH scale is from 0 to 14
• pH 7 indicates neutral
• higher pH numbers alkalinity (base)
• smaller numbers acid
• Well do more on pH in the Biochemistry chapter

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Natural Acid Precipitation

• CO2 combines with water to form a weak acid H2CO3
  (carbonic acid)
• But we are adding to the problem
• by adding nitric and sulfuric acids

Look at the clean rain its already slightly
acidic???
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Effects of Acid Precipitation

• In Japan, rain which registers pH 5.6 or less is
  considered acid rain some 80-90 of the rain
  that falls in Japan in a year is acid rain.
• In Japan, acid rain with acidity equal to lemon
  juice has been observed at Mount Tsukuba in 1984
  (pH 2.5) and at Kagoshima in 1987 (pH 2.45). The
  problem is even more serious in North America and
  Europe. In those regions, forests are withering
  and lakes becoming uninhabitable to fish, and
  stone structures such as buildings and bronze
  statues are being damaged by corrosion.

1970 1985
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Humans The Environment

• Global Warming
• The Greenhouse Effect
• Fossil fuels give off lots of CO2
• This builds a blanket around the earth
• It is predicted that the Earth temp. will
  increase 50C before 2050 Ice age????

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Carbon Dioxide Increase

• Carbon dioxide levels fluctuate seasonally
• The average level is steadily increasing
• Burning of fossil fuels deforestation are
  contributing to the increase

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Greenhouse Effect

• Greenhouse gases impede the escape of heat from
  Earths surface

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Global Warming

• Long-term increase in the temperature of Earths
  lower atmosphere

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Other Greenhouse Gases

• CFCs - synthetic gases used in plastics and in
  refrigeration
• Methane - produced by termites and bacteria
• Nitrous oxide - released by bacteria,
  fertilizers, and animal wastes