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1.1 environmental value systems, 1.2 systems and models, 1.3 energy and equilibria, 1.4 sustainabili
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1.1 - Environmental Value Systems
Environmental worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group
value system of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues. This will be
influenced by cultural, socio-political, religious, and economic
context.
Ecocentrism Nature centred. Nature/ecology is central, respects rights of nature.
Values the environment and believes that all living things have
intrinsic moral value.
Anthropocentrism believes humans must sustainably manage the global system.
People centred and humans can manage earth through taxes,
legislations and regulations.
Technocentrism Technology solves problems - believes technological developments
can provide solutions to environmental issues.
Deep Ecologist Extreme - Earth over humans; favors self-restraint and individual
action; deep mistrust of technology.
Soft Ecologist Is the belief that individuals have impact and influence. A soft
ecologist is someone who believes a small population or small
community can also have an effect on the environment.
Environmental Are responsible for overseeing and addressing ecological and
Manager environmental issues. Affecting the world. Environmental managers
try to find solutions to these issues and promote sustainable
development.
Cornucopian Extreme - people will find a way. World has infinite resources to
benefit humanity - with the development of technology, we will not
run out of resources for the population.
Tragedy of In a communism state where land is controlled by the government
Commons who then refuses or ignores the management of these properties
which leads to significant damage to the environment.
,System A process that involves an input and an output.
EVS influences to an individual can be considered as a system:
Codependency An extreme dependance to something. Typically when an organism
relies on a resource or another organism for survival.
1.2 - Systems and Values
Flows Inputs and outputs flow throughout the ecosystem as energy and
matter. Both energy and matter( inputs and outputs) are stored in
an ecosystem meaning they cant be destroyed or created but only
flow throughout the ecosystem and processed in a system
Feedback Loops Feedback loops are when outputs route back as an input and
create a chain. They can be positive or negative to the system.
Systems A system is an assemblage of parts with an input and output.
Transfers When a form or state does not change after a flow of energy or
matter. Movement from one place to another.
Input What is taken in and processed in a system
Output The result of something produced by the system
Transformations When the state of something is changed after a slow of energy or
matter. Its changed in form and nature
,Storages The natural existence and supply of energy and matter in an
ecosystem.
Open System exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings
Closed System Exchange energy but not matter.
Isolated System Energy or matter is not exchanged.
Abiotic Something non living in an environment. Eg. Rocks
Biotic Anything living in an environment, organisms
Matter Everything that takes up space with a mass.
1.3-Energy and Equilibrium
Entropy A disorder of a system. A system with more states has more
entropy. For example the sun has a higher entropy than the moon
because the sun's state constantly changes and has higher heat.
An imbalance in a system.
Thermodynamics The branch of physics that studies the conversion of different forms
of energy.
Trophic Levels The levels of a food chain in an ecosystem that consist of
organisms that share the same function in the food chain.
Equilibrium A balance in which opposing forces are in a stable situation-no
changes are occurring.
First law of Energy can be converted from one form to another with the
Thermodynamics interaction of heat, work and internal energy, but it cannot be
created nor destroyed, under any circumstances.
Second law of The entropy of a system increases over time. Entropy is a measure
,Thermodynamics of the amount of disorder in a system.
Efficiency the useful energy, the work or output produced by a process divided
by the amount of energy consumed being the input to the process:
efficiency = work or energy produced / energy consumed
efficiency = useful output / input
Multiply by 100% to express efficiency as a %.
Static Equilibrium An object in static equilibrium is one that has no increase in any
direction. Happens when there is no exchange between reactants
and products.
Steady State Is an unchanging condition, system or physical process that
Equilibrium remains even after transformation or change.
Stable Equilibrium The system tends to return to the same equilibrium after
disturbance.
Unstable The system returns to a new equilibrium after a disturbance.
Equilibrium
Negative Feedback Happens when the output of the process slows or reverses the
Loop operation of the same process in such a way as to reduce change.
Positive Feedback Tend to increase changes and drive the system towards a tipping
Loop point were a new equilibrium is adopted.
Albedo Albedo is a measure of how much light is reflected back from
something. It usually refers to Earth and the amount of sunlight that
is reflected back into space.
1.4-Sustainability
Sustainability Is the ability to be maintained at the same rate
Natural Capital The resources a nation has that can produce a sustainable natural
income.
,Natural Income Is the annual income generated from natural resources. Natural
income can be divided into two groups: Goods and Services.
Goods Where natural resources are converted into natural income goods.
For example: wood, food, medicine, paper.
Services Where natural resouces are converted into natural service income.
For example:oxygen production, soil stability, etc.
Biome A naturally occurring community in an ecosystem with
codependency.
Extinction Rates The number of species that went extinct in a period of time. Could
be projected or past.
Ecological The impact of a person's activity on the environment. Measured by
Footprints the amount of land or natural resources used for the activity.
Cultivated Systems Land controlled by humans for agricultural uses.
Environmental The evaluation process of the environmental impacts caused by a
Input Assessment proposed project or development.
Millennium To assess the linkages between ecosystems and human well-being
Ecosystem and to determine scientific research for actions necessary to
Assessment maintain sustainability with human development and ecosystems.
1.5-Humans and pollution
Pollution The introduction of a harmful substance into the environment at a
rate which it cant render.
Primary Pollutants A primary pollutant is a pollutant directly released into the
environment
Secondary Secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere. Unlike primary
Pollutants pollutants, they are not emitted directly from somewhere. They are
formed by primary pollutants.
,Ozone Ozone is a layer in the atmosphere that absorbs most of the
ultraviolet rays that are entering the lower atmosphere. It is formed
naturally but can be affected by secondary and primary pollutants.
Point Source Any single identifiable pollution were the source can easily be
Pollution spotted.
Non-Point Source Non-point source pollution is a combination of different sources of
Pollution pollution.
Chronic Pollution Chronic pollution is the long-term release of pollutants that often go
unrecognized because a small amount is released over a period of
time.
Acute Pollution Acute pollution is a pollution incident when a very big amount of
pollution is released in a very short amount of time.
Persistent Pollution that does not break down in the environment.
Pollution
Biodegradable Pollution that can be broken down in the environment and can be
Pollution turned into natural compounds in the environment.
DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, a chemical compound that used to
be used frequently as a pesticide. It was mainly used by military in
WW2. It was banned in 1972.
2.1-Species and populations
Abiotic Factors Non-living physical factors in a habitat: temperature, sunlight,
pollutants
Biotic Factors Living physical factors in a habitat: interactions of organisms
Habitat An area or environment that species tend to live in. The natural
home to an organism.
Population A group of species that live in the same place at the same time. A
, community
Niche The abiotic and biotic factors that make up a set best suitable for an
organism. An area an organism lives.
Limiting Factors Factors and conditions that limits the growth in an ecosystem. Could
be physical or biological. Too much or too little of something needed
to survive. Occurs when population reaches/approaches carrying
capacity
Carrying Capacity The maximum number of population, and/or plants, an area can
contain without environment degradation
S and J Two modes of representing generalized population growths and
Populations trends.
S: Shows the effects of limiting factors (carrying capacity)
J: Exponential and shows when there is no limit to population size
which is why it looked like the letter J
Interactions The actions between organisms. Could be between the same
species.
Fundamental Niche Represents the necessary environmental factors needed for a
species to live and survive.
Realized Niche Were the species actually lives resulting from adaptations and
competition. It’s were the animal actually lives. Realized niche is
resulted from biotic interactions.
Species A group of organisms that can interbreed and share similar
characteristics.
2.2-Communities and Ecosystems
Community A group of organisms that interact and live in the same area
Ecosystem A group of organisms and their interactions with each other and
other abiotic and biotic factors that make the area they inhabit.
,Respiration The conversion of organic matter into carbon dioxide and water in all
living organisms.
Carbon dioxide+water-glucose+oxygen
Photosynthesis Produces the raw source for biomass in food chains. Photosynthesis
takes place inside the plant and produces food for the plant to
survive. The outcome is glucose
Producers (Autotrophs). Are plants in the first trophic level such as plants and
algae that make their own food using photosynthesis. They produce
biomass.
Chemosynthetic Typically found in areas with little/no sunlight, these plants don't
need sunlight to create their own food and don't use photosynthesis
but are still in the first trophic level.
Consumers Consumers are organisms that eat other organisms to obtain
energy.
Decomposers Organisms that obtain their energy from decomposed living matter.
Food Chains A food chain is a diagram that shows how energy is passed through
each trophic level.
Food Webs A graphic representation of what eats what in a food chain pointed
with arrows.
Ecological Is a pyramid that represents the energy passed from each trophic
Pyramids level in a food chain.
Biomass The total weight of an organism measured in per unit area.
Pyramids of It's a graphical representation of the number of organisms at each
Numbers trophic level in a pyramid. Its represented based on the size of the
trophic level on the pyramid.
Flow Flows represent either a transfer or a transformation in a system.
They are represented with arrows in a model, flows represent a
change in location or a change in state.
,Rate A rate is the measurement of a quantity or frequency of something.
For example: the rate of population growth.
Pyramids of It's a graphical representation of the biomass of organisms at each
Biomass trophic level in a food pyramid. They are the mass of tissue of living
organisms.
Pyramids of Measured in Joules (J), pyramids of represents the energy acquired
Productivity from the trophic level below in a pyramid. Usually the producers are
the largest block in pyramids of productivity since they get 100% of
the energy from the sun.
Bioaccumulation build-up of persistent/non-biodegradable pollutants within an
organism or trophic level in the tissue
Biomagnification Biomagnification - increase in concentration of persistent or
non-biodegradable pollutants along a food chain
2.3-Flows of Energy and Matter
Biomass The total weight of an organism measured in per unit area.
Net The amount of something left after deductions are made
Gross The total amount of something as a result of an activity
Solar energy Is any type of energy that is created from the sun's radiation
Solar radiation Provides heat, light and energy necessary for all living organisms on
earth.
Productivity Is the conversion of energy into biomass over a given period of time,
so it is a measure of the rate of growth in biomass in plants per unit
area per unit time
Net Primary Is the total gain in biomass per unit area per unit time by green
Productivity plants after the deductions from respiration are made. GPP is used
for respiration and the remainder is NPP
, Primary Primary means plant in an ecosystem, so primary productivity is the
Productivity gain in biomass by autotrophs per unit area per time. Autotrophs
convert light energy into chemical energy and primary productivity
measures the increase in biomass that results from the energy
conversion in a given period of time.
Gross Secondary The total energy/biomass that is kept by heterotrophs after fecal
Productivity loss.
Net Secondary The total energy/biomass that is kept by heterotrophs after fecal loss
Productivity and respiration. It is what is available to the next trophic level. It is
measured in per unit area per given time.
Maximum Is equivalent to NSP or NPP because this is biomass that is already
sustainable yield available to the next trophic level. Therefore, it is the maximum level
that a resource yields without harming the stock.
Carbon and Are biogeochemical cycles were conserved matter moves through
Nitrogen cycles the ecosystem (water, air and rock).
Secondary Secondary means animals in an ecosystem, specifically autotrophs,
Productivity so secondary productivity is the biomass that is gained and
generated through feeding or absorption in units of mass per unit
area per given unit of time.
Net Productivity Unlike gross productivity, net productivity measures the amount of
biomass or energy left after deductions have been made. All
organisms have to respire to stay alive so some of this energy is
used other than for growth in biomass. The gain in biomass or
energy per unit area per unit time that remains after deductions from
respiration.
Gross Productivity Is the total gain in biomass or energy per given unit time before any
deductions.
Gross Primary Autotrophs convert light energy into sugars so it is possible to
Productivity measure the total amount of sugars produced by a plant. Gross
primary productivity measures the total amount of solar energy
converted into biomass per unit area per unit time by green plants
before any deductions. GPP is gained through photosynthesis.
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