Environmental Engineering

The origin of the word ecology is the Greek word __ meaning household,home,place to live

Study of structure and function of nature

The scientific study of the interaction that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms

The study of the relationships between organisms and the totality of the physical and biological factors affecting them or influenced by them

The study of the adaptation of organisms to their environment

The study of the principles which govern temporal and spatial patterns for assemblages of organisms

The study of organisms and their environment and the interrelationships between the two

The study of the relationships between organisms and their physical and biological environments

The study of the structure and function of nature

Includes the distribution and abundance of organisms as influenced by the biotic and abiotic elements of the environment

Includes how populations groe and interact including competition,predation,paratism,mutualism and transfer of nutrients and energy

Sub-divisions of Ecology

Deals with the study of organisms which are associated together as a unit

It is philosophical and deductive

It is largely descriptive and not easily subject to experimental design

Subdivisions of Synecology

Concerned with the study of the interrelations of individual organisms with the environment

It is experimental and inductive,easily quantified and subject to experimental design bith in laboratory and in the field

Life histories and behavior as a means of adaptation to the environment are usually emphasized

Emphasized that similar climates support similar vegetation

Correlated vegetation types with environmental characteristics

Studied the effects of temperature on plant distribution and introduced the concept of succession-vegetation change through time

He also use experimental transplant gardens to study the behavior of plants taken from different elevations

Unified plant morphology,physiology,taxonomy and biogeography into a coherent whole

Described how plants modify their environment by creating microenvironments and introduced such concepts as shade tolerance,competition,plant succession and the role of fire

Contributed as a scheme of life form classification and quantitative methods of sampling vegetation

Introduced the concept of ecosystem

His work on "Ecological relations of the Sand Dune Flora of Northern Indians marked the beginning of pioneering studies of plant succession

Developed an ecological approach to freshwater biology

He introduced the ideas of organic nutrient cycling and trophic feeding levels,using the terms producers and consumers

He also studied the physical parameters of freshwater habitats and introduced limnology for the study of freshwater life

Tge beginnings of animal ecology can be traced to these people

Strongly influenced the development of animal ecology in the US

Published the first rect on animal ecology

The work of __________ in Temperate America stressed the relationship of plants and animals and emphasized the concept of ecology as a science of communities

Discussed trophic structure and energy budgets,population dynamics and natural selection and evolution

Started the comparative method of studying nonhuman animals to gain insights into human behavior

Second more important to ecology

The systematic study of the function and evolution of behavioral patterns

Scientists who studied ethology

Who developed the scheme of 4 areas of inquiry

Noted for his studies of genetically programmed behavior

4 areas of inquiry

Who started studies of bee communication and behavior

The third new field of animal behavior

Investigates the way animals interact with their living and nonliving environments

Concerned with the responses of individual organisms to temperature,moisture,light,nutrients and other such stresses

Ecology has occurred from so many roots and has grown from so many stems

It comes from dufferent areas of study like marine,freshwater and terrestrial

It is also concerned with taxonomic groups from bacteria,protozoa to mammals and forest trees

These fields of scientific study are related to ecology

The study of the habitat,behaviors and interactions of organisms to their natural environments

The study of the ecological effects on human activities on the environment

It is an interdisciplinary science that incorporates ecology,chemistry,geology and even aspects of sociology and economics

Examples of Environmental science research

The science that uses the principles of ecology to maintain and manage biological diversity in both relatively natural systems and those more altered by human activity

Refer to several of a system's features,including the number of species,the amount of genetic variation and the complexity of interactions

Concerned with identifying ways of maintaining or augmenting these sorts of variety in the ecosystem

The science of the control and manipulation of game and nongame wildlife populations to provide adequate numbers for hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts

It is the whole environment house in which we live and it is the totality of man and environment

An answer to the following problems of pollution,overpopulation and degradation;Concerned with natural resource management;management of wildlife;awareness of the improvement and prevention of its continued contamination

Nonbiological processes

Used to include all relationships between organisms of a given area and their interactions with the physical environment

In ecology,it is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms,living together with their environment functioning as a loose unit

Biitic community or biocoensis

An interacting system of plants,animals and humans and their surrounding physical environment

Contains living and nonliving organisms that each or contribute to a unique service or function that other organisms depend upon

It is a system of interrelationships,interactions and processes

Who coin the term ecosystem

The primary focus of Ecosystem

Exchanges from inside the ecosystem to the surrounding environment

An Ecosystem with no inputs

One with inputs

3 basic components of Ecosystem

Use the energy of the sun in photosynthesis to transform inorganic compounds into simple organic compounds

Use the organic compounds produced by the autotrophs as a source of food

2 subsystems of heterotrophic component

Feed largely on living tissues

Break down dead matter into inorganic substances

Consists of the soil,sediments,particulate matter,dissolved organic matter in aquatic ecosystem and litter in terrestrial ecosystems

Much more complex than simple sediments

They contain a mixture of weathered rock fragments,highly altered soil mineral particles,organic matter and living organisms

Provides organisms found within ecosystems which carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and oxygen for respiration

Used in ecosystems to heat the atmosphere and to evaporate and transpire water into the atmosphere

Also necessary for photosynthesis

Provides the energy for plant growth and metabolism and rhe organic food for other forms of life

The driving force of the system

The medium by which mineral nutrients enter and are translocated in plants

It is also necessary for the maintenance of leaf turgidity and is required for photosynthetic chemical reactions

2 main ideas about how ecosystems function are:

Considered as an open system with respect to energy

Obtain elements from the surrounding atmosphere,water or soils

May also obtain elements directly from the physical environment,but usually they obtain these mainly as a consequence of consuming other organisms

Those elements whose supply tends to limit biological activity

Is captured by the process of photosynthesis

Combines with water to produce carbohydrates

Stored in the hogh energy bonds of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

The first step in the production of energy for living things

Derives its energy from the sun,captured by plant photosynthesis,flows from trophic level via the food chain

Composed of organisms that make a living in the same way

Are descriptive diagrams-a series of arrows,each pointing from one species to another for which it is a source of food

2 major food chains

In this food chain,the source of energy is living plant biomass or net primary production

In this food chain,the source of energy is dead organic matter or detritus

The source of energy for the carnivores and so on

First level consumers of the grazing food chains

A good place to seek an example of a detrital food web

Many food links and chains in an ecosystem

Drawn in a diagram similar to a spiderweb to show how the energy moves

Also called producers,convert that energy into food through photosynthesis

Plants do photosynthesis in special cells called

These are usually green because of a pigment called chlorophyll

Living organisms in freshwater bodies

Living organisms together in seas and oceans

Living on land

Protection from ultraviolet radiation

Providing the needs of the present generation while considering also the future generation

Causes of acid rain

A dynamic system that is changing continuously while undergoing chemical and physical processes

The thin layer of gases that envelope the earth

A mixture of many discrete gases,each with its own physical properties,in which varying quantities of tiny dolid and liquid particles are suspended

4 gases that composed 99.99% of dry air

0.01% of dry air is composed of

Other components of air near the earth's surface that are of great importance to life

The most abundant and important gas in the atmosphere

It is relatively inactive element

It dilutes oxygen to lessen the rate at which oxidation or burning occurs

An important element in the body of plants and animals

Breath of life

The most important gas in the atmosphere

Aids in purifying water,decaying waste matter and destroying germs

Plays an important role in life