EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

BIOL119

ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

LECTURE NOTES
COURSE CODE BIOL 119 COURSE LEVEL First year
COURSE TITLE Ecology and Environment
COURSE TYPE University Elective
Name: Dr. Burak Ali Çiçek
Office: AS 110
LECTURER Office Hours: Monday 08:30 – 10:20; Tuesday 08:30 - 10:20
Tel: 630 2109 (office) 0533 8624137 (mob)
e-mail: burak.cicek@emu.edu.tr
CREDIT VALUE 3 ECTS VALUE 5
PREREQUISITES None
COREQUISITES None
DURATION OF COURSE One Semester

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
University elective (UE) course topics can be selected from Social and Natural Sciences areas, such as,
Discoveries in Science, World Civilizations, Culture and Society and Visual, Literal and Performing Arts. This
course explicitly focuses on introducing and improving both critical thinking and effective communication skills,
while conveying general knowledge about the selected topics.
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
This course seeks to orientate students to the demands of academic life, develop general knowledge and critical
thinking skills, and improve communication skills. This specific course aims to: evaluate consequences of recent
studies about environmental and ecological issues. Instead of dealing with confusing scientific data, the course
seeks to ask questions about environmental philosophy and ethics.
As environment is a multidisciplinery field and critically discussed in the real world by diverse levels of human
organizations; the course aims to promote students’ communication and critical thinking skills by means of
discussing environmental problems.
GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOMES (COMPETENCES)
On successful completion of this course, all students will have developed knowledge and understanding of:
- basic ecological and environmental concepts
- interdisciplinary relationships in ecological and environmental issues
- reasons of global and local environmental problems and their possible solutions
- sustainable development and public policy in terms of how they shape the present and the future.
On successful completion of this course, all students will have developed their skills in:
- critical thinking, by showing that they can respond critically to issues, form and articulate opinions as well
as justify them in both the written and spoken medium.
- communicating ideas and opinions in English both for academic purposes and in terms of effective
interpersonal communication in a multilingual and multicultural environment.
- adopting a self-directed approach to learning, for example, planning, self-assessment, time-management
and problem-solving skills.
On successful completion of this course, all students will have developed their appreciation of and respect for
values and attitudes regarding the issues of:
- what it means to function in the contemporary academic environment with regard to such issues as
formatting, referencing, plagiarism and research ethics.
GRADING CRITERIA
‘A’ work displays all of the qualities of ‘B’ work but also shows some independent analysis or independent
evaluation, e.g. elaborates original answers to given questions or poses new self-generated and critical questions.
‘A’ work is conceptually clear and is logically structured, is explicitly supported by new examples, and is written
(and spoken upon request) in easily intelligible English.
‘B’ work exhibits all of the qualities of ‘C’ work but
its reports are usually more complete with regard to the course’s set programme,
it must use clear English.
‘C’ work clearly, and with some understanding, reports the most basic course content asked about. It does this by
leaving only minor gaps or by making only small mistakes. It must use English that can be understood.
‘D’ work shows some understanding of the essential course material asked about but also displays mistakes,
confusions, or a lack of understanding with regard to other important elements. These flaws may appear largely as
a result of the use of poor English.
‘D-’ shows evidence of little effort or greater effort but without understanding any of the important parts of the

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course. This appearance may largely result from poor English.
‘F’ performances either show an inability accurately to report any important part of the courses content, or they give
the dominant impression of complete confusion. This appearance may largely result from the use of poor English.
Alternatively, ‘F’ work may display irrelevant memorization, or may result from the practice of plagiarism.
RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER COURSES
UE courses seek to broaden general knowledge and develop an understanding of interdisciplinary relationships.
LEARNING / TEACHING METHOD
The modes of delivery are formal lectures, site trips and an independent project work.
ASSIGNMENTS
Project on a specified topic by the instructor
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Final exam (35%); midterm exam (%25); project (%40)
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is required. Students who attend less than 60% of classes, and whose submission of required work and
attendance at examinations is minimal may receive an NG grade.
TEXTBOOK/S
NONE
INDICATIVE BASIC READING LIST
NONE
EXTENDED READING LIST
Nebel, B. J., Wright, R.T., 2000, Environmental Science, ISBN: 0130831344
Cunningham, W.P., Cunningham, M.A., 2004, Principles of Environmental Science, ISBN: 0072509317
SEMESTER OFFERED
2019-2020 Spring Semester
CONTENT & SCHEDULE
Lectures will be held on working days and two site (field) trips on weekend days (Tentative). The lecture topics
within the semester are as in the following schedule:
WEEK TOPICS
1 Introduction to ecology and environmental science
2 Fundemental principles of ecology: Biosphere
3 Fundemental principles of ecology: The ecosystem concept
4 Fundemental principles of ecology: Dynamics and stability
5 Fundemental principles of ecology: Spatial relationships and subdivisions of land
6 Fundemental principles of ecology: Ecosystem productivity
7 Fundemental principles of ecology: Ecological crisis
8 Human impact on natural environment
9 Food and agriculture
10 Environmental health, and toxicology
11 Air: Climate and pollution
12 Water: Resources and pollution
13 Solid, toxic, and hazardous waste
14 Environmental conservation, preserving nature
15 Sustainabilty and human development
16 Final Exam Period

PLAGIARISM
This is intentionally failing to give credit to sources used in writing regardless of whether they are published or
unpublished. Plagiarism (which also includes any kind of cheating in exams) is a disciplinary offence and will be
dealt with accordingly.)
ATTENDANCE TO SITE TRIPS IS REQUIRED.

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 ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and
abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected
by interactions (interrelationships) between the organisms and their environment.

The term oekologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel,
although it seems that Henry David Thoreau had already invented it in 1852; the
word is derived from the Greek οικος (oikos, "household") and λόγος (logos, "study");
therefore "ecology" means the "study of the household [of nature]".

The word "ecology" is often used in common parlance as a synonym for the natural
environment or environmentalism. Likewise "ecologic" or "ecological" is often taken in
the sense of environmentally friendly.

Environment: Environment refers to any factor affecting an organism that is not part
of the organism. Hereditary diseases such as diabetes or sickle cell anemia are not
environmental factors. Bacterial and viral diseases are.

The environment of an organism includes both physical properties, which can be

described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as solar insolation, climate and
geology, as well as the other organisms (biotic factors) that share its habitat.

Examples of environmental factors include:

Chemical Geological
Gases (O2, CO2, N2, pollutants) Soil
Nutrients (P, S, etc., pollutants) Reefs
Water Earthquakes
Meteriorites

Physical Biological
Heat Food
Light Predators
Wind, currents Parasites
Fire Competitors
Radioactivity Mutualants

Ecology is usually considered a branch of biology, the general science that studies
living organisms. Organisms can be studied at many different levels, from proteins
and nucleic acids (in biochemistry and molecular biology), to cells (in cellular
biology), to individuals (in botany, zoology, and other similar disciplines), and finally
at the level of populations, communities, and ecosystems, to the biosphere as a
whole; these latter strata are the primary subjects of ecological inquiries.

Ecology is a multi-disciplinary science. Because of its focus on the higher levels of

the organization of life on earth and on the interrelations between organisms and
their environment, ecology draws heavily on many other branches of science,

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especially geology and geography, meteorology, pedology, chemistry, and physics.
Thus, ecology is considered by some to be a holistic science, one that over-arches
older disciplines such as biology which in this view become sub-disciplines
contributing to ecological knowledge.

Agriculture, fisheries, forestry, medicine and urban development are among human
activities that would fall within Krebs' (1972) explanation of his definition of ecology:
"where organisms are found, how many occur there, and why".

As a scientific discipline, ecology does not dictate what is "right" or "wrong".

However, ecological knowledge such as the quantification of biodiversity and
population dynamics have provided a scientific basis for expressing the aims of
environmentalism and evaluating its goals and policies. Additionally, a holistic view of
nature is stressed in both ecology and environmentalism.

Fundamental principles of ecology are:

 Biosphere
 The ecosystem concept
 Dynamics and stability
 Spatial relationships and subdivisions of land
 Ecosystem productivity
 Ecological crisis

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 THE BIOSPHERE
The term "Biosphere" was coined by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky in the
1929. The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms,
including man, and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed.

The biosphere is the outermost part of the planet's shell — including air, land, surface
rocks and water — within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or
transform.

From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global
ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their
interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and
atmosphere (air).

Our planet Earth is the only place where life is known to exist. This biosphere is
postulated to have evolved, beginning through a process of biogenesis or biopoesis,
at least some 3.5 billion years ago.

The Natural System (biosphere)

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The environmental system may be understood in an ecological sense as the set of
interactions between the elements of the biosphere, which includes the atmosphere,
the hydrosphere, the lithosphere and the ecosphere . We present here a brief
description of each system.

• The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and traces

(remaining 1%) of carbon dioxide, argon, water vapor and other components.
Although the atmosphere is approximately 1,100 km high, the stratosphere (10 to 50
km) and the troposphere (less than 10 km) are the main atmospheric interactors of
the biosphere. The atmosphere is a prime mean for the spatial diffusion of pollutants
and a temporary mean of their accumulation.

• The hydrosphere is the accumulation of water in all its states (solid, liquid and
gas) and the elements dissolved it in (sodium, magnesium, calcium, chloride and
sulphate). 97% of the water forms the oceans, 2% is ice (north and south poles) and
1% forms rivers, lakes, ground water and atmospheric vapor. It covers around 71% of
the earth's surface and is an important accumulator of pollutants and a significant
vector of diffusion.

• The lithosphere is the thin crust between the mantle and the atmosphere.
Although the lithosphere is around 100 km thick, only 1 km of it can be considered in
interaction with the biosphere. Main constituents are oxygen (47%), silicon (28%),
aluminum (8%), iron (5%), calcium (4%), sodium (3%), potassium (3%) and
magnesium (2%) in a crystalline state. The lithosphere is the main source of
pollutants and a permanent accumulator. Some are naturally released through
sources like volcanic eruptions, while others like fossil fuels are the result of artificial
extraction and combustion.

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• The ecosphere is the set of all living organisms, including fauna and flora.

In addition to natural system, sociospehere includes human impacts!

Biosphere with sociosphere.

Extent of the earth's biosphere

Some theorists have postulated that the Earth is poorly suited to life, although nearly
every part of the planet, from the polar ice caps to the Equator, supports life of some
kind. Indeed, recent advances in microbiology have demonstrated that microbes live
deep beneath the Earth's terrestrial surface, and that the total mass of microbial life
in so-called "uninhabitable zones" may, in biomass, exceed all animal and plant life
on the surface. The actual thickness of the biosphere on earth is hard to measure.

Birds typically fly at altitudes of 650 to 2000 meters, and fish that live deep
underwater can be found down to -8,372 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench.
There are more extreme examples for life on the planet: Rüppell's Vulture has been
found at altitudes of 11,300 meters; Bar-headed Geese migrate at altitudes of at least
8,300 meters (over Mount Everest); Yaks live at elevations between 3,200 to 5,400
meters above sea level; mountain goats live up to 3,050 meters. Herbivorous animals
at these elevations depend on lichens, grasses, and herbs but the biggest tree is the
Tine palm or mountain coconut found 3,400 meters above sea level.

Microscopic organisms (e.g., bacteria) live at such extremes that, taking them into
consideration puts the thickness of the biosphere much greater, but at minimum it
extends from 5,400 meters above sea level to at least 9,000 meters below sea level.

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Our biosphere is divided into a number of biomes, inhabited by broadly similar flora
and fauna. On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes
lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal
life, while most of the more populus biomes lie near the Equator. Terrestrial
organisms in temperate and arctic biomes have relatively small amounts of total
biomass, smaller energy budgets, and display prominent adaptations to cold,
including world-spanning migrations, social adaptations, homeothermy, estivation
and multiple layers of insulation.

Important major components of Earth's biosphere are : Ocean; Forest; Desert;

Steppe; Lake; River.

BIOSPHERE 2 EXPERIMENT

Scientists wanted to know if we could replicate the Earth's ecosystems, so in the

Sonoran desert outside of Tucson, Arizona they built a three-acre closed-system
environment designed to do just that. Known as Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 1 is the
Earth), the project was started back in the late 1980s. The idea was to test if we
could re-create the Earth's ecosystems in a closed environment to help people to be
able to live in space for an extended amount of time.

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 THE ECOSYSTEM CONCEPT
The first principle of ecology is that each living organism has an ongoing and
continual relationship with every other element that makes up its environment. An
ecosystem can be defined as any situation where there is interaction between
organisms and their environment.

The ecosystem is composed of two entities, the entirety of life, the biocoenosis
(biological community) and the medium that life exists in, the biotope (Habitat).

Biocoenosis

A biocoenosis (alternatively, biocoenose or biocenose), termed by Karl Möbius in

1877, describes all the interacting organisms living together in a specific habitat (or
biotope). Biotic community, biological community, and ecological community are
more common synonyms of biocenosis, all of which represent the same concepts.
The extent or geographical area of a biocenose is limited only by the requirement of a
more or less uniform species composition.

The importance of the biocoenosis concept in ecology is its emphasis on the

interrelationships between species living in a geographical area. These interactions
are as important as the physical factors to which each species is adapted and

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responding. In a very real sense, it is the specific biological community or
biocoenosis that is adapted to conditions that prevail in a given place.

Biotope (Habitat)

A biotope is an area of uniform environmental (physical) conditions providing

habitat(s) for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Just as a habitat is the
place where a species is found, so a biotope is the place where a specific biological
community is found.

An artificial biotope.

Classification of Ecosystems

The concept of an ecosystem can apply to units of variable size, such as a pond, a
field, or a piece of deadwood. A unit of smaller size is called a microecosystem. For
example, an ecosystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A mesoecosystem
could be a forest, and a macroecosystem a whole ecoregion, with its drainage
basin.
Ecosystems are often classified by reference to the biotopes concerned. The
following ecosystems may be defined:

• As continental ecosystems, such as forest ecosystems, meadow ecosystems

such as steppes or savannas), or agro-ecosystems.
• As ecosystems of inland waters, such as lentic ecosystems such as lakes or
ponds; or lotic ecosystems such as rivers
• As oceanic ecosystems.

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Another classification can be done by reference to its communities, such as in the
case of an human ecosystem.

Ecosystems by size:

A microecosystem.

A mesoecosystem

A macroecosystem

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 DYNAMICS AND STABILITY
Ecological factors which can affect dynamic change in a population or species
in a given ecology or environment are usually divided into two groups: abiotic
and biotic.

ABIOTIC FACTORS

Abiotic factors are geological, geographical, hydrological and climatological

parameters. A biotope is an environmentally uniform region characterized by a
particular set of abiotic ecological factors. Specific abiotic factors include:

• Water, which is at the same time an essential element to life and a milieu
• Air, which provides oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide to living species and
allows the dissemination of pollen and spores
• Soil, at the same time source of nutriment and physical support. Soil pH,
salinity, nitrogen and phosphorus content, ability to retain water, and density are all
influential
• Temperature, which should not exceed certain extremes, even if tolerance to
heat is significant for some species
• Light, which provides energy to the ecosystem through photosynthesis
• Natural disasters can also be considered abiotic

Water

Water is a tasteless, odorless substance that is essential to all known forms of life
and is known as the universal solvent. It appears colorless to the naked eye in small
quantities. The UN Environment Program estimates there are 1.4 billion cubic
kilometers (330 million mi3) available on Earth, and it exists in many forms. It
appears mostly in the oceans (saltwater) and polar ice caps, but it is also present as
clouds, rain water, rivers, freshwater aquifers, lakes, and sea ice. Water in these
bodies continuously moves through a cycle of evaporation, precipitation, and runoff
to the sea.

Chemical and physical properties

Water has the chemical formula H2O meaning that one molecule of water is
composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. It can be described ionically
as HOH, with a hydrogen ion (H+) that is bonded to a hydroxide ion (OH-). It is in
dynamic equilibrium between the liquid and vapor states at standard temperature and
pressure. Water alone is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless liquid, but upon standing
it takes on the traces of carbon dioxide in the air and tends toward a sour solution of
carbonic acid that is unpleasant-tasting and more inhospitable to life.

Water is often referred to in the sciences as the universal solvent and the only pure
substance found naturally in all three states of matter; however, "found" should not
mean that water is the only such natural substance that can be in three states at
regular Earthly conditions, as its two elements are much more abundant than those

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of at least ten other molecules that share water's range but that are often found
dissolved in water or shale. Examples are acetic acid, formic acid, hydrazine,
dioxane, and benzene.

Color

Iron-rich rocks have turned this river red.Water strongly absorbs infrared radiation. As
infrared radiation is next to red-colored light on the EM spectrum, a small amount of
visible red light is absorbed as well. This results in pure water appearing slightly blue
when seen in mass quantities such as a lake or ocean. The blue color can easily be
seen as one sees the blue color of the sea or a clear lake under an overcast sky,
which means that it is not a reflection of the sky. In practice, the color of water can
vary greatly, depending on impurities. Limestone turns bodies of water turquoise,
while iron compounds turn it red/brown and copper compounds create an intense
blue. Algae commonly colors water green.

Solvation

Water is a very good solvent, dissolving many types of substances. The substances
that will mix well and dissolve in water (e.g. salts) are known as "hydrophilic" (water-
loving) substances, and those that do not mix well with water (e.g. fats and oils), are
known as "hydrophobic" (water-fearing) substances. The ability of a substance to
dissolve in water is determined by whether or not the substance can match or better
the strong attractive forces that water molecules generate between themselves. If
they cannot, the molecules are "pushed out" from amongst the water and do not
dissolve.

Cohesion and adhesion

Surface tension of water allowing for formation of a large droplet.Water sticks to itself
(cohesion) because it is polar, meaning one end of the molecule has slightly more
negative charge than the other, which has slightly more positive charge. In water, this
happens because the oxygen atom is more electronegative—that is, it has a stronger
"pulling power" on the molecule's electrons, drawing them closer (along with their
negative charge) and making the area around the oxygen atom more negative than
the area around both the hydrogen atoms.
Water also has high adhesion properties because of its polar nature.

Surface tension

This daisy is under the water level, which has risen gently and smoothly. Surface
tension prevents the water from submerging the flower.Water has a high surface
tension caused by the strong cohesion between water molecules. This can be seen
when small quantities of water are put onto a nonsoluble surface such as polythene:
the water stays together as drops. On extremely clean glass the water may form a
thin film because the molecular forces between glass and water molecules (adhesive
forces) are stronger than the cohesive forces.

In biological cells and organelles, water is in contact with membrane and protein
surfaces that are hydrophilic; that is, surfaces that have a strong attraction to water.

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Irving Langmuir observed a strong repulsive force between hydrophilic surfaces. To
dehydrate hydrophilic surfaces—to remove the strongly held layers of water of
hydration—requires doing substantial work against these forces, called hydration
forces. These forces are very large but decrease rapidly over a nanometer or less.
They are particularly important when cells are dehydrated by exposure to dry
atmospheres or to extracellular freezing.

Capillary action

Capillary action refers to the process of water moving up a narrow tube against the
force of gravity. It occurs because water adheres to the sides of the tube, and then
more water is pulled on top of that water through cohesion, which sticks to the sides
of the tube. The process is repeated as the water flows up the tube until there is
enough water that gravity can counteract the adhesive force.

Heat capacity and heat of vaporization

Water has the second highest specific heat capacity of any known chemical
compound, after ammonia, as well as a high heat of vaporization (40.65 kJ/mol), both
of which are a result of the extensive hydrogen bonding between its molecules.
These two unusual properties allow water to moderate Earth's climate by buffering
large swings in temperature.

Freezing point

A simple but environmentally important and unique property of water is that its
common solid form, ice, floats on its liquid form. This solid phase is not as dense as
liquid water because of the geometry of the strong hydrogen bonds which are formed
only at lower temperatures. For almost all other substances and for all other 11
uncommon phases, the solid form is denser than the liquid form. Fresh water at
standard atmospheric pressure is most dense at 3.98 °C, and will sink by convection
as it cools to that temperature, and if it becomes colder it will rise instead. This
reversal will cause deep water to remain warmer than shallower freezing water, so
that ice in a body of water will form first at the surface and progress downward, while
the majority of the water underneath will hold a constant 4 °C. This effectively
insulates a lake floor from the cold. Almost all other chemicals are denser as solids
than they are as liquids and freeze from the bottom up.

Electrical conductivity

A common misconception about water is that it is a powerful conductor of electricity,

with risks of electrocution explaining this popular belief. Any electrical properties
observable in water are from the ions of mineral salts and carbon dioxide dissolved in
it. Water does self-ionize where two water molecules become one hydroxide anion
and one hydronium cation, but not enough to carry enough electric current to do any
work or harm for most operations. Pure water can also be electrolyzed into oxygen
and hydrogen gases but without any dissolved ions; this is a very slow process and
thus very little current is conducted.

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Effects on life

From a biological standpoint, water has many distinct properties that are critical for
the proliferation of life that set it apart from other substances. It carries out this role by
allowing organic compounds to react in ways that ultimately allows replication. All
known forms of life depend on water. Water is vital both as a solvent in which many
of the body's solutes dissolve and as an essential part of many metabolic processes
within the body, since significant quantities of water are used during the digestion of
food.

Aquatic life forms

Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef. Earth's waters are filled with life. Nearly all
fish live exclusively in water, and there are many types of marine mammals, such as
dolphins and whales that also live in the water. Some types of animal, such as
amphibians, spend portions of their lives in water and portions on land. Plants such
as kelp and algae grow in the water and are the basis for some underwater
ecosystems. Plankton is generally the foundation of the ocean food chain.
Some marine diatoms - a key phytoplankton group. Different water creatures have
found different solutions to obtaining oxygen in the water. Fish have gills instead of
lungs, though some species of fish, such as the lungfish, have both. Marine
mammals, such as dolphins, whales, otters, and seals need to surface periodically to
breathe air.

Effects on human civilization

Civilization has historically flourished around rivers and major waterways;

Mesopotamia, the so-called cradle of civilization, was situated between the major
rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Large metropolises like London, Montreal, Paris, New
York, and Tokyo owe their success in part to their easy accessibility via water and the
resultant expansion of trade. Islands with safe water ports, like Singapore and Hong
Kong, have flourished for the same reason. In places such as North Africa and the
Middle East, where water is more scarce, access to clean drinking water was and is a
major factor in human development

Air

Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by
the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen and 0.93%
argon, trace amounts of other gases, and water vapor. This mixture of gases is
commonly known as air. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing
ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.

Soil

Soil is the collection of natural bodies that form in earthy material on the land surface.
The term is popularly applied to the material on the surface of the earth's moon and
Mars, a usage acceptable within a portion of the scientific community.

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Soil consists of mineral and organic matter, as well as living organisms. Soil,
comprising the pedosphere, is positioned at the interface of the lithosphere with the
biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Pedogenesis produces soil from geologic
materials such as granite, limestone, glacial drift, loess and alluvium through a
combination of climatic and biogeochemical processes.

Temperature

Temperature is a measure of the average energy of the particles (atoms or

molecules) of a substance.
Based on temperature requirements organisms can be divided in groups that defined
their optimal growth.

Name Optimal Growth

Psychrophiles -5 to 20 C
Mesophiles 20 to 50 C (most pathogens)
Thermophiles 50 to 80 C
Hyperthermophiles 80 to 100C

All living organisms exist within a preferred range of temperature. Polar bears exist
where it is very cold. Tropical rainforests exist where it is warm (and wet). Optimal
temperature describes the range of temperatures which living organisms will best
function.

Light

Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible
light) or, in a technical or scientific context, electromagnetic radiation of any
wavelength. The elementary particle that defines light is the photon.

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Natural disasters

A natural disaster is the consequence of the combination of a natural hazard (a

physical event e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide) and human activities.

BIOTIC ECOLOGICAL FACTORS

Biotic ecological factors also influence biocenose viability; these factors are
considered as either intraspecific and interspecific relations.

Intraspecific relations
Intraspecific relations are those which are established between individuals of the
same species, forming a population. They are relations of co-operation or
competition, with division of the territory, and sometimes organization in hierarchical
societies.

Co-operation

Co-operation or co-operative behaviours are terms used to describe behaviours by

biological organisms which a beneficial to other members of the same species. There
are several competing theories which help to explain why natural selection favours
some types of co-operative behaviour. It is worth noting that more than one of the
below theories can contribute to the true reason for the selection of these behaviours.
The classic example is the social insects, such as bees and ants. Worker insects
never reproduce, but instead, they work to allow the (genetically similar) queen to
reproduce.

Competition

Competition within and between species is an important topic in biology, specifically,

in the field of ecology. Competition between members of a species ("intra-specific")is
the driving force of evolution and natural selection- the competition for resources,
such as food, water, territory, and sunlight, results in the ultimate survival and
dominance of the variation of the species best suited for survival. Competition is also
present between species ("inter-specific"). First, a limited amount of resources are
available, and several species may depend on these resources. Thus, each of the
species competes with the others to gain the resources. As a result, several species
less suited to compete for the resources may either adapt or die out. According to
evolutionary theory, this competition within and between species for resources plays
a critical role in natural selection.

Interspecific relations

Interactions between different species—are numerous, and usually described

according to their beneficial, detrimental or neutral effect (for example, mutualism
(relation ++) or competition (relation --). The most significant relation is the relation of
predation (to eat or to be eaten), which leads to the essential concepts in ecology of
food chains (for example, the grass is consumed by the herbivore, itself consumed by
a carnivore, itself consumed by a carnivore of larger size). A high predator to prey
ratio can have a negative influence on both the predator and prey biocenoses in that

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low availability of food and high death rate prior to sexual maturity can decrease (or
prevent the increase of) populations of each, respectively. Selective hunting of
species by humans which leads to population decline is one example of a high
predator to prey ratio in action. Other interspecific relations include parasitism,
infectious disease and competition for limiting resources, which can occur when two
species share the same ecological environment.

Terms which explicitly indicate the quality of benefit or harm experienced by

participants in an interaction are listed below:

• Neutralism is a lack of interaction. Since all species sharing an environment

interact in some way, a complete lack of interaction is rarely seen in nature. However,
the term can also signify a relationship in which each species derives neither benefit
nor detriment to any measurable degree.

• Mutualism benefits both populations. It is often non obligatory or temporary.

• Commensalism benefits one organism and the other organism is neither

benefited nor harmed.

• Predation is an interaction between organisms in which one organism

captures biomass from another. It is often used as a synonym for carnivory but
formally also includes herbivory, parasitism, and parasitoidism.

Effect on X Effect on Y Type of interaction

0 0 Neutralism
+ 0 Commensalism
+ + Mutualism
Predation or
+ -
Parasitism

Some types of relationships listed by the effect they have on

each partner. '0' is no effect, '-' is detrimental, and '+' is
beneficial.

It is important to note that these interactions are not always static. In many cases,
two species will interact differently under different conditions. This is particularly true
in, but not limited to, cases where species have multiple, drastically different life
stages.

19
Population dynamics and Population Growth Models

A population is the collection of people, or organisms of a particular species, living in

a given geographic area, or space, usually measured by a census.

Population dynamics is the study of marginal and long-term changes in the numbers,
individual weights and age composition of individuals in one or several populations,
and biological and environmental processes influencing those changes.

Population is affected by four dynamic rate functions. Natality or birth rate, Growth
rate, Mortality, and Immigration.

20
Carrying capacity

Carrying capacity is the largest number of people that can be adequately supported
by a given area of land. It is also called the saturation level or population ceiling, a
concept first suggested by Thomas Malthus.

Carrying capacity is related to available resources and existing level of technology.

This ecological concept has been applied to sustainable management of the
environment. Carrying capacity is more or less similar to optimum population and it is
dynamic. It may increase due to economic progress, technological advances or
discovery of resources.

21
 SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND
SUBDIVISIONS OF LAND
Ecosystems are not isolated from each other, but are interrelated. For example,
water may circulate between ecosystems by the means of a river or ocean current.
Water itself, as a liquid medium, even defines ecosystems. Some species, such as
salmon or freshwater eels move between marine systems and fresh-water systems.

These relationships between the ecosystems lead to the concept of a biome.

Biomes correspond rather well to subdivisions distributed along the latitudes, from
the equator towards the poles, with differences based on to the physical environment
(for example, oceans or mountain ranges) and to the climate. Their variation is
generally related to the distribution of species according to their ability to tolerate
temperature and/or dryness. For example, one may find photosynthetic algae only in
the photic part of the ocean (where light penetrates), while conifers are mostly found
in mountains.

Though this is a simplification of more complicated scheme, latitude and altitude

approximate a good representation of the distribution of biodiversity within the
biosphere. Very generally, the richness of biodiversity (as well for animal than plant
species) is decreasing most rapidly near the equator and less rapidly as one
approaches the poles.

The biosphere may also be divided into ecozone, which are very well defined today
and primarily follow the continental borders. The ecozones are themselves divided
into ecoregions, though there is not agreement on their limits.

Biomes
A biome is a large, distinctive complex of plant communities created and maintained
by climate.

In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal

communities best adapted to the region's physical natural environment, latitude,
altitude, and terrain. A biome is made up of communities at stable steady state and
all associated transitional, disturbed, or degraded, vegetation, fauna and soils, but
can often be identified by the climax vegetation type.

The nature of communities and ecosystem on land is shaped primarily by the

dominant producers. It is the plants that provide the framework for the overall
structure and potential relationships within the natural systems of a region. Although
the biodiversity patterns of different parts of the earth's surface can be quite different,
there can be a remarkable similarity in the aspect of communities and ecosystems
developed under similar climates. Thus, while the specific plants which are present in
a rainforest in South America are quite different from those in a rainforest in the
Congo, the two forests will be quite similar in terms of the scope of biodiversity and
the ways in which niche space is partitioned. Put simply, rainforests, as one example,

22
will look quite similar from one biogeographic region to another, despite profound
differences in the specific plants and animals that make up these forests. These
broad zones, with their definable characteristics, are known as biomes.

Climate, specifically, temperature and rainfall, is the most important factor in defining
the nature of the biomes that develop within specific regions:

This diagram, shows the relationship of rainfall (dry to wet) and temperature (warm to
cold) in defining the distribution of some of the major terrestrial biomes.

Biomes are often given local names. For example, a Temperate grassland or
shrubland biome is known commonly as steppe in central Asia, savanna or veld in
southern Africa, prairie in North America, pampa in South America and outback or
scrub in Australia. Sometimes an entire biome may be targeted for protection,
especially under an individual nation's Biodiversity Action Plan.

A fundamental classification of biomes is into:

1. Terrestrial (or continental) biomes and

2. Aquatic biomes.

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Terrestrial Biomes:
How many biomes are there?
There are more than 150 different terrestrial "biomes or ecoregions" in the world. But
8 of them are main terrestrial biomes; which are:

• tundra
• taiga
• temperate deciduous forest
• scrub forest (Chaparral)
• grassland
• desert
• tropical rain forest
• temperate rain forest

Tropical Rain Forest

In the Western Hemisphere, the tropical rain forest reaches its fullest development in
the jungles of Central and South America.
• The trees are very tall and of a great variety of species.
• One rarely finds two trees of the same species growing close to one another.
• The vegetation is so dense that little light reaches the forest floor.
• Most of the plants are evergreen, not deciduous.
• The branches of the trees are festooned with vines and epiphytes.
Epiphytes are plants that live perched on sturdier plants. They do not take
nourishment from their host as parasitic plants do. Because their roots do not reach
the ground, they depend on the air to bring them moisture and inorganic nutrients.
Many orchids and many bromeliads (members of the pineapple family like "Spanish
moss") are epiphytes.

24
The lushness of the tropical rain forest suggests a high net productivity, but this is
illusory. Many of the frequent attempts to use the tropical rain forest for conventional
crops have been disappointing. Two problems:
• The high rainfall leaches soil minerals below the reach of plant roots.
• The warmth and moisture cause rapid decay so little humus is added to the
soil.

The tropical rain forest exceeds all the other biomes in the diversity of its animals as
well as plants. Most of the animals — mammals and reptiles, as well as birds and
insects — live in the trees.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

This biome occupies the eastern half of the United States and a large portion of
Europe. It is characterized by:
• hardwood trees (e.g., beech, maple, oak, hickory) which
• are deciduous; that is, shed their leaves in the autumn.
• The number of different species is far more limited than in the jungle.
• Large stands dominated by a single species are common.
• Deer, raccoons, and salamanders are characteristic inhabitants.
• During the growing season, this biome can be quite productive in both natural
and agricultural ecosystems.

Taiga

The taiga is named after the biome in Russia.

• It is a land dominated by conifers, especially spruces and firs.
• It is dotted with lakes, bogs, and marshes.
• It is populated by an even more limited variety of plants and animals than is
the temperate deciduous forest.
• Before the long, snowy winter sets in, many of the mammals hibernate, and
many of the birds migrate south.
• Although the long days of summer permit plants to grow luxuriantly, net
productivity is low.

Tundra

At extreme latitudes, the trees of the taiga become stunted by the harshness of the
subarctic climate. Finally, they disappear leaving a land of bogs and lakes.
• The climate is so cold in winter that even the long days of summer are unable
to thaw the permafrost beneath the surface layers of soil.
• Sphagnum moss, a wide variety of lichens, and some grasses and fast-
growing annuals dominate the landscape during the short growing season.
• Caribou feed on this growth as do vast numbers of insects.
• Swarms of migrating birds, especially waterfowl, invade the tundra in the
summer to raise their young, feeding them on a large variety of aquatic invertebrates
and vertebrates.
• As the brief arctic summer draws to a close, the birds fly south, and
• all but a few of the permanent residents, in one way or another, prepare
themselves to spend the winter in a dormant state.

25
Temperate Rain Forest

The temperate rain forest combines high annual rainfall with a temperate climate. An
annual rainfall of as much as 150 inches produces a lush forest of conifers.

Grasslands

Grasslands are also known as prairie or plains. The annual precipitation in the
grasslands averages 20 in./year. A large proportion of this falls as rain early in the
growing season. This promotes a vigorous growth of perennial grasses and herbs,
but — except along river valleys — is barely adequate for the growth of forests.
Fire is probably the factor that tips the balance from forest to grasslands. Fires — set
by lightning and by humans — regularly swept the plains in earlier times. Thanks to
their underground stems and buds, perennial grasses and herbs are not harmed by
fires that destroy most shrubs and trees.
The abundance of grass for food, coupled with the lack of shelter from predators,
produces similar animal populations in grasslands throughout the world. The
dominant vertebrates are swiftly-moving, herbivorous ungulates. In North America,
bison and antelope were conspicuous members of the grassland fauna before the
coming of white settlers.
Now the level grasslands supply corn, wheat, and other grains, and the hillier areas
support domesticated ungulates: cattle and sheep.
When cultivated carefully, the grassland biome is capable of high net productivity. A
major reason: rainfall in this biome never leaches soil minerals below the reach of the
roots of crop plants.

Desert

Annual rainfall in the desert is less than 10 inch and, in some years, may be zero.
Because of the extreme dryness of the desert, its colonization is limited to
• plants such as cacti, sagebrush, and mesquite that have a number of
adaptations that conserve water over long periods;
• fast-growing annuals whose seeds can germinate, develop to maturity, flower,
and produce a new crop of seeds all within a few weeks following a rare, soaking
rain.

Many of the animals in the desert (mammals, lizards and snakes, insects, and even
some birds) are adapted for burrowing to escape the scorching heat of the desert
sun. Many of them limit their forays for food to the night.
The net productivity of the desert is low. High productivity can sometimes be
achieved with irrigation, but these gains are often only temporary. The high rates of
evaporation cause minerals to accumulate near the surface and soon their
concentration may reach levels toxic to plants.

Scrub Forest

The annual rainfall in the scrub forest biome may reach 20–30 in., but in contrast to
the grasslands, almost all of this falls in winter. Summers are very dry and all the
plants — trees, shrubs, and grasses — are more or less dormant then.

26
Similar biomes (with other names, such as scrub forest, are found around much of
the Mediterranean Sea, California and along the southern coast of Australia.
The trees are mostly oaks, both deciduous and evergreen. All of these plants are
adapted to drought by such mechanisms as waxy, waterproof coatings on their
leaves.
The scrub forest has many plants brought to it from similar biomes elsewhere.
Vineyards, olives, and figs flourish just as they do in their native Mediterranean
biome. So, too, do eucalyptus trees transplanted from the equivalent biome in
Australia.

Aquatic Biomes:
There are many different types of aquatic biomes. Some examples for most important
and common aquatic biomes are like:

• continental shelf
• littoral/intertidal zone
• riparian
• pond
• coral reef
• kelp forest
• pack ice

Continental Shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered
during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas
(known as shelf seas) and gulfs. The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope
(called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. Below
the slope is the continental rise, which finally merges into the deep ocean floor, the
abyssal plain.

Intertidal zone (Littoral Zone)

The intertidal zone, also known as the littoral zone, in marine aquatic environments is
the area of the foreshore and seabed that is exposed to the air at low tide and
submerged at high tide, ie the area between tide marks.

27
The most common organisms in the intertidal zone are small and relatively
uncomplicated. This is for a variety of reasons; firstly the supply of water which
marine organisms require to survive is intermittent. Secondly, the wave action around
the shore can wash away or dislodge poorly suited or adapted organisms. Thirdly,
because of the intertidal zone's high exposure to the sun the temperature range can
be extreme from very hot to near freezing in frigid climates (with cold seas). Lastly,
the salinity is much higher in the intertidal zone because salt water trapped in rock
pools evaporates leaving behind salt deposits. These four factors make the intertidal
zone an extreme environment in which to live.
A typical rocky shore can be divided into a spray zone (also known as the Supratidal
Zone, which is above the spring high-tide line and is covered by water only during
storms, and an intertidal zone, which lies between the high and low tidal extremes.
Along most shores, the intertidal zone can be clearly separated into the following
subzones: high tide zone, middle tide zone, and low tide zone.

A rock, seen at low tide, exhibiting typical intertidal zonation.

Riparian Zone

Riparian zone is the interface between land and a flowing surface water body. Plant
communities along the river margins are called riparian vegetation, characterized by
hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are significant in ecology, environmental
management and civil engineering due to their role in soil conservation, their
biodiversity and the influence they have on aquatic ecosystems. Riparian zones
occur in many forms including grassland, woodland, wetland or even non-vegetative.
In some regions the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone or
riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone.

28
Pond

A pond is characterized as being a small body of water that is shallow enough for
sunlight to reach the bottom, permitting the growth of rooted plants at its deepest
point. Seldom do ponds reach more that 3.6-4.5 meters (12 to 15 feet) in depth.

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs (also known as Sea Gardens) are barriers consisting of coral skeletons
built upon coral skeletons. They grow in tropical seas in the photic zone, where there
is mild wave action, not so strong it tears the reef apart yet strong enough to stir the
water and deliver sufficient food and oxygen. Coral reefs also need nutrient-poor,
clear, warm, shallow water to grow. The coral skeletons while alive house coral
polyps.

Kelp Forest

Kelp forests are a type of marine ecosystem established around colonies of kelp;
they contain rich biodiversity. Kelp can stretch 2-30 meters or more (up to 60 m in
Macrocystis pyrifera) from their anchors on the sea floor to the surface, providing a
vertical infrastructure that is home to many fish and invertebrate species. Kelp forests
also often attract mammalian visitors, including whales, sea lions, and sea otters.
Kelp forests draw their name from an analogy to forests on land.

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Pack ice

Pack ice is formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions, and coverage
increases during winter. In spring and summer, when melting occurs, the margins of
the sea ice retreat. The vast bulk of the world's sea ice forms in the Arctic ocean and
the oceans around Antarctica. The Antarctic ice cover is highly seasonal, with very
little ice in the austral summer, expanding to an area roughly equal to that of
Antarctica in winter. Consequently, most Antarctic sea ice is first year ice, up to 1
meter thick. The situation in the Arctic is very different (a polar sea surrounded by
land, as opposed to a polar continent surrounded by sea) and the seasonal variation
much less, consequently much Arctic sea ice is multi-year ice, and thicker: up to 3–4
meters thick over large areas, with ridges up to 20 meters thick.

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 ECOSYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY
Within the ecosystem, species are connected by food chains or food webs. Energy
from the sun, captured by primary producers via photosynthesis, flows upward
through the chain to primary consumers (herbivores), and then to secondary and
tertiary consumers (carnivores), before ultimately being lost to the system as waste
heat.

In the process, matter is incorporated into living organisms, which return their
nutrients to the system via decomposition, forming biogeochemical cycles such as
the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

Photosynthesis and primary producers

Photosynthesis (photo=light, synthesis=putting together), generally, is the synthesis

of sugar from light, carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen as a waste product. It is
arguably the most important biochemical pathway known; nearly all life depends on it.
It is an extremely complex process, comprised of many coordinated biochemical
reactions. It occurs in higher plants, algae, some bacteria, and some protists,
organisms collectively referred to as photoautotrophs.

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Carbon Dioxide + Water + Light energy → Glucose + Oxygen

Primary producers are those organisms in an ecosystem that produce biomass from
inorganic compounds (autotrophs). In almost all cases these are photosynthetically
active organisms (plants, cyanobacteria and a number of other unicellular organisms;
see article on photosynthesis). However, there are examples of archea (unicellular
organisms) that produce biomass from the oxidation of inorganic chemical
compounds (chemoautotrophs) in hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean.
Fungi and other organisms who gain their biomass from oxidizing organic materials
are called reducers and are not primary producers.

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Primary consumers (Herbivores)

A herbivore is often defined as any organism that eats only plants. In zoology, an
herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plant matter (rather than meat).
Although such animals are sometimes referred to as being vegetarian, this term is
more properly reserved for humans who choose not to eat meat as opposed to
animals that are unable to make such choices.

Secondary and Tertiary Consumers (Carnivores and/or Omnivores)

A carnivore (IPA: ['kɑ(r)nivɔ(r)]), meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh'
and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of
meat, whether it comes from live animals or dead ones (scavenging). Some animals
are considered carnivores even if their diets contain very little meat (e.g., predatory
arthropods such as spiders or mantids that may rarely consume small vertebrate
prey). Animals that subsist on a diet consisting only of meat are referred to as
obligate carnivores.

The word also refers to the mammals of the Order Carnivora, many (but not all) of
which fit the first definition. Bears are an example of members of Carnivora that are
not true carnivores. Carnivores that eat insects primarily or exclusively are called
insectivores, while those that eat fish primarily or exclusively are called piscivores.

• Felines, ranging from domestic cats to lions, tigers, and other large predators.
• Some canines, such the Gray Wolf but not the Red Wolf or coyote. Domestic
dogs are broadly considered carnivorous but the classification is often debated.
• Hyenas
• Some mustelids, including ferrets

32
• Polar Bears
• Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walruses, etc.)
• Birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, falcons and owls
• Scavenger birds, like vultures
• Several species of waterfowl including gulls, penguins, pelicans, storks, and
herons
• Anurans (frogs and toads)
• Snakes
• Some lizards, such as the Gila Monster
• Crocodilians
• Sharks and many other species of fish

Decomposers

'Decomposers' (also called reducers) are organisms (often fungi or bacteria) that
break down organic materials to gain nutrients and energy. Decomposition is a
natural process that will happen by default, but decomposers accelerate the process.
The role that decomposers perform in an ecosystem is extremely important. Without
them, organic matter would be piled up on our grounds from the past years. Also,
some plants would not receive the required nutrients and might die. When an
organism dies, it leaves behind nutrients that are locked tightly together. A scavenger
may eat the carcass, but its feces still contains a consideable amount of unused
energy and nutrients. Decomposers such as fungi will later induce further breakdown.
This last step releases raw nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium)
in a form usable to plants, which quickly incorporate the chemicals into their own
cells. This process greatly increases the nutrient-load of an ecosystem, in turn
allowing for greater biodiversity.

Food chain (Food web)

A food chain describes a single pathway that energy and nutrients may follow in an
ecosystem. There is one organism per trophic level, and trophic levels are therefore
easily defined. They usually start with a primary producer and end with a top
predator. Here is an example of a food chain:

phytoplankton → copepod → fish → squid → seal → orca

This "chain" can be described as follows: Orca (also known as "killer whales") feed
upon seals, that feed upon squid, that eat small fish, that feed on copepods, that feed
on microscopic algae. In this example, algae—autotrophs by virtue of their ability to
photosynthesize—are the base of the food chain. It is always the case that
numbers—or at least biomass—decreases from the base of the chain to the top. In
other words, the number and mass of phytoplankton cells are much greater than the
number and mass of copepods being supported by the phytoplankton. Viewed
another way: to support one orca requires many seals, large numbers of squid, huge
numbers of fish, and so on down the chain (see energy pyramid). This is because,
with each transfer, some of the energy is lost to the environment. On average, only
10% of the organism's energy is passed on to its predator.

33
34
Food chains are overly simplistic as representatives of what typically happens in
nature. The food chain shows only one pathway of energy and material transfer. Most
consumers feed on multiple species and are, in turn, fed upon by multiple other
species. The relations of detritivores and parasites are seldom adequately
characterized in such chains as well.

Food web

Example of a food web in an Arctic ecosystem:

A food web or food network extends the food chain concept from a simple linear
pathway to a complex network of interactions. The direct steps as shown in the food
chain example above seldom reflect reality. This "web" makes it possible to show
much bigger animals (like a whale) eating very small organisms (like plankton). Food
sources of most species in an ecosystem are much more diverse, resulting in a
complex web of relationships as shown in the figure on the right. In this figure, the
grouping of Phytoplankton → Herbivorous zooplankton → Carnivorous zooplankton
→ Arctic char → Capelin on the far right is a food chain; the whole complex network
is a food web/network.

Food web in a terrestrial ecosystem

35
Trophic levels

36
Biochemical cycles
In the process, matter is incorporated into living organisms, which return their
nutrients to the system via decomposition, forming biogeochemical cycles such as
the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
• nitrogen cycle
• oxygen cycle
• carbon cycle
• phosphorus cycle
• sulfur cycle
• water cycle
• hydrogen cycle

Nitrogen Cycle (AS AN EXAMPLE !!!!)

The nitrogen cycle is a much more complicated biogeochemical cycle but also cycles
through living parts and nonliving parts including the water, land, and air. Nitrogen is
a very important molecule in that it is part of both proteins, present in the composition
of the amino acids that make up proteins, as well as nucleic acids such as DNA and
RNA, present in nitrogenous bases. The largest reservoir of nitrogen is the
atmosphere, in which about 78% of nitrogen is contained as nitrogen gas (N2).
Nitrogen gas is “fixed,” in a process called nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation
combines nitrogen with oxygen to create nitrates (NO3).

Nitrates can then be used by plants or animals (which eat plants or eat animals that
have eaten plants). Nitrogen can be fixed either by lightning, industrial methods (such
as for fertilizer), in free nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil, as well as in nitrogen-fixing
bacteria present in roots of legumes (such as rhizobium). Nitrogen-fixing bacteria use
certain enzymes that are capable of fixing nitrogen gas into nitrates and include free
bacteria in soil, symbiotic bacteria in legumes, and also cyanobacteria, or blue-green
algae, in water.

After being used by plants and animals, nitrogen is then disposed of in decay and
wastes. Detritivores and decomposers decompose the detritius from plants and
animals, nitrogen is changed into ammonia, or nitrogen with 3 hydrogen atoms
(NH3). Ammonia is toxic and cannot be used by plants or animals, but nitrite bacteria
present in the soil can take ammonia and turn it into nitrite, nitrogen with two oxygen
atoms (NO2). Although nitrite is also unusable by most plants and animals, nitrate
bacteria changes nitrites back into nitrates, usable by plants and animals. Some
nitrates are also converted back into nitrogen gas through the process of
denitrification, which is the opposite of nitrogen-fixing, also called nitrification. Certain
denitrifying bacteria are responsible for this.

37
38
 ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
Generally, an ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a
population evolves in a way unfavourable to that species survival.

It may be that the environment quality degrades compared to the species needs,
after a change in an abiotic ecological factor (for example, an increase of
temperature, less significant rainfalls).

It may be that the environment becomes unfavourable for the survival of a species (or
a population) due to an increased pressure of predation (for example overfishing).
Lastly, it may be that the situation becomes unfavourable to the quality of life of the
species (or the population) due to a rise in the number of individuals (overpopulation).
Ecological crises may be more or less brutal (occurring within a few months or taking
as long as a few million years). They can also be of natural or anthropic origin. They
may relate to one unique species or to many species (see the article on Extinction
event).

Lastly, an ecological crisis may be local (as an oil spill) or global (a rise in the sea
level due to global warming).

According to its degree of endemism, a local crisis will have more or less significant
consequences, from the death of many individuals to the total extinction of a species.
Whatever its origin, disappearance of one or several species often will involve a
rupture in the food chain, further impacting the survival of other species.
In the case of a global crisis, the consequences can be much more significant; some
extinction events showed the disappearance of more than 90% of existing species at
that time. However, it should be noted that the disappearance of certain species,
such as the dinosaurs, by freeing an ecological niche, allowed the development and
the diversification of the mammals. An ecological crisis thus paradoxically favored
biodiversity.

Sometimes, an ecological crisis can be a specific and reversible phenomenon at the

ecosystem scale. But more generally, the crises impact will last. Indeed, it rather is a
connected series of events, that occur till a final point. From this stage, no return to
the previous stable state is possible, and a new stable state will be set up gradually.

Lastly, if an ecological crisis can cause extinction, it can also more simply reduce the
quality of life of the remaining individuals. Thus, even if the diversity of the human
population is sometimes considered threatened (see in particular indigenous people),
few people envision human disappearance at short span. However, epidemic
diseases, famines, impact on health of reduction of air quality, food crises, reduction
of living space, accumulation of toxic or non degradable wastes, threats on keystone
species (great apes, panda, whales) are also factors influencing the well-being of
people.

During the past decades, this increasing responsibility of humanity in some ecological
crises has been clearly observed. Due to the increases in technology and a rapidly

39
increasing population, humans have more influence on their own environment than
any other ecosystem engineer.

Extinction event

An extinction event (also extinction-level event, ELE) occurs when there is a sharp
decrease in the number of species in relatively short period of time. This decrease
may be caused by one or both of:

• an unusually large number of species die out in a short period.

• there is a sharp drop in the rate of speciation.

Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two
to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years.

Major extinction events

Selection of major extinction events are highlighted below:

1. 488 million years ago — a series of mass extinctions at the Cambrian-
Ordovician transition (the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction events) eliminated many
brachiopods and conodonts and severely reduced the number of trilobite species.
2. 444 million years ago — at the Ordovician-Silurian transition two Ordovician-
Silurian extinction events occurred, probably as the result of a period of glaciation.
Marine habitats changed drastically as sea levels decreased, causing the first die-off,
and then another occurred between 500 thousand to a million years later when sea
levels rose rapidly. It has been suggested that a gamma ray burst may have triggered
this extinction.
3. 360 million years ago — near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition (the Late
Devonian extinction) a prolonged series of extinctions led to the elimination of about
70% of all species. This was not a sudden event, with the period of decline lasting
perhaps as long as 20 million years. However, there is evidence for a series of
extinction pulses within this period.
4. 251 million years ago — at the Permian-Triassic transition Earth's worst mass
extinction (the P/T or Permian-Triassic extinction event) killed 53% of marine families,
84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of
land species (including plants, insects, and vertebrate animals.) It had enormous
evolutionary significance because it ended the dominance of the mammal-like
reptiles and created the opportunity for archosaurs and then dinosaurs to become the
dominant land vertebrates. Because of the P/T extinction's size and significance
there are several competing theories about what caused it. The main contenders
appear to be: (A) The flood basalt event which created the Siberian Traps. This
certainly happened, and it would have (i) caused food chains to collapse both on land
and at sea by producing dust and particulate aerosols and thus inhibiting
photosynthesis; (ii) emitted sulphur oxides which were precipitated as acid rain and
poisoned many organisms, especially plants and planktonic organisms which relied
on calcium carbonate shells - contributing further to the collapse of food chains. (B) A
meteor strike, which would have had similar effects and perhaps exacerbated or
even triggered the Siberian Traps flood basalt event. Researchers from Ohio State
University and NASA have presented findings suggesting that a meteorite, some

40
50km (30 miles) in diameter, collided with Earth approximately 250 million years ago,
south of Australia in what is now Wilkes Land, eastern Antarctica, called Wilkes Land
crater. This conclusion is still controversial. (C) A severe anoxic event, a condition
where the oceans became depleted of dissolved oxygen, and rich in highly toxic
hydrogen sulfide. With the toxic gas bubbling up into the atmosphere, it poisoned
much of the life on both land and sea, and then destroyed the atmosphere's
protective ozone layer. (D) The formation of Pangaea in the mid-Permian created a
vast, arid continental interoir and enormously decreased the continental shelf area
which is the most prolific part of the seas. These effects would probably have caused
a mass extinction on their own, but are probably not enough to explain the severity of
the P/T extinction.
5. 200 million years ago — at the Triassic - Jurassic transition (the Triassic-
Jurassic extinction event) about 20% of all marine families as well as most non-
dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and the last of the large amphibians were
eliminated.
6. 65 million years ago — at the Cretaceous - Paleogene transition (the K/T or
Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event) about 50% of all species became extinct, and
this has great significance for humans because it ended the reign of the dinosaurs
and opened the way for mammals to become the dominant land vertebrates. The K/T
extinction was rather uneven, for example: all non-avian dinosaurs and all
pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and ammonites became extinct; marsupials,
birds, plankton, teleosts, bivalves, snails, sponges, and sea urchins suffered heavy
losses; but placental mammals, non-dinosaurian reptiles and amphibians appear to
have got off relatively lightly. So the main challenge for theories about this extinction
is to explain why different groups fared so differently, and none of the most widely
supported theories is good at explaining these differences. Many theories are totally
unsatisfactory because if they were correct they would only explain the extinction of
the dinosaurs. The main contenders are (A) The flood basalt event which created
the Deccan Traps. This certainly happened, and it would have (i) caused food chains
to collapse both on land and at sea by inhibiting photosynthesis; (ii) poisoned many
plants and planktonic organisms with acid rain. Since the Deccan Traps basalt flows
lasted from about 68 to 60 million years ago with a peak period of about 30,000 years
66 million years ago, this theory implies a fairly gradual extinction. (B) The asteroid
or comet impact event which created the Chicxulub crater. In addition to inhibiting
photosynthesis and thus collapsing food chains, this would have created a vast
amount of acid rain because it landed in a bed of gypsum and would have splashed
red-hot debris over a large area of North America because it was travelling
northwards and landed at an angle of about 30° from horizontal. The debate between
supporters of these two theories has centred on: (i) the speed of the extinction - the
impact theory implies a very rapid extinction, while the flood basalt theory implies a
more gradual extinction; (ii) which theory better explains geological abnormalities at
the K/T boundary - an iridium-rich clay layer, tektites and shocked quartz granules.

7. Present day — the Holocene extinction event. A 1998 survey by the

American Museum of Natural History found that 70% of biologists view the
present era as part of a mass extinction event, the fastest to have ever
occurred. Some, such as E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, predict that man's
destruction of the biosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all
species in the next 100 years. Research and conservation efforts, such as the
IUCN's annual "Red List" of threatened species, all point to an ongoing period

41
of enhanced extinction, though some offer much lower rates and hence longer
time scales before the onset of catastrophic damage. The extinction of many
megafauna near the end of the most recent ice age is also sometimes
considered a part of the Holocene extinction event.

Causes for mass extinction

With the exception of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, which is widely
attributed to an impact event, and modern day extinctions associated with the
proliferation of human civilization, it is not well known what has caused other mass
extinctions. Some of the hypotheses are discussed below.
1. Impact events - The impact of a sufficiently large asteroid or comet could
create Megatsunamis, global forest fires, and simulate nuclear winter from the dust it
puts in the atmosphere. Taken together, it is not surprising that these and other
related effects might be sufficiently severe as to disrupt the global ecosystem and
cause extinctions. Only for the End Cretaceous extinctions is there strong evidence
of such an impact. Circumstantial evidence of such events is also given for the End
Permian, End Ordovician, End Jurassic and End Eocene extinctions.
2. Climate change - Rapid transitions in climate may be capable of stressing the
environment to the point of extinction. However, it is worth observing the recent
cycles of ice ages are only believed to have had very mild impacts on biodiversity.
Extinctions suggested to have this cause include: End Ordovician, End Permian, Late
Devonian, and others.
3. Anoxic events - Climate change, brought on by heavy volcanic activity,
warmed the oceans, which lead to anoxic conditions, where the oceans were
depleted of dissolved oxygen and were rich in hydrogen sulfide. That toxic gas
poisoned life on both land and sea, and destroyed the ozone layer. Without the
protective ozone, the sun's UV radiation killed off much of the life that still remained.

4. Volcanism - The formation of large igneous provinces, which can involve the
outflow of millions of cubic kilometers of lava in a short duration, are suggested to
poison the atmosphere and oceans in a way that may cause extinctions. This cause
has been proposed for the End Cretaceous, End Permian, End Triassic, and End
Jurassic extinctions.
5. Astronomical event, such as a nearby nova, supernova or gamma ray burst -
A nearby gamma ray burst (less than 6000 light years distance) could sufficiently
irradiate the surface of the Earth to kill organisms living there and destroy the ozone
layer in the process. From statistical arguments, approximately 1 gamma ray burst
would be expected to occur in close proximity to Earth in the last 540 million years.
This has been suggested as an explanation for the End Ordovician extinction event.
However, a recent study by leading GRB researchers say that GRBs are not possible
in metal rich galaxies like our own.
6. Plate tectonics - It has been suggested that the opening and closing of
seaways and land bridges may play a role in extinction events as previously isolated
populations are brought into contact and new dynamics are established in the
ecosystem. This is most frequently discussed in relation to the End Permian mass
extinction.
Other hypotheses, such as the spread of a new disease or simple out-competition
following an especially successful biological innovation are also considered; however,
it is often thought that the major mass extinctions in Earth's history are too sudden
and too extensive to have resulted solely from biological events.

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 HUMAN IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT
Up until this point we have been talking about the world before (independent) of man.
There have been more changes in our environment in the last 10,000 years than in
any time in Earth’s history (except for rare catastrophic events, such as meteorite
impacts). For the next half of the class we will be talking about the human impact on
the environment.

Natural resources: These are either renewable or non-renewable: Minerals, coal, oil,
gas are non-renewable. Wind, water, wood, are renewable.

We have changed the courses or rivers, produced bountiful agricultural lands,

developed immense infrastructures, found ways to get to the moon. However, soil
degradation, deforestation, desertification, loss of species, pollution, acid rain,
greenhouse effect, radioactive wastes, poverty for some and great affluence for
others are products of the human situation.

Historical review
 Universe 12 billion years
 Earth 4.65 billion years
 Life 3.5 billion years
 First hominids 4 million years
 Early homo sapiens 400,000 years
 Modern humans (Cro Magnon) ~40,000 years
 Agricultural revolution 10,000 years
 Industrial revolution <200 years

Early man came onto the scene about 400,000 years ago. The earth was well-
stocked for them in terms of food and places to live.
Modern humans, Cro-Magnon evolved some 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. They
developed their hunting skills, and were able to control their environment, so by the
end of the Pleistocene, 10,000 years ago, human population was about 10 million.
Then the agricultural revolution began. This was the first population explosion and
the first impact on the environment. Slash-and-burn techniques were developed.
The countryside could be modified. Animals were domesticated. Agricultural
communities developed – Pakistan, China, Africa, Egypt and the Tigris-Euphrates
Valley in Iraq. More people could live in a smaller area.

Changes occurred: The Mediterranean region went from vast primordial forests to
what it is today.

Consider that the Romans went as far as Great Britain to get wood. They had
eliminated so many of the forests. Part of the reason that the Unites States has been
so prosperous is that it did not have the centuries of modification that was seen in
Europe.

43
Things were relatively unchanged until the last two centuries. Then a profound
change occurred.
The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Labor was no longer a limitation as
power was much less limited. More people and natural resources were needed to
sustain the new industrial system and the needs of growing societies.

44
Up until this point, birth and death rates were equal. Now, the birth rates far
outweighed the death rates due to improved medicine, sanitation and disease
control. Standards of living went way up, with coincident increase in energy
consumption.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, between 1981 and 1990,
tropical forest areas were lost at a rate of roughly 0.7% per year.

We are using our coal and oil at an unprecedented rate. How long will that last? For
oil, some estimates are early 21st century.

The next great revolution that we are entering is the technological revolution.
Consumption has mushroomed along with the technological advances.

The World’s population has increased dramatically in the past several hundred years.

45
Beginning with the agricultural revolution, humankind became able to manipulate his
environment. This started with slash and burn techniques. For the first time, CO2
levels were modified.
 People were able to live more closely together (Cities and civilizations)
 Closeness of cities led to desertification (Extreme example is the Middle East—
Mediterranean. The primordial forests of Lebanon are replaced by desert). In
fact, primordial forests are rare in the United States. Only in Pacific Northwest.

46
The population really started growing with the Industrial Revolution. Now, power was
no longer a limitation.
 Manpower and oxen were replaced by machines. “More people and natural
resources were needed to sustain the new industrial system and the needs
of growing societies”. Who’s feeding who?
 More forests needed to be stripped for agriculture and fuel.
 Better sanitation, better medicine. Birth rates remained the same, but
death rates declined.

Can this growth maintain sustainable development?

Sustainable development:
 economic progress
 investment in human resources
 stable population growth
 technology that does not degrade the environment
 does not deplete natural resource base

Different parts of the world have dealt with the problem of development differently.

 1st world: US, Western Europe, Japan have an enormous consumption of

raw goods to ‘fuel’ their economy. At the same time, they are ‘rich enough’ to
afford to be concerned about environment.
 2nd world: Former Soviet Bloc: The only concern during communist rule was
economic growth (examples of E. German factories, and pollution in the East).
Now they are trying to deal with a crippling, unbelievable problem
 3rd world. Their concern is more survival. Generally in the South – South
America and Africa. Their resources are limited. Unfortunately, their political
system is corrupt. They have large population increases, land degradation,
extreme poverty.
 There are also rapidly developing countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand, Mexico, Brazil and Chile. Air and water pollution, environmental
degradation are not a concern.

Population growth
 10,000 years ago, 10 million people
 by 1850, population was 1 billion
 80 more years to reach 2 billion (1930)
 45 years, it doubled again (4 billion in 1975)
 12 years to reach to reach 5 billion (1987)
 6 billion in 1999
 by the year 2020, there will be 8 billion?

There are ¼ million people added to the planet per day.

This is exponential growth and it is mostly happening in developing nations.

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48
In 1950, 66% of the world’s population were in underdeveloped countries. By the
early 1990s, it was up to 77% --4.4 billion people in developing nations. By 2025, it is
projected as 84%. The developed countries are experiencing near zero population
growth, while the underdeveloped countries are undergoing a population explosion.

By 2025, the population of Africa and Asia are expected to reach 6 billion, equal to
the total in the world today! How population increases depends on the
mortality/fertility rates.

But it isn’t growth everywhere. Europe and many countries in the former Soviet bloc
have a zero-rate population growth. Between 1995 and 2025, Ukraine, Belarus,

49
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, etc. Also for Denmark, Greece, Italy Spain and
Portugal. (Notice that Catholic countries have declines. So the strict dictates of the
Pope are not a major problem for population growth).

Urbanization: Another concern is the centralization of population development.

 1950’s, less than 30% of the population lived in cities.
 Today, it is over 40%.
 By 2025, it is expected to be more than 60%.

Providing for the following is a Herculean task, especially given the limited resources
in these communities.
 Water
 Sanitation (waste, sewage)
 health services
 education
 employment
 transportation
 security

Situation now
The developed nations survive by ‘feeding’ off the less-developed nations for their
energy and natural resource needs.

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The developing nations are poor. They have often had corrupt governments, and
their economies are based on fueling the richer countries. This does not help them in
the long term. Environmental degradation on a huge scale is occurring.

The developed countries use far more than their share of materials. They export
(exploit) poorer countries to maintain their standard of living. Poorer countries
striving to achieve the same wealth exploit their resources. Minerals, natural
resources (forests) are traded for goods from the wealthier countries. It doesn’t
balance, however. There is a net cash flow of $50 billion to the North. This requires
further destruction of resources to pay off the debt. It is exacerbated by inequality
between rich and poor and is not helped by the politics of governments.

In summary: 3 billion people live on the edge of poverty and consume very little.
1 billion live in extreme poverty.

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52
 FOOD AND AGGRICULTURE
Agriculture (a term which encompasses farming) is the process of producing food,
feed, fiber and other goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals.

Agri is from Latin ager ("a field"), and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning
"cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal reading of the English
word yields: tillage of the soil of a field. In modern usage, the word Agriculture covers
all activities essential to food/feed/fiber production, including all techniques for raising
and processing livestock no less than those essential to crop farming.

History
Agriculture is believed to have been developed at multiple times in multiple areas, the
earliest of which seems to have been in Southwest Asia. Pinpointing the absolute
beginnings of agriculture is problematic because the transition away from purely
hunter-gatherer societies, in some areas, began many thousands of years before the
invention of writing.

The Middle Ages owe much of its development to advances made in Islamic areas,
which flourished, culturally and materially, while Europe and other Roman and
Byzantine administered lands entered an extended period of social and economic
stagnation. As early as the ninth century, an essentially modern agricultural system
became central to economic life and organization in the Arab caliphates, replacing
the largely export driven Roman model. The great cities of the Near East, North
Africa and Moorish Spain were supported by elaborate agricultural systems which
included extensive irrigation based on knowledge of hydraulic and hydrostatic
principles, some of which were continued from Roman times. In later centuries,
Persian Muslims began to function as a conduit, transmitting cultural elements,
including advanced agricultural techniques, into Turkic lands and western India.

The invention of a three field system of crop rotation during the Middle Ages, and the
importation of the Chinese invented moldboard plow, vastly improved agricultural
efficiency.

After 1492 the world's agricultural patterns were shuffled in the widespread exchange
of plants and animals known as the Columbian Exchange. Crops and animals that
were previously only known in the Old World were now transplanted to the New and
vice versa. Perhaps most notably, the tomato became a favorite in European cuisine,
and maize and potatoes were widely adopted. In the other direction, several wheat
strains quickly took to western hemisphere soils and became a dietary staple even
for native North, Central and South Americans.

By the early 1800s, agricultural practices, particularly careful selection of hardy

strains and cultivars, had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that
seen in the Middle Ages and before, especially in the largely virgin soils of North and
South America. With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th and 20th
centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could be done with a

53
speed and on a scale previously impossible. These advances have led to efficiencies
enabling certain modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany and a
few other nations to output volumes of high quality produce per land unit at what may
be the practical limit.

Aggriculture Today
In some cultures, continual improvement in agricultural methods has been the key
factor in the specialization of human activity. 42% of the world's laborers are
employed in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation, yet it
accounts for less than 5% of the Gross World Product.

In addition to food for humans and animal feeds, agriculture produces goods such as
cut flowers, ornamental and nursery plants, timber or lumber, fertilizers, animal hides,
leather, industrial chemicals (starch, sugar, ethanol, alcohols and plastics), fibers
(cotton, wool, hemp, and flax), fuels (methane from biomass, biodiesel) and both
legal and illegal drugs (biopharmaceuticals, tobacco, marijuana, opium, cocaine) and
genetically engineered plants and animals.

In the western world, the use of gene manipulation, better management of soil
nutrients, and improved weed control have greatly increased yields per unit area. The
developing world generally produces lower yields, having less access to the latest
technology.

Agriculture in some cultures depends heavily on engineering and technology and on

the biological and physical sciences. Irrigation, drainage, conservation and sanitary
engineering, each of which is important in successful farming, are some of the fields
requiring the specialized knowledge of agricultural engineers.

Agricultural chemistry deals with other vital farming concerns, such as the application
of chemical fertilizer, chemical insecticides, and chemical fungicides, soil makeup,
analysis of agricultural products, and nutritional needs of farm animals. Plant
breeding and genetics contribute additionally to farm productivity. Advanced seed
engineering has allowed strains of seed to become perfect in every farming situation.
Seeds can now germinate faster and adapt to shorter growing seasons in different
climates. Present-day seed can resist the spraying of pesticides that kill all green-leaf
plants. Hydroponics, a method of soilless gardening in which plants are grown in
chemical nutrient solutions, may help meet the need for greater food production as
the world's population increases.

In recent years some aspects of industrial intensive agriculture have been the subject
of increasing discussion. The widening sphere of influence held by large seed and
chemical companies, meat packers and food processors has been a source of
concern both within the farming community and for the general public. There has
been increased activity against certain farming practices like raising chickens for
food. Another issue is the type of feed given to some animals that can cause Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy in cattle. There has also been concern because of the
disastrous effect that intensive agriculture has on the environment. In the US, for
example, fertilizer has been running off into the Mississippi for years and has caused

54
a dead spot in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi empties. Intensive
agriculture also depletes the fertility of the land over time and the end effect is that
which happened in the Middle East, where some of the most fertile farmland in the
world was turned into a desert by intensive agriculture.

The patent protection given to companies that develop new types of seed using
genetic engineering has allowed seed to be licensed to farmers in much the same
way that computer software is licensed to users. This has changed the balance of
power in favor of the seed companies, allowing them to dictate terms and conditions
previously unheard of. Some argue these companies are guilty of biopiracy.

Soil conservation and nutrient management have been important concerns since the
1950s, with the best farmers taking a stewardship role with the land they operate.
However, increasing contamination of waterways and wetlands by nutrients like
nitrogen and phosphorus are of concern in many countries.

Increasing consumer awareness of agricultural issues has led to the rise of

community-supported agriculture, local food movement, Slow Food, and commercial
organic farming.

Crop improvement
Domestication of plants is done in order to increase yield, improve disease resistance
and drought tolerance, ease harvest and to improve the taste and nutritional value
and many other characteristics. Centuries of careful selection and breeding have had
enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant breeders use
greenhouses and other techniques to get as many as three generations of plants per
year so that they can make improvements all the more quickly.

Plant selection and breeding in the 1920s and '30s improved pasture (grasses and
clover) in New Zealand. Extensive radiation mutagenesis efforts (i.e. primitive genetic
engineering) during the 1950s produced the modern commercial varieties of grains
such as wheat, corn and barley.

For example, average yields of corn (maize) in the USA have increased from around
2.5 tons per hectare (40 bushels per acre) in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha (150 bushels per
acre) in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased from less
than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South American average wheat
yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1 t/ha, Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha
with irrigation. In contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is
over 8 t/ha. Variation in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the
use or non-use of intensive farming techniques (use of fertilizers, chemical pest
control, growth control to avoid lodging). [Conversion note: 1 bushel of wheat = 60
pounds (lb) ≈ 27.215 kg. 1 bushel of corn = 56 pounds ≈ 25.401 kg]

In industrialized agriculture, crop "improvement" has often reduced nutritional and

other qualities of food plants to serve the interests of producers. After mechanical
tomato-harvesters were developed in the early 1960s, agricultural scientists bred
tomatoes that were harder and less nutritious (Friedland and Barton 1975). In fact, a
major longitudinal study of nutrient levels in numerous vegetables showed significant

55
declines in the last 50 years; garden vegetables in the U.S. today contain on average
38 percent less vitamin B2 and 15 percent less vitamin C (Davis and Riordan 2004).
Very recently, genetic engineering has begun to be employed in some parts of the
world to speed up the selection and breeding process. The most widely used
modification is a herbicide resistance gene that allows plants to tolerate exposure to
glyphosate, which is used to control weeds in the crop. A less frequently used but
more controversial modification causes the plant to produce a toxin to reduce
damage from insects

Top agricultural products, by crop types

(million metric tons) 2004 data
Cereals 2,264
Vegetables and melons 866
Roots and Tubers 715
Milk 619
Fruit 503
Meat 259
Oilcrops 133
Fish (2001 estimate) 130
Eggs 63
Pulses 60
Vegetable Fiber 30
Source:
UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

Impact on Environment
Agriculture may often cause environmental problems because it changes natural
environments and produces harmful by-products. Some of the negative effects are:

• Surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus in rivers and lakes

• Detrimental effects of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other
biocides
• Conversion of natural ecosystems of all types into arable land
• Consolidation of diverse biomass into a few species
• Soil erosion
• Depletion of minerals in the soil
• Particulate matter, including ammonia and ammonium off-gasing from
animal waste contributing to air pollution
• Weeds - feral plants and animals
• Odor from agricultural waste
• Soil salination

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Agriculture is cited as a significant adverse impact to biodiversity in many nations'
Biodiversity Action Plans, due to reduction of forests and other habitats when new
lands are converted to farming. Some critics also include agriculture as a cause of
current global climate change.

What to do?
Soil conservation
Soil conservation is preventing land degradation which is a human induced or natural
process which impairs the capacity of land to function. Soils conservation issues
involve preventing acidification, contamination, desertification, erosion, and
salination.

Nutrient management
As defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, nutrient management is
managing the amount, form, placement, and timing of application of nutrients
(whether as animal waste, commercial fertilizer, or other form of nutrients) to plants.
The purpose is to supply plant nutrients for optimum forage and crop yields, minimize
entry of nutrients to surface and groundwater, and maintain or improve condition of
soil.

Community-supported agriculture
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new socio-economic model of
food production, sales and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food
and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially
reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It is also a
method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful,
small-scale closed market. CSA’s focus usually on a system of weekly delivery or
pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and even milk or meat
products in some cases. A variety of production and economic sub-systems are in
use worldwide.

CSA generally, is the practice of focusing on the production of high quality foods
using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming
operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and
other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer
relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is
willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods. The system has
many variations on the theme of how the farm budget is support by the consumers
and how the producers then deliver the foods and thus also a variety of levels of risk
for the producers. The greater the whole-farm, whole-budget support, the greater the
focus can be on quality and the less risk of food waste or financial loss.

Local food movement

Local food (also regional food) is a principle of sustainability relying on consumption
of food products that are locally grown. It is part of the concept of local purchasing, a
preference to buy locally produced goods and services.
The concept is often related to the slogan Think globally, act locally, common in
green politics. Those supporting development of a local food economy consider that

57
since food is needed by everyone, everywhere, everyday, a small change in the way
it is produced and marketed will have a great effect on health, the ecosystem and
preservation of cultural diversity. They say shopping decisions favoring local food
consumption directly affect the well-being of people, improve local economies and
may be ecologically more sustainable.

Slow Food
The Slow Food movement was created to combat fast food and claims to preserve
the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and
farming within an ecoregion. It was the first established part of the broader Slow
movement.

The Slow Food movement was begun by Carlo Petrini in Italy as a resistance
movement to fast food. It has since expanded globally to 100 countries and now has
83,000 members. It humorously describes itself as an "eco-gastronomy faction"
within the ecology movement, and some refer to the movement as the "culinary wing"
of the anti-globalization movement.

Organic farming
Organic farming is a form of agriculture which avoids or largely excludes the use of
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed
additives. As far as possible organic farmers rely on crop rotation, crop residues,
animal manures and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and tilth, to
supply plant nutrients, and to control weeds, insects and other pests. They are a
healthy way of maintaining the ecological balance.

Organic farming excludes the use of synthetic inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In many countries the use of
veterinary drugs is excluded. In a number of countries, including the US, Bulgaria,
Iceland, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia, India, Japan, the
Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Argentina, Costa Rica, Tunisia, and in the EU,
organic farming is also defined by law, so that the commercial use of the term organic
to describe farming and food products is regulated by the government. Where laws
exist, organic certification is available to farms for a fee, and it is usually illegal for a
non-certified farm to call itself or its products organic. Elsewhere, for example, in
Canada, voluntary certification is available, while legislation may be pending.

Methods of organic farming vary. However, organic approaches share common goals
and practices. In addition to the exclusion of synthetic agrichemicals, these include
protection of the soil (from erosion, nutrient depletion, structural breakdown),
promotion of biodiversity (e.g. growing a variety of crops rather than a single crop),
and outdoor grazing for livestock and poultry. Within this framework, individual
farmers develop their own organic production systems, determined by factors such
as climate, market conditions, and local agricultural regulations.

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 POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION
Air pollution is a chemical, physical (e.g. particulate matter), or biological agent that
modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a complex,
dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet earth.

Worldwide air pollution is responsible for large numbers of deaths and cases of
respiratory disease. Enforced air quality standards, like the Clean Air Act in the
United States, have reduced the presence of some pollutants. While major stationary
sources are often identified with air pollution, the greatest source of emissions are
actually mobile sources, principally the automobile. There are many available air
pollution control technologies and urban planning strategies available to reduce air
pollution; however, worldwide costs of addressing the issue are high. The most
immediate method of improving air quality would be replacing coal fired power plants
(which contribute 40% of world's sulphur and mercury) with zero pollution wind
power, along with the use of bioethanol fuel, biodiesel, solar energy, and hybrid
vehicle technologies.

Deaths

The World Health Organization estimates that 4.6 million people die each year from
causes directly attributable to air pollution. Many of these mortalities are attributable
to indoor air pollution. Worldwide more deaths per year are linked to air pollution than
to automobile accidents. Research published in 2005 suggests that 310,000
Europeans die from air pollution annually. Direct causes of air pollution related
deaths include aggravated asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung and heart diseases,
and respiratory allergies. The US EPA estimates that a proposed set of changes in
diesel engine technology (Tier 2) could result in 12,000 fewer premature mortalities,
15,000 fewer heart attacks, 6,000 fewer emergency room visits by children with
asthma, and 8900 fewer respiratory-related hospital admissions each year in the
United States.

The worst short term civilian pollution crisis in India was the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
Leaked industrial vapors from the Union Carbide factory, belonging to Union Carbide,
Inc., U.S.A., killed more than 2,000 people outright and injured anywhere from
150,000 to 600,000 others, some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries.
The United Kingdom suffered its worst air pollution event when the December 4th
Great Smog of 1952 formed over London. In six days more than 4,000 died, and
8,000 more died within the following months. An accidental leak of anthrax spores
from a biological warfare laboratory in the former USSR in 1979 near Sverdlovsk is
believed to have been the cause of hundreds of civilian deaths. The worst single
incident of air pollution to occur in the United States of America occurred in Donora,
Pennsylvania in late October, 1948, when 20 people died and over 7,000 were
injured.

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Sources

Air pollutants are classified as either directly released or formed by subsequent

chemical reactions. A direct release air pollutant is one that is emitted directly from a
given source, such as the carbon monoxide or sulfur dioxide, all of which are
byproducts of combustion; whereas, a subsequent air pollutant is formed in the
atmosphere through chemical reactions involving direct release pollutants. The
formation of ozone in photochemical smog is the most important example of a
subsequent air pollutant.

Anthropogenic sources (human activity) related to burning different kinds of fuel

• Combustion-fired power plants.

• Controlled burn practices used in agriculture and forestry management

• Motor vehicles generating air pollution emissions.

• Marine vessels, such as container ships or cruise ships, and related port air
emissions

• Burning fossil fuels

• Burning wood, fireplaces, stoves, furnaces and incinerators

Other anthropogenic sources

• Oil refining, power plant operation and industrial activity in general.

• Chemicals, dust and crop waste burning in farming, (see Dust Bowl).

• Fumes from paint, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents.

• Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane.

• Military uses, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and
rocketry.

Natural Sources

• Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no
vegetation.

• Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example cattle.

• Pine trees, which emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Radon gas from radioactive decay within the Earth's crust.

• Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires.

• Volcanic activity, which produce sulfur, chlorine, and ash particulates.

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Indoor air pollution, or Indoor air quality (IAQ)

The lack of ventilation indoors concentrates air pollution where people have greatest
exposure times. Radon (Rn) gas, a carcinogen, is exuded from the Earth in certain
locations and trapped inside houses. Researchers have found that radon gas is
responsible for over 1,800 deaths annually in the United Kingdom. Building materials
including carpeting and plywood emit formaldehyde (H2CO) gas. Paint and solvents
give off volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as they dry. Lead paint can degenerate
into dust and be inhaled. Intentional air pollution is introduced with the use of air
fresheners, incense, and other scented items. Controlled wood fires in stoves and
fireplaces can add significant amounts of smoke particulates into the air, inside and
out. Indoor air pollution may arise from such mundane sources as shower water mist
containing arsenic or manganese, both of which are damaging to inhale. The arsenic
(As3+) can be trapped with a shower nozzle filter.

Indoor pollution fatalities may be caused by using pesticides and other chemical
sprays indoors without proper ventilation, and many homes have been destroyed by
accidental pesticide explosions.

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a quick and silent killer, often caused by faulty
vents and chimneys, or by the burning of charcoal indoors. 56,000 Americans died
from CO in the period 1979-1988.Chronic carbon monoxide poisoning can result
even from poorly adjusted pilot lights. Smoke inhalation is a common cause of death
in victims of house fires. Traps are built into all domestic plumbing to keep deadly
sewer gas, hydrogen sulfide, out of interiors. Clothing emits tetrachloroethylene, or
other dry cleaning fluids, for days after dry cleaning.

Though its use has now been banned in many countries, the extensive use of
asbestos in industrial and domestic environments in the past has left a potentially
very dangerous material in many localities. Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory
medical condition affecting the tissue of the lungs. It occurs after long-term, heavy
exposure to asbestos, e.g. in mining or in the installation or removal of asbestos-
containing materials from structures. Sufferers have severe dyspnea (shortness of
breath) and are at an increased risk regarding several different types of lung cancer.
As clear explanations are not always stressed in non-technical literature, care should
be taken to distinguish between several forms of relevant diseases. According to the
World Health Organisation (WHO), these may defined as; asbestosis, lung cancer,
and mesothelioma (generally a very rare form of cancer, when more widespread it is
almost always associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos).

Biological sources of air pollution are also found indoors, as gases and airborne
particulates. Pets produce dander, people produce dust from minute skin flakes, dust
mites in bedding, carpeting and furniture produce enzymes and micron-sized fecal
droppings, inhabitants emit methane, mold forms in walls and generates mycotoxins
and spores, air conditioning systems can incubate Legionnaires' disease and mold,
toilets can emit feces-tainted mists, and houseplants, soil and surrounding gardens
can produce pollen, dust, and mold. Indoors, the lack of air circulation allows these
airborne pollutants to accumulate more than they would otherwise occur in nature.

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AIR POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Greenhouse effect and ocean acidification

The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon whereby increased carbon dioxide

emissions create a condition in the upper atmosphere, causing a trapping of excess
heat and leading to increased surface temperatures. This effect has been understood
by scientists for nearly two centuries, and technological advancements during this
period have helped increase the breadth and depth of data relating to the
phenomenon. A number of studies have investigated the potential for long-term rising
levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to cause slight but critical increases in the
acidity of ocean waters and the possible effects of this on marine ecosystems.

Ozone depletion

Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a
threat to human health as well as to the earth's ecosystems.

Global Warming

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's
atmosphere and oceans in recent decades. The Earth's average near-surface
atmospheric temperature rose 0.6 ± 0.2 °Celsius (1.1 ± 0.4 °Fahrenheit) in the 20th
century.

The current scientific consensus is that "most of the observed warming over the last
50 years is likely to have been attributable to human activities".

The main cause of the human-induced component of warming is the increase in

atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), due to
activities such as burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, and agriculture. Greenhouse
gases are gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. This effect was first
described by Joseph Fourier in 1824, and was first investigated quantitatively in 1896
by the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius.

Climate sensitivity is a measure of the equilibrium response to increased GHGs, and

other anthropogenic and natural climate forcings. It is found by observational and
model studies. This sensitivity is usually expressed in terms of the temperature
response expected from a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere, which, according to
the 2001 IPCC report, is estimated to be between 1.5 and 4.5 °C (2.7–8.1 °F) (with a
statistical likelihood of 66-90%). This should not be confused with the expected
temperature change by a given date, which also includes a dependence on the future
GHG emissions and a delayed response due to thermal lag, principally from the
oceans. Models referenced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), using a range of SRES scenarios, project that global temperatures will
increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C (2.5 to 10.5 °F) between 1990 and 2100.

An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including a

rising sea level and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation. These
changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such
as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornados. Other consequences

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include higher or lower agricultural yields, glacial retreat, reduced summer stream
flows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors. Warming is
expected to affect the number and magnitude of these events; however, it is difficult
to connect particular events to global warming. Although most studies focus on the
period up to 2100, warming (and sea level rise due to thermal expansion) is expected
to continue past then, since CO2 has an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 50 to 200
years. Only a small minority of climate scientists disagree that humanity's actions
have played a major role in recent warming. However, the uncertainty is more
significant regarding how much climate change should be expected in the future, and
there is a hotly contested political and public debate over implementation of policies
that deal with predicted consequences, what, if anything, should be done to reduce
or reverse future warming, and how to deal with the predicted consequences.

WATER POLLUTION
Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies (lakes, rivers,
oceans, groundwater) caused by human activities. Although natural phenomena such
as volcanoes, storms, earthquakes etc. also cause major changes in water quality
and the ecological status of water, these are not deemed to be pollution. Water
pollution has many causes and characteristics. Increases in nutrient loading may lead
to eutrophication. Organic wastes such as sewage and farm waste impose high
oxygen demands on the receiving water leading to oxygen depletion with potentially
severe impacts on the whole eco-system. Industries discharge a variety of pollutants
in their wastewater including heavy metals, organic toxins, oils, nutrients, and solids.
Discharges can also have thermal effects, especially those from power stations, and
these too reduce the available oxygen. Silt-bearing runoff from many activities
including construction sites, forestry and farms can inhibit the penetration of sunlight
through the water column restricting photosynthesis and causing blanketing of the
lake or river bed which in turns damages the ecology.

Pollutants in water include a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical

chemistry or sensory changes. Many of the chemical substances are toxic or even
carcinogenic. Pathogens can obviously produce waterborne diseases in either
human or animal hosts. Alteration of water's physical chemistry include acidity,
conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication. Eutrophication is the fertilisation of
surface water by nutrients that were previously scarce. Even many of the municipal
water supplies in developed countries can present health risks.

Water pollution is a serious problem in the global context. It has been suggested that
it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases, and that it accounts for the
deaths of more than 14,000 people daily.

Sources of water pollution

• industrial discharge of chemical wastes and byproducts

• discharge of poorly-treated or untreated sewage
• surface runoff containing pesticides
• slash and burn farming practice, which is often an element within shifting
cultivation agricultural systems
• surface runoff containing spilled petroleum products

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• surface runoff from construction sites, farms, or paved and other impervious
surfaces e.g. silt
• discharge of contaminated and/or heated water used for industrial processes
• acid rain caused by industrial discharge of sulfur dioxide (by burning high-
sulfur fossil fuels)
• excess nutrients added by runoff containing detergents or fertilizers
• underground storage tank leakage, leading to soil contamination, thence
aquifer contamination.

Contaminants

Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.

Some organic water pollutants are:
• insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalide and other chemicals
• bacteria, often is from sewage or livestock operations;
• food processing waste, including pathogens
• tree and brush debris from logging operations
• VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds, industrial solvents) from improper
storage

Some inorganic water pollutants include:

• heavy metals including acid mine drainage
• acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide from power
plants)
• chemical waste as industrial by products
• fertilizers, in runoff from agriculture including nitrates and phosphates
• silt in surface runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn practices
or land clearing sites

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of
life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial
factors in the natural environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of
assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment
that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations.

Nutrition, soil contamination, water pollution, air pollution, safe drinking water, noise
pollution, light pollution, waste control, and public health are integral aspects of
environmental health

Toxicology

Toxicology (from the Greek words toxicos and logos) is the study of the adverse
effects of chemicals on living organisms. It is the study of symptoms, mechanisms,
treatments and detection of poisoning, especially the poisoning of people. The chief
criterion regarding the toxicity of a chemical is the dose, i.e. the amount of exposure
to the substance. Almost all substances are toxic under the right conditions. As
Paracelsus, the father of modern toxicology said, “Sola dosis facit venenum” (only
dose makes the poison). Paracelsus, who lived in the 16th century, was the first
person to explain the dose-response relationship of toxic substances.

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Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly. An example is "wood
alcohol," or methanol, is chemically converted to formaldehyde and formic acid in the
liver. It is the formaldehyde and formic acid that cause the toxic effects of methanol
exposure. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, a good example being
acetaminophen (paracetamol), especially in the presence of alcohol. The genetic
variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ
between one individual and the next. Because demands placed on one liver enzyme
can induce activity in another, many molecules become toxic only in combination with
others. A family of activities that engages many toxicologists includes identifying
which liver enzymes convert a molecule into a poison, what are the toxic products of
the conversion and under what conditions and in which individuals this conversion
takes place.

SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSERVATION

The conservation movement is a political and social movement that seeks to protect
natural resources including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the
future.

The early conservation movement included fisheries and wildlife management, water,
soil conservation and sustainable forestry. The contemporary conservation
movement has broaden from the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable
yield of natual resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation
of biodiversity. The conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-
reaching environmental movement.

• The Conservation movement which began in the late 1800's which sought to
protect wildlife and natural areas.

• The Environmental movement, which began in the 1970's with concern about
air and water pollution, became broader in scope to including all landscapes and
human activities.

• Environmental health movement dating at least to Progressive Era urban

reforms including clean water supply, more efficient removal of raw sewage and
reduction in crowded and unsanitary living conditions. Today Environmental health is
more related to nutrition, preventive medicine, aging well and other concerns specific
to the human body's well-being. In these, the natural environment is of interest mostly
as an early warning system for what may happen to humans.

• Sustainabilty movement which started in the 1980's focused on Gaia theory,

value of Earth and other interrelations between human sciences and human
responsibilities. Its spinoff Deep Ecology was more spiritual but often claimed to be
science.

• Environmental justice is a movement that began in the U.S. in the 1980s and
seeks an end to environmental racism. Often, low-income and minority communities
are located close to highways, garbage dumps, and factories, where they are
exposed to greater pollution and environmental health risk than the rest of the
population. The Environmental Justice movement seeks to link "social" and
"ecological" environmental concerns, while at the same time keeping

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environmentalists conscious of the dynamics in their own movement, i.e. racism,
sexism, homophobia, classicism, and other malaises of dominant culture.

As public awareness and the environmental sciences have improved in recent years,
environmental issues have broadened to include key concepts such as
"sustainability" and also new emerging concerns such as ozone depletion, climate
change, acid rain, and biogenetic pollution.

Environmental movements often interact or are linked with other social movements
with similar moral views, e.g. for peace, human rights, and animal rights; and against
nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power, endemic diseases, poverty, hunger, etc.

Sustainable development:

• economic progress

• investment in human resources

• stable population growth

• technology that does not degrade the environment

• does not deplete natural resource base

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