Unit 6 Blog

Unit Vocabulary- 

Nota bene - I included some extra pictures because I thought they were too hilarious and/or relevant to choose from. There are still pictures to meet the requirement of the assignment, though. 

The list is below:

Asthenosphere - semimolten rock that is the outermost layer of the mantle

Lithosphere - brittle outermost layer of the Earth; about 100km thick

Plate Tectonics - Earth's lithosphere is divided into constantly moving plates

Tectonic Cycle - crust being created and destroyed

Divergent Plate Boundaries - plates move apart

Convergent Plate Boundaries - plates move toward each other

Transform Fault Boundary - plates move side by side

Physical Weathering - rock degradation caused by air, water, temperature change or biological agent

Chemical Weathering - rock degradation by chemicals (usually acid)

Erosion - physical removal of rock fragments

Deposition - accumulation of eroded material



Cation Exchange Capacity - ability of soil to absorb and release positively charged mineral ions

   
     

Base Saturation - ratio of soil bases to soil acids

Soil Degradation - Normally anthropogenic; soil is eroded thereby lowering soil fertility

Ores - naturally occurring solid that yields minerals

Big Picture Reflection- 

Human Impact: Humans help cause soil degradation, erosion, and chemical weathering through many activities. Overfarming, construction, and logging get rid of plants that helped keep the soil there in place. Without them there, the soil erodes taking the fertility mean it. This in turn means that humans are affected by lower crop yield and even dust bowl conditions which we try to fix with nitrogenated and phosporated fertilizer that runs off (causing algal blooms and hypoxia) even quicker because there's nothing to keep the soil in which it is poured from eroding away. Through mining, humans also lay waste to large stretches of Earth's surface. Strip mining leaves strips of bare earth, decimating the ecosystems that were there. Open pit mining often uses acidic slurry that infiltrates groundwater and runsoff harming environments along the way. Anthropogenic sulfur emissions form acid rain that more quickly chemically erodes rocks, especially building materials like limestone; the acid rain harms human buildings made of rock. Earthquakes and volcanoes harm humans and their habitation so cities near faults are more likely to build buildings to be adapted to earthquakes. Volcanoes erupt and destroy populations, but also form islands for human habitation such as Hawai'i. Oceanic plate movement can result in terrible tsunamis that wash away entire cities and cause a significant amount of human death. 

Environmental Impact: Soil degradation makes it much harder for plants to grow and for the animals that survive on those plants to survive, disrupting the whole food chain. Not only is this detrimental to the whole ecosystem, but a keystone species which has a disproportional effect on the ecosystem, could be harmed leading to a great decrease in biodiversity. Strip mining and chemical weathering have similar deleterious effects on ecosystems. The machinery used in these operations also contributes to greenhouse gas accumulation and pollution. The resulting loss of biodiversity is very harmful, especially since biodiversity is key to overall genetic diversity and therefore survivability. Volcanoes and earthquakes can also harm ecosystems. Primary succession occurs after a volcano eruption so a new ecosystem forms eventually. Tsunamis caused by oceanic tectonic plate movement can wash away unadapted species or their food sources, causing a change in ecosystem populations or washing the ecosystem away entirely. 

Economic Impact: Mining is a very lucrative industry, especially as the world becomes more reliant on fossil fuels. Strip, open pit, and mountain top mining all greatly change the environment but also create a large amount of jobs and revenue. Placer mining is less disruptive but still economically significant. Earthquake, volcano, and tsunami can cause a significant amount of economic loss by destroying cities and decreasing the labor force, necessitating extensive rebuilding. Soil degradation also hurts crop yield and requires to pay greater expenses for more fertilizer to try and make the soil viable.

Governmental Legislation - The Federal Land and Policy Act of 1976 prevents unnecessary degradation of federal lands, putting a limit on mining. The Clean Water Act of 1972 establishes standards for surface water to ensure it doesn't get too polluted by things like fertilizer and slurry runoff borne of eroded soil and open pit mining. The city of Denton recently passed a law to ban fracking within the city limits due to a lack of community benefit and an abundance of harms, such as environmental disruption. Fracking is unlike the previously discussed mining techniques because it is used to obtain natural gas but has detrimental effects just as they do.

Unit 5 Blog Post

Unit Vocabulary-

CBR - number of births per year per 1000 people

CDR - number of deaths per year per 1000 people

TFR - total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman will have 

Replacement Level Fertility - TFR necessary for a stable population, normally about 2.1

Population Momentum - the tendency of a population to keep growing even if there was an immediate decrease in crude birth rates ex. China right now

Net Migration Rate - Immigration - emigration

Family Planning - using birth control and increased education to decide when to start a family (usually later in life), characteristic of late stages of demographic transition

Affluence - qualitative measure of quality of life especially applied to materialistic standing

IPAT equation - Impact = population x affluence x technology; qualitative measure of environmental impact

GDP - gross domestic product, measure of economic wealth, 4 parts : consumer spending, government spending, exports minuse imports, and investments

Population Pyramid- no definition, just include an example of what a pyramid looks like for a country experiencing a high growth rate, stable growth, and a declining population. 

High growth                                                  Stable Growth                                          Declining

Making Connections- 

There is not much expected environmental impact in stage 1 since the population is still fairly small and economic activity mostly consists of subsistence farming without much government infrastructure that disrupts the environment. This is because of the high CBR and CDR. The greatest environmental impact would probably be disposing of all the corpses, whether by burial, cremation, or some other unspecified method. There would be much greater environmental impact in stage 2 since CDR would greatly decrease as a result of better medicine, sanitation, and technology, which means a huge increase in population. The greater number of people puts greater pressure on the environment in terms of space and resources like food, water, and lumber. This is also typically when industrialization occurs, with an emphasis on primary and secondary sector activities like agriculture and mining. The industrial activity ravages the environment as it expands with pollution and damaged landscapes, especially since the lower standard of living and push for economic growth results in laxer environmental concerns. In stage 3, population growth begins to stabilize and environmental regulations improve as a result of higher standards of living which decrease environmental impact to an extent, the but the great population, and high levels of affluence and technology still result in a huge environmental impact. Stage 4 countries also have a large amount of environmental impact because of affluence and technology, but the population declines which results in a little bit less of an environmental impact than before. 

Current Event- 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/13/india-population-growth-policy-problems-sterilisation-incentives-coercion

The article talks about the massive sterilization going on in India, mainly in females since it is still considered culturally unacceptable for males to get vasectomies. It goes on to talk about the massive incentives in places, as well as the lack of family planning and contraceptives since emphasis is placed on sterilization, the cheaper option. While many women, almost 40%, have undergone the procedure indicating a high success rate, this is problematic for many reasons. Reliance on sterilization has decreased the push for education on contraceptives and family planning in rural India which means women are not necessarily educated about their choices and that it's a temporary fix; without a cultural change, the problem will still exist. It is also problematic because of the gender imbalance; women are disproportionately expected to get the procedure done, evidence of a perceived inferiority of women and reluctance to educate women. The sterilizations also often involve the coercion of women, whether by incentives or family members, which is extremely harmful to autonomy.

Big Picture Reflection-  This is where you will make the four BIG PICTURE connections to the ENTIRE UNIT.  Please tie in information you learned in your reading, from completing your assignments, the documentary we watched and from your current event.  There is not an exact length that I am expecting other than it should definitely be at least a paragraph for each section, should be thorough and show understanding of the topic.    

Human Impact: As populations, technology, and affluence increase, so does the impact on the environment as a general trend. Advances in technology can, however, lead to innovations that actually help conserve environmental resources. The increase in population and affluence are directly correlated to the stages of the demographic transition model. The environment affects humans by dictating what economic activity can occur and how many humans can live there. The increasing demand for fossil fuels and urbanization have contributed to increased environmental distress.

Environmental Impact: There is less environmental impact when there aren't as many humans and when their lifestyles aren't too affluent, corresponding to the earlier stages of the demographic transition model. The environment limits the activities and amount of humans that can exist, influencing the demographic transition model as well. Places with abundant resources and favorable climates have gone through demographic transition earlier than nations that have less favorable climates and less resources. As affluence and technology increase, though, there is greater importance placed on finding more environment friendly alternatives. Increased populations and resource consumption lead to the destruction of habitats, pollution, and a resulting decrease in biodiversity which is harmful to the resilience of ecosystems.

Economic Impact;

A younger, growing population characteristic of stage 2 and stage 3 of the DTM correspond to greater economic well-being since there is a greater, growing workforce. New industries also arise because of the ability to focus on things besides immediate survival and the increased sanitation, medicine, and technology. As quality of life increases, even more industries grow because there is now a market for more things that make life easier. GDP generally increases as countries go through the demographic transition model, though stage 4 countries with a declining population often face the problem of balancing an aging retiring population on a smaller work force.

Government Legislation: Countries with unchecked population growth often institute measures to decrease CBR and TFR. China instituted a 1 child policy that gave benefits and incentives to couples with only one child and penalized couples with more than one child. India has tried to institute mass sterilization which has resulted in decreased emphasis on education. Non governmental organizations (NGOs), however, have tried to fill this gap and provide education and contraceptives to rural regions in India and other countries. They have also tried to address the gender disparity and provide education to women as multiple studies and trends have shown that increased female literacy correlates to decreased fertility rates. The government of Nigeria, the country with the highest fertility rate in the world as of 2011, has been investing in birth control and family planning to try and decrease birth rates. 

In more developed countries, there are more restrictions on economic activity. Just this year, the EPA prohibited the construction of an Alaskan mine because of the danger posed to a nearby Bristol Bay ecosystem. In contrast, mining activity is virtually unrestricted and unregulated in places like Cuba, Guyana, and the Philippines. This can be attributed to the prioritization of economic development in developing countries and increased environmental regulations in developed countries as a result of increased standards of living and education pushing corporations to less regulated areas where they can turn more profit. 

Unit 4 Blog

Unit Vocabulary:


Species Richness - the number of different species







Species Evenness - comparison of the number of individuals in each species; how the magnitude of different species relate to each other





Microevolution - minor genetic changes within a population over time





Macroevolution - gives rise to a new species, phyla, genus, etc.







Evolution by Natural Selection - environment chooses which animals are most likely to survive and reproduce resulting in a change in genetic composition of the population over time





Evolution by Artificial Selection - humans select which individuals breed, normally with a preconceived set of desirable traits, resulting in a change in genetic composition over time





Allopatric Speciation - because there is a physical/geographic separation of the population





Sympatric Speciation - caused by something other than geographic separation of the population





Genetically Modified Organisms - produced by copying genes with a desirable trait and then inserting them





Fundamental Niche - ideal environmental conditions for a species







Exponential Growth Model - grow exponentially (greater than linear) resulting in a J-curve





Logistic Growth Model - grows quickly but plateaus at a constant rate (S-curve)



Carrying Capacity - maximum number of individuals that can be supported indefinitely in an environment





Keystone Species - has a disproportionately large effect on an ecosystem


Current Event- Instead of finding a current event for this unit, I'm sending you to a website. Go to Biodiversity HotSpots and review pages 144-147 in your textbook. Pick a hotspot on the website to discuss (when you click on one of the regions, a list of specific areas will come up, pick one of those.) Discuss the following points specific to your chosen hotspot. Be prepared to discuss this portion of your blog in class.

What is a biodiversity hotspot and why are they important? A biodiversity hotspot is a threatened area that has high levels of biodiversity; they are important because of their high levels of biodiversity which are key to the intrinsic and instrumental value of the ecosystem, most directly provisions and maintaining the ecosystem itself.
Where is your hotspot located and what type of ecosystem is present there (posting a map showing where your hotspot is located could help you here). My hotspot is located in the Philippines and contains many types of forest ranging from rainforest to seasonal forest as well as some savanna.

Describe at least one endemic plant species and animal species found here. Explain what it means to be an endemic species.

This is the blossom of the sacred garlic pear plant (Crateva religiosa) endemic to the Philippines.





This is the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta), a primate endemic specific islands in the Philippines.

An endemic species is one that is unique to a defined location.

Describe the human induced and/or natural reasons why biodiversity is decreasing in the area. The growing population of the Philippines coupled with lax resource conservation laws that are constitutive of a developing nation due to economic dependence on natural resources are the main reasons this hotspot is so endangered. Specifically, mining and land conversion have ravaged the natural ecosystems. Invasive species have also taken their toll.

Explain what is being done to protect the area. There are national parks and protected areas which are being pushed to be expanded every year. There is also work being done to ensure that the boundaries are clearly demarcated and enforced since that is not really happening right now.



Pick a Side- In a paragraph, using AT LEAST 5 of your vocabulary words (they don't have to be the ones listed above, just any words from chapter 5 or 6 in your book) describe the ideal conditions in which a species will either adapt to changes in it's ecosystem and evolve OR conditions that would lead to species extinction.

Ideally for a species to adapt, there must be a high level of genetic variation (many different genotypes) to ensure that there are many different phenotypes. Having different phenotypes makes it more likely that there will be at least some individuals that are adapted to whatever change occurs. A small population ensures that the beneficial adaptation can be quickly spread throughout the population to increase the fitness, or the ability to survive and reproduce, of all individuals. A small generation time also helps ensure that the beneficial mutation can be passed on quickly.


Big Picture Reflection- This is where you will make the four BIG PICTURE connections to the ENTIRE UNIT. Please tie in information you learned in your reading, from completing your labs and from your current event. There is not an exact length that I am expecting other than it should definitely be at least a paragraph for each section, should be thorough and show understanding of the topic.


Human Impact: Humans impact community ecology by affecting populations. Pesticides and herbicides may kill off a food source for another creature which would reduce the number of individuals of that species as well. Because the predator numbers have decreased, other the populations of other species they may have fed on would increase since there are no longer as many predators to consume the species. Biomagnification may also occur, where predators eat contaminated prey and are eventually poisoned because they have eaten so much contaminated prey. This happened in the case of DDT and bald eagles. The DDT ranoff into water sources and was taken up by the fish which were in turn eaten by the bald eagles. Humans may also introduce foreign species that crowd out endemic flora and fauna as in the case of zebra mussels and purple loosestrife. Finally, humans can genetically engineer organisms or artificially select for desirable traits and affect populations that way. Examples include genetically modified crops and bacteria as well as dogs respectively.


Environmental Impact: Populations impact their environment by interacting with one another and also with abiotic factors. For example, decomposers help break down dead organic matter into soil which is then used by other organisms as a habitat and for nourishment. A population decrease or increase can greatly affect other populations in the community, and thereby affect the carrying capacity for other species as well. This is especially true of keystone species who are disproportionately important to the ecosystem. Loss of a keystone species can have drastic effects on the community and ecosystem as a whole.


Economic Impact: Human-introduced invasive species are costly to manage and remove. Zebra mussels have been known to clog pipes and other plants can crowd out crops. Herbicides and genetically modified organisms have also become a very lucrative part of the economy. Figuring out how to insert an insulin-producing gene into bacteria or how to make wheat more drought-resistant is extremely marketable. GMOs along with chemical controls have also given rise to the organic food market which is a sizeable part of primary sector activities. Ecosystems have instrumental worth through provisions and regulating services that are economically valuable as well.


Government Legislation: The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 is Australia's key piece of legislation that aims to protect habitats and preserve species. Other countries have similar acts. The United States has an entire department, the Environmental Protection Agency dedicated to preserving biodiversity and environments. It sets regulations on the amount of pollution generation, which areas may be developed, how they may be developed, and many other similar rules. The Federal Drug, Food, and Cosmetic Act allowed the EPA to set a maximum amount of pesticide residue that could exist in foods. There have also been many other non governmental organizations that work to preserve biodiversity hotspots and save endangered species like WWF, CEPF, and UNEP.