GEE-ES MODULE 1(ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE).pptx

DISCUSS ABOUT ENVIRONMENT.

1. GEE-ES (ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE)

2. CHAPTER 1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: ITS MEANING AND SCOPE

3. Objectives: A t the end of the chapter, you are expected to: Define environment and understand the various fields and approaches in the study of the environment and ecological systems, populations and communities. Appreciate the value of the Gaia Hypothesis and its great relevance in environmental studies.

4. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT? An environment is a place where an organism lives. The term environment encompasses everything that surrounds us. As Lee and Anes (2008), defined it, the environment refers to the natural world in which we live, and all the things that are produced by people.

5. WHAT IS ECOLOGY? The term ecology is derived from okologie , a word coined by the German zoologist Ernst Haekel to mean “ the scientific study of the relationships that exist among the organisms as well as between organisms and all aspects, living and non-living, of their environments, both organic and inorganic.”

6. THE FITNESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT The world in which we live is little more than a lump of rock orbiting the sun. On, or near, its surface is many different living organisms, all of which, ultimately, depend upon the Sun’s nuclear energy. Some of this energy reaches the earth in the form of sunlight. Green plants converts the energy of sunlight into chemical energy. Without plants and their ability to produce foods that store chemical energy, there would be no animals.

7. THE GAIA/GAEA HYPOTHESIS Gaia is an earth goddess of the ancient Greeks. What we know as the Gaia Hypothesis was formulated when its principal author, James Lovelock, was working for the United States Space Agency (NASA). The great advantage of this approach for non-scientist is that it helps them to appreciate the complexity of the environment in which we live in the harm that is currently being inflated upon it by human activities.

8. FIELDS OF STUDY Environmental Science deals with the complex study of the environment. As such, it is often viewed as an interdisciplinary subject that encompasses almost all other science. Primarily, a very significant field of study that concerns the interaction of varied organism in the environment is the science of ecology. This is because ecology is viewed today as centered on study of the ecological systems or ecosystems.

9. Study of ecosystem is divided into three basic approaches- System ecology Theoretical ecology Evolutionary ecology

10. According to Robert Leo Smith his book ecology and field biology system ecology is concern with the analysis and understanding of the structure and function of ecosystem by the use of applied mathematics. It involves the construction of models that represent the real system for the purpose of experimentation . Models can be constructed to provide a simplified description of the system or to predict changes over time.

11. Theoretical Ecology utilizes theories and equations developed in pure mathematics, physics and even economics, and apply them to ecological problems. Evolutionary Ecology in concerned with the varied interactions between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment as expressed in adaptation. Evolutionary adaptations are the results of the competition among individuals of a particular species over many generations in response to an ever-changing environment.

12. DIVISIONS OF ECOLOGY Autecology and Synecology Autecology – the study of individuals or populations of a single organism or species and their relationship to their relationship to their environment. It includes physiological ecology, ethology (or animal behavior) and population dynamics. Synecology which is primarily concerned with the study of entire plant and animal constituents, including ecosystems. Usually, synecology is much more complex than autecology because there are so many variable factors involved.

13. CHAPTER 2 BASIC ECOLOGICAL LAWS AND PRINCIPLES

14. OBJECTIVES: At the end of the chapter, you are expected to: State ecological terminologies, principle, laws and methodologies relevant to environmental studies. Demonstrate mastery of the ecological laws and principles in relation to the preservation of the government.

15. BASIC ECOLOGICAL LAWS

16. Fundamental Laws Law of Balance “Each organism in the biosphere affects each other and therefore provides equilibrium in nature.”

17. Law of Sensitivity “Some microorganisms are sensitive to human activity; they die or deteriorate at the slightest danger”

18. Law of Susceptibility “Nature has a way of replenishing and controlling itself.” Law of Universality “The laws of nature apply in an ecosystem, big or small, land or water, polar or tropical.”

19. Law of Temporality “The biotic components have finite natures. Nothing is permanent and lives forever.”

20. SUBSIDIARY LAWS IN ECOLOGY Everything is related to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as free lunch There is strength and stability in the unity of differences.

21. Core Messages in Environmental Science Law of Balance Diversity and Stability Interdependence Change Pollution Finiteness and Resources Stewardship

22. Law of Balance Nature has its own laws and processes to maintain itself. 2. Diversity and Stability Diversity is essential, it promotes stability . 3. Interdependence Everything is related to everything else. 4. Change Everything changes ….some changes enhance the natural state of the environment, others degrade it

23. 5. Pollution Pollution is the undesirable accumulation of substances resulting in diminished utility of resources. 6. Finiteness and Resources Most of the earth’s resources are finite. They must used prudently and wisely. 7. Stewardship Humans are part of nature. They are not masters, but are stewards of the earth.

24. BASIC BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

25. First Principle The ecosystem is the basic unit in ecology. IT includes both the biological (biotic) and the physical (abiotic) components that are inseparably interconnected through energy flows and biogeochemical cycles.

26. Second Principle The flow of energy and the cycling of the essential nutrients in the ecosystem depend on the great variety of interactions and structural relationships among the components of the ecosystem.

27. Third Principle The ecosystem functions in relation to its energy flow and the cycling of the essential nutrients through the structural components of the ecosystem.

28. Fourth Principle The total amount of energy that flows in natural ecosystems is proportional to the amount fixed by the plants (autotrophs). As energy is transferred from one feeding (trophic) level to the next, some of it is lost. This limits the number and biomass of organisms that can be maintained at each trophic level.

29. Fifth Principle Natural ecosystems undergo ecological succcession . They pass from led complex stages to a more diversified and usually stable state. Sixth Principle When an ecosystem is pressured and exploited, the stability of the ecosystem is disturbed.

30. Seventh Principle The population is the functional unit of the ecosystem. Each species in the population occupies a definite niche or role within the system. Eighth Principle A given niche in an ecosystem is never occupied by a self-maintaining population of more than one species at the same time.

31. Ninth Principle There is a limit to nature’s ability to support life. Eventually, nature will intervene to reduce a population that it can no longer sustain. Tenth Principle The ecosystem has historical views; the present is related to the past and the future is related to the present.