Vocabulary

Species Richness- the quantity of species in an area

Species Evenness- the evenness in quantity of different species in an area

Microevolution- small change within single species 

Macroevolution- big change in a species

Evolution by Natural Selection- You adapt to survive 

Evolution by Artificial Selection- made artificially to achieve desired traits

Allopatric Speciation- when one species splits and evolve differently and can no longer mate

Sympatric Speciation- when a new species form after having evolved from the same ancestral species while living in the same area

Genetically Modified Organisms- organism that is altered genetically. Like huge tomatoes because people don't want small tomatoes 

Fundamental Niche- where a species CAN live without regard for predators

Exponential Growth Model- estimates populations future size after some time based on the current growth rate and the number of organisms that can actually mate or have offspring 

Logistic Growth Model- population that grows until it cannot logically continue to grow because it has reached the carrying capacity of their environment

Carrying Capacity- number of organisms that can survive at the same time in an environment

Keystone Species- MVS or most valuable species in an environment. A lot species depend on that one species

Current Event-

What is a biodiversity hotspot and why are they important? A BH has many species that can only live there(endemic species) and are an area that is under threat from humans. It also has a lot of different species. They are important because they contain many unique species that can only live there and must conserved and must be kept safe from human threats.

Where is your hotspot located and what type of ecosystem is present there? The Tropical Andes is an area with many tropical rain forests

An endemic species is a species that live in specific locations around the world and nowhere else. Mainly isolated

Endemic plant- Andean bromeliad. Known as the queen of the andes. Only found in 3200-4800m of elevation. Can grow up to 10 meters!

Endemic animal- Vicuña. Live in the high area of the Andes and are a relative of the llama.

Human induced reasons and/or natural reasons for why biodiversity is decreasing- Agriculture, deforestation, dams, and road building are the most significant threats. At higher altitudes  seasonal burning, grazing, agriculture, mining, and fuelwood collection. Also cultivation of opium. Oil exploration and mining also fuel the decrease in biodiversity. 

Efforts being done to to protect the area- The people of the Andes are trying to reduce the effect the growing infrastructure has on the species of the andes. Laws that prohibit poaching, settlement and illegal logging have been put in place. Protecting certain areas of the Andes to keep the ecosystems in tact. 

Pick-A-Side

If there was a sea with fish, kelp, and sea urchins but no sea otters than the fish in that area would become extinct. The sea-otters, a keystone species, eat the sea urchins. By eating the sea urchins they help maintain a species evenness because if there are too many sea urchins then there aren't enough kelp beds for the fish to have their little fishies. Thus no sea otters means there could be a mass extinction of that fish species. Species richness would decrease as well because there would be no fish at all. No fish in that ecosystem could also affect the predators of the fish such as bears, eagles, or if in the sea then dolphins or whales would be without fish to eat. Without fish to eat the whale or dolphin population could also decrease. Also without sea otters there would be too many sea urchins and the sea urchin ecosystem could reach its level of carrying capacity.

Human Impact- Humans have negatively impacted the environment. The Tropical Andes became a hotspot because humans wanted to expand into that zone thus destroying certain habitats of some rare species. Humans can also be the reason for many changes in some species such as allopatric speciation. A man made barrier may split a species and prevent it from mating and when it finally gets reunited it has evolved and can no longer mate with its former species.Humans are also responsible for genetically modified foods and are the reason why we can enjoy seasonal fruits in all four seasons, such as strawberries and oranges. In our lab we impact our fish by feeding him every class period. 

Environmental Impact- There are many environmental impacts that shape the evolution of biodiversity. Keystone species are developed that make a community dependent on them, even if nobody notices until that species starts becoming extinct and things start changing because that keystone species isn't there anymore. The climate and altitude of the Tropical Andes region is what allows many species of plants and animals to survive there and only there. The environment is also a reason for evolution. Animals have to evolve if the environment because if they don't then they don''t survive. Survival of the fittest and the animals that can adapt the fastest survive the most. The environment is also responsible for the amount of species that can live in an environment aka the carrying capacity. If there are 100 potatoes and 500 lions and each lion needs one potato to survive then sadly 400 lions will die because only a max of 100 lions could survive in such a potatoless environment. Our lab is not affected by the environment outside because both the fish and the hermit crab are in its own ecosystem. 

Economic Impact- The disappearance of a keystone species could impact the economy negatively. If sea otters disappeared then so would fish and the fishermen would have no fish and would go into a fishless recession. GMO benefit the economy though, because these organisms that are genetically modified can be grown without relying on any outside variables and would not be affected if anything changed, except if there was a shortage of the organism in the first place. If there is a shortage then the prices of the organism(food) would go up and it would cause problems in our economy. Farmers would also be impacted negatively if there was a shortage of food in their farms. In the Tropical Andes the protection of certain zones of it could stunt the growth of the infrastructure of that country as well. 

Government Legislation- In our lab there is no government legislation. In the Tropical Andes there is. There are many efforts being made by the government to protect this biodiversity hotspot. Government has passed laws to prohibit settling, poaching, and illegal logging. Endemic species also have to be protected. Government legislation has also harmed the biodiversity hotspot by allowing mining and oil exploration and road building and other threats to occur in the tropical andes before making any steps towards stopping them. The government has also passed laws concerning GMOs.Laws are made to protect the people from unsafe foods that are GMOs. The FDA is in charge of this. 

Vocabulary-

Ecosystem- A community of abiotic and biotic organisms that interact and form complex systems of energy flow and cycles. 

Gross primary Productivity- rate at which energy is captured during photosynthesis

Net Primary Productivity- amount of energy captured for photosynthesis minus the amount of energy used by the plants for respiration

Biomass- all mass in an area of biotic organisms added together

Standing Crop- biomass in an ecosystem at a specific moment

Ecological Efficiency- energy transferred from one level to another(10%)

Trophic Pyramid- picture of the energy at trophic level and the transfer of it

Biogeochemical Cycles- matter moves around ecosystems. This movement involves BIO(geochemical)LOGICAL, (bio)GEO(chemical)LOGICAL, and (biogeo)CHEMICAL processes. 

Macronutrients- substance required in large amounts by living organisms

Limiting Nutrient- a nutrient that is needed to grow. If you don't have it your growth is limited. 

Leaching- water carries minerals and/or nutrients through the soil 

Disturbance- an outside event that affects an ecosystem

Resistance- amount of disturbance an ecosystem can take 

Resilience- time it takes an ecosystem to return to normality after a disturabnce

Instrumental Value- value of something because of its benefits

Intrinsic Value- independent value of an species. Doesn't matter how it benefits us or not.

Current Events-

How saving West African forests might have prevented the Ebola epidemic

Summary- With the sudden ebola outbreak many people have been wondering what could have caused it. In this article, Ginsburg, theorizes that the deforestation of Liberia is the main cause. Since the fruit bats are losing their habitats they have to find new places to eat and live. Patient Zero in the ebola outbreak is said to be a two year old kid who ate a fruit that was contaminated by a fruit bat. Ginsburg says that "The bottom line is that there is no public health without environmental health." He is right. In order to protect the people we have to protect the environment. Maybe if there was more preservation of the forests in West Africa this outbreak might not have happened. 

Environmental Quote- 

I think that this statement is true to an extent. Bees are in-fact essential to the human race. They pollinate the crops, the crops grow, the crops get harvested and then the crops get distributed.  If bees did not exist then there would be no pollination to help the crops grow. Yes, not having bees would greatly harm not only the USA, but the whole of the human race as well. Albeit, our decline may take longer than four years like Einstein said, but nonetheless there will be a decline were it to happen. According to the American Beekeeper Federation "Honey bees contribute over $14 billion to the value of U.S. crop production." If the numbers provided by the USDA are correct then 14 billion is less than 10% of the annual value of US crop production. 10% might not be that much in the grand scheme of things, but it sure is a lot. At the time Einstein said this it may have been true for the lack of technology. Now that we have more technology scientists are finding ways to potentially replace bees. Robo-Bees. Bees have instrumental value, but humans could survive without them. Their disappearance might affect other species and ecosystems like the human race, but we can bounce back from it with technology. 

Big Picture-

Human Impact- Humans can have good or bad benefits on ecosystems. Sadly, most of the time we are a disturbance, whether it be causing wildfires, oil spills, or cutting down forests or leaving a huge carbon footprint that slowly destroys this planet. In the current event I summarized, humans are assumed to have caused the ebola outbreak by form of deforestation, thus forcing bats to search for a different habitat. Humans also impact the hydrologic cycle by harvesting trees, which reduces evapotranspiration by reducing plant biomass, or paving over land surfaces which reduces the amount of percolation there thus increasing runoff and evaporation. The carbon cycle is also affected by humans. Human extraction of fossil fuels, the combustion of fossil fuels by humans, tree harvesting, and human caused fires in forests are examples of how humans impact the carbon cycle. With more carbon in the air and not enough plants to turn carbon into oxygen or sugars. The phosphorous cycle is affected by eutrophication, which cause algae to grow faster and the die. The death of the algae intakes a lot of oxygen which deprives the rest of the aquatic system of oxygen. The nitrogen cycle is also affected by humans and their use of fertilizers. Increased atmospheric nitrogen concentrations can be deposited into areas where nitrogen is a limiting nutrient. It can affect species in ecosystems. 

Environmental Impact- Ecosystems are part of the environment and are affected in similar ways. When an environment is harmed so is an ecosystem. If a forest is razed, if a pavement is built, if a place is urbanized, then an ecosystem is hurt because its surrounding environment changes and cannot sustain it anymore. Any disturbance can affect an ecosystem, no matter how high its resilience is. In the current even the deforestation of the that environment the bats lived in were most likely the cause of the ebola outbreak, per the article. The phosphorus cycle and its algal blooms can affect the environment of an ecosystem as well. 

Economic Impact- In my current even there are many economic impacts involved. Ebola has had many impacts on the economy. Countries have to put more money towards research and health care and it takes a toll on their country. Furthermore, in the article deforestation was the theorized cause of ebola since it took the bats home(s). Deforestation is done because of greed from big corporations, basically for economic gain. Ecosystems also provide 5 essential services to humans that economists call ecosystem services. Those five are provisions, regulating services, supports systems, resilience, and cultural services. 

Government Legislations- The EPA website shows all the government legislations concerning the environment. Some of the most important are the clean air act and the clean water act. Some of the cycles like the water cycle are affected by contaminated water. There is also the National Environmental Policy Act. 

Climate- The average weather in an area for over a decade.

Troposphere- 10 miles up and storms occur there

Stratosphere- Airplanes fly zone and ozone layer

Albedo- Reflectablity of a surface from sunlight

Hadley Cells- air rising from equator that cool as it goes towards the poles and then warms again and repeats

ITCZ- Along the equator where the north and south winds converge

Polar Cells- Cells in the Polar regions that help form Hadley Cells  

Coriolis Effect-North objects deflect right, South objects deflect left; caused by earth's rotation

Gyres- Ocean currents caused by prevailing winds

Upwelling- Cool water from the bottom of the ocean that goes to the surface

Thermohaline Circulation-Flow of ocean water caused by changes in density

ENSO- El Niño's atmospheric component

Rain shadow- An area that gets no rain on one side and a lot on the other(caused by something blocking the rain on the other like a mountain)

CURRENT EVENT-El Niño 

The national weather service has stated that the water along San Diego has gotten warmer. By 7 degrees. El Nino allowed Hurricane Norbert to reach Baja California but the chances of there being an El Nino winter are dwindling and it will cause this to be third consecutive year of drought in Southern California. El Niño disturbs patterns such as upwelling as well.

Iberian Peninsula’s geothermal power can generate current electrical capacity five times over

Basically in Spain and the anywhere inside what is the Iberian Peninsula, there is a temperature increase of 30 degrees celsius for every kilometer you go down. The energy obtained or the "thermal gradient" is generated by the earths own heat and the breakdown of radioactive elements. Implementing EGS in Spain could help cut down on their dependency for energy from other countries and cut down on pollution.Geothermal energy is also clean and renewable.

Human Impact- Good. It will make the cost of energy cheaper for the residents of the area that is given energy by the EGS. Implementing an EGS in Spain will also lead to job creation in the area it is built in.

Environmental Impact- Good and bad. Using geothermal energy produced by the earth itself is a clean and a renewable source. This will cut down on pollution and will also be more effective. The EGS may take up land which could be inhabited by other animals and it could damage the ecosystem in place in a particular area.

Economic Impact- Big negative impact financially for the citizens because putting the EGS in place is not cheap. In the long run it will be beneficial as long as the area does not run out of steam.

Government Legislation- Helps with the clean air act.

The Bad Side of the biofuel boom

Once biofuel seemed to be the future. Crops such as corn and canola were planted to be used for fuel, biofuel. They were thought to be a new and renewable energy source that did not harm the environment. Until recently did some scientists discover that this is not true. Studies show that crops that can be used as biofuel have a huge need for nitrogen and they produce net greenhouse emissions.Furthermore, with the biofuel boom a lot of grassland was converted to crop fields for the purpose of farming biofuels. Pandika even states that the amount of farms is roughly the size of the state of Delaware. Without the grasslands that are now farms there is a major loss of oxygen that the then grass in the grasslands produced. Also, all the wildlife from the grasslands, especially birds, has had a massive decline in population.Clearing out grasslands is hurting the ecosystem since they are all interconnected in some way.

HUMAN IMPACT
Humans are obviously responsibly for the rise in biofuel and loss of grasslands. Many times us as humans do not think about the consequences of our actions until the damage is either irreversible or almost irreversible. When we change the environment of an ecosystem we do not only affect what there was such as the grass but also the animals. Like the ducks or other birds.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
A lot of birds that used to live in the grasslands are now in a population decline. The birds that used to nest in the swampy grasslands cannot anymore because the greenhouse gases released by the biofuel affects the soil and makes it bad for their eggs to be nested.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
The only reason  many farmers decided towards planting biofuels is it is a subsidized industry. The crops also have a high price in the market and that helps farmers continue their unknowingly harmful actions.

GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION
The government is hurting the grasslands by giving subsidies to farmers in order to plant biofuels