Environmental Science

1. Environmental Science Objective: Give examples of how parts of the environment interact. Explain how science influences decision-making process.

2. Environment • Environment- everything that surrounds an organism. • How would you describe your environment? • Why do we study the environment?

3. Environment • Everything that an organism needs is provided by its environment. • As conditions change in an environment and organisms may not be able to survive these changes. • Keeping the environment healthy is important to keep our biosphere healthy and able to continue to support life.

4. Environmental Science • Is an integrated science • It draws from many different fields • Biology • Physics • Chemistry • Table 2.1 page 27

5. Scientists-Water • Hydrologist • Flow of Earth’s water • Oceanographer • Ocean environments

6. Scientists-Air • Meteorologist • Weather and the atmosphere • Climatologist • Global weather patterns

7. Scientists-Land • Geologist • Structure and history of Earth • Seismologist • Movements of Earth’s surface

8. Scientists-Organisms • Biologists • Structure and behavior of organisms • Ecologists • Interactions of organisms with their environment • Paleontologist • Prehistoric life and fossils • Anthropologist • Structure of human societies • Microbiologist • Study of microorganisms

9. Ecology • Ecology is the study of the interaction of organisms with their environment and other organism • Ecology differs from environmental science in that with ecology the main principles do not change with the addition of man • Environmental science incorporates the impact of man

10. Parts of the Environment • Two main factors • Biotic factors • Abiotic factors

11. Biotic Factors • Biotic factors- all the living parts of the environment • Bio- means “living” • -ic means “related to” • Examples • Animals • Plants • microbes

12. Abiotic Factors • Abiotic factors- all the nonliving parts of the environment. • A- means “not” or “without” • -bio means “living” • -ic means “related to” • Examples • Temperature • Sunlight • Soil

13. Environmental Interactions • Organism are affected by the biotic and abiotic factors of their environment and they in turn have an effect on the environment • Changes in the environment may require the organisms to make adjustments • Changes on one organism could result in effect on another organisms • Butterfly and the lupine flower

14. Coyotes, deer, wolves and mountain lions in the Grand Canyon • In the 1900’s coyote, wolves and mountain lions where hunted to almost the point of extinction. • They were believed to be of danger to livestock and farmers • They are the main predator of deer and without them the deer population exploded. (25 times greater) • The deer ate almost all the available vegetation in the area. • The area could no longer support such a large population and 60,000 deer starved to death. • No one had predicted that the hunting of coyote, wolves and m.lions would lead to the starvation of 60,000 deer.

15. Review • How do the biotic and abiotic factors of an environment interact? • How does science influence decision making?