Done by Darryl Ling 2O2 (25)

1. Pollution and our Ecosystem Done by Darryl Ling 2O2 (25)

2. Introduction • Pollution has been a problem for EVERYONE • It is indeed harmful and READ ON to find out more about not only pollution, but also the ECOSYSTEM…

3. Types of pollution • Air pollution: Emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere • Water pollution: Contamination of foreign matter that deteriorate the quality of the water • Land pollution: Decomposition of waste/ Accumulation of non-biodegradable materials

4. Types of pollution • Noise pollution: Usually caused by the loud roaring of the exhaust from vehicles • Radioactive pollution: Caused by nuclear energy when not properly taken care of • Thermal pollution: Excess heat released into the atmosphere after chemical reactions during productivity of raw materials

5. Bioindicators (Detection) • Bioindicators, also known as biological indicators are species used to monitor the health of an ecosystem or environment • It is also used to detect the presence of pollution in the area

6. Types of bioindicators • Plant indicators: There are several indicators such as mosses, lichens, tree barks and many more… This are extremely and useful indicators as they help us indicate the toxicity in the environment. • Animal indicators: An increase or decrease in the animal population may indicate damage caused in the ecosystem by pollution. We can easily detect the presence of pollution if the population of the animals decrease.

7. Types of bioindicators • Microbial indicators: Microorganisms can be used as indicators of aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem health. Some microorganisms will produce new proteins, called stress proteins which can be used as an early warning system to detect high levels of pollution • Macroinvertebrateindicators: They are useful and convenient indicators of the ecological health of a water body or river. The sensitivity of the range of macroinvertebrates found will enable an objective judgement of the ecological condition to be made.

8. Bioamplication (impact on pollution) • Also known as biomagnification • The increase in concentration of a pollutant from one trophic level in a food chain to another; this usually occurs when the pollutant is metabolized and excreted much more slowly than the nutrients that are passed from one trophic level to the next. • The organism absorbs the pollutant either through exposure to it or through digestion (via food), and organisms towards the top of the food chain can have high levels of a particular pollutant through consuming other organisms further down the food chain.

9. Bioaccumulation(impact on pollution) • Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of contaminants by species in concentrations that are orders of magnitude higher than in the surrounding environment. • Bioaccumulatedcontaminants can affect populations and threaten biodiversity in insidious, sub-lethal ways. For instance, DDT causes shell-thinning in contaminated birds' eggs---as one Stanford University essay states, contaminated Bald Eagles and Brown Pelicans "tend to find omelets in their nests" instead of solid eggs. This will eventually lead to decreased birth rates, increased death rates and, ultimately, declining populations.

10. Bioremediation • Bioremediation is the use of microorganism metabolism to remove pollutants. • Bioremediation can occur on its own or can be spurred on via the addition of fertilizers to increase the bioavailability within the medium. Recent advancements have also proven successful via the addition of matched microbe strains to the medium to enhance the resident microbe population's ability to break down contaminants.

11. Importance of minimizing pollution • Reducing exposure to environmental contaminates like carcinogens, heavy metals and pathogens, contributes to improved human heath • For example, decreasing the emission of the gases from vehicles will reduce premature mortality and many other respiratory and breathing problems (Air pollution）