Environmental ScienceEnvironmental Science

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

Environment Environment

• Environment- everything that surrounds an organism.

• How would you describe your environment?

• Why do we study the environment?

EnvironmentEnvironment

• 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.

Environmental ScienceEnvironmental Science

• Is an integrated science

• It draws from many different fields– Biology– Physics– Chemistry

• Table 2.1 page 27

Scientists-WaterScientists-Water

• Hydrologist– Flow of Earth’s water

• Oceanographer– Ocean environments

Scientists-AirScientists-Air

• Meteorologist– Weather and the atmosphere

• Climatologist– Global weather patterns

Scientists-LandScientists-Land

• Geologist– Structure and history of Earth

• Seismologist– Movements of Earth’s surface

Scientists-OrganismsScientists-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

Ecology 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

Parts of the EnvironmentParts of the Environment

• Two main factors– Biotic factors– Abiotic factors

Biotic FactorsBiotic Factors

• Biotic factors- all the living parts of the environment– Bio- means “living”– -ic means “related to”

• Examples– Animals– Plants– microbes

Abiotic FactorsAbiotic 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

Environmental InteractionsEnvironmental 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

Coyotes, deer, wolves and Coyotes, deer, wolves and mountain lions mountain lions

in the Grand Canyon 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.

ReviewReview

• How do the biotic and abiotic factors of an environment interact?

• How does science influence decision making?