Environmental science and engineering

What is Environmental Engineering?

 The application of science and engineering Land Quality
knowledge and concepts to care for and/or  Land Pollution: destruction of the Earth’s
restore our natural environment. surface caused by human activities
Natural Resources
Who does it affect?  Land and raw materials that exist naturally
 Plants in the environment
 Insects Renewable Resources
 Animals  A natural resource that can be replaced by a
 Humans natural process
 Ecosystems Non-Renewable Resource
 Our Planet  A natural resource that cannot be produced
or re-grown or reused.
What are environmental issues?
 Air quality What problems arise from land pollution?
 Land quality  Acid mine drainage
 Water quality  Pesticides and Herbicides
 Landfills
Why is air quality such a problem?
 Poor air quality can lead to: How do we reduce land pollution?
1. Smog  Reduce, Re-use and Recycle
2. Respiratory and other illnesses  Go organic
3. Acid Rain  Organic Research
4. Global Warming  Join the one less bag challenge

Air Pollutant- A known substance in the air that Ecology the scientific study of interactions
causes harm to humans and the environment between different organisms and between
 Nitrogen Oxides (NO) organisms and their environment or surroundings
 Sulfur Oxides (SO)
 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Biotic—living factors that influence an ecosystem
 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Abiotic—non-living factors that influence an
ecosystem
Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming
GLOBAL Warming- increase in the average Producers
temperature of the Earth  Sunlight is the main energy source for life
Greenhouse Effect- heat from the sun gets trapped on earth
inside the glass of a greenhouse  Also called autotrophs
 More carbon dioxide (CO2) being released in  Use light or chemical energy to make food
the atmosphere traps more heat 1. Plants
2. plant-like protists (algae)
How do we reduce air pollutants? 3. Bacteria
 Carpool
 Hybrid Cars  Photosynthesis—use light energy to convert
 EPA government regulation carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and
 NEW: geologic carbon sequestration carbohydrates
 Alternative Fuels (Remember: 6CO2 + 6H2O 6O2 + C6H12O6)
 Walk, bike or use public transportation
Environmental science and engineering
 Chemosynthesis—performed by bacteria, 1. Organisms in a trophic level use the
use chemical energy to produce available energy for life processes (such as growth,
carbohydrates photosynthesis, cellular respiration, metabolism,
etc.) and release some energy as heat.
Consumers
 Organisms that rely on other organisms for Remember: Every chemical process that
their energy and food supply happens in your body releases heat as a
 Also called heterotrophs byproduct (ex: burning calories).
 Herbivores—obtain energy by eating only 2. Rule of 10—only about 10% of the
plants available energy within a trophic level is transferred
 Carnivores—eat only animals to the next higher trophic level.
 Omnivores—eat both plants and animals
 Decomposers—breaks down dead organic Biomass Pyramid—represents the amount of living
matter organic matter at each trophic level.

FEEDING INTERACTIONS Energy and Biomass Pyramid (together)

 Energy flows through an ecosystem in one  Represents amount of energy available at
direction—from the sun or inorganic each level as well as amount of living tissue
compounds to autotrophs (producers) and —both decrease with each increasing
then to heterotrophs (consumers) trophic level
 Food Chain—series of steps in which
organisms transfer energy by eating and
ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN
being eaten
ORGANISMS
1. Arrows go in the direction of how
energy is transferred Competition—when two organisms of the same or
2. Start with producer and end with top different species attempt to use an ecological
consumer or carnivore resource in the same place at the same time.
 Food Web—network of food chains within
an ecosystem Ex: food, water, shelter
 Trophic Levels—each step in a food chain or
Niche—the ecological niche involves both the place
food web
where an organism lives and the roles that an
1. Level 1—Producers (autotrophs)
organism has in its habitat.
2. Level 2—Primary Consumers
(herbivores) Predation—one organism captures and feeds on
3. Level 3—Secondary Consumers another organism
(carnivores or omnivores)  Predator—one that does the killing
4. Level 4—Tertiary Consumers  Prey—one that is the food
(carnivore-usually top carnivore)
Symbiosis—any relationship in which two species
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS live closely together
Diagram that shows the relative amount of
energy or organisms contained within each trophic  Mutualism—both species benefit (WIN-WIN)
level of a food chain or web. Ex: insects and flowers
 Commensalism—one member of the
association benefits and the other is neither
Energy Pyramid shows relative amount of energy
helped nor harmed. (WIN-0)
available at each trophic level
Example: barnacles on a whale
Environmental science and engineering
 Parasitism—one organism lives on or inside  Earth is the only planet on which life exists.
another organism (host) and harms it.  It consists of three components
The parasite obtains all or part of its Lithosphere (Land), Hydrosphere (Water)
nutritional needs from the host. (WIN-LOSE) and Atmosphere (Air).
Example: fleas on a dog  The life supporting zone of the earth where
atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
What is an ecosystem? meet, interact and make life possible, is
 All the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) known as biosphere.
parts of an environment as well as the
interactions among them Limiting Factor
 Ecosystems may be aquatic (water) or  environmental factors that limit population
terrestrial (land). sizes in a particular ecosystem

Population Density
 the number of people/organisms living per
unit of an area (e.g. per square mile); the
 Interactions may include: number of people relative to the space
 producers (obtain energy by making their occupied by them
own food; plants -photosynthesis)
 consumers (obtain energy by consuming Density – Dependent Factors
their food)
 decomposers (get energy by breaking down Competition
dead organisms and the wastes of living  food
things)  habitat/space
 water
Abiotic Factors (Non- Biotic Factors (Living)  sunlight
living)  mating (Concerns relate to genetic
mutations, and the number of individuals
Water - shelter Food
competing for a mate.)
Sunlight - soil -Grass
Rocks - nutrients -Trees
Spread of Disease: Overcrowding increases the
oxygen/air, nitrogen -Animals, insects
possibility of diseases being spread in a
temperature/climate -Plants
population.
space, salinity, pH
Predation: Overcrowding interferes with the natural
Bacteria, fungi
predator/prey relationship in an
ecosystem.
Parasitism: Overcrowding increases the
possibility of parasites being spread.

Density-independent Factors
 weather changes
 temperature changes
 human activities (pollution, urban
sprawl, etc.)
 natural disasters (volcanoes, fires,
etc.)
Environmental science and engineering
* Fires
* Clear Cutting
Urban Sprawl * Drought
How may this affect: * Introduction of exotic
* Overharvesting (non-native) species
 water quality (surface and ground) * Habitat depletion (human and natural)
 habitats
 soil quality
 air quality
 noise pollution

Limiting Factors in an Ecosystem

 Density-dependent Factors
 operate more strongly on large
populations and disease
 triggered by increases in population
density (crowding)
* Competition for food, water, shelter & space
* Predation
* Parasitism
* Disease

Disturbances to Physical (abiotic) or Biological

(biotic) Components of Ecosystems
 Disruptions lead to shifts in all populations.
This changes the biodiversity of an
ecosystem.

Disruptions to Physical (nonliving/abiotic)

Components
* Volcanic eruptions
* Pollution
* Hurricanes
* Clear cutting
* Fires
* Floods
* Drought
* Nuclear Bomb
* Habitat depletion (human and natural)

Disruptions to Biological (living/biotic)

Components
* Volcanic eruptions
* Pollution (land & water)
*Hurricanes
* Urban Sprawl