Repaso CSII Primer parcial

 Ecology: the study of all aspects of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment.
 Environmental science: an interdisciplinary area of study that includes both applied and theorical aspects of
human impact of the world.
 Sustainable development: is an alternative approach to modern schemes, where economic, social, cultural,
political, ecological and moral aspects are considered to satisfy society’s needs without altering the capacity of
future generations to satisfy their own.
 Organization of the biosphere
o Individual
o Species: individuals with the same characteristics
o Population: individuals of a same specie forming a group
o Community: the biotic organisms interacting in the same place
o Ecosystem: all the biotic and a biotic interacting in the same place
o Biome: a large area of similar ecosystems
o Biosphere: a place in which life is found interacting with the ecosystem.
 Dimensiones de desarrollo sustentable
o Capitalismo: tiene capital  proceso para bienes de consume  compra / venta para tener capital
acumulado. La economía tiene prioridad en el desarrollo pero, ¿Hay balance? ¿Cómo debería de ser?
o Dimensiones
 *Económico
 *Social
 Cultural
 Político
 Moral
 *Ecológico
o Climate
 Climate: average of weather condition on a specific area
 Weather: inmidiat condition. Max. min. temperature in the day.
 Factors that modify climate
 Altitude/ latitude
 Distance from the ocean and water formations
 Geographic formations  topography.
 Factors that modify biomes: temperature and precipitation.
 Rain shadow effects: one place with water, plenty of rain and mountains divide the other side
with no water.

 Milankovitch studies:
 Variation of tilt
 Axial wobble
  La órbita de la tierra no es fija, se abre y se cierra.

 Biomes- ecotone: biome’s transition

Biome Characteristic
Tropical rain forest  The trees are very tall and of a
great variety of species.
 The vegetation is so dense that
little light reaches the forest
floor.
 Most of the plants are
evergreen.
Tropical seasonal Dinstinct wet and dry season.
forest
Biodiversity Picture
It has more kinds of tees
than any other area in the
world. Animals with bright
colors and sharp patterns.
Bristlecone pines, large
trees, monkeys, frogs,
spiders, kangaroos

Tropical themed Low precipitation, Fox, small plants, small

scrub and woodland mammals and insects.
(estepa)

Dessert Low amounts of water Cactus, mesquite, fast

growing annuals, lizards,
snakes, insects and some
birds

Temperate Nutrient-rich soil Conifers, deer, mouselike

rainforest animals.
Temperate forest Well defined weather. Hardwood trees
(deciduous) , deer,
raccoons, salamanders

Savanna Widely spaced trees, seasonal Lion king’s animals

weather availability.

Boreal forest (taiga) Dotted with lakes, bogs and Conifers- deciduous trees,
marshes, snowy winter. moose

Grassland Cold with low precipitation Grasses and herbs, grains,

domesticated ungulates:
cattle and sheep

Tundra Really cold in winter, few Moss, waterfowl, etc.

biodiversity.

Ice casquets Extremely cold Polar bears, penguins,

 Still water, mainly fresh water, low Enclosed depression of land with Birds, insects, fish, amphibians,
concentration of nutrients. accumulated precipitation plankton

Ponds and lakes

Flowing water to a lake or the ocean, Landscape that allow for strong Rooted plants, fish, beavers and
higher concentration of nutrients gravitational pull otters.

Streams and rivers

Great depth nutrient poor salt water Covers around 70% of earth’s surface Exclusively phytoplankton vegetation,
whales, sharks, rays.

Open ocean
Standing water, at times seasonally Shallow depression, poorly drained, Amphibians, snakes, invertebrates,
dry, thick organic sediments, high often occupy sites of lakes and ponds wading birds, ducks, geese, moss.
nutrients. that have filled in
Inland wetlands
Tidal currents promote mixing, From coastline outward over Zooplankton, bottom fauna, jellyfish,
nutrients high continental shelf, coral reefs, sea lions, seals, whales, turtles, corals,
abundant in tropics. algae.

Coastal ocean
Variable salinity, tides create two-way Mixture o salty with fresh water Zooplankton, worms, crustaceans,
currents turbid, often nutrient-rich. phytoplankton, rooted grasses.

Estuaries
 Population dynamics
o Exponential growth
 Factors that make it exponential
 Diseases, natural disasters, genetics, lack of resourse, interaction
of different species.
o Logistic growth
 Carrying capacity: maximum number of organism that can be supported
by the environment.
o Boom and bust: exponential growth that is suddenly stopped. It might be because
of the carrying capacity, the specie might eat all their food and there is not enough
for the next generation.
 Co-dependence between organisms
o Competition
 Mutualism: two species in mutual benefits
 Competition: two species competing for a same benefit
o Symbiosis: one gets benefits while the other doesn’t care
o Parasitism: one benefits the other is affected.
o Predation: one specie gets a benefit by killing the other one
 Population
o Factors that determine the amount of people that can be sustained by the earth:
technology and consumption habits.
o Baby boom: speed up consumption, significant decrease of death rates, more
children.
o Population- time growth
 Stage 1: birth and death rates are high
 Stage 2: birth rates are high while death rates are decreasing
 Stage 3: death rates get to the limit.

Esta dinámica no se está

dando al mismo tiempo en todo el mundo por lo que los países
tercermundistas desnivelan los planes de estabilidad. Hay un número mínimo
de individuos necesarios para que la población esté sana. Y hay un máximo
número de población (límite)
  Limiting factors: diseases, genetics, species interaction, disasters,
resource amiability.
 Clasification of limiting factors:
o density independent (a biotic factors) (diseases, disasters)
o density dependent (biotic factors):
 intra species
 inter species: species interaction, resource amiability

+ Niche: there can’t be two populations with the exact same niche, competition between species
start when their niche overlap.
Specialist: a single function and can’t do anything else
Generalist: big niche.

Repaso CSII segundo parcial

Trophic levels: level in which an organism is on a chain/web of an alimentary process.

Producers  primary consumers  secondary consumers  tertiary consumers  decomposers.

Energy loss chain: there are losses all the way of the chain that transforms into energy that can’t
be used by the organism. 90% Is not transferred and 10% goes to the next trophic level. There
most e enough biomass in the lower levels to subtend upper levels.

Not Consumed
Biomass of plants Not digested
(grass) (returns to grass)
Consumed Growth/ storage

Digested

Daily activity
 Cycles
Water Carbon Nitrogen Phosphorus Sulfur
Cycle

*Precipitation *CO2 in the rain *N2 in the atmosphere *Phosphate in soil / *Lluvia acida
(infiltration/perco *Respiration *Nitrogen fixing water *bacterias fijan de
lation and run off) *Photosynthesis bacteria in soil and *Phosphate taken by distintas maneras
*Evaporation root plants fixed and in *Sulfato
*Condensation *Nitrite bacteria plants
Liberaras biomass / *Plantas
Uses

*temperature Respiration Amino acids and energía Proteínas para

peptides plantas

Relation with other class themes.

Biological Magnification: refers to the process in which pollutants found in a lower trophic level
are transferred into the next one, thus increasing the concentration of it due to the fact that
organisms in higher trophic levels need to consume large quantities of those organisms in the
lower levels. This differs from the transference of energy because usable energy is depleted as it
moves to the trophic levels.

Nitrogen fixation: process in which nitrogen gas is broken down by bacteria.

Climax communities: the final tendency of development in a particular community if it was left
alone undisturbed for sufficient periods of time.

Ecological Succession
 Primaria: proceso para que puede haber comunidades bióticas cuando entra la primera
especie desde las piedras, tierra, musgo, etc. Se estabiliza cuando llega a la comunidad
climax donde ya hay un balance en su uso de nutrientes, recursos, etc.
 Secundaria: un ecosistema o lugar que ya estaba y por alguna razón se acaba y busca que
el ecosistema vuelva a crecer pero ya no se empieza de cero.
 Acuática: modificación de cuerpos acuáticos que han sido erradicados por la introducción
de sedimentos.

Capitalism and neoliberalism

 Capitalism: the means of production and distribution are privately owned.
 Neoliberalism: free market, it will control its self.

Globalization (contradictions)
 Globalización y nacionalización simultánea: pérdida de identidad, la globalización crea una
pérdida de identidad lo que lleva a querer una nacionalización.
 Aumenta producción, trabajo disminuye
 Mayor dependencia de tecnología, mayor desconfianza.
 Crisis de conocimiento y cantidad de información
  La mayor parte se relacionan con el comportamiento humano.

Tragedy of commons
 Common full resources: (wáter, air, sun, fish)
o No one is excluded from using the resources
o One person using the resource doesn’t prevent form someone else using it (the
usage o the resource isn’t restricted)
 Market failure: most are environmental goods that can not be measured easily. Occurs as
markets take no account on externalities. Lack of property right also causes
overexplotation
 Causes of market failure
o Abuse of market power – monopoly market
o Public goods – the free-rider problem
o Uncertainty
o Externalities
 Deterioration of marginal cost curve
o Market equilibrium principles apply to smaller scate, no common pool resources
o Everyone can tap into resources
o Costs do not increase in the same way benefits do (marginal cost in for everyone
while benefits are individual)
o Externalize: give costs to someone else to reduce their own.
o Neoclasic economics does not consider absolute scarcity
o Some common pool resources are scarce and our dependence on them does not
make them easily substituted.
 Other policies or regulations required
o Privatization as a possible solution. Common pool resources stop being so
o Privatization might cause more problems than it solves
o Ethical issues regarding privatization.
o State and government participation: seasonal harvesting, taxes and pricing,
education on consumption!!
 Total economic value
o Use values: direct, indirect and optional
o Non use values
 Vicarroos: future possible use for someone else
 Bequest: use for other people
 Existence: related to the entire ecological health
 Intcinsic: even if there are no human uses it is good to have it.

Soil
 Soil conservation: terracing, crop rotation and contour plowing
  Erosion: Processes in which the materials of Earth´s surface are loosened dissolved or
worn away and transported from one place to another by a natural agent, such as wind,
water ice, or gravity.
 Plants consume different amounts of each nutrient each one, if we have only one type of
plant, there will be a lack of equilibrium in the cycle of nutrients.
 Soil gives us: agriculture, sink for nutrients, space, mining/ oil, underground water, storage
of water.

Repaso CSII tercer parcial

World Hunger
Biofuels:

 Corn: major producer: US, it is the least efficient. Emissions= 22% less than gasoline
 Sugar: major producer: Brazil. E= 56% less than gasoline.
 Biodiesel: major producer: Germany. E= 68% less than diesel
 Cellulose: very efficient, e= 91% less than gasoline.

Water
 Problems: water quality (health problem), distribution, pollution, wrong usage, political
interests, availability (97% salt water, 2% ice caps, 1% streams, rivers and lakes)
 Average water consumption in GDL: 250L/P/Day
 First world countries use their water for industrialized processes while undeveloped or in
ways of development use it in agriculture mostly.

Air
Global warming
 CO2  electricity and carbon, construction and manufacture, transport, deforestation,
industry.
 Methane fermentation
 Black carbon  little solids in the air.
 Halocarbon
 Carbon monoxide
 Nitrous Oxide fertilizers

Effects: melting icecaps, change of biomes because of the extra heat, more evaporation = more
rains, storms and hurricanes; change of the seasons.

Development schemes
Diversidad de intereses
 Independencia de baja Alta
intereses Baja Técnico- burócrata Influencia política
alta Movimiento social Colaborativo

Culture
 Indígenas: los indígenas no son respetados en muchas ocasiones, en México tenemos una
gran variedad de culturas. Es peligroso creer que los indígenas requieren de
modernización.

Paradigmas
o Citas bíblicas se pueden interpretar según le conviene a las personas
o Tener tasa de explotación que nos permita seguir utilizando los productos
o Contra el antropocentrismo, conservacionismo basado en la estética y moral
o Opciones divergentes

Problems of S.D
 Tradegy of commons Solutions Solutions
 Permanent / temporary  Technological
 Erosion
 National / international  Political and
 Global Warming
 Forced sociocultural
 Economic model
 Government / people  Restoration
 Culture and religión
 NGO’s  Preventive
 Short term / long term
 Lowas and legislation
 Education / community

Renewable energy
 Solar energy: it consists in a panel collecting solar radiation
o Solar PV modules are around 10% effective.
o It is not available all the time requiring a battery system in most cases.
Manufacturing all the pieces requires a lot of resources and emits a lot of
pollution.
o Requires a careful planning studying orientation, solar exposure and location.
 Wind energy:
o Available almost everywhere, around 30% effective.
o Types: horizontal and vertical axis.
o Requires a lot of space, it is noisy and many people find it annoying.
Manufacturing process is not free from pollution, migrating animals are affected.
 Geothermal
o Taps into thermal energy stored in the Earth’s crust, using it to heat water to drive
turbines.
o Not really renewable, you might exhaust it due to the extraction rate.
  Hydro-power: dams built in rivers or permanent currents.
o They include a reservoir and curtain to hold the water and turbines are moved
inside. Relatively constant and most energy potential
o Least sustainable, pollution from construction; large areas are flooded affecting
the environment up-stream, down-stream, and the communities nearby. Careful
studies of the current and flow are needed, estimating flooded area and output
speed.
 Tidal and wave power: very promising in some locations, forms: sea snakes, tidal flooding
and water columns.

Obstacles of switching to renewable

Economic issues: Social

 Capital cost  Population growth and standard

 Financing living
 Energy pricing policies  Access to energy supplies
 Subsidies  Impact the infrastructure has on
 Externalities development
 Attitude and life style
Environmental
Education
 Pollution
 Loss of diversity  Awareness of energy related issues
 Public and workers health  Knowledge of alternatives
 Visual and noise pollution  Qualification and training
 Local  regional  global

Local solutions and strategies

 3R’s reduce, reuse and recycle

 Treads

Ecotourism: purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of
the environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing
economic opportunities that make the conservation o natural resources beneficial to local people.

Urbanism
Cities for people, not cars. (lectures)