ENG 2013

Environmental Science and Engineering

M1 – Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

What is “Sustainability”?

Sustainability is a property of a human

society in which ecosystems (including
humans) are managed such that the
conditions supporting present day life
on Earth can continue.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Levels of Studying Ecology

❑Biosphere
❑The Earth’s ecosystem interacting with the physical environment as a whole to maintain a
steady state system intermediate in the flow of energy between the high energy input of the
Sun and the thermal sink of space (merges with atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere…).
❑Biome
❑Large scale areas of similar vegetation and climatic characteristics.
❑Ecosystem
❑Set of organisms and abiotic components connected by the exchange of matter and energy
(forest, lake, coastal ocean). Or, “the smallest units that can sustain life in isolation from all
but atmospheric surroundings.”
❑Community
❑Interacting populations which significantly affect each other’s distributions and abundance
(intertidal, hot spring, wetland).
❑Population
❑Group of interacting and interbreeding organisms
❑Cell/Organism
❑Organelle → Molecule → Atom

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)
M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)
Biosphere

❑The biosphere is made up

of parts of the Earth where
life exists.
❑Scientists describe the
Earth in terms of “spheres”
❑Lithosphere: The solid
surface of the Earth
❑Atmosphere: The layer of air
that stretches above the
lithosphere
❑Hydrosphere: Earth’s water –
on the surface, in the
ground, and in the air
❑The biosphere overlaps all
these spheres.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Origin of the Biosphere

❑The biosphere has existed for about 3.5 billion years

❑Prokaryotes
❑The biosphere’s earliest lifeforms
❑Single-celled organisms (e.g. bacteria, archaea)
❑Survived without oxygen
❑Some prokaryotes developed a unique chemical process called
photosynthesis.
❑Photosynthesis: Using sunlight to make simple sugars and oxygen out of
water and carbon dioxide.
❑The photosynthetic organisms multiplied and thrived. Over a long
period of time, they changed the biosphere – changing the
atmosphere into a mix of oxygen and other gases that could sustain
new forms of life.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Origin of the Biosphere

❑More complex lifeforms evolved

❑Plants and other photosynthetic species
developed
❑Animals which consume plants (and other
animals) evolved
❑Bacteria and other organisms evolved to
decompose (break down) dead plants and
animals
❑The biosphere benefits from this food web.
❑The remains of dead plants and animals release
nutrients into the soil and ocean. These
nutrients are reabsorbed by growing plants.
❑This exchange of food and energy makes the
biosphere a self-supporting and self-regulating
system.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Origin of the Biosphere

❑The biosphere is sometimes thought of as one large ecosystem.

More often, it the biosphere is described as having many ecosystems.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Man and the Biosphere

❑People play an important

part in maintaining the flow
of energy in the biosphere.
Sometimes, however,
people disrupt the flow.
❑Oxygen level decrease and
carbon dioxide increase in
the atmosphere when people
clear forests and burn fossil
fuels such as coal and oil.
❑Oil spills and industrial
wastes threaten life in the
hydrosphere.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Man and the Biosphere

❑In the early 1970s, the United

Nations established a project
called Man and the Biosphere
Programme (MAB), which
promotes sustainable
development.
❑A network of biosphere
reserves exists to establish a
working, balanced relationship
between people and the natural
world.
❑Currently, there are
563 biosphere reserves all over
the world.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)

Man and the Biosphere

❑The first biosphere reserve

was established in Yangambi,
Democratic Republic of Congo.
❑Yangambi, in the fertile Congo
River Basin, has 32,000 species
of trees and such endemic
species as forest elephants and
red river hogs.
❑The biosphere reserve at
Yangambi supports activities
such as sustainable agriculture,
hunting, and mining.

M1 - Nature and Ecology (Part 2)