ESS unit 1.1-1.5 and 2.1-2.3

independent individuals who believe that nature should be left alone completely and focus on ecological sustainability. they aim to raise awareness about nature and push pressure onto others.

rather than being self-conscious, they aim o change the behaviour of the masses. they want to protest to make a change (politicians, financial departments, NGO’s)

believe in the fact that technology is able to control and protect the environment.

A particular worldview set of paradigms that shapes the way an individual, or a group of people, perceive and evaluate environmental issues.

exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings.

exchanges energy but not matter.

does not exchange matter nor energy.

more or less constant, no long term changes, system will return to previous state. for example, body temperature/body weight.

no change over time, stable, not in a living state.

an event that moves a system from one equilibrium value to another. systems can be resilient, meaning they have a tendency to avoid tipping points.

involves positive feedback. threshold point: hardly predicted. changes are hard to reverse. there is a time difference between the pressures during the change of appearance of impacts.

same state of equilibrium. system returns to the original ‘balanced’ situation through a self-regulating method to control it.

new state of equilibrium. system takes the new ‘balanced’ situation through permanent changes (tipping point) in the state of he system.

occur when the flow of energy or matter in an ecosystem does not involve a change in matter. (water moving from a river to the sea)

happens when a flow of energy involves a change of form or state. (light converted to heat)

compares the earth to a living organism in which feedback-mechanisms maintain equilibrium.

using global resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimises damage to the environment.

meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. (development of new technologies, replace fossil fuels, and increase use of renewable resources)

resources such as trees, soil, water, living organisms that have value to us. not manufactured. (timber or grain to protect against erosion and flooding)

humans can exploit resources which then produce a yield. generates income.

1. renewable resources

2. non-renewable resources

3. replenishable resources

living resources that can replace themselves (trees)

resources that exist in finite amounts (diamonds)

continuously restored by natural processes (rivers, ozone layer, soil)

area of land, expressed in global hectares (gHa) required to sustain the needs of an individual or society.

small, solid and liquid droplets, able to inhale.

smaller particles related to PM10

human development index: economy, education, healthcare, equity

easy to identify as it comes from a single place. (chemicals from factory pipe)

harder to identify and hard to address. comes from many places all at once (roads —> cars)

established smoke-free areas around the cities in England and restricted burning coal in domestic fires as well as in industrial furnaces

the addition and accumulation of harmful substances that are being broken/harvested at a faster rate than man can grow.

soil, air, water. for example, heavy metals, CO2, CFC’s, excess nitrates and volatile organic compounds.

when the chemical concentration in an organism exceeds the concentration of its food, causing major exposure.

once a chemical is absorbed by a living thing, it cannot be excreted/lost.

the amount of biomass that can be extracted without reducing natural capital of the ecosystem.

(assimilation) = food eaten – fecal loss

the total amount of energy or biomass assimilated by consumers. know how much food is eaten and how much faces are passed.

what is left at the end of all the processes for animal growth e.g. to make new muscle.

= GSP – Respiratory losses

the plants that convert energy into matter.

animals that eat plants or other animals.

organisms that breakdown waste into component parts for reuse.

a group of organisms with common characteristics that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.

factors from living surroundings (plants, animals, bacteria, etc)

factors from non-living nature (light, temperature, wind, air humidity, soil conditions)

the physical environment in which a species usually lives

the role an organism plays and the poistition it holds n the environment.includes all the interactions the organism has with the abiotic and biotic environment

a group of organisms sharing an environment.

occurs between members of the same species. improves the species’ adaptations.

occurs between members of different species. it may lead to one of the species going extinct or both becoming more specialised.

eats animals

eats plants

where the parasite benefits and the host is harmed by the results of the interaction.

the interaction between two organisms where each organism doesn’t get harmed/benefits.

the maximum population that can be sustainably supported in an environment

• exponential growth only occurs when a species lives under optimal conditions, with enough water, food, and space.

• density-dependent limiting factors (internal and external)

• competition for resources between organisms

• space and size of breeding population and size of territory.

• diseases

• parasitism (parasite derives the food from the organism)

• predation (one animal hunts and eats another)

• show a ‘boom-bust’ pattern.

• the population grows exponentially at first, then suddenly collapses

start with exponential growth, above a certain population size it slows down, resulting in a population of a constant size.

• stabilises at the carrying capacity of the environment

K-strategists, r-strategists, C-strategists

low death rate, individuals live to old ages. eg. humans, elephants, gorillas

in between two extremes, has moderate death rates and individuals can die at all ages. eg. coral

high death rate, many individuals die young, dew live to old ge. eg. opportunistic species like plants

10% of an organisms energy gets transferred to the other animal, the other 90% is lost to the environment.

• water+CO2 = reacts to form glucose +oxygen.

• glucose strung together in straight lines to create starch/networks/meshes to make structural carbohydrates (celluloses) —> energy storage.

• means nutrition

• position/role that an organism or group of organisms in a community occupies in a food chain.

• autotrophs (eg. plants)

• receive all energy from sunlight.

• without autotrophs, the suns energy would not be converted into usable energy.

• heterotrophs (eg. rabbits)

• first level of consumers.

• feed exclusively on producers.

also known as carnivores (eg. foxes)

• feed off of primer consumers