danibblog-blog

[danibblog-blog]

Soil Erosion & its Effect on Ecosystems

Soil erosion is a result of the different types of weather and other process that occur. The different types of weather can include heavy rain that cause rising waters, high wind speeds, droughts etc. Other processes can include agriculture activity along with human activity. These events cause soil to move to different areas and with the soil comes nutrients and other materials.

The nutrients in the topsoil are usually the first nutrients to be lost during soil erosion.19 This causes difficulties for plants to thrive in areas with low nutrients and can end up changing the amount of tillable land for agricultural use. As soil erodes, the depth of it begins to decrease as well.19 Less soil means that roots are not able to grow as deep into the ground as needed and thus causing issues for the plant during the growing process.

Soil erosion also tends to cause pollution.19 The runoff from the soil ends up in streams and rivers carrying chemicals to larger bodies of water and potentially affecting the aquatic life in the ecosystem.19 A common chemical found in soil is nitrogen and this can cause algae blooms which reduce the amount of light penetrating the water system which reduces the amount of oxygen entering the system. Reduced amounts of oxygen have detrimental effects on the aquatic life of that ecosystem.

As soil erodes, it starts to affect the components in an ecosystem. When different components begin to change, many other aspects begin to change as well. It is important to keep the flow of an ecosystem stable without too much stress or large changes to ensure that the components are thriving the best way that they can.

 1.     Kazmeyer, M. Sciencing. https://sciencing.com/effects-soil-erosion-ecosystem-21277.html. November 6, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Plastic Debris Effect on Humans & Ecosystems

Plastic is a very common product that is used worldwide. There has been more plastic produced in the first ten years of this century than the amount of plastic produced during the entire last century.18 Plastic has a variety of effects on different types of ecosystems.

Certain chemicals that are in plastic have the possibility of being absorbed by humans and can have detrimental effects on our health. A common chemical, bisphenol (BPA), is found in drinking bottles and food containers.18 This chemical can be transferred to the food and drink and once its ingested it can lead to the accumulation of BPA in the body. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, “93% of people had detectable amounts of BPA in their urine.”18 BPA can end up causing increased heart rate and diabetes.18 While plastic seems like a very useful product to the human population, its effects on human health can be detrimental to us and in turn, start to affect the ecosystem we live in.

In marine ecosystems, plastic debris floats around, and can last for thousands of years. This can act as a transporter for invasive species and be ingested by marine animals and can poison wildlife.18 The multiple effects this plastic can have on an ecosystem can change how an ecosystem works and in the end changes what ends up thriving and what ends up dying.

 1.     Knoblauch, J. Environmental Health News. http://www.ehn.org/the-environmental-toll-of-plastics-2501923191.html. November 6, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Pollutions effect on Ecosystems

Pollution has effects on many things. These things range from one individual ecosystem to the entire universe. There are many different forms of pollution including air, water and soil pollution as a listed few. Let’s discuss how pollution can affect a single ecosystem.

Water pollution can affect organisms living in the water system including fish and vegetation.16 Depending on the type of pollution, whether it be from oil, chemicals or other forms, it can affect the amount of oxygen transferred to the organisms in the water system and it ends up changing the components of the system. This will also start to affect the animals that use that water system as a resource.

Nitrogen in air and soil pollution is transferred to ecosystems through rain and the flow of other water sources.17 Nitrogen in excess can act as a fertilizer and in turn can favor certain plants over others and cause some vegetation to not grow and thrive as well other vegetation. Pollution has a variety of effects on many aspects of an ecosystem.

 1.     N/A. World Wide Fund for Nature. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_r esources/project_ideas/pollution/. November 2, 2017.

2.     N/A. National Park Service. https://nature.nps.gov/air/AQBasics/compounds.cfm/ November 2, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Urbanization and its effects on the Environment

Urbanization is moving from rural, also known as the country, to suburban and city communities. While there may be personal benefits to moving closer to the city, there are some environment detriments that people do not always consider. Urbanization is something that is almost entirely irreversible. 14

Urbanization can put pressure on land resources by requiring more use of undeveloped land. It can cause climate change in areas of large populations such as cities. It also effects things such as circulation of water and nitrogen in the climate system along with affecting CO2 emmissions.14

Urban communities consume more energy, food and durable goods than those who live in rural communities.15 In the 1970’s Chinas urban communities consumed twice and much pork as its rural areas. Even a decade later, rural communities consume 60 percent less pork than urban communities.15 The same trend goes for use of durable goods and energy. Urban communities use way more of those resources as compared to those is rural areas.

The high usage of these resources creates heat islands and in turn change the weather patterns. Water runoff patterns are also affected. Infiltration of water is reduced which causes water to runoff quicker than normal. This increases the chances for floods and water pollution. As one can understand, urbanization has many effects on the environment and many people do not even consider these issues while they are living in the middle of them.  

   1.     N/A. Yale University. http://urban.yale.edu/research/theme-4. October 26, 2017.

2.     Boyle-Torrey, B. Population Reference Bureau. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2004/UrbanizationAnEnvironmentalForcetoBeReckonedWith.aspx. October 29, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Aquaculture & its Impact on the Environment

Aquaculture is the production of seafood in places such as ponds, lakes and oceans.12 People breed fish and marine animals because there is such a high demand for this type of food and aquaculture is a way of fulfilling the needs of the human population. There are various ways to go about this practice. Some people can do it without a natural source of water like a lake or ocean while others use these bodies of water to house their livestock. The people who do not use bodies of water have large tanks that they house their fish in. There are positive and negative environmental effects to these two ways of aquaculture.

As far as the impact on the environment goes, aquaculture poses a low risk for environmental impact.12 People can farm fish without causing any harm to the environment but still being able to help the demand of fish for our population. They can do this by having their own water systems that hold their fish without impacting other water sources.

           Now, if the water system that is housing the fish is in a large body of water such as a lake or ocean, it can cause a few risks to the surrounding environment. The first is that the fish can escape.13 This will alter the food web and change the way that ecosystem works and could have a negative outcome. There could also be water pollution and the production of invasive species which all have negative effects of the environment. Overall, while aquaculture can be beneficial to the human race, it can pose threats to other forms of life.

 1.     Souza, M. The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/the-benefits-of-aquaculture-1301626. October 23, 2017.

2.     Blinn, C. Moodle. https://ay17.moodle.umn.edu/mod/folder/view.php?id=198593. October 23, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Endangered Species

As many people know, an endangered species is a species that is low in numbers and has the possibility of becoming extinct. There are many causes of endangered species and majority of them are due to changes in the ecosystem in which the species exist. Habitat loss is one of the major changes. This can be from deforestation, development of land or even agriculture activity.9 These activities can take away homes of animals, leaving them no habitat to live in and forcing them to find an alternative way of survival. This is what causes them to decrease in numbers because it is hard to adapt to change.

           Pollution and climate change are two more possible ways to cause an endangered species.9 The outcomes of pollution and climate change could mean life or death for a species living in an area. The slightest change in temperature can make a huge impact as well. Even when a new species is introduced into an environment could allow other species to thrive and others to struggle to survive. Introduction of a new species could increase predators or decrease predators depending on the species being considered.

           According the US Fish and Wildlife Service there are currently 415 species on the endangered species list in the United States.10 There are even more endangered species in other countries. The Endangered Species Act was implemented in 1973 and the plan was to help prevent the loss of anymore animals on the list.11 They focused on habitat restoration for many species to allow them to thrive and increase in numbers. This Act has succeeded in saving many species, like the bald for example, from extinction.

 1.     Evans, M. Earth Times. http://www.earthtimes.org/encyclopaedia/environmental-issues/endangered-species/. October 13, 2017.

2.     N/A. US Fish & Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/endangered/index.html. October 13, 2017.

3.     Blinn, C. Moodle. https://ay17.moodle.umn.edu/mod/folder/view.php?id=198593. October 10, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Invasive Species & Environments

According to the National Wildlife Federation(NWF), an invasive species can be considered any living organism, from fish to even seeds.6 The NWF has estimated that invasive species have caused 42% of endangered species to be at risk. Invasive species can be detrimental to our environment in many ways and end up costing us a lot of money. An invasive species is usually spread by human activity. This can range from a species being transferred to a new environment by ships or even being accidentally released.7 Once a new species enters a foreign environment it can start to affect the wildlife in that environment. This new species has no predators so they can breed and reproduce very quickly, becoming overpowering of the other species. This causes the other species to have difficulties finding food and staying alive, which leads to the issue of extinction.

An example of a well-known invasive species is zebra mussels. They were transferred by the ballast of ships traveling from Europe to the Great Lakes in the 1980’s.6 Zebra mussels were spread to all of the Great Lakes and have infected many other water sources through the ways described earlier. They filter water and reduce the amount of plankton for other fish to eat.8 The filtered water allows other species like vegetation to grow and produce algae.8 According the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources(MNDNR), zebra mussels produce 100,000-500,000 eggs that mature each year.8 Once a zebra mussel has spread to another water source, it is very difficult to avoid the impacts because of their large numbers. It is our job as humans to do what we can to help stop the spread of invasive species.

The MNDNR has tried to reduce the impact of zebra mussels by treating water with pesticides.8 Another common way to avoid the spread of invasive species it to wash off any water crafts that are used before putting them in a new body of water.

 1.     N/A. National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/en/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Threats-to-Wildlife/Invasive-Species. October 12, 2017.

2.     N/A. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/invasive.html. October 12, 2017.

3.     N/A. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/zebramussel/index.html. October 12, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Effect of Population on Ecosystems

Population affects many aspects of our world today, especially our ecosystems. The United States population had exponentially grown since the 1800’s to now from less than 20 million to over 250 million and this number is continually increasing.3 Population puts a strain on ecosystems and too much strain can cause an ecosystem to collapse.4

For example, when a population grows in a particular area, the natural resources do not expand in correlation to the population change, they stay the same. Now one can understand that the larger the population the more demand for those natural resources. These natural resources are a component of ecosystems and once they are depleted they can have detrimental effects on the ecosystem. Species start to die off and resources are gone which in turn changes the function of the ecosystem and not always in a positive way.

The ecosystem provides a list of benefits to us as humans. Some include provisioning (food, water), regulation (climate, air quality), cultural formation (recreation, education) and supportive services (soil formation).5 The ecosystem provides a lot for us and the human population should do what it can to protect it. Once population growth can be controlled the future of ecosystems can be more promising.

 1.     Knight, J. Moodle. https://ay17.moodle.umn.edu/mod/folder/view.php?id=198593. October 2, 2017.

 2.     Litherland, N. Classroom. http://classroom.synonym.com/the-effect-of-the-population-on-the-ecosystem-12079665.html. October 2, 2017.

 3.     NA. K4Health. https://www.k4health.org/sites/default/files/How%20does%20over%20 population%20affects%20the%20ecosystem_CI%20PE%20Baggao%20Philippines.pdf. October 2, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Problems with Ecosystems

Ecosystems can be detrimentally affected by the human population. Throughout this blog I am going to discuss environmental policy and some components that will help make it easier to understand the sort of stress us humans can put on an ecosystem. Problems in the ecosystem are usually caused by humans and there are a few different categories these problems can fall under.2

The first type of problem can be referred to as distribution.2 This is where the benefits and costs of a situation are distributed unequally. For example, think of a heavy rainfall. Will the rain affect more organisms living above the ground or below? Depending on the amount of rain, water could possible saturate the soil enough to wash out any of the living organisms in the soil whereas the organisms above the soil would not be as affected.

The second type is public goods. This can be described by saying that if you consume it, it will not affect me to consume it. An example of this can be sunlight. If I am outside and in the sun and another person is outside in the sun the amount of sun that person consumes is independent of the amount of sun I consume.

The third is common pool goods and this can be thought of as, if I use it, there will be none left for you to use. An example of this problem is hunting. If I am hunting and shoot a deer, hypothetically, that is one less deer for the next person to be able to shoot, decreasing their chances of shooting a deer.

Finally, the last problem can be considered an externality. According to Fleischman, this is where the benefits or costs of ones’ activity does not directly affect them directly. An example of this problem can include agriculture run off. The runoff can enter into streams that lead to rivers and larger bodies of water and can later start to affect the aquatic ecosystem of that specific habitat.

           Almost if not all environmental problems fall under one of these four categories.2 Many of the problems in ecosystems are man-made and it would be beneficial for us to understand what types of problems they are and what/who they are affecting beyond ourselves.

  2.) Fleischman, F. Moodle. https://ay17.moodle.umn.edu/mod/folder/view.php?id=198593. September 17, 2017.

[danibblog-blog]

Introduction to Ecosystems

Our ecosystem is an integral part of the world we live in today. There are plenty of advocates that promote keeping the earth healthy and doing so would be beneficial to all the different types of ecosystems that interact to make up what we call earth. So, what is an ecosystem? According to Rebekah Richards, “Ecosystems are communities of organisms and non-living matter that interact together.”1 Sunlight, soil, water and heat are a few things that make up an ecosystem. Other components include plants and animals.

The interactions in ecosystems are essential for it to thrive. Each organism has its own role. For example, plants use sunlight for photosynthesis and bugs in the soil help with decomposing. All of the interactions in an ecosystem fall under 4 different categories of interactions. Predation, cooperation, competition and symbiosis.1

Changes in an ecosystem can cause many other chain reactions positive or negative. One can imagine that if one species goes extinct, the species that preyed on them will have to find something else to prey on, or they could go extinct and it could cause a domino effect. Another example is if a species is introduced to an ecosystem. It could have many effects including ones similar to if a species went extinct.

Overall, ecosystems are very important to how our world works and thrives. They can be sensitive to change which is why all variables need to be considered when talking about them.

 Richards, R. Sciencing. http://sciencing.com/ecosystems-important-5868033.html. September 17, 2017).