EEB 2100 UConn Exam 1
1.Main questions of course: 1. How do humans alter earth
2. how do human alterations affect the biosphere
3.What can be done to alleviate human alterations of the biosphere
2.Greatest ecological impacts of humans(most to least): 1. Nitrogen fixation
2.Water use
3.Land transformation
4.CO2 concentration rise
5.Ocean acidification
6.Bird extinction
7.Plant invasion
3.Planetary Boundaries: Limits between which global systems must
operate to prevent abrupt and irreversible environmental change
4.Planetary Boundaries that have been crossed: 1. Biogeochemical
,flows of Nitrogen and Phosphorous(Nitrogen fixation)
2. Genetic diversity (biodiversity loss)
5.Success story of planetary boundaries: Restoration of the ozone layer
6.Non-linear dynamics: Outcome is not proportional to input
- to revert back to a stable state, it will take more effort than getting to
where you are now(It takes much less equipment to pollute a pond than
to clean it up after it has been polluted)
7.Tipping Points: a critical threshold when a small change can have
potentially drastic effects. Mostly linked to climate change and pollution
and the increase in the emmition of greenhouse gases
8.Increased atmospheric CO2: Result of increased burning of fossil fuels
and land use change(getting rid of plants by burning which uptake CO2)
-caused global warming of 0.8-1.2 degrees Celsius
9.Oceanic CO2: -25% of carbon from CO2 gets taken up by oceans
-Caused the average ocean ph to drop by 0.1 units and because ph is a
, log scale resulted in 26% increased acidity causing major changes to
ocean ecology
10.nitrogen fixation: process of converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen
compounds that plants can absorb and use
11.Nitrogen in Ecosystems*dont understand*: added to ecosystems
through fixation by microorganisms and limits the growth of many
ecosystems
12.Large mammal biomass: 97% of large mammal biomass is
human(30%) or domestic animals(67%)
13.Human water use: -35% of all of the earths usable water goes toward
agricul- tural needs while 15% goes to other human needs
-37% of rivers globally including 2% in the US are UNimpeded by dams
which makes it hard for microorganisms and fish to travel
1.Main questions of course: 1. How do humans alter earth
2. how do human alterations affect the biosphere
3.What can be done to alleviate human alterations of the biosphere
2.Greatest ecological impacts of humans(most to least): 1. Nitrogen fixation
2.Water use
3.Land transformation
4.CO2 concentration rise
5.Ocean acidification
6.Bird extinction
7.Plant invasion
3.Planetary Boundaries: Limits between which global systems must
operate to prevent abrupt and irreversible environmental change
4.Planetary Boundaries that have been crossed: 1. Biogeochemical
,flows of Nitrogen and Phosphorous(Nitrogen fixation)
2. Genetic diversity (biodiversity loss)
5.Success story of planetary boundaries: Restoration of the ozone layer
6.Non-linear dynamics: Outcome is not proportional to input
- to revert back to a stable state, it will take more effort than getting to
where you are now(It takes much less equipment to pollute a pond than
to clean it up after it has been polluted)
7.Tipping Points: a critical threshold when a small change can have
potentially drastic effects. Mostly linked to climate change and pollution
and the increase in the emmition of greenhouse gases
8.Increased atmospheric CO2: Result of increased burning of fossil fuels
and land use change(getting rid of plants by burning which uptake CO2)
-caused global warming of 0.8-1.2 degrees Celsius
9.Oceanic CO2: -25% of carbon from CO2 gets taken up by oceans
-Caused the average ocean ph to drop by 0.1 units and because ph is a
, log scale resulted in 26% increased acidity causing major changes to
ocean ecology
10.nitrogen fixation: process of converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen
compounds that plants can absorb and use
11.Nitrogen in Ecosystems*dont understand*: added to ecosystems
through fixation by microorganisms and limits the growth of many
ecosystems
12.Large mammal biomass: 97% of large mammal biomass is
human(30%) or domestic animals(67%)
13.Human water use: -35% of all of the earths usable water goes toward
agricul- tural needs while 15% goes to other human needs
-37% of rivers globally including 2% in the US are UNimpeded by dams
which makes it hard for microorganisms and fish to travel
