Katie Meyers

Self and Unit Evaluation (Unit Four)

REGARDING YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE

1. What were the three aspects of the assignments I've submitted that I am most proud of?

I am proud of how I put together the main lab project. By doing so, I gained skills with a digital camera I did not know I could possess. Also, I was grateful of how well everything fell together.

I am proud of my essay. Though it is shorter than the other ethical essays I wrote in this class, I was happy of how it turned out, given the time devoted towards it.

I was so happy I managed the last compendium review of the class! It was on more material than we have had to deal with in one compendium for awhile, and I was nervous as to how long it would end up taking me to put it together. However, it took a lot less time than I feared, and I am very grateful my "compendium skills" have improved sufficiently to make such reviews easier for me to put together.

2. What two aspects of my submitted assignments do I believe could have used some improvement?

I should have done more research on my ethical essay, despite that it turned out alright the way it is. It would have been nice to have gone into more detail.

I am afraid as to how well I categorized the "relationships among species" in my main project. Some of them were a little difficult to decide, and although I tried my best, I am not entirely sure if they are all correct. Hopefully they are close, if nothing else!

3. What do I believe my overall grade should be for this unit?

I am hoping for an A- or A, but whatever the teacher would like to give me is acceptable.

4. How could I perform better in the next unit?

Well, as there are no more units, I will take all that I learned in this class, from human biology information, to new and improved study techniques, and use them to better my future in college (I hope). :)

REGARDING THE UNIT (adapted from Stephen Brookfield, University of St. Thomas "Critical Incident Questionnaire")

1. At what moment during this unit did you feel most engaged with the course?

   I felt the most engaged when I was doing my main lab project. Again, this brought the reality of the unit to life for me and helped the concepts better sink into my brain.

2. At what moment unit did you feel most distanced from the course? I never felt much distanced from the course. The closest I ever got was when I was doing all the reading in the textbook for the last week.
   
3. What action that anyone (teacher or student) took during this unit that find most affirming and helpful?

   I am very grateful that our last lab project was not as hard as some of the other ones! It made the end of the course easier to deal with and cram in by the deadline.

4. What action that anyone (teacher or student) took during this unit did you find most puzzling or confusing?

   There was nothing that anybody did that puzzled or confused me.

5. What about this unit surprised you the most? (This could be something about your own reactions to the course, something that someone did, or anything else that occurs to you.)

I was surprised about the ethical issues essay. When I first saw what it was about, I confess it did not sound terribly interesting. However, when I began reading on the subject before writing my essay, I found it to be an intensely interesting learning experience that was very enjoyable. Thanks! :)

Ethical Essay Four -- Who Should Reproduce?

Katie Meyers

Ethical Essay Four – Who Should Reproduce?

Who should reproduce? At first glance, why should not everybody who desires to? After all, as human beings, it is each person’s right to try and have one or more children if they would like. However, would-be-parents should be made aware of the impact their future children will have upon the globe.

The first reaction of some would-be-parents at this stage would be, “I know that the population is getting very large and possibly nearing being out of control in the near future. However, what if we just have two? After all, it should not affect the population much, as they will replace us (the parents) in the population when we are gone.” However, this is not so. After all, parents to not expect to die the minute after they have had their two children. Therefore, there will be a period where they will be double in number, thereby affecting the population’s numbers. Even when fertility rates are lowered, the population still rises significantly. For example, China has actively and successfully lowered their fertility rate to two children or less per couple. However, as a country, they still produce about 10 million new people every year. Even with lowered fertility rates, the future population is thought to rise significantly from now to the year 2050 (from about 6.5 billion people to over 9 billion people). The Zero Population Growth group, founded in 1968, was famous for its “stop at two” motto. However, due to these more recent events and realizations, their new motto has become, “Consider having one or none, and be sure to stop after two.”

All these facts are well and good, but what is the worry of raising the population? How much will a greater population really affect the Earth and its resources? Each person added to this world hugely impacts Nature, especially if the parents live in a more developed country. For instance, if a North American couple stops after having two kids, the energy those two children will consume is equivalent to an East Indian couple stopping after having sixty children or an Ethiopian couple stopping after having six hundred children! Also, each human being (averaged at 60 kilograms) represents 2500 calories or 120 watts used per day. That may sound like a significant amount (which it is), but the more advanced countries have produced even more astonishing numbers for our perusal. For instance, the more advanced the country, the more expensive the child (in terms of how much energy and fossil fuels each child will use). This fact explains why many more advanced countries have a lower fertility rate than less advanced countries: each child costs more there! To expand on this concept, let us look again at the uptake of energy and fossil fuels by each average American (living in the United States). After adding in energy and fossil fuel consumption rates to their daily consumption, each American is using the amount of energy equivalent to a 30,000 kilogram primate, or approximately 100 times the rate of the average human biological metabolism! No wonder advanced countries have so few children, when the parents themselves spend so much money and effort to use this much energy themselves.

In the end, I think that any couple that desires to become parents should be made aware of the current crisis concerning the world’s future population and lack of consumable energy. Despite the simplicity of having a child, this is a situation that proves that just one person can change the world. Before having one or more children, parents should be educated on the great effect their children will have on the globe’s resources and thereby be able to pass on such information to their children. In that way, parents can teach their children how to conserve the precious limited resources we have at our disposal, thereby raising future generations’ awareness of the importance of conservation. If this is done, then all couples should be given the chance to bear children if they so desire.

Online Lab Eight -- Demographics

Katie Meyers

Online Lab Eight – Demographics

This is an image of a world population growth prediction above a prediction of Austria's population growth.

This is an image of a world population growth prediction above a population growth prediction of the country Yemen.

1) What was your high fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate?

My high fertility rate country was Yemen. Its fertility rate was 7.30.

2) What was your low fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate?

My low fertility rate country was Austria. Its fertility rate was 1.50.

3) The initial demographic "shape" of your high fertility rate country should have been a pyramid, with high population in young age groups. Explain why high fertility rate results in a high percentage of young people in the population. How does this affect future population growth?

When a country has a high fertility rate, it will have a greater ratio of adults to young people (e.g. 2:7). This will affect future population growth because if all seven children per couple survive, that means that each of those seven children will find a partner, making it seven pairs and fourteen people. If each of those pairs had seven children, that would be 49 children. Then, if all 49 children survived, and each found a partner and had seven children, the future population growth would obviously skyrocket.

4) Your low fertility rate country might have had a more oval-shaped curve with high population in middle age groups. This is especially exaggerated if the fertility rate is below 2.00. Explain why low fertility rate leads to lots of middle-aged people.

When a population is having less than two children per couple, it means the population will shrink per generation. Because each generation is smaller than the generation before it, the older generations will be larger than the younger generations. However, why are there more middle-aged people than old people? Simply because more old people die of diseases and natural causes than middle-aged people do. This results in the middle-aged generation being the largest in a low fertility rate country.

5) Write ten adjectives or descriptive phrases for what you might expect life, people's attitudes, conditions on the streets, etc. will be like in each of those situations. Imagine a situation with lots of middle-aged and older people in the population and write ten quick "brain-storm" descriptors for you think it would be like (Prescott, Arizona?). Then do the same for a situation with lots of children in the population.

a. Lots of middle-aged people (low fertility rate country): bad economy (much inflation), instability, terrorism (why bring a kid into the world?), lack of dollars to support a child, luxurious free life without child (and want to keep it that way), child too much responsibility, don’t like kids, parents have bad genes, infertility, school violence

b. Lots of children in the population (high fertility rate country): don’t believe in birth control (or not available/affordable), desire to carry on the family name, desire to enjoy having many children (valuable life asset in their eyes), religious beliefs to have many children, government subsidy (welfare), irresponsible sex, lots of school activities (e.g. car wash/baking fundraisers), hope for children to support you when they grow up, good business for child-related activities (e.g. movie theatre, fun farm, ice skating rink, mini-golf), widespread poverty and lack of education

Unit IV Lab Project: List of Species

Katie Meyers

Unit Four Lab Project: List of Species (20)

NOTE: I apologize if some of the pictures are not crystal clear. I tried my best to take all the pictures, save the last two.

1) a. Felis silvestris

b. house cat

c. symbiotic

d. Yes, this is a widely domesticated species in many countries. We have interacted with the everyday household cat since the Egyptians. For many centuries, they have been considered household pets. In other countries, they are considered food. However, their primary draw and fame is from being loving pets.

2) a. Aphonopelma chalcodes

b. desert tarantula

c. commensal

d. Tarantulas have been somewhat domesticated. However, there is a large majority of the American tarantula population that roams free and wild. How have we co-evolved with tarantulas? As far as I know, it has been mostly a commensal relationship. While humans have spread across the globe, we have lived relatively peacefully alongside our eight-legged furry friends. Some of us even keep them as pets. However, I am sure there have been several cases where they have been shooed out, unwanted, of a human home. We have probably killed a few in the past, whether accidentally or on purpose. Although we leave each other alone, the popular mindset is that tarantulas are scary. After all, many a bad horror movie has been made based on what humans think are their “terrifying” qualities. Despite all this, I think our relationship is primarily commensal.

3) a. Spermophilus variegates

b. rock squirrel

c. mutualism

d. Squirrels are popular, there’s no doubt about that. However, they have not been domesticated much, if at all. We benefit from them, as they eat some small bugs, and we also enjoy observing them. We care for squirrels by putting out food for them occasionally. However, as squirrels are also hunted for their pelts, I would say that we have the advantage in this relationship. Over time, we have used them primarily for their nutritional value and their skin. Therefore, I think this is a mutualism relationship.

4) a. Canis lupus familiaris

b. domesticated dog

c. symbiotic

d. In history, terms such as “this place has gone to the dogs” have been mean to degrade and insult. Indeed, for many decades and centuries, they were considered the animals that ate the scraps of the meal when all were finished. To hear of a skinny, stray dog is very common in older stories. However, they have also been very beneficial to us. They have herded flocks, dragged sleds, and guarded property. Furthermore, we have developed the love for them as family pets. Today, they are considered to be very domesticated. Most people who own a dog today own it for its loving, faithful, and docile qualities. Most dogs owned today benefit greatly, as humans will (hopefully) treat them well, feed them, and take care of them, while all the dog must do is be itself (just not poo on the carpet). Humans in the past greatly benefited from the dog’s abilities, and today humans benefit emotionally from dogs’ loving natures. Dogs have benefited from humans very much, as we try our best to care for them and feed them. Therefore, I dub this relationship symbiotic.

5) a. Zenaida macroura

b. mourning dove

c. mutualism

d. Doves are wild birds that have not been domesticated much, if at all. I think that it has always been this way throughout history. We benefit from watching them, leaving them alone so they keep up the local biodiversity, and their insect-eating habits. We put out bird feeders, to which they benefit from to a point as well. Overall, I would call this a live-and-let-live relationship.

6) a. Sylvilagus nuttallii

b. mountain cottontail rabbit

c. predation

d. Rabbits have always been a source of food and pelts for humanity, even through today. Finding rabbit meat on sale at the local market is not all that unusual. However, they have also been considered pets in more recent years. Overall, I think this a predation relationship.

7) a. Euphagus cyanocephalus

b. brewer’s blackbird

c. mutualism

d. One of the many birds in Arizona, the brewer’s blackbird is a wild bird that has been left relatively unharmed by humans. We do not hunt them for their feathers or meat. However, we have likely harmed their habitat by our wide-spreading domination of the planet. We do help them by putting out bird feeders. Again, this is a live-and-let-live relationship.

8) a. Chondestes grammacus

b. lark-sparrow

c. mutualism

d. Again, this is a very similar relationship to the other two birds mentioned thus far. We feed them sometimes, and they eat bugs for us. Otherwise, this is again a live-and-let-live relationship (which I think is best categorized under “mutualism”).

9) a. Geococcyx californianus

b. greater roadrunner

c. commensal

d. Unlike the other bird species I have mentioned, I believe this to be a commensal relationship. We benefit greatly from them, while they live relatively unharmed (and undomesticated). We benefit greatly from their omnivore diet, which picks off pests that are not just insects, but also snakes, mice, and scorpions, to name a few. Overall, we leave them alone to do their exemplary pest protection for us.

10) a. Lampropeltis getulus

b. common kingsnake

c. commensal

d. Our relationship with the common kingsnake is very much like our relationship with the roadrunner. We greatly benefit from their eating activities, while they live mostly unharmed (and undomesticated) by us. They are excellent pest protectors, even moreso than the roadrunner, for they eat rattlesnakes, along with other snakes, mice, etc. This is definitely a commensal relationship.

11) a. Bos taurus

b. dairy cattle

c. predation

d. I call this relationship parasitic because we benefit greatly from these domesticated cows (meat, milk, hides), but they do not benefit from us. We keep them, but we usually end up killing them for their meat and hides. It is part of the food chain. Therefore, I deem this relationship a predation one.

12) a. Gallus gallus

b. domesticated chicken

c. predation

d. This is a similar relationship to the dairy cow. We greatly benefit from their products (meat, eggs, feathers), yet they do not much benefit from us, except that we feed them before using the products they offer. Yet again, this is part of the food chain, and therefore a predation relationship.

13) a. Equus caballus

b. horse

c. commensal

d. Over many centuries, humanity has greatly benefited from horses. We have domesticated many horses because of their many uses. We have used them for transportation, carrying loads, and plowing. Overall, they have provided us with food (meat), fuel (dung), and clothing (hides). Even I have personally benefited from horses, as horsehair is what is used on violin bows. Although we have greatly benefited from horses, I do not think they have benefited nor suffered from this relationship. So, I call it a commensal relationship.

14) a. Gossypium hirsutum

b. common domesticated cotton plant

c. mutualism

d. Our relationship with this domesticated cotton plant I consider to be mutualism because we greatly benefit from it (cotton makes much of the clothing we wear, etc.) while we encourage this plant’s existence and breed it without much damaging it.

15) a. Daucus carota sativus

b. common domesticated carrot

c. mutualism

d. I consider this a mutualism relationship for the same reasons stated for the cotton plant. We greatly benefit from its very deliciously edible properties, while it benefits by us encouraging its growth and breeding it.

16) a. Spinacia oleracea

b. domestic spinach

c. mutualism

d. Yet again, I consider this relationship a mutualism one because we greatly benefit from it due to its edible and health properties, while it benefits from us by us breeding it and encouraging its growth and existence.

17) a. Lactobacillus acidophilus

b. acidophilus

c. mutualism

d. Acidophilus, found in the human body (e.g. gastrointestinal tract, oral region), is known to be a probiotic for humans. This means that, if it is administered in adequate amounts, it is beneficial to the host (humans). We have benefited acidophilus in that we have given them a place to live and have encouraged their growth and existence over time.

18) a. Apium graveolens dulce

b. domesticated celery

c. mutualism

d. This is a mutualism relationship for the same reasons listed for carrots and spinach. Celery is a delicious food with healthful properties, which benefit us. Because of this, we encourage its existence, thereby benefiting it.

19) a. Prunus domestica

b. domesticated plum tree

c. mutualism

d. Yet again, we benefit from this tree’s fruit (plums and thereby prunes), as they are delicious and healthy for us. Meanwhile, we encourage this tree’s survival in order to continue enjoying its fruit, thereby helping this tree species spread and grow in population size.

20) a. Ceratonia siliqua

b. carob

c. mutualism

d. Again, we benefit from this tree with its delicious carob (chocolate substitute). Different part of the tree and its carob pods can be used for herbal treatments as well. As a result of these benefits for humanity, we keep carob trees safe and ensure their survival.

Compendium Review Eight -- Human Landscapes and Ecology

Katie Meyers

Compendium Eight – Human Landscapes and Ecology

Origin of Life – Evolution

• Deep time
• Chemical evolution
• Biological evolution
• Evolution and its evidence
• Natural selection

Humans

• Human classification
• Human evolution

Ecosystems

• Biosphere
• Ecosystem
• Biotic components
• 2 phenomenon
• Human ecosystem
• Relationships among species

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

• Chemical pathways
• Gaseous or sedimentary
• Common terms
• Water cycle
• Carbon cycle
• Nitrogen cycle
• Phosphorous cycle
• Water pollution sources

Human Population

• Growth rate
• MDCs and LDCs
• Population’s three age groups
• Human use of resources

Biodiversity

• Definition
• Crisis
• Loss of biodiversity and cause of extinction – 5 types
• Direct value of biodiversity – 3 types
• Indirect value of biodiversity – 6 types

Unsustainable and Sustainable Society

• Sustainable society
• Unsustainable society today
• Sustainable society characteristics
• Assessing economic well-being and life’s quality

Origin of Life – Evolution

• Deep time – toilet paper roll analogy

• (found on slide 5 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Chemical evolution – produced first cells on primitive Earth
• Steps leading up to and including chemical evolution
• Sun and planets took 10 billion years to form
• 4.6 BYA (billion years ago), solar system in place
• Earth’s gravitational field strong enough to have an atmosphere
• First atmosphere – formed by gases escaped from volcanoes
• Primitive atmosphere had – water vapor, nitrogen, carbo9n dioxide, small amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide
• Had little, if any, free oxygen
• Extremely hot
• All water in gas form (dense, thick clouds)
• Then, Earth cooled, making it rain for hundreds of millions of years, forming oceans
• Rain washed other gases (e.g. N2 and CO2) into oceans
  

• (found on slide 6 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Primitive Earth’s energy sources
• Volcanoes, meteorites, radioactive isotopes, lightning, ultraviolet radiation
• Primitive gases reacted due to so much energy and produced small organic compounds (e.g. nucleotides and amino acids)
• Stanley Miller experiment

• (found on slide 7 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Small organic molecules resulted from a gas mixture being heated, circulated past an electric spark, and allowed to cool
• Macromolecules – formed by small organic molecules that joined and produced macromolecules
• 2 hypotheses
• RNA-first hypothesis – only RNA macromolecules needed to progress to formation of first cells
• “RNA world” 3.5 BYA
• Protein-first hypothesis – amino acids joined together when exposed to dry heat
• Protocell
• If lipids are made available to microspheres, they will associate into lipid-protein membranes, resulting in a protocell
• Could not reproduce
• Used small organic molecules in ocean for food
• Fermenter, because there was no free oxygen
• True cell
• Can reproduce
• How did a protocell gain enzymatic proteins and DNA to become a true cell?
• 2 hypotheses
• RNA-protein (enzymes) – template for DNA
• Cell acquired all enzymes, including DNA
• Biological Evolution – process by which species change through time
• 3 steps
• First true cells were prokaryotic cells (lacking nucleus)
• Eukaryotic cells later evolved
• Multicellularity and kingdoms evolved
• 2 important aspects
• Descent from common ancestor
• Descent from original cells explains similarities in chemistry and cellular structure
• Adaptation to environment
• Characteristic that makes a species able to exist (survive, produce) in environment
• Explains diversity
• Evolution and its evidence
• Charles Darwin – first formed concept of evolution
• Fossils – support evolution (best evidence)
• Most found in sedimentary rock
• Stratum – recognizable layer in sequence of (rock) layers
• Older than those above it, younger than those beneath it
• Allows fossil dating
• Hard parts of organisms (fossils) preserved by mineralization
• Fossil record – history of life is recorded by fossils
• Tells us that life has progressed form simple to complex
• Paleontology – science of discovering fossil records and making decisions from them
• Transitional fossils – have characteristics of two different groups
• Tell us who is related and how evolution occurred
• E.g. Archaeopteryx (semibird), Ambulocetus natans (whale’s terrestrial ancestor)
• Earliest true mammals around 200 MYA (million years ago)
• Biogeographical evidence – study of distribution of plants and animals in different places of the world
• Evidence confirms that life-forms evolved in particular places and then spread out
• Creatures found in different places globally according to where their species evolved
• South America, Australia, Antarctica originally connected – marsupials found on both (and only) South America and Australia
• Evolution influenced by mix of plants and animals on particular continent
• Anatomical evidence
• Common descendent hypothesis offers explanation for anatomical similarities (homologous structures between species)
• E.g. forelimb
  

• (found on slide 8 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Explanation – basic forelimb plan belonged to a common ancestor
• Analogous structures – same function, dissimilar construction, no common ancestry
• Vestigal structures – anatomical features fully developed in one organism group and found reduced and possibly without function in another organism group
• Explained by common descent
• Biochemical evidence
• Almost all living organisms use the same biochemical molecules (e.g. DNA, ATP)
• Developmental genes shared in animals from worms to humans
• Natural Selection – discovered by Darwin

• (found on slide 16 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• During adaptation, species becomes suited to its environment
• Evolution happens by natural selection
• 3 critical elements
• Variation – individual species members vary in physical characteristics
• Competition for limited resources – results in unequal reproduction among members of population
• Adaptation – population members with advantageous traits capture more resources and are more likely to pass on traits; environment “selects”
• Can account for great diversity of life

Humans

• Human classification
• Binomial name – creature’s genus and species
• Characteristics that help classify humans (earliest to most recent)
• Domain eukarya – membrane-bound nucleus
• Kingdom animalia – multicellular, motile, heterotrophic
• Phylum chordata – in life history: dorsal tubular nerve cord, no tochord, pharyngeal pouches
• Class mammalian – vertebrates with hair, mammary glands
• Order primates – well-developed brain adapted to live in trees
• Family hominidae – adapted to upright stance and bipedal locomotion
• Genus homo – most developed brain, made and used tools
• Species homo sapiens – modern; speech centers of brain well-developed
• DNA data useful as well
• Important decisions about history of life made based on DNA/rRNA/protein sequencing data
• Indicates that modern humans from Africa and spread to Europe
• Humans are primates
• Order primates
• Adapted to live in trees
• Mobile limbs
• Grasping hands
• Flattened face
• Binocular vision
• Large, complex brain
• Reduced reproductive rate
• An “order” – has two suborders
• Prosimians – lemurs, tarsiers, lorises
• Anthropoids – humans, monkeys, apes
• Similarities and differences between human and chimp skeletons
• Hominids – branch of evolutionary tree

• (found on slide 9 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• All primates share one common ancestor
• First hominids – not agreed upon
• Hominid features
• Bipedal posture
• Shape of face
• Brain size
• Earliest fossil hominids
• Found and dated to be the time when the human and ape lineage split
• Oldest (7 MYA) – sahelanthropus tchandensis – found in Chad
• Orrorin tugenensis – 6 MYA – eastern Africa
• Ardipithecus kadabba – 5.2-5.8 MYA – closely related to later Ardipithecus ramidus
• Really begins with australopithecines – group of species that evolved and diversified in Africa 2-3 MYA
• “Lucy” was one of them
• Human evolution
  

• (found on slide 10 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Homo genus
• Brain – 600 cubic centimeters at least
• Jaw and teeth humanoid
• Tool use evident
• Early homo
• Homo habilis (“handy man”)
• About 2 MYA
• Some brains at least 775 cubic centimeters
• Omnivores
• Crude stone tools
• Enlarged speech areas in brain
• Led to cooperative hunting possibly
• Society and culture possible
• Culture – encompasses human behavior and products
• Depends on capacity to speak and transmit knowledge
• Homo erectus
• 1.9-0.3 MYA in Africa, Asia, Europe
• Possibly several different species
• Larger brain (1000 cubic centimeters)
• Flatter face
• Much taller than hominids thus far (5-6 ft.)
• Migrated (about 1-2 MYA)
• First to use fire
• Fashioned more advanced tools (e.g. axes, cleavers)
• Systematic hunters possibly
• Culture more like ours may have developed
• Had campsites, or “home bases”
• Modern humans
• Evolved from H. erectus
• Evolved with the “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis most likely
• Neandertals (H. neandertalensis)

• (found on slide 13 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Massive brow ridges
• Nose, jaws, teeth protrude far forward
• Low and sloping forehead
• Lower jaw lacked chin
• Longer pubic bone
• Slightly larger brain than H. sapiens
• Heavily muscled
• Hypothesized that H. sapiens supplanted them
• 200,000 years BP (before present)
• Cousins, not ancestors
• Culturally advanced evidence
• Caves and houses
• Variety of stone tools
• Skilled hunters
• Used and controlled fire (cook, warmth)
• Buried dead with flowers and tools
• Possibly had a religion
• Made symbolic capability possible
• Homo floresiensis

• (found on slide 12 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Lived 12,000 years ago on Pacific Island
• Nicknamed “hobbits” for their short height – 3-4 ft. tall
• Cro-Magnons

• (found at http://chdmuseum.nic.in/history_museum/images/cyclorama-view._LARGE.jpg)
• Oldest H. sapiens fossils
• 100,000 years BP or earlier
• Very modern appearance
• Did not interbreed with Neanderthals
• Made advanced stone tools
• Including compound tools
• First to throw spears (kill at a distance)
• Responsible for extinctions possibly
• Hunted cooperatively
• First to have language possibly
• Lived in small groups
• Men hunted by day
• Women remained at home with the children
• This pattern still seen today in humans
• Included art
• Human variation
• Humans widely distributed around the globe since evolving
• As a result, phenotypic and genotypic differences (ethnicities) seen
• Possible correlation between body shape (e.g. skin color) and environmental conditions
• All ethnic groups evolved from same single, ancestral population
• Humans today
• All homo sapiens, making interbreeding amongst all living humans possible
• Dominate the planet
• Most landscapes now have very strong effects of human elements
• Good or bad? For whom?

Ecosystems

• Biosphere – includes organisms on Earth, from atmosphere above to ocean bottom
• Entire biosphere is a large ecosystem
• Ecosystem – place where organisms interact among themselves and with physical and chemical environment
• Such interactions maintain various ecosystems and therefore, the biosphere
• Several distinctive major types of terrestrial ecosystems, called biomes
• Temperature and rainfall define biomes
• Biomes – contain communities or organisms adapted to regional climate
• 7 main types
• Temperate forest
• Desert
• Tropical grassland (savanna)
• Temperate grassland (prairie)
• Taiga
• Tundra
• Aquatic ecosystems – cover 70% of Earth’s surface
• Freshwater – standing water (lakes/ponds) and running water (rivers/streams)
• Saltwater – (oceans)
• Richest ones near coasts
• Biotic (living) components

• (found on slide 23 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Autotrophs – “producers”
• Produce organic nutrients with inorganic nutrients and outside energy source
• Primarily photosynthetic organisms
• Heterophs – “consumers” (of food)
• Need source of organic nutrients
• Herbivores – animals that graze directly on plants or algae
• Carnivores – feed on other animals
• Primary consumers (e.g. insects)
• Secondary consumers (e.g. insect-eating birds)
• Tertiary consumers (e.g. hawks)
• Top predators
• Omnivores – feed on both plants and animals (e.g. humans)
• Detritus feeders – organisms that feed on detritus (decomposing particles of organic matter) – e.g. earthworms
• Niche – role of organism in ecosystem
• How it gets its food
• What eats it
• How it interacts with other populations in same community
• 2 phenomenon
• Energy flow – when producers absorb solar energy
• Grazing food web
• Detrital food web
• Food chains
• Can be found in food webs
• E.g. leaves – caterpillars – birds – hawks
• Trophic level – composed of all organisms that feed on particular link in food chain
• Different levels (e.g. first trophic level)
• Only 10% energy on one trophic level available to next level
• Explains why carnivores can be supported in food web
• Depicted as an ecological pyramid

• (found at http://www.arcytech.org/java/population/images/pyramid1.gif)
• Chemical cycling – when producers take in inorganic nutrients from physical environment
• Also make organic nutrients for selves and other populations in ecosystem via photosynthesis
• Human ecosystem

• (found on slide 24 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)

• (found on slide 25 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Has same biophysical resources as wild ecosystems
• More complicated to describe because of cultural, social, and political elements
• Relationships among species
• Symbiotic – “mutually beneficial, both species benefit”
• Parasitic – “one species benefits (‘parasite’) and the other is harmed (‘host’)”
• Commensal – “one species benefits, the other is unharmed”
• Mutualism – “both species benefit, like symbiosis, but it my appear one species has the advantage, but evolutionarily, over the long-term, both benefit”
• Predation – “usually considered parasitic, where the predator is the parasite, but can also be seen as mutualistic”
• All above quotes from slide 25 of Human Landscapes and Ecology BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

• Chemical pathways involve living (biotic) and nonliving (geological) components
• Can be gaseous (carbon and nitrogen cycles) or sedimentary (phosphorous cycle)
• Common terms
• Reservoir – source normally unavailable to producers
• Exchange pool – source from which organisms take chemicals
• Biotic community – how chemicals move along food chains
• Water cycle (hydrologic cycle)

• (from slide 18 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Evaporation (from sea)
• Precipitation
• Evaporation from land
• Gravity causes much water to flow into ocean (runoff water), some contained on land in standing and flowing water
• Some precipitation sinks and saturates into the ground
• Ground water is also located in aquifers
• Human interference – 3 ways

• (from slide 19 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Withdraw water from aquifers
• Clear vegetation from land and build roads and buildings preventing percolation and increase runoff
• Interfere with natural processes that purify water and instead add pollutants to water
• Carbon cycle

• (found on slide 20 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• In atmosphere, exchange pool for carbon cycle
• Organisms in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems exchange carbon dioxide with atmosphere
• Land plants take up air’s carbon dioxide and incorporate carbon dioxide and incorporate carbon in photosynthesis
• Organisms return carbon to atmosphere with respiration
• In water, carbon dioxide combines with it to produce HCO3-, source or carbon for water plants
• When water plants respire, carbon dioxide becomes HCO3-
• HCO3- in water in equilibrium with carbon dioxide in air
• Carbon reservoirs
• In biotic components
• In plant and animal remains
• Fossil fuels
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Inorganic carbonate
• Human activities
• Causing more carbon dioxide to be deposited in atmosphere than can be removed
• Causing global warming (greenhouse effect)

• (found on slide 21 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Nitrogen cycle

• (found at http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/nitrogencycle.jpg)
• Nitrogen makes up 78% of atmosphere
• Nitrogen cannot be used by plants
• Therefore, growth inhibitor of ecosystem
• Nitrogen fixation – nitrogen converted to ammonium NH4+, which plants use
• Nitrification – production of nitrates (NO3-)
• Assimilation – plants take up ammonia and nitrates from soil and use these ions to produce proteins and nucleic acids
• Denitrification – conversion of nitrate back to nitrogen gas, which can enter atmosphere
• Counterbalances nitrogen fixation
• Human activities
• Significantly alter nitrogen cycle rates (nearly double them)
• Done by fertilizers
• Can result in massive fish killings
• Cause acid deposition
• Phosphorous cycle

• (found at http://www.ikzm-d.de/abbildungen/59_phosphoruscycle.gif)
• Phosphate trapped in oceanic sediments moves onto land after geological upheaval
• Slow weathering of rocks on land places phosphate ions in soil
• Some phosphate ions then used by plants
• Animals eat plants and absorb phosphates into teeth, bones, shells (all of which take years to decompose)
• Death and decay of all organisms and decomposition of animal wastes make phosphate ions available to producers again
• Lack of phosphate limits size of populations in ecosystems
• Some phosphate naturally runs off into aquatic ecosystem
• Phosphate does not enter atmosphere, therefore, it is a sedimentary cycle
• Human activities
• Causes cultural eutrophiciation of phosphate in waterways
• Water pollution sources
• Oxygen – demanding waste – biodegradable organic compounds
• Plant nutrients – nitrates and phosphates
• Sediments – enriched soil in water due to soil erosion
• Thermal discharges – heated water from power plants
• Disease-causing agents – bacteria and viruses from sewage and barnyard waste
• Synthetic organic compounds – pesticides, industrial chemicals
• Inorganic chemicals and minerals – acids from mines and air pollution; dissolved salts; heavy metals
• Radiation – radioactive substances

Human Population

• Growth rate
• Difference between…
• Number of people born per year
• Number of people that die per year
• Rates recorded per 1000 persons
• Expressed as a percentage, e.g. 1.2%
• Exponential growth
• Indicates population enjoying its biotic potential
• Maximum growth rates under ideal conditions
• Carrying capacity
• Maximum population environment can support for indefinite period
• MDCs (more developed countries) and LDCs (less developed countries)
• MDCs
• Typical MDCs in North America and Europe
• MDC definition – modest population growth and good living standard
• Modest growth since 1950
• Now growth rate is 0.1% or even decreasing in population
• LDCs
• LDC definition – dramatic population growth and majority live in poverty
• Typical LDCs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
• Collective growth rate today – 1.6%
• From 2002-2050, population may jump from 5 billion to 8 billion
• Population’s three age groups
• Prereproductive
• Reproductive
• Postreproductive
• Human use of resources
• Non-renewable resources – limited in supply
• E.g. land, fossil fuels, minerals
• Renewable resources – capable of being naturally replenished
• E.g. water, plants, animals, solar energy
• Careful not to squander
• Pollution – side effect to resource consumption
• Alteration of environment in undesirable way
• Often caused by human activities
• 5 types of resources
• Land – place people live
• Average 83 persons per square mile in world
• Beaches
• 40% of world population lives within 60 miles of coastline
• 70% world’s beaches eroding due to this
• Protect coastal wetlands because they are spawning areas for fish and other marine life; habitats for certain species; and they protect coastal areas from storms
• Semiarid lands
• 40% of Earth’s lands
• Desertification – conversion of semiarid land into desert
• Begins when humans’ animals overgraze
• ¾ of world’s rangelands in danger of this
• Responsible partly for famines in places, e.g. Africa
• Tropical rain forest
• Deforestation – removal of trees to make land humanly inhabitable
• Also subject to desertification
• Destruction can result in loss of biodiversity
• Water
• Most freshwater utilized by industry and agriculture
• 70% worldwide used to irrigate crops
• Increasing water supplies
• Dams
• Aquifers
• Ground water depletion consequences
• Causing land subsidence
• Saltwater intrusion
• Water conservation
• Drought and salt-tolerant crops
• Drip irrigation
• Food

• (found on slide 27 of Human Landscapes and Ecology – BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Comes from three activities
• Growing crops
• Raising animals
• Fishing the seas
• Minimize harmful farming practices with…
• Polyculture
• Contour farming
• Biological pest control
• Traditional farming causes erosion
• Domestic livestock – provides protein
• 2/3 U.S. farmland for producing livestock feed
• Energy
• Can be renewable or non-renewable
• Non-renewable
• Nuclear – 6% of world’s energy supply
• Fossil fuels – 75% of world’s energy supply
• Oils, natural gas, coal
• Oil preferred
• Burning of them causes environmental problems
• Causes more carbon dioxide in atmosphere
• Methane production increasing by 1% per year
• Both greenhouse gases (cause global warming)
• Renewable
• Hydropower
• Conversion of falling water into electricity
• Accounts for almost 98% of total renewable energy used
• 19% of all electricity used
• Geothermal energy
• Steam from radioactive decay heating ground water used to supply hot water
• Wind power
• Expected to account for significant percentage of energy needs in the future
• Energy and solar-hydrogen
• Solar energy must be…
• Collected
• Converted
• Stored
• …in order to compete with other renewable energy sources
• Lessen dependency on Middle East
• Lessen environmental problems
• Minerals
• Non-renewable materials in Earth’s crust
• Mined/extracted by humans
• Include – fossil fuels, nonmetallic raw materials (e.g. sand, gravel, phosphate), metals (e.g. aluminum, copper, iron, lead, gold)
• Heavy metals – lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, chromium, zinc, copper
• Most dangerous metals to human health (inhibit vital enzymes)
• Used to produce batteries, electronics, pesticides, medicines, paint, inks, dyes
• Hazardous wastes
• Most commonly heavy metals and synthetic organic compounds
• CFCs thinned out Earth’s ozone shield
• Human co-evolution today (domestication)
• Early agricultural domestication with species that…
• Behave well with humankind
• Made their reproduction systems and processes obvious and beneficial to humans
• Recent domestications (last 100 years)
• Laboratory domestications
• Indoor-surviving species
• “Species that make some aspect of their biology – usually at cellular/developmental/molecular level – easily accessible to humans” (from slide 31 of Human Landscapes and Ecology BIO 156 PowerPoint presentation)
• Example one – E. coli
• Why humans “like” e. coli
• It is adaptable and reproduces in a wide variety of lab situations/conditions
• Form colonies, making it easy to visualize
• Easily accessible genes and proteins
• DNA manipulation genes/proteins are known and can be isolated
• Why e. coli “like” humans
• We provide them with new and safe reproduction environments; we guarantee their survival moreso
• We make new genetic material accessible to them; e.g. insulin they now make after being introduced to it via humans, which gave them the insulin gene, which they took and now make
• We have given them virulent strains with easy human access, which is to our disadvantage
• Example two – guinea pigs
• First used them for livestock in the Andes
• Then began using them as lab animals in the 20^th century
• They have been used to discover different genes that affect coat color, digits, etc.
• Lastly, we have used them as household pets because they rapidly reproduce (cheap and easy to access) and are docile creatures

Biodiversity

• Variety of life on Earth, described by number of different species
• Presently in biodiversity crisis – unparalleled future of extinctions
• Loss of biodiversity and cause of extinction – 5 types
• Habitat loss
• Caused by extended human occupation
• Alien species (exotics)
• Nonnative members of an ecosystem
• Done by humans during colonization, horticulture and agriculture, and accidental transport
• Invasive – alien species that crowds out native species
• Counteract by replanting native species
• Pollution
• Bring about environmental change that adversely affects lives and health of living things
• Environmental pollution main “threateners”
• Acid deposition
• Global warming
• Ozone depletion
• Synthetic organic chemicals
• Overexploitation – when number of individuals taken from wild population is so great that population becomes severely reduced in numbers
• Positive feedback cycle
• Markets for decorative plants and exotic plants (legal and illegal)
• Species hunted for specific qualities (e.g. pelts, tusks)
• Over-fishing
• Disease
• Wildlife subject to emerging diseases
• Exposure due to human encroachment
• Direct value of biodiversity – 3 types
• Individual species perform useful services for humans, making them and biodiversity very valued
• Medicinal value
• Most prescription drugs originally from living organisms
• E.g. rosy periwinkle from Madagascar treats leukemia and Hodgkin disease
• E.g. penicillin (derived from a fungus)
• Particular animals make medicinal research possible
• E.g. nine-banded armadillo naturally grows leprosy, making finding a cure possible
• Agricultural value
• Crop modified to be high producers, e.g. wheat, corn, rice
• Biological pest control – natural predators and parasites
• Animals that pollinate – e.g. bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles, birds, bats
• Consumptive use value
• Biodiversity vital to aquatic organisms human use, since they are captured from the wild, rather than breeded like many terrestrial organisms are
• Marketplace products, e.g. vegetables, skins, fibers, beeswax, seaweed
• Trees provide fruit and latex
• Indirect value of biodiversity – 6 types
• Define ecosystems services that benefit humans
• Waste disposal
• Decomposers break down dead organic matter etc. into nutrients used by producers
• Freshwater provision
• Needed by most terrestrial organisms
• Humans – drinking, crops
• Provide us with fish, etc.
• Forests and other natural ecosystems perform “sponge effect”
• Prevention of soil erosion
• Intact ecosystem naturally retains soil and prevents soil erosion
• Destroyed by deforestation
• Biogeochemical cycles
• Humans dependent on these for…
• Freshwater
• Phosphate provision
• Uptake of excess soil nitrogen
• Removal of atmosphere’s carbon dioxide
• Regulation of climate
• Locally – trees provide shade
• Globally – forests ameliorate climate by taking up carbon dioxide
• Ecotourism
• Preferences of humans to vacation in natural beauty of ecosystems
• Spend $4 billion a year on it

Unsustainable and Sustainable Society

• Sustainable society – would always be able to provide the same amount of goods and services for future generations as it does at present; preserve biodiversity
• To achieve…
• Resources preserved and not depleted
• Future generations need…
• Clean air
• Water
• Adequate amount of food
• Enough living space
• Unsustainable society today
• Caused by LDCs’ population growth and MDCs’ excessive resource consumption
• Causes worldwide pollution and extinction of wildlife
• MDCs eat too much meat – wasteful
• Groundwater and surface water supplies dwindling
• Sewage and animal wastes affecting water oxygen levels
• Primary use of nonrenewable fossil fuel energy
• Leads to global warming, acid deposition, smog
• Lost habitats
• Sustainable society characteristics
• Natural ecosystems’ clues
• Solar energy only
• Recycling materials
• Efficiency practiced in human endeavor, from agriculture to business enterprises
• E.g. efficient car
• 2 regions – rely on each other (interdependent)
• Rural sustainability
• Emphasize preservation
• Of ecosystems – terrestrial and aquatic
• Preserve topsoil and trees
• Other suggestions
• Plant cover crops
• Use multiuse farming
• Replenish soil nutrients
• Use low flow or trickle irrigation and other water-conserving methods
• Increase cultivar planting
• Use precision farming
• Use integrated pest management
• Plant a variety of species
• Plant multipurpose trees
• Maintain and restore wetlands
• Use renewable energy forms
• Support local farmers, fishermen, and feed stores
• Urban sustainability
• Suggestions
• Design energy-efficient transportation systems
• Use solar and geothermal energy for hearing and seawater for air conditioning
• Utilize green roofs
• Improve storm-water management with sediment traps, artificial wetlands, holding ponds
• Use porous surfaces for walking paths, parking lots, roads
• Plant native species instead of traditional grasses
• Create urban greenbelts
• Revitalize old city sections before building new sections
• Use lighting fixtures that hug the wall or ground or send light downwards
• Control noise with quiet motors
• Encourage recycling, specifically of business equipment
• Use low-maintenance building materials
• Assessing economic well-being and life’s quality
• Use value
• Option value
• Existence value
• Aesthetic value
• Cultural value
• Scientific and educational value