Environmental Science

ENRM 202 – L3
 What is environmental science?
Environmental science describes the study of
the physical, chemical and biological
environment
Study of the earth’s systems and how they
function
Also study of the changes human beings
make in the environment
 Systems of the earth
• Lithosphere – Solid surface (rocks)
• Hydrosphere – Liquids (oceans, ice caps, lakes,
rivers, etc.)
• Atmosphere – The air
• Biosphere – Community of living organisms
Interaction of the systems
Atmosphere

Biosphere

Hydrosphere

Lithosphere
 What drives the cycle?
Biosphere is the dominant part of the cycle
Living organisms can and do alter their
environment
E.g. Fossils in rock; “acid rain” (carbon
dioxide in rain); greenhouse effect.
Modifications made by living organisms work
to sustain the environment; also can destroy
environment.
 Formation and structure of the earth

Crust
(continental
plates)

Mantle
Outer core
(Rock)
(solid iron)

Inner core
(liquid core)
 Resources
Resources are entities required by an
organism
Resource quantities can be reduced by
an organism
Some organisms can be resources for
other organisms
 Classes of natural resources
Derived from the environment – the
various types are:
• Complementary
• Essential
• Antagonistic
• Substitutable
 Complementary resource use

 Species require less

of each resource
when consumed
together than when
taken separately

 E.g. Combining
turmeric and pepper
in a dish; combining
beans and rice
 Essential resource use

 Resources where one

cannot substitute for
the other

 Growth for resource 1

(R1) is dependent on
amount of resource 2
(R2) available

 E.g host pathogen – the

more hosts, the more
pathogens can multiply
(host limiting factor)
 Antagonistic resource use

 Opposite of
complementary

 Species requires
more of two
resources when taken
together than when
consumed separately
 Substitutable resource use
 Occurs when one
resource can wholly
replace the other

 e.g. Buffalo can

replace a cow in a
lion’s diet; or a zebra
replaced by an eland
 Inhibitory resource use

 Occurs when too

much of one
essential resource
can inhibit the other

 Usually occurs when

one resource is in
excess

 e.g. iron, water, CO2

for photosynthesis;
each is lethal in
excess
 Ecosystems
ECOSYSTEM = An interactive network system of
organisms that share the same habitat/environment
The ecosystem is made of living and nonliving parts
Biotic factors = living portions:
• Vegetation (living and decomposing)
• Animals - mammals, insects, birds, microorganisms
Abiotic factors = nonliving portions:
• Climate
• Relief (shape/elevation of the land)
• Soil and rock
• sunlight
• Water
• Nutrients
 Nutrient cycles
 Matter is recycled within and between ecosystems
 Act as nutrient supply systems
 Cycles occur between:
• gaseous
• hydrological
• sedimentary
• biological reservoirs
 Residence times vary
 Driven directly or indirectly by solar energy.
 These recycle loops are called biogeochemical cycles:
• Water
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
 The water (hydrological) cycle
 All life forms require water
 Water easily changes state between solid, liquid and gas
 Temperature ranges within which water changes state is narrow ->
this allows the hydrological cycle to occur
 Water molecules in ice are less densely packed than in liquid form -
therefore ice is lighter (floats on liquid water)
 Water is a ‘general physiological solvent’ – most biological reactions
take place with solutes dissolved in water
 Plants can only absorb nutrients which have been dissolved in water
 Most materials transported in blood/sap are dissolved in water
 Oxygen dissolved in water allows aquatic life
 High heat capacity - heats up slowly, cools down slowly -> helps to
create stability in the ecosystem and climate
 Water cycle
Water continuously moves between:
• Abiotic matter - oceans, atmosphere, and land
• Biotic matter – cycles within and between living organisms
Water movement is affected by:
• Solar radiation (drives evaporation/transpiration)
• Gravitational energy – evaporated water rises in
atmosphere
• Kinetic energy – as it falls to Earth, flows back to the sea
Water transfer occurs via:
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Precipitation
• Runoff
 Water reservoirs
Main reservoirs of water in the hydrological
cycle:
• Oceans - 97%
• Land ice - 2%
• Groundwater - 0.7%
• Lakes and rivers
• Soil moisture
0.01%
• Atmosphere
• Living organisms
 The water cycle
Condensation

Precipitation
Transpiration

Snow
melt/runoff
Evaporation

Surface runoff
 Carbon Cycle
Carbon is a major component of all organic
compounds
Carbon is the only element that can form long
chains of atoms
Carbon able to produce a large variety of
different compounds, in combination with:
• Hydrogen – e.g. Methane (CH4)
• Oxygen – e.g. Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Nitrogen - e.g. amines, nitriles,
• Sulphur – e.g. organosulphurs, sulphides
• Phosphorus – e.g. amino acids (cysteine, methionine)
 Carbon cycle components
Carbon dioxide occurs:
• in the atmosphere
• the ocean
• on land
• underground
It is returned to the atmosphere via:
• cellular respiration
• geological activity (volcanic eruptions)
It is removed from the atmosphere via
photosynthesis and absorption/dissolving in
oceans
 Carbon reservoirs
The atmosphere - mainly as CO2
Water - dissolved CO2 and hydrogen carbonate
ions
Living matter (plants, animals, dead organic
matter - carbohydrates, lipids, proteins)
Sedimentary rocks (e.g. limestone) - calcium
carbonate
Fossil fuels - as carbon and hydrocarbons
 How carbon moves in ecosystems
In the living environment
• Photosynthesis – light energy captured in plant pigments
(chlorophyll) -> carbon dioxide and water converted to
carbohydrates
• Respiration – energy released from carbohydrates -> used to
drive metabolic processes
o Aerobic respiration breaks down organic compounds to CO2
- releases more energy than anaerobic respiration
o Anaerobic respiration allows organisms to survive and use
food sources in oxygen-deficient environments - releases
methane
• Food chains – passage of organic compounds as food between
organisms
 How carbon moves in ecosystems
 In the abiotic environment
• Decomposition – breakdown of dead organic matter by
microorganisms, releases gases such as carbon dioxide
(aerobic conditions); methane (anaerobic conditions)
• Fossilisation – incomplete decomposition of dead organisms
(in anaerobic conditions) -> fossil fuel formation
• Sedimentation – Some marine organisms absorb carbon
dioxide and store it in their skeletons ->later these are
deposited as sediments (limestone, chalk) on the seafloor
• Combustion – release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
by the burning of organic substances (wood and fossil fuels)
o Volcanoes release CO2 from fossil fuels/sedimentary rocks
underground
Carbon cycle
 The nitrogen cycle
All organisms require nitrogen to make proteins
and nucleic acids
Nitrogen gas makes up 78% of the atmosphere -
but only certain kinds of bacteria can use this
form
• nitrogen fixation - bacteria convert nitrogen into
forms (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites) that can be used
by primary producers
• Denitrification – the return of nitrogen gas to the
atmosphere by bacteria
 Nitrogen reservoirs
The atmosphere - as gaseous nitrogen, nitrogen
oxides
Plants - proteins
Animals - proteins
Dead organic matter - proteins which break down
to release ammonium compounds
Soil - nitrates, nitrites and ammonium
compounds
Water - dissolved nitrates and ammonium
compounds
Rocks - minerals containing nitrogen
 Nitrogen cycle components
 In the living environment:
 Fixation- The chemical reduction of nitrogen to ammonia is carried out by
micro-organisms that live freely in the soil and others that live symbiotically
in the root nodules of legumes
 Food chains - Passage of nitrogen transfer between organisms as amino
acids/proteins in food
 Nitrification - The oxidation of ammonia is oxidised to nitrites and then to
nitrates by nitrifying bacteria in the soil -> Plants absorb the nitrates, make
proteins
 Denitrification - nitrates in the soil converted to nitrogen and nitrogen
oxides gases by anaerobic denitrifying bacteria (denitrification is the reverse
of nitrogen fixation and nitrification)
 Decomposition - decay processes in which organic nitrogen in dead
organisms/waste material is returned to soil (chiefly proteins and urea) ->
bacteria and fungi convert them to ammonia and ammonium compounds
 Absorption by roots – Plant roots absorb nitrogen as soluble ions of
nitrates, nitrites and ammonium from the soil
 Nitrogen cycle components
 In the abiotic environment:
 Ionisation
• lightning and forest fires (ionising phenomena) provide
energy for atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen reactions
• These oxides of nitrogen dissolve in rainwater and produce
dilute nitric acid -> dilute nitric acid is washed into the soil
and reacts with soil minerals -> to form nitrates
 Leaching
• The loss of soluble substances such as nitrates from the
surface layers of the soil – washed away by water
 Absorption by roots
• Plant roots absorb nitrogen as soluble ions of nitrates,
nitrites and ammonium from the soil
The nitrogen cycle
 The phosphorus cycle
Phosphorus is an important component of:
• bones
• Proteins
• ATP (adenosine triphosphate in cells)
• DNA and RNA

 Only nutrient cycle that doesn’t involve the

atmosphere
 Phosphorus compounds are not very soluble – so
they are a limiting factor on plant growth
 Phosphorus cycle reservoirs
Animals - in bones, ATP (Adenosine
Triphosphate) and DNA
Plants - in ATP and DNA
Sediments and rocks - e.g. apatite and
calcium phosphate
Water - dissolved phosphates produced by
the weathering of rock
Phosphorus cycle components