Cycles of Life amidst hardships

9 Cycles of Life

Stability, in the face of inequity and scarcity, is what it is all about.

JVS

The condition of its life indicates the health of an ecosystem.
The physical transport of coastal water .	The physical movement of ocean winds.

Kelp forests affected by runoff from landuse.	Krumholz forest affected by salt spray.

The conditions of physical, chemical and biological existence.

terms | outline | method | summary

Outline

1, Living resources are actually the wealth of the world
2, Energy, food is among our least understood sources of energy
3, Food webs or levels of feeding are called trophic structures tied to cycles
4, Soils represent the crucial six inches that stand between feast and famine
5, Climate or the average conditions of weather over time is shifting abruptly
6, Gaia refers to the titanic qualities of the earth as a self-regulating entity
7, Complexity is an adaptive response to the tensions creating a milieu

Vocabulary

ecology has three and nature has four definitions to comprehend complexity.

Complexity of human relation to nature
visual	Ecology	Nature
		born urge
	noun	character
	adjective	original
	adverb	real
		universal
		of course
Humans as natural agents	alter or disturb,	but can restore.

ecological vs. chemical cycles, biogeochemical nutrient cycles, laws of the minimum and optimum, thermodynamics & entropy, ecosystems, biosphere, loss, rates, biomass, net vs. gross primary production, radiant vs. geothermal energy, capacity.

Dividing the world in two in order to analyze and know its three part-harmonics.

habitat + biotic community = ecological system

Why study ecology?

The habitat–or geographical setting of any place that has a defined area–is the foundation of any measure of the influence of inorganic factors on the eventual quality of living conditions:

The A , B , Cs of habitats. Acid and alkaline, Bearings for bearing, Conservation. Such a study can protect you, redirect you, and motivate you to act.

More details.

Acid rain, fog and snow physically affects east & west, United States.

Bearing means 1) the direction 2) the relation 3) the content of places; an essential alignment among points that are directly connected, or tangential to one's destination.

“the uneven distribution of mineral resources.” P. 172

Bristol Bay Alaska where a mining development conflicts with habitats that facilitate five kinds of salmon migration, feeding & serves as a gateway to spawning grounds.

Conservation

The initial condition of effective development is conservation of resources for continuing future use.

Note:

important illustrations are displayed in italics.

1. Living resources { p. 174

Big Horn sheep distribution in N. A.

All living resources are affected by life adapting to physical and biological situations.

2. Energy { 176 Laws of ecology

h atoms

3. Food chains and material cycles ( 177

a. *Food web { p. 179*

	Raptor
	red winged Blackbird
	Great blue heron
	Ducks & fish
	plankton
	microbes
A marshland is a slice of life.	dominance requires support.

b. Hydrological cycle {180

c. Three global nutrient cycles { 181-183

i. Trace elements: carbon, nitrogen & phosphorus

ii. Essential elements: magnesium, iron and calcium

d. Biomass pyramid {184

4. Soils and sediments { 186

All of the depositional soils seen here tinted according to their elevation above sea level have been carried as sediment by the Mississippi River and dumped in the river's delta or what is now New Orleans and its suburbs.

5. The climate connection { 187

a. Solar radiation [Figure 9.1] { 188

b. Source of radiant energy for photosynthesis

6. The Gaia concept { 190

7. The complexity of the biosphere { 191

	Action
		upper
		Optimality
		lower
	Reaction

Dialectic: not one or the other but both must be present!

As a method the dialectical means

can be used to analyze the complexity of ecological systems and human input and output as impact.

Matrix
	Qualities	Tensions
2	sources	radiant vs. geothermal energy
	functions	ecological vs. chemical cycles
20	elements	minimum and optimum
∞	outcomes	It takes energy to get anything: net vs. gross primary productivity

Ecosystems are functional necessities of all life, dominance rests precariously on the capacity of ecological systems to operate while recovering from intrusions.

SummaTION

A study of limits:

“relatively stable ecosystem functioning depends on a vast diversity of organisms [and functional living units or guilds] , and that human beings are unlikely to be capable of assembling reasonably stable large-scale ecosystems –especially ones able to adjust to constantly changing conditions.”

p. 192.

Habitat

ecology