General Principals of Ecology:

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their environment. Environment can be split into two
components; the living portion, termed the biotic component (e.g., organisms), and the nonliving portion, termed
the abiotic component (e.g., air, soil, water, etc.).
Ecologists organize the biosphere into several levels. A population is a group of individuals of the same species occupying a
common geographic area. A community is formed when two or more populations reside in the same geographic location.
An ecosystem is comprised of a community and its surrounding abiotic factors. A biome is a collection of ecosystems with similar
climates and communities.
Food webs describe the flow of energy within an ecosystem by linking together several food chains. Each food chain begins with an
organism that uses energy from light or chemical reactions to produce organic compounds from inorganic compounds through
photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, called an autotroph (also referred to as a producer). Any organism that can't produce its own
organic compounds and must consume other organisms to obtain them is called a heterotroph (also referred to as a consumer).
Heterotrophs can be further organized based on what they consume: Herbivore (plants), Carnivore (animals), Omnivore (both),
and Detritivore (decaying matter), Decomposer (breaks down dead matter, no ingestion). Steps in a food chain is called a
trophic level.
Biochemical cycles describe pathways of substances take to recycle itself: Hydrologic Cycle (cyclic movement between
hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere), Carbon Cycle (cyclic movement of carbon in chemical forms
from the environment to organisms and back), Nitrogen Cycle (cyclic movement of nitrogen), and Phosphorus Cycle (cycle
involving uptake of phosphorus by organisms. Found in rocks but can be due to natural weathering. Essential for plants and animals
in the form of ions PO43 and HPO42 for is constituent of DNA/RNA which store energy and of fats of cell membranes (lipids)).
Community actions are defined with term symbiosis, with different types defining if its beneficial, detrimental or without effect.
Commensalism (beneficial to one species, but no effect on other), Amensalism (detrimental to one species, but no effect to
others), Antagonism (beneficial for one, but detrimental for other), Predation (form of antagonism: predator feeds on prey and
prey killed in process), Parasitism (form of antagonism: parasite feeds on host but host not killed), Mutualism (both beneficial),
Competition (detrimental to both). Species with no effect is neutral.
Worlds Oceans and Estuaries:
Oceans and coastal ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle and have removed about 25% of the carbon
dioxide emitted by human activities between 2000 and 2007 and about half the anthropogenic CO2 released since the start of
the Industrial Revolution. Rising ocean temperatures and ocean acidification means that the capacity of the ocean carbon sink will
gradually get weaker giving rise to global concerns expressed in the Monaco and Manado Declarations. Healthy ocean ecosystems
are essential for the mitigation of climate change. Coral reefs provide habitat for millions of fish species and with climate change it
can provoke these reefs to die.
The rising ocean acidity makes it more difficult for marine organisms such as shrimps, oysters, or corals to form their shells a
process known as calcification. Many important animals, such as zooplankton, that forms the base of the marine food chain have
calcium shells. Thus the entire marine food web is being altered there are cracks in the food chain. As a result, the distribution,
productivity, and species composition of global fish production is changing, generating complex and inter-related impacts on
oceans, estuaries, coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds that provide habitats and nursery areas for fish. Changing rainfall
patterns and water scarcity is impacting on river and lake fisheries and aquaculture production. After the ice age about 200,000
years ago, the global air temperature has risen 3 degrees, leading to an increase in sea temperatures.
Many countries are dependent on fisheries which are a target for climate change. They are to see sea levels rise, flooding, and
increased typhoons, and saltwater intrusion as a result of rising sea level and dams. Aquacultures and fisheries are a sense of food
security and is one of the fastest growing markets. Another threat to the oceanic industry is overfishing in its waters.
Ocean Acidification is due to the increase of carbon dioxide emissions is causing acidity of sea water to increase. Approximately
30 percent of all CO2 released into the atmosphere each year is absorbed by the ocean. So much carbon dioxide has been absorbed
that it is actually changing the chemistry of the seawater and affecting many marine organisms. This acidification of ocean water
can harm ocean creatures that build calcium carbonate shells such as oysters and mussels and can, in turn, affect life all the
way up the food web. When CO2 reacts with seawater it creates carbonic acid, lowering the pH of the of the ocean water. At the
same time, the reduction in pH also reduces the availability of carbonate ions, which play an important role in shell formation in a
number of marine organisms.
Greenhouse Gases/ Climate Changes:
Eutrophication is when chemicals in fertilizers are washed off by rain causing water plants to overgrow and block light. This causes
death in other plants, use oxygen in animals as they rot away. Acid Rain is when fossil fuels are burnt that contain sulphur dioxide.
This dissolves into the clouds and causes acid rain.
A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect.
Examples of this is water vapor, methane, and CO2. Its beginning to change the environment by melting ice faster, warming (and
expanding) oceans, and habitat change.
Impact of Humans:
Humans use the environment as a food supply, energy source, recreation, medicine, and industrial products, however we are now
causing disruption. Human pressure on natural environments is greater than before with intensive agriculture replacing traditional
farming, mass tourism affecting mountains and coasts, the policies pursued in the industry, transport and energy sectors having a

direct and damaging impact on the coasts, major rivers (dam construction and associated canal building) and mountain landscapes
(main road networks), and the strong focus of forestry management on economic targets primarily causes the decline in
biodiversity, soil erosion and other related effects.
The expansion of humans activities into the natural environment, manifested by urbanization, recreation, industrialization, and
agriculture, results in increasing uniformity in landscapes and consequential reduction, disappearance, fragmentation or isolation of
habitats and landscapes.
It is evident that the increasing exploitation of land for human use greatly reduces the area of each wildlife habitat as well as the
total area surface throughout Europe. The consequences are: A decreased species diversity, due to reduced habitable surface area
which corresponds to a reduced "species carrying capacity". The reduction of the size of habitats also reduces the genetic diversity
of the species living there. Smaller habitats can only accommodate smaller populations, this results in an impoverished gene pool.
Agriculture leads to drainage to wetlands, destruction of hedgerows and intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides that cause loss
in species abundance/ diversity. On the other hand it causes increased agriculture production, diversity in landscapes, raising
livestock and increasing marginalization. Energy causes potential impacts with use and extraction with its use. Forestry has been
drained of soil nutrients, pesticides and fertilizers applied and new exotic species. This causes monocultures to be sensitive to
infestations to fires or wind.
Bio-remediation, Micro-Meditation and Bacteria:
Bioremediation is the application of a biological treatment, mainly microbes, to the cleanup hazardous contaminants in soil and
surface or subsurface waters. These microorganisms can be used to transform them to less harmful forms. The bacteria feed on the
contamination, deriving nutrition for growth and for reproduction. Complex chemical reactions occur, but the result of this natural
process is that contaminants are used up completely or are converted (or cleaved) into an innocuous product such as water and
carbon dioxide. The microbes will survive and consume their contaminant food source until the unwanted pollutant is remediated.
This practice is used when contaminants are susceptible to bio meditation by organisms on site, whether contaminants are
accessible and whether inhibitor environmental conditions exist that may interfere with the growth/ reproduction on these microbes.
Bio-augmentation is a process where selected, standardized bacteria (microbes) are added to an area that has been contaminated
with an unwanted substance. Scientific advances have enabled us to isolate and mass-produce standardized pro-biotic bacteria and
fungi into industrial concentrated inoculums. These selected formulations, of multiple strains of bacteria, can be targeted to address
specific contaminants. These standardized high CFU count probiotic formulations allows the bio-augmentation process to remediate
pollutants and a rate which far exceeds that of natural indigenous microbes (intrinsic bioremediation) and exceeds present
oxygenation technology. Any of the most toxic environmental contaminants are now candidates for bioremediation.
Alternate/Renewable Sources:
Renewable energy is energy that is generated from natural processes that are continuously replenished. This includes sunlight,
geothermal heat, wind, tides, water, and various forms of biomass. This energy cannot be exhausted and is constantly renewed.
Alternative energy is a term used for an energy source that is an alternative to using fossil fuels. Generally, it indicates energies
that are non-traditional and have low environmental impact. The term alternative is used to contrast with fossil fuels according to
some sources. By most definitions alternative energy doesn't harm the environment, a distinction which separates it from renewable
energy which may or may not have significant environmental impact. Biomass, is a renewable organic matter, and can include
biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Wood energy is derived
both from harvested wood as a fuel and from wood waste products. Waste energy can be generated from municipal waste,
manufacturing waste, and landfill gas. Biomass alcohol fuel, or ethanol, is derived almost exclusively from corn. Biodiesel is fuel
made from plant oils that can be used in diesel engines. They are typically made of renewable organic raw materials such as
soybean or rapeseed oils, animal fats, waste vegetable oils or microalgae oils. Benefits include it is renewable so it will never run
out, less maintenance than generators, and produce little waste products. Disadvantages include difficult to generate mass amounts
of energy, the reliability of the supply due to its dependence on nature, and the cost of the technology to build these renewable
sources.
EPA Twelve Principals of Green Chemistry:
1. Prevent waste: Design chemical syntheses to prevent waste. Leave no waste to treat or clean up. 2. Maximize atom economy:
Design syntheses so that the final product contains the maximum proportion of the starting materials. Waste few or no atoms. 3.
Design less hazardous chemical syntheses: Design syntheses to use and generate substances with little or no toxicity to either
humans or the environment. 4. Design safer chemicals and products: Design chemical products that are fully effective yet have little
or no toxicity. 5. Use safer solvents and reaction conditions: Avoid using solvents, separation agents, or other auxiliary chemicals. If
you must use these chemicals, use safer ones. 6. Increase energy efficiency: Run chemical reactions at room temperature and
pressure whenever possible. 7. Use renewable feedstock: Use starting materials (also known as feedstocks) that are renewable
rather than depletable. The source of renewable feedstocks is often agricultural products or the wastes of other processes; the
source of depletable feedstocks is often fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, or coal) or mining operations. 8. Avoid chemical
derivatives: Avoid using blocking or protecting groups or any temporary modifications if possible. Derivatives use additional
reagents and generate waste. 9. Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents: Minimize waste by using catalytic reactions. Catalysts
are effective in small amounts and can carry out a single reaction many times. They are preferable to stoichiometric reagents, which
are used in excess and carry out a reaction only once. 10. Design chemicals and products to degrade after use: Design chemical
products to break down to innocuous substances after use so that they do not accumulate in the environment. 11. Analyze in real
time to prevent pollution: Include in-process, real-time monitoring and control during syntheses to minimize or eliminate the
formation of byproducts. 12. Minimize the potential for accidents: Design chemicals and their physical forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to
minimize the potential for chemical accidents including explosions, fires, and releases to the environment.