Carrying capacity is the highest population that an area can support indefinitely (taking into account food, water, habitat, etc). Natural resources factor into the carrying capacity of a population and if the amount of natural resources declines the carrying capacity may also fall. … [Read more...]
Biomagnification; Fulop
Biomagnification is the idea that chemicals accumulate and so an organism at the top of the food chain contains a higher concentration of a chemical than an organism at the bottom of the food chain. (Chemical concentration increases as the levels of the food chain increase). Renewable natural resources are affected by biomagnification because of the ripple effect: contamination … [Read more...]
Energy flow, AH
Energy flows through an ecosystem from the sun, into plants, and up through the trophic levels (i.e. the food chain). Plants convert the sun's energy into food, herbivores take energy from plants, carnivores take energy from herbivores. Additionally, decomposers convert matter into usable resources for plants. Some energy is lost at each level, usually via heat (the lost energy … [Read more...]
Disturbance (Ecology) – Weston Hawkins
DISTURBANCE Disturbance is a temporary change to a permanent habitat significantly altering the ecosystem's integrity. Disturbances often move in quickly and physically alter large amounts natural habitat. Disturbances can be either natural occurrences or human-forced events (i.e. hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, or deforestation). … [Read more...]
Connectivity, AH
Connectivity refers to the inextricable relationship of life forms and natural resources to all other life forms and natural resources. A change in one part of the ecosystem affects all other parts of the ecosystem (or surrounding ecosystems), directly or indirectly. This chart from the Global Footprint Network (read from right to left) shows how irresponsible consumption can … [Read more...]