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What have we done! Impact of ecology as a science • Ecology provides a scientific context for evaluating environmental issues – Rachel Carson, in 1962, in her book, Silent Spring, warned that use of pesticides such as DDT was causing population declines in many non-target organisms Barry Commoner’s Laws of Ecology • Everything is connected to everything else • Everything must go somewhere there is no such place as “away” • Nature knows best • There is no such thing as a free lunch Laws of Unintended Consequences Acid Precipitation nitrogen oxides sulfur dioxide • power plants • industry • transportation Acid rain BioMagnificatin BioMagnificatin • PCBs – General Electric manufacturing plant on Hudson River – PCBs in sediment – striped bass nesting areas Carbon Dioxide Global Warming CO2 NOx methane Ozone Depletion protects from UV rays Ozone Depletion Ozone Depletion • Loss of ozone above Antarctica Bad ozone vs. good ozone Deforestatio n • Loss of habitat • Loss of biodiversity Loss of Diversity • 3 levels of biodiversity – ecosystem diversity • different habitats across landscape – community diversity • mix of species – genetic diversity • inbreeding with shrinking populations • All decreased by human activity Driven to extinction Introduced species • Introduced species – transplanted populations grow exponentially in new area – non-native species out-compete native species • lack of competitors & predators • reduce diversity – examples • • • • African honeybee gypsy moth zebra mussel purple loosestrife gypsy moth kudzu Zebra mussel ~2 months Purple loosestrife
