EVR 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ecosystem Diversity, Resource Consumption, Ecosystem Services
11 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Chapter 1: studying the state of our earth. Environmental science offers important insights into our world and how we influence it. Environment: a sum of all the conditions surrounding us that influence life. Environmental science: the field that looks at interactions among humans and nature. Biotic: the living part of the earth (animals, plants, microorganisms) Abiotic: the non-living part of the earth (soil, air, water, sunlight) Eco: from the greek, oikos, house + system. System: a set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials. Ecosystem: the living and non-living components of the particular place on earth. Environmental scientists monitor natural systems for signs of stress. Ecosystem services: benefits humans receive from nature, such as clean water, timber, fisheries, crops. Environmental indicators: factors that describe the current state of the environment. Biological diversity or biodiversity: the variety of life forms in an environment.
