Chap+1+Environmental+Interrelationships

Chapter One: Environmental Interrelationships
Below are a few questions to think about and then respond to as you read chapter one. As you respond use your chosen text color ... reading and learning from each other is certainly one of the major ways we will learn.

1. What is the big deal about interconnectedness?
Interconnectedness is a BIG DEAL. It is all the underlying connections that create every environment. People don't often see them because we often aren't involved in them but that doesn't meant we can influence them. These connections are the lincoln logs that all ecosystems are built of. No single animal could survive on it's own. Like a person in the desert everything would die without others to provide the environment and snack something would need to live. That is why they are a big deal, they create and give rise to complex life. Each organism affects each other through a what it adds or subtracts from an environment. (feel free to edit this). I agree with all of what Cam said, except this line: "People don't often see them because we often aren't involved in them." We are //always// involved; we may not be //aware//, but we are involved. It's not like our house is a completely separate entity from the rest of the world (which is what probably what people think, like having that mentality of 'I'm only one of billions of people, so my actions don't matter'). I like the idea of lincoln logs, and it's completely true: IT'S LIKE A GAME OF JENGA. Our actions pull one piece at a time, and eventually, we just make everything tumble. Kudos to Cam for starting this with eloquence. :)  We are definitely members of the interconnectedness. Meaning, we don't necessarily make things tumble, we add our environments to those not made by humans. The organisms that have evolved to use humans as their source of life may have the best strategy right now; the mice eating our food and building shelter in our walls, apples appealing to our love of sweetness. Essentially, we are at the core of interconnectedness because so many species are connected to human actions in some way shape or form. It's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.  Keystone Species: A species whose influence on an ecosystem is so great, that if that species was removed in its entirety, the ecosystem would suffer/implode/kaboom/etc... I don't know if we want to have this discussion here, but I think it is definitely something worth thinking about: Are WE the keystone species in our ecosystem? of all ecosystems? ^You bring up an excellent point. Are we the keystone species?! If we are suddenly taken out, if the human race has gone extinct, I think that the global ecosystem will thrive. I'm not saying that we make such environmentally-damaging mistakes everyday (well... we kinda do), but life goes on. Some other species will overtake our niche, and they will become the dominant species. I think it'll be interesting to see which organism does this if this occurs. It happened to the dinosaurs... it can happen to us. ha ha ha WELL you guys have covered a lot. And I agree with Orange that we are kind of the reverse-keystone species in that we are actually a negative influence on the environment. The concept of interconnectedness is so cool because man is not capable of creating anything as vastly complex as the environment without malfunctions. It's all pretty mind-boggling.

==2. In the text the author uses relationship proposed by Darwin involving cats & clover seeds. Create a visual image to describe this example. Depending on you comfort with technology, you can either post or just bring in your image.==



3. What is meant by the following terms:

 * ==supporting services - naturally provided resources that are vital to the survival of ecosystems and their members. ex: natural cycling of water, phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen and other gases ==
 * ==regulatory services - ecosystems, when undisturbed, tend to naturally regulate many things such as the availability of water and nutrients. These naturally regulated processes are beneficial to us in many ways, but if we disturb them, we defeat the purpose. An example that comes to mind is drainage and nutrient flow. If we let our lawns grow naturally, the rainwater that drains from them into a watershed carries only natural nutrients, and the watershed, being used to those levels, naturally maintains its quality (pH, hardness, GPP, etc). This is considered a regulatory service because when we go to drink that water, we will have to put less energy into filtering the water, or getting rid of algae.BUT! if we fertilize our lawns with extra nutrients, there is an excess amount that drains into the watershed, and you end up with an over-eutrophic algae-blooming aquatic system, because the water body was unaccustomed to this excess amount. ==
 * ==cultural services - cultural benefits: art, education, beauty, religion etc. ==
 * ==provisioning services - what the ecosystem provides for others: food, raw materials, and energy (mostly through GPP) ==

4. Find out information about environmental positions of the candidates running in both the Republican and Democratic primaries for Judd Gregg's Senate Seat.
Kelly Ayotte went to law school at Villanova University. There, she was the Executive Editor of the Environmental Law Journal. However, as far as google could find, she hadn't yet made a personal statement. The Republican party as a whole stands on that economic prosperity is essential to environmental progress, meaning property ownership is critical. More Republicans than Democrats don't acknowledge the effects of global warming.

Paul Hodes has voted yes to environmentally friendly bills in the past such as putting 2 billion more dollars to the cash for clunker's program, and another 9.7 billion to improving Amtrak. Generally, Democrats are more likely to be environmentally concerned than republicans. (Democrats maybe aren't concerned but value the environment as it is, while republicans see the economic value)