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Science 10
Sustainability of
Ecosystems
How does society fit into your paradigm
and society’s paradigm?
 Explain
how a paradigm shift can change
scientific world views in understanding
sustainability - explore and develop a
concept of sustainability
 Communicate questions, ideas, and
intentions and receive, interpret,
understand, support and respond to the
ideas of others with respect to
environmental attitudes
What is a paradigm shift?
A
rare and significant change in the way
humans view the world
 Major changes that are controversial
when first proposed but eventually come
to be accepted as an advancement in
scientific knowledge and understanding
 Ex. Earth is round not flat, ocean dumping,
using DDT to eliminate insects
Paradigm Shifts in the Environment
 Ecosystems
represent the relationships
between many species living in an
environment and the relationships among
those organisms and the non-living parts
of their environment
 If something is disrupted with one part of
an ecosystem, the other parts may feel its
effects; sustainability may be
compromised
What is sustainability?
 The
ability to be supported
 The
quality of not being harmful to the
environment or depleting natural
resources
 Supporting
long term ecological balances
In order to practice
sustainability…
 We
need to understand how everything is
connected to each other in the
environment
What do frogs tell us about the
environment?
 They
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Water as tadpoles, land as frogs
 They

occupy two different ecosystems
have two different food sources
Plants as tadpoles, animals as frogs
 Their
skin is susceptible to environmental
toxins as well as ultraviolet radiation
 Acid rain affects their ability to reproduce
 Global warming and temperature
changes promote diseases that target
frogs and alter oxygen levels in water
The Food Chain
 Living
things may be classified as being
producers, consumers or decomposers
 Producers are plants, capable of making
their own food
 Consumers eat other organisms, either
plants (herbivores), animals (carnivores) or
both (omnivores)
 Decomposers break down dead matter
to obtain nutrients
Remainder of class:
 Questions
 Watch
 Read
1-4, page 13
the video on Easter Island
the article on Easter Island
 Answer
the following questions
concerning the problems associated with
Easter Island.
Questions for Easter Island
 How
is it possible that people though this
way?
 What factors contributed to this mind set?
 Are there still large numbers in the general
population that think this way?
 Why are we shifting to a different
paradigm?
Canada’s Endangered
Species
 When
sustainability is threatened, living
things can no longer survive under current
conditions
 A classification system exists that ranks the
risk level of species living in Canada
 Page 14, Table 1
Extinction
 Humans
have the biggest impact on the
livelihood of other organisms
 Species are going extinct from the planet
at a dramatic rate
 Extinction is the result of a species under
stress – which can be natural or humanrelated
 Latest projections are now being seen as
humans causing extinction 1000x’s faster
than normal
Reasons for Extinction:

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

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Loss of habitat
Overhunting or commercialization
Pollution
Disease
Disasters
Loss of food/prey
Increase in predators
Environmental catastrophes
Climate change
Competition from other species
The Role of Humans
 Our
responsibility to the environment
means that we must try and preserve
biodiversity (“bio” = life, “diversity” =
variety)
 The more variety of organisms that exist
on the planet, the more likely of
sustainability
 The removal of even one species can
have major effects on the health of an
ecosystem and planet
Ecology
 Organisms
that humans find undesirable
are called pests
 Even though we may not think so, all
organisms are important in the web of life
 The study of how organisms interact with
each other is called ecology
 All investigations in ecology begin with a
single organism, or living thing
How Organisms Interact with
their Environment
 Non-living
factors that can influence a
living thing are called abiotic factors

This includes sunlight, soil, temperature, etc
 Living
things that influence or interact with
other living things are called biotic factors

This includes other plants and/or animals,
including humans
Levels of Organization

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One singular living thing belongs to a
particular species
All species co-existing in the same habitat or
ecosystem are called a population
A collection of populations living in an
ecosystem are referred to as a community
An ecosystem is an area that shares similar
abiotic and biotic conditions
Ecosystems can overlap – such as a pond
and field; this is called an ecotone
Not all Ecosystems are Equal
 Ecosystems
that demonstrate greater
biodiversity tend to be less fragile and
can sustain stresses
 Ex. A bear that can hunt in both a river
and forest ecosystem is less likely to run
out of food compared to a fish living only
in the river