Why Ecology?

1. Why Ecology?

2. Why Ecology? Thesis: Understanding how ecological systems work is necessary for the flourishing of human societies.

7. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

8. Ok…so how is this related to scientific understanding of how ecological systems work (i.e., Ecology)?

9. Keeling Curve: Measured on Mauna Loa

12. Global warming and tropical cyclones are naturally linked by the storms' appetite for heat. Tropical storms are heat engines that draw their energy upward from warm ocean water to drive their winds before expelling waste heat to the upper atmosphere. So warming the tropical oceans--in effect throwing more wood on the fire--might be expected to spawn more frequent or more intense tropical cyclones. Science Magazine , 2005

13. Science 16 September 2005: Vol. 309. no. 5742, pp. 1844 - 1846 Changes in Tropical Cyclone Number, Duration, and Intensity in a Warming Environment P. J. Webster,1 G. J. Holland,2 J. A. Curry,1 H.-R. Chang1 We examined the number of tropical cyclones and cyclone days as well as tropical cyclone intensity over the past 35 years, in an environment of increasing sea surface temperature. A large increase was seen in the number and proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 and 5. The largest increase occurred in the North Pacific, Indian, and Southwest Pacific Oceans, and the smallest percentage increase occurred in the North Atlantic Ocean. These increases have taken place while the number of cyclones and cyclone days has decreased in all basins except the North Atlantic during the past decade.

15. www.google.com

16. http://ngom.usgs.gov/

17. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june06/wetlands_4-3.html#http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june06/wetlands_4-3.html# http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/orleans/program.html

20. Premise: Hurricane Katrina was devastating (more are expected)Premise: (At least) two factors that are directly related to storm impact are ecological/resource issues: 1) proportion of the coast in wetlands, and 2) sea water temperature (i.e., climate change).Conclusion: Hurricane Katrina is an example of humans suffering the consequences of our collective failure to adequately understand how ecosystem alterations feedback directly into human/societal well being.Update: Even now, we are doing essentially nothing to address either issue.Assertion: This cycle will continue until we have a critical mass of (relatively) powerful people in this society who demand that we assess ecosystem services before we wreck ecosystems. Question: Who are those leaders going to be??

21. Why ecology?

24. June 8, 2008 – Present • 1,569,268 acres • >23 Fatalities • 467 hand crews, • 1,503 engines • 423 water tenders • 291 bulldozers • 142 helicopters • 400 soldiers • (wikipedia) (LA Times) In California, state wildfire spending has shot up 150% in the last decade to more than $1 billion a year.

25. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wildfires27-2008jul27,0,4093174.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wildfires27-2008jul27,0,4093174.story

26. LATimes.com • We've lost control," said Stephen J. Pyne, a professor of life sciences at Arizona State University and the nation's preeminent fire historian. “Ecological Insurgency" has varied causes: • Drought is making vegetation more flamable. • (Early) melting snowpack due to Climate Change • Invasive grasses that burn more readily than native plants

29. Firefighters still manage to snuff out the vast majority of wildfires in their early days. But the 2% to 3% that break away are "more aggressive and more difficult to contain and bigger and badder every year," said Dave Bartlett, fire management officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

30. Fire influences ecosystems by: 1) Reducing competition2) Altering seed bed characteristics3) Changing soil nutrient environment4) Creating/Perpetuating a mosaic 5) Reducing forest floor mass (fuels)6) Many others

31. http://www.esa.org/pao/policyActivities/briefing072008.php http://www.eri.nau.edu/joomla/

32. Premise: Wildfire is a constant threat in the American westPremise: By eliminating fire as a natural process, humans have made fires more intense, and unmanageable. Conclusion: Wildfires in the west are (yet another) example of humans suffering the consequences of our collective failure to adequately understand how ecosystem alterations feedback directly into human/societal well being.Update: Even now, we are doing essentially nothing to address this issue.Assertion: This cycle will continue until we have a critical mass of (relatively) powerful people in this society who demand that we assess ecosystem services before we wreck ecosystems. Question: Who are those leaders going to be??

33. Why Ecology?

34. You are living in the Era of Biological Science According to the National Academy of Sciences (in association with a bunch of other national groups…the 4 most pressing scientific goals for the 21st century are: • Generate food plants to adapt and grow sustainably in changing environments • Understand and sustain ecosystem function and biodiversity in the face of rapid change • 3. Expand sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels • 4. Understand individual health A New Biology for the 21st Century http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12764.html