sustainability building eco friendly communities (green technology) - anne

[...]... Ecology” sidebar xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 17 9/14/09 2:16:07 PM 18 Sustainability Ecological Footprints by Country (global hectares/person) Country Reserve Country Deficit Gabon 17.8 United Arab Emirates -1 1.0 Bolivia 13.7 Kuwait -7 .0 New Zealand 9.0 United States of America -4 .8 Mongolia 8.7 Belgium and Luxembourg -4 .4 Brazil 7.8 Israel -4 .2 Canada 6.9 United Kingdom -4 .0 Uruguay 6.1 Saudi Arabia -3 .7... for the dominant species within them Therefore, the world contains coral reef ecosystems, evergreen forest ecosystems, grassland ecosystems, and so on, but environmental science contains no “human ecosystems.” xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 10 9/14/09 2:15:56 PM Ecosystem Health 11 Ecosystems exist in every place on Earth Most ecosystems contain food webs of varying complexity that make up one type of natural... consist of the following specialties: • • • energy and matter transformations ecosystem composition and structure ecosystem dynamics (changes in an ecosystem over time) xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 18 9/14/09 2:16:08 PM Ecosystem Health 19 Ecological Indicators in Addition to Ecological Footprint Indicator Description national footprint ecological footprint of a country carbon footprint amount of all greenhouse... for sustainability xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 16 9/14/09 2:15:23 PM 1 E H A n ecosystem is a community of species that interact with one another and with their physical surroundings In ecosystems, energy transfers from species to species in the form of food or prey, and this energy transfer works best when the ecosystem’s members are all present and healthy Ecosystems can be difficult to recognize... Spain, Greece -3 .6 Mauritania 4.5 Italy -3 .1 Finland 4.4 Germany -2 .8 Note: To convert to global acres, multiply by 2.47 Source: Global Footprint Network Other footprint measurements are also useful in evaluating the health of an ecosystem The following table describes the main indicators of a healthy environment Technologies for Ecosystem Study Ecosystem studies focus on how specific ecosystems work... after a disturbance are more stable than ecosystems containing species that cannot recover quickly The more interconnected species are within an ecosystem, the better the chances of the entire ecosystem’s survival Since an ecosystem may be thought of as the central unit in all of the Earth’s ecology, humankind’s greatest contribution to the environment is to protect ecosystem health This goal is far easier... losses in a person’s lifetime How Ecosystems Work Ecology is the science of relationships between living organisms and their environment Ecosystem health is a major part of ecology because ecosystems encompass all of the living and nonliving things in a particular environment and their relationships Humans who lived as huntergatherers more than 10,000 years ago fit into ecosystems by acting as predators,... sustainable communities These communities might become the only hope for halting environmental loss, so they must be started in the near future rather than in some faraway time This chapter highlights some places in the world xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 15 9/14/09 2:15:21 PM xvi Sustainability that have begun making changes to live in a sustainable way The chapter explains the planning that makes sustainable communities. .. nuclear footprint ecological footprint of the electricity generated by nuclear power (estimated as 8 percent of carbon footprint) • c  onnections between certain ecosystems and other factors in the environment • • disturbed ecosystems ecosystem modeling The areas of study listed here apply to the Earth’s various ecosystems such as coastal, marine, forest, grassland, riparian, and polar Ecosystem science... People have detached themselves from most ecosystems Modern humans also tend to negatively affect ecosystems in ways that the earliest civilizations did not These negative effects are mainly the result of population growth and industry One aspect of ecosystem study in environmental science provides a clue as to how disconnected humans have become from nature Many ecosystems are named for the dominant species . alt="" Building Eco- FriEndly communitiEs Sustainability xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 1 9/14/09 2:15:05 PM xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 2 9/14/09 2:15:05 PM Sustainability BUILDING ECO FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES Anne. of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maczu lak, Anne E. (Anne Elizabeth), 1954– Sustainability: building eco- friendly communities / Anne Maczulak. p. cm. (Green technology) Includes. ECO FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES Anne Maczulak, Ph.D. GREEN TECHNOLOGY xvi+224_GT-Sustain.indd 3 9/14/09 2:15:06 PM SUSTAINABILITY: Building Eco- Friendly Communities Copyright © 2010 by Anne Maczulak, Ph.D. All