Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Glossary
Dredging - To take, catch or gather with a dredge; remove sand, silt and mud from the bottom of a river ocean or sea
Compensatory - Serving to compensate, as for loss, lack or injury
Amelioration - To make things better or more tolerable;to grow better
Disturbances - Upsetting or disorganizing something which was previously in a calm and well- ordered state.
Proliferation - Increase of new parts, things by rapid production
Deformities - A deformity is a part of someone's body which is not the normal shape because of injury or illness, or because they were born this way.
Unsanitary - Something that is unsanitary is dirty and unhealthy
Protozoans - Protozoans are very small organisms which often live inside larger animals.
Compensatory - Serving to compensate, as for loss, lack or injury
Amelioration - To make things better or more tolerable;to grow better
Disturbances - Upsetting or disorganizing something which was previously in a calm and well- ordered state.
Proliferation - Increase of new parts, things by rapid production
Deformities - A deformity is a part of someone's body which is not the normal shape because of injury or illness, or because they were born this way.
Unsanitary - Something that is unsanitary is dirty and unhealthy
Protozoans - Protozoans are very small organisms which often live inside larger animals.
Some pictures
An healthy aquatic ecosystem is one that has a wide variety of organism without the presence of polluted water and dead organisms.
Reflection
After what I had done researching on this research topic, I had decided to come to a conclusion. One important thing that a person will need to know is that everything in an ecosystem is related to one another. Any problems affecting one of the components of the aquatic ecosystem will lead to other problems occurring, it is a continuous chain of problems. Thus, it is important
for us, human beings to maintain the health of the ecosystem. Human beings had depended on aquatic ecosystems for many years, thus it is our duty to protect them and continue using them for our basic needs.
Aquatic organisms and the ecosystem represent a substantial part of the earth's biological diversity. The association of man and aquatic ecosystem can be found back many centuries ago. It is not surprising that the first sign of civilizations and villages are traced to wetland areas, as aquatic ecosystems provide food and water for the people living near them. The flood plains of the Indus, the Nile delta, and the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers provided man with all his basic necessities. Water is required for various purposes like drinking and personal hygiene, fishing, agriculture, navigation, industrial production, hydroelectricity generation and recreational activities. The wide variety of aquatic ecosystems can be profitably used by humans for various needs and for environmental amelioration. Ever-increasing population and industrialization have inflicted serious environmental pressures on these ecosystems and have affected them to such an extent that their health had been affected greatly over the past few years.
Therefore, I feel that there is a need for everyone to do their part in protecting and ensuring that aquatic ecosystem will remain healthy. Affecting the health of an aquatic ecosystems can be caused by many human activities. The release of chemical waste from factories can kill and wipe out many species of organisms. Global warming can also leads to the extinction of aquatic organisms.
As I had said earlier, changes in the temperature can kill the organisms as they are not suited and could not adapt to the temperature change in such a short time. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans. Global warming causes the temperature of Earth to rise over the years because of what we call the greenhouse effect. It is being caused by the release of harmful gases like carbon monoxide into the environment by factories. Humans can thus be said to have caused global warming.
Imagine that all the freshwater on Earth is being polluted by our activities, how can we still survive, without freshwater for drinking and bathing, let alone those aquatic organisms? With all the fish dead in aquatic ecosystems, there will be definitely a shortage of food around the world. Therefore, I felt that my research had helped me in understanding the importance of saving aquatic ecosystems and through the research, I had also gained knowledge about the causes and effects of having an unhealthy aquatic ecosystem.
for us, human beings to maintain the health of the ecosystem. Human beings had depended on aquatic ecosystems for many years, thus it is our duty to protect them and continue using them for our basic needs.
Aquatic organisms and the ecosystem represent a substantial part of the earth's biological diversity. The association of man and aquatic ecosystem can be found back many centuries ago. It is not surprising that the first sign of civilizations and villages are traced to wetland areas, as aquatic ecosystems provide food and water for the people living near them. The flood plains of the Indus, the Nile delta, and the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers provided man with all his basic necessities. Water is required for various purposes like drinking and personal hygiene, fishing, agriculture, navigation, industrial production, hydroelectricity generation and recreational activities. The wide variety of aquatic ecosystems can be profitably used by humans for various needs and for environmental amelioration. Ever-increasing population and industrialization have inflicted serious environmental pressures on these ecosystems and have affected them to such an extent that their health had been affected greatly over the past few years.
Therefore, I feel that there is a need for everyone to do their part in protecting and ensuring that aquatic ecosystem will remain healthy. Affecting the health of an aquatic ecosystems can be caused by many human activities. The release of chemical waste from factories can kill and wipe out many species of organisms. Global warming can also leads to the extinction of aquatic organisms.
As I had said earlier, changes in the temperature can kill the organisms as they are not suited and could not adapt to the temperature change in such a short time. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans. Global warming causes the temperature of Earth to rise over the years because of what we call the greenhouse effect. It is being caused by the release of harmful gases like carbon monoxide into the environment by factories. Humans can thus be said to have caused global warming.
Imagine that all the freshwater on Earth is being polluted by our activities, how can we still survive, without freshwater for drinking and bathing, let alone those aquatic organisms? With all the fish dead in aquatic ecosystems, there will be definitely a shortage of food around the world. Therefore, I felt that my research had helped me in understanding the importance of saving aquatic ecosystems and through the research, I had also gained knowledge about the causes and effects of having an unhealthy aquatic ecosystem.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Restoring the health of an aquatic ecosystem
Can we, human beings restore the health of an aquatic ecosystem? It takes time and is dependent on the nature of the disturbance, how much it had been damaged. The effects of dredging, for example, may last from one to several years, but many of the displaced organisms such as fish can re-establish themselves. In other cases, more severe disturbances (e.g., dam construction) causes local extinction of already endangered species. These ecosystems are unlikely to recover naturally but with the help of humans, they may still recover.In many cases, there are mechanisms that exist and allow us to help restore ecosystem health or minimize detrimental impacts caused by human use. Following are some of these mechanisms that can help to resort the health of an aquatic ecosystem.
Integrated resource planning: This approach ensures that relationships among land use, development, water flows, water quality, and aquatic ecosystems are considered prior to an area's land use designation.
Technology: Measures to improve the quality of waste discharges and to lower both water demands and effluent loading are being implemented in response to environmental and water use concerns.
Environmental monitoring: Monitoring of chemicals in water, sediment, and organisms helps to identify potential ecosystem problems and to track existing problem.
Compensatory measures: For example, a fish hatchery operation can produce young fish that a disturbed habitat can no longer supply, the fish will then live there and compensate for the loss of the dead ones.
Importance of an aquatic ecosystem
Everything is connected in an aquatic ecosystem, when an ecosystem is out of balance, human beings will begin to suffer as well, together with the other organisms. Our health and many of the human activities are dependent on the health of aquatic ecosystems. Most of the water that we drink is taken from lakes or rivers. If the lake or river system is unhealthy, the water may be unsafe to drink or unsuitable for industry, agriculture, or recreation – even after treatment. Uses of aquatic ecosystems are impaired when these systems are unhealthy.
The frequency of urban beach closures has escalated as a result of contamination by animal faeces and medical waste.
Navigation problems for pleasure craft, caused by the rapid expansion of bottom-rooted aquatic plants, have increased over the years.
The proliferation of non-native species has created problems. One example is the rapidly expanding zebra mussel population, introduced from the ballast waters of a European freighter into the Great Lakes.
Zebra mussels have few natural predators in the area and because of the fact that the female can produce 30 000 eggs in a year, they are expected to spread throughout most of the freshwater systems of North America. This mussel species is already clogging industrial and municipal water treatment intake pipes, coating boats and piers, thus causing beach closures.
The frequency of urban beach closures has escalated as a result of contamination by animal faeces and medical waste.
Navigation problems for pleasure craft, caused by the rapid expansion of bottom-rooted aquatic plants, have increased over the years.
The proliferation of non-native species has created problems. One example is the rapidly expanding zebra mussel population, introduced from the ballast waters of a European freighter into the Great Lakes.
Zebra mussels have few natural predators in the area and because of the fact that the female can produce 30 000 eggs in a year, they are expected to spread throughout most of the freshwater systems of North America. This mussel species is already clogging industrial and municipal water treatment intake pipes, coating boats and piers, thus causing beach closures.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Effects of stress
When too much stress is present in the aquatic ecosystem, there will be: loss of species, accelerated proliferation of organisms like algae bloom happening, increased chances of tumours or deformities in animals and change in chemical properties(reduction of pH in water caused by acid rain)
The may also be presence of certain organisms that indicate unsanitary conditions like the Coliform bacteria, a sign that the ecosystem may contain organisms that cause a variety of human diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, and cholera.
Human that drinks water from the ecosystem may thus get those diseases and fall sick. Species of fish and other organisms may get extinct or endangered. The people that fish or live near the ecosystem will get affected as well. This shows the importance of a healthy aquatic ecosystem.
Many symptoms of poor ecosystem health will occur at the same time. For example, increased lake acidity may kill certain species, thereby allowing the temporary proliferation of species more tolerant to acidity.
The may also be presence of certain organisms that indicate unsanitary conditions like the Coliform bacteria, a sign that the ecosystem may contain organisms that cause a variety of human diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, and cholera.
Human that drinks water from the ecosystem may thus get those diseases and fall sick. Species of fish and other organisms may get extinct or endangered. The people that fish or live near the ecosystem will get affected as well. This shows the importance of a healthy aquatic ecosystem.
Many symptoms of poor ecosystem health will occur at the same time. For example, increased lake acidity may kill certain species, thereby allowing the temporary proliferation of species more tolerant to acidity.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Second Official Post
Organisms living in an aquatic ecosystem
An aquatic ecosystem contains a wide variety of life forms. Bacteria, fungi, and protozoans which are bottom-dwelling organisms such as insect larvae, snails, and worms, plankton and also fish, amphibians and reptiles. Viruses also play an important role in the nutrient and energy cycles.
Lakes, ponds, oceans, seas, rivers and streams are some of the aquatic ecosystems that can be found.
What is stress?
The health of an aquatic ecosystem will be affected when the ecosystem's stress is too much. Stress on an aquatic ecosystem can be a result of the following: physical, chemical or biological.
Physical alterations are changes in the water temperature, rate of water flow and the light availability. Plants need light to carry out the process of photosynthesis. Without light, plants will die and there will not be enough oxygen for the other organisms in the ecosystem, thus all other organisms may die as a result.
Chemical alterations can be like introduction of toxins at a certain point that is harmful to the organisms by human beings.
Biological alterations can be the introduction of other exotic species of organisms. Human beings can impose stress on aquatic ecosystems by introducing other types of organisms into the aquatic ecosystem and by releasing harmful substances into the ecosystem.
Healthy aquatic ecosystems are those where human activities have not damaged the natural processes like nutrient cycling and changed the structure of the ecosystem by adding in other species of organisms to the ecosystem.
An aquatic ecosystem contains a wide variety of life forms. Bacteria, fungi, and protozoans which are bottom-dwelling organisms such as insect larvae, snails, and worms, plankton and also fish, amphibians and reptiles. Viruses also play an important role in the nutrient and energy cycles.
Lakes, ponds, oceans, seas, rivers and streams are some of the aquatic ecosystems that can be found.
What is stress?
The health of an aquatic ecosystem will be affected when the ecosystem's stress is too much. Stress on an aquatic ecosystem can be a result of the following: physical, chemical or biological.
Physical alterations are changes in the water temperature, rate of water flow and the light availability. Plants need light to carry out the process of photosynthesis. Without light, plants will die and there will not be enough oxygen for the other organisms in the ecosystem, thus all other organisms may die as a result.
Chemical alterations can be like introduction of toxins at a certain point that is harmful to the organisms by human beings.
Biological alterations can be the introduction of other exotic species of organisms. Human beings can impose stress on aquatic ecosystems by introducing other types of organisms into the aquatic ecosystem and by releasing harmful substances into the ecosystem.
Healthy aquatic ecosystems are those where human activities have not damaged the natural processes like nutrient cycling and changed the structure of the ecosystem by adding in other species of organisms to the ecosystem.
My Research Question
How does stress affects the health of an aquatic ecosystem and the effects of it?
I thought of this research question while looking at the fish tank in my house. What exactly affect the health of an aquatic ecosystem? Why do fish die of diseases and of stress? This led me to think about the problems that affect the aquatic ecosystem.
Firstly, what is an aquatic ecosystem? An aquatic ecosystem is a kind of ecosystem that is located in water bodies such as ponds and oceans. Different types of organism living in an aquatic ecosystem depend on each other and their environment. If a type of organism in the ecosystem died, other organisms may not be able to survive as well as they are interdependent. On my next post, I will be focusing on what is stress.
I thought of this research question while looking at the fish tank in my house. What exactly affect the health of an aquatic ecosystem? Why do fish die of diseases and of stress? This led me to think about the problems that affect the aquatic ecosystem.
Firstly, what is an aquatic ecosystem? An aquatic ecosystem is a kind of ecosystem that is located in water bodies such as ponds and oceans. Different types of organism living in an aquatic ecosystem depend on each other and their environment. If a type of organism in the ecosystem died, other organisms may not be able to survive as well as they are interdependent. On my next post, I will be focusing on what is stress.
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