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Human Impacts on Ecosystems

Stinging Tentacles
www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/science/earth/03jellyfish.html?partner=rssyahoo

* Be able to defend the statement with details and examples, that commercial fishing has caused  trophic level disruption.
*Can you describe a oceanic community?
*What  recommendations are put forth to solve this issue?
*Describe the ecological effects of global warming on temperate coastal communities.

Mid-Ocean Trawlers Cause Ecosystem Damage and Trophic Level Disruption


What is a Trophic Level Cascade? 

*Explain how sharks, rays and scallops form a community.
* Know examples of predator-prey communities and the effects of taking away the top-level carnivores.
*Can you give an example of a detritivore in any of these articles?  Can you give some examples of detritus in one of these ecosystems?
*In writing a letter to congress, what change would you advocate to save the roughy?

Just In....11/27/10 One Small Step (Do You Think the Move is Strong Enough?) to Save the Hammerhead Shark (Is it in Time?)

Students....Dead Zones along our Coasts
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/science/earth/15oceans.html?ex=1219377600&en=10e3a2b9e0140ab4&ei=5070&emc=eta1
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/environment-news/nsf-oil-dead-zone-vin.html?source=foenvright5
*Be able to describe an ecological disruption.
*From this article, provide an example of how organisms and their environment are interdependent.
*Explain and defend whether these coastal ecosystems are fueled by chemosynthetic or photosynthetic processes.
*Is there still an ecosystem in these dead zones?  Why or why not?
*How could a "change in eating habits" add to the use of fertilizers?

Nitrogen Cycles? Can Humans Learn from the Nature that Nitrogen Can be a Limiting Nutrient?

Hydrofracking for Natural Gas: Energy Independence at What Cost?

Potential Health Risks of Atrazine in Drinking Water Hard to Prove (graphics)
Learn From the Frogs

Another Exotic Species in the US Southeast! The Lionfish Reproduces Every Four Days.

ECOLOGY/BIOLOGY
Nematodes and Soil Ecology With Great Pics of Nematodes

CONSERVATION 

New Frog Species Highlights Importance of Hotspots (HotSpot Interactive)

Conservation Reserves Help Produce more Fish and Save Ecosystems
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6108414.stm

National Geographic Pictures of Ocean Importance and Beauty (some ref. to photosynthesis)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/science/earth/13ocea.html?ref=science

People Making Money and Destroying the Ecosystem
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/science/earth/20reef.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Planet Under Pressure: The Sixth Great Extinction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3667300.stm

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

Fires in the Tundra, Methane Bubbling Up Through the Ice and the Permafrost Warming. What Does it Mean?

Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming

Bleached Coral Dooms Future Hope for Reefs

Glaciers Melt and Science Tries to Log Meaningful Data

Scientist Reckons With Global Climate Change

Northeast Shiver but the Artic Warms

Heavy Rains Linked to Humans

Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself

Death of Forests & Conserving Forests is Important Question for the Future

Global Climate Change Debate Reveals the Skeptics Side

Hudson Estuary Predicted to Undergo Serious Changes
Is There Still Hope for the Polar Bears? Or the Northern Right Whale?
Global Temp. Increase Scenarios

Artic Ice Sheet Decreasing Rapidly (with graphic)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/earth/02arct.html

Pine Bark Beetle Destroys Lodgepole Pine forests (video)

Deep Sea Corals Dying even as new life around them is discovered
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28711152/

Invasives and Forest Health is a Bad Combination
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081025-9999-1n25forest.html

Models Show that Global Warming is Caused by Humans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7700387.stm

Carbon Footprint
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7696197.stm

An Arabian Newspaper Calls For A Renewable Energy Shift To Stop the Rise in CO2 by 2030
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=ENV&artid=151508

The Artic Report Card
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/
Go to the Northern Hemisphere Ice Extent Graph
    1. Of late, some people in the northeast kingdom express that "global warming is a cycle" suggesting this is natural.  In terms of the discussion on the  NH ice extent graph, explain the cycle that is very clear and discuss the trend that results from the warming artic temperatures.

Alarming Glacier Melt Exponentially Increasing (90m/yr with video)
 
Bark Beetles Ravaging Western Forests By Millions of Acres: Find out why
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/science/18trees.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION
Rhesus Monkeys on Calorie Restriction: Reader Needs to Scrutinize the Data

Ethics: Investigation of Viruses with a Doctor's Syringe

Scientist Dives Deep to Confirm His Hypothesis of a Living Fossil

Exxon Going Green With Algae: Photosynthesis or What?

FISH FARMING & AQUACULTURE

Water Reuse and Calculations

Baramundi Fish Farming Techniques and Embryology