Ecology and Geology: The Interconnected Study of Living Organisms and Their Environments, Slides of Human Resource Management

Download Ecology and Geology: The Interconnected Study of Living Organisms and Their Environments and more Slides Human Resource Management in PDF only on Docsity! CHAPTER 4 ECOLOGY AND GEOLOGY Docsity.com Ecology & Geology Linkage Ecology • Study of relationships between living things and their environments; the study of control factors over the distribution, abundance, and health conditions of living things Environmental Geology • Study of geological processes and their effects on environment The linkage • complex linkages, varies at different scales Docsity.com Ecosystem • An ecological community and its surrounding environment in which the flows of energy and cycles of chemicals support the living community Figure 4.2 Docsity.com Types of Ecosystem • Natural indigenous: ecosystem as the result of completely natural evolutional processes, rarely exist • Human modified: the one modified by human use and interest, almost all the major ecosystems • Human constructed: man-made ecosystem for many different purposes at many sites, such as ponds, canals, wastewater treatment pools Docsity.com Natural Service Functions of Ecosystems • The processes responsible for producing clean water, air, and living matter • Direct functions  Cycle of chemical elements, e.g., CO2, O2  Flow of energy & nutrients  Removal of pollutants • Buffering functions: providing protections from natural hazards, e.g., wetlands against coastal flooding and erosion Docsity.com