Sustainable Ecosystems What is a sustainable ecosystem Sustainability

Sustainable Ecosystems

What is a sustainable ecosystem? Sustainability: the ability to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations

Sustainable ecosystems… 1. Support organisms (living things) and can continue to do so in the future. 2. Are biodiverse – have many species of organisms living in them.

Biodiversity and Sustainability • The biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to the sustainability of that ecosystem. • Higher/more biodiversity = more sustainable • Lower/less biodiversity = less sustainable • High biodiversity in an ecosystem means that there is a great variety of genes and species in that ecosystem.

Sustainable ecosystems provide to organisms… - a continual food source clean water sufficient space a suitable habitat other living organisms to interact with

Sustainability • Strongly linked to ecosystem health. • The more sustainable an ecosystem is, the healthier – able to “deal” with external stress better (i. e. limiting factors).

Brainstorm! What threats are there to the sustainability of an ecosystem?

What would cause an ecosystem to be unsustainable? • Pollution, lack of space, lack of food, lack of water, low biodiversity… • What would happen to organisms in an unsustainable ecosystem? EXTINCTION (the permanent disappearance of a species of organism)

Case of Easter Island read case study

EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABLE USE OF A NATURAL RESOURCE • A fish stock with a standing population of 1 million adults, 100 000 new adults per year, and natural mortality of 50 000 adults per year • If the fishery is controlled at a catch of less than 50 000 fish per year, the fishery should be indefinitely sustainable (unless other factors such as drought or disease, intervene).

Are our present lifestyles sustainable? A. Yes B. To some extent C. Probably not D. No Defend your answer!! Write A paragraph with your thoughts

WORLD SCIENTISTS’ WARNING TO HUMANITY (1992) from 102 Nobel laureates and 1600 other scientists • We are on a collision course with the regenerative capabilities of the ecosphere. • Human society may be unable to sustain life as we know it. • Fundamental changes are urgent.