urban summary

7/28/2019 Urban Summary

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Notes:-Lectures 1-4, 8, and 29 are NOT on the Final. As such, theyre not here either-About the numbering: a number is a concept; CS means case study; P means process;T means table.-Lecture 17 is at the end for reasons I dont feel like typing out

-I did not include any information on problem set calculations (population problems,trophic level problems, index calculations, BEES, or LCA)-The C, N, and P cycle are at the end-I did not include the dates from Space and Time lecture. Theyre on Blackboard-I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes and incompleteness. Remember, theseare my personal notes. Use them at your own risk.

Urban Engineering Ecology Summary

1- Organism: any living system made up of cells that has a metabolism, grows,reproduces, dies, and responds to its environment.

2- Prokaryotic cell: simple type of cell with no nucleus. Its genetic material just floats inplasma.

3- Eukaryotic cell: has organelles and a nucleus.

4- Carbohydrates: molecules made up of Carbon (C), Oxygen (O), and Hydrogen (H).They can provide energy, like glucose and starch do, or they can provide structure, likecellulose.

5- Amino acids: molecules made up of C, H, O, and Nitrogen (N). They are the basicbuilding blocks of proteins

6- Lipids: molecules made of C, H, and O that are arranged in long chains. They provideenergy, and are part of cell membranes.

7- Saturated lipid: all carbons within the lipid have single bonds only.

8- Unsaturated Lipid: has carbons that have double bonds.

9- Nucleic Acids: molecule that carries our genetic material.

10- RNA: single strand of genetic material. It has oxygen in its composition.

11- DNA: double strand of genetic material. It does not have oxygen in its structure.


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12- Nitrogenous bases: molecules made up of Phosphorous (P), sugar, and one or tworings. They are Adenine, Thymine (exclusive to DNA), Guanine, Cytosine, and Uracil(exclusive to RNA). They each have complementary pairs (A-T, G-C, and A-U).

13- Messenger RNA (M-RNA): molecule that copies information from the DNA and

takes it to the ribosome.

14- Ribosome: organelle in the cell that receives and reads the genetic information fromthe messenger RNA.

15- Transfer RNA (T-RNA): works together with the ribosome. it provides the aminoacids that build proteins.

P1- How DNA Produces Proteins: The DNA gets unzipped and an M-RNA copies thebases from the DNA with complementary bases. These bases are taken to the ribosomewhere they are read. Every three nitrogenous bases that the ribosome reads from the

information the messenger RNA brings, corresponds to an amino acid that a T-RNAbrings and adds to an ever growing chain of amino acids that will eventually be a proteinwhen the chain gets long enough.

16- Photosynthesis: metabolic process by which a plant takes carbon dioxide and waterto produce glucose and oxygen.

17- Respiration: catabolic process through which an organism breaks the carbon bondsin glucose by using oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy.

18- Glycolysis: less efficient form of acquiring energy that is used when little or no

oxygen is available (such as when you exercise). Glucose has its carbon bonds partiallybroken to produce a little bit of energy and two pyruvates (3 carbon atoms) which laterdecompose into lactic acid.

19- Mitosis: process by which a cell replicates

20- Meiosis: process by which sexual cells replicate

P2- How Mitosis Works: The cell has its DNA replicated to get two copies of it in thesame cell. Both copies move to opposite sides of the cell, and the separation begins.The end product is two cells with identical properties.

P3- How Meiosis Works: one male and one female cell combine to form a single cellwhich has 46 pairs of chromosomes. The cell divides twice recombining the materialrandomly to get four daughter cells with 23 pairs of chromosomes.

21- Allele: form of a gene or group of genes. One is provided by each parent andbetween the two, a hereditary trait is defined.


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22- Dominant gene: gene that is in the genetic material and shows up physically

23- Recessive gene: gene that is in the genetic material, but doesnt show up physically.

24- Incomplete dominance: genes are not recessive or dominant, they combine. (Ex: a

red flower and white flower that have pink offspring)

25- Evolution: concept developed by Darwin that states that organisms change slowly toadapt to their environment or as a result of random genetic combination.

26- Microevolution: the gene pool of a species changes but not the species itself.

27- Macroevolution: the entire species genes change to the point that it becomes a newspecies.

28- Genetic Drift: a gene that is lost through generations.

29- Sexual Selection: difference in physical appearances that make one member of aspecies more attractive than others.

30- Gene Flow: transfer of alleles from one population to another.

31- Speciation: appearance of a new species from an old one due to physicalseparation of the species into a new environment.

P4- How Life Evolved: organic molecules were present on earth and eventually the gotorganized into proteins which formed the first anaerobic prokaryotic organisms.

Eventually, cyanobacteria that respire appeared and filled the atmosphere with oxygenallowing aerobic prokaryotes to appear. Finally, eukaryotic organisms appeared.

32- Autotroph: organism that makes its own food.

33- Heterotroph: organism that eats other organisms for food.

34- Monera Kingdom: Prokaryotic, unicellular and auto/heterotrophic. Ex: bacteria andcyanobacteria.

35- Protista Kingdom: Eukaryotic, uni/multicellular, and auto/heterotrophic. Ex: amoeba,

algae, or mold.

36- Fungi Kingdom: Eukaryotic, uni/multicellular, and heterotrophic. Ex: yeast andmushrooms.

37- Plantae Kingdom: Eukaryotic, multicellular, and autotrophic. They have cell wallsand carry out photosynthesis. They can be vascular (with capillaries that allow for highplants. Ex: trees) or non-vascular (without capillaries that limit height. Ex: moss).


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38- Animalia Kingdom: Eukaryotic, multicellular, and heterotrophic. They can bevertebrate or invertebrate.

39- Hierarchy of Life: organizational scale which classifies living systems according to

size: organism < population < community < ecosystem < habitat < niche < biome


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56- Shrub land: Rainy winters and dry summers with fires. They tend to appear nearcoasts.

57- Deserts: High evaporation that exceeds the amount of rainfall. Cacti grow here.

58- Tundra: very cold with no trees, but lots of grasses and mosses. There is a lot ofpermafrost and lots of migratory animals live here.

59- Mountain Zone: cannot support a frets because of the cold and elevation.

60- Lentic Ecosystem: standing water ecosystem.61- Latic: running water ecosystems.

62- Wetlands: very active and biologically diverse. They take in rainwater and release itslowly and they purify water as well.

63- Photic zone: part of the sea which receives light. it is around 200 meters deep.

64- Detritus: dead organism that float down to the bottom of the sea.

65- Chimiosynthesis: energy is produced from hydrogen sulfide.

66- Sea: divided into an upper photic zone where most life is. The lower dark zone issustained by the detritus that falls to the bottom, and the organisms that arechimiosynthetic.

67- Upwelling: ecosystems where currents carry nutrients from the sea floor. it is veryrich in life.

68- Coral Reefs: they are on the shallow continental shelf and receive a lot of sunlight.There is a lot of symbiosis going on between them and algae.

69- Estuary: place where a river meets an ocean. they are nutrient rich thanks to rivers,and they contain a mix of slat and fresh water. Theyre either salt marshes, mud flats, ormangroves.

70- Mangroves: trees with very large and long intertwining roots that give shores

structure and provide habitat.

71- Detrivores: they eat detritus.

72- Food Chain: movement of energy through trophic levels.

73- Trophic Level: group of organisms that are the same number of steps away from theprimary producers. Only 10% of energy flows from one trophic level to another.


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P5- How Mass and Energy Flow Through the Earth: mass is constant and almost neverchanges, while energy flow is linear. It comes from the sun, and then is radiated backinto space.

74- Green House Gases: gases that trap heat in Earths atmosphere.

P6- How Climate Change Works: it occurs when the amount of greenhouse gasesincrease allowing more heat to be trapped in Earths atmosphere. This changes weatherpatterns producing more extreme cycles, melting glaciers, changing migration patterns,and changing biological timing of natural processes.

P7- C Cycle: At end of document.

P8- N Cycle: At end of document.

75- Carbon Fixing: Autotrophs fix C into a molecule.

76- Nitrogen Fixing: bacteria or lightning that transforms N2 to NO3.

77- N Fixing Bacteria: bacteria that transform N2 into biologically useful components likenitrates or ammonia.

78- Nitrifying Bacteria: they transform ammonia to nitrates.

79- Denitrifying Bacteria: they transform nitrates back into nitrogen.

80- Eutrophication: process by which a lake dies.

P9- How Eutrophication Happens: when a lake has too much nitrogen in it, the algaegrow without bounds. Because of their numbers, theyre not eaten fast enough and toomuch of them die and get decomposed by detrivores. They use oxygen for thedecomposition and eventually reduce the lakes Oxygen content to the point that no lifecan be sustained.

P10- P Cycle: At end of document.

81- Carrying Capacity: maximum number of population that can be sustained by the

resources of a community.

82- Gauses Principle: at equilibrium, two species with identical source requirementscannot occupy the same habitat.

83- Monocrotophos: very toxic insecticide that is water soluble and biodegradable.


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CS1- Grasshopper Population: When grasshoppers started to invade agricultural lands,monocrotophos was used to try and kill them off. What happened was that when theywould die, eagles ,which were their natural predator, would eat them and get poisonedtoo. When the eagles started dying there were none left to keep the grasshoppers incheck so the population exploded and things got even worse.

84- Deldrin: non-selective pesticide.

CS2- Rats and Typhus: The above pesticide was used to try and kill mosquitoes thatcarried malaria. In doing so, not only were mosquitoes infected, but other bugs weretoo. Larger animals ate these bugs including cats. The cats started dying off in largenumbers and then there was nothing to keep the rat population from expanding. Thislead to an explosion of rats that carry diseases like typhus.85- Human Population Growth Phases: they define how industrially developed a nationis and they are four in number:- High birth rate and death rate

- Declining birth and death rates. The death rate decreases faster.- Declining birth rate and leveling off of death rate.- Both rates level offThe higher the phase, the more developed a nation is.

86- Ecological Footprint: the amount of land and water that each person needs toprovide their basic needs.

87- Competition: type of relationship where species compete for resources

88- Predation: type of relationship where one species eats another.

89- Mutualism: type of relationship where both species help each other out.

90- Commensalism: type of relationship where one species benefits from another andthe other neither benefits or is harmed.

91- Parasitism: type of relationship where one species benefits from the other and theother gets harmed.

92- Symbiosis mutual or commensalist relationship in which one species lives withinanother.

93- Obligate: type of relationship where two species have to live together to survive.

CS3- Lichen: it is the union of a fungus and an algae. The algae makes food for both ofthem through photosynthesis and the fungus provides shelter, support, and a watersource. It is an obligate, symbiotic, mutualism.


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CS4- Coral: it is the union of coral polyps and algae. The algae provides food for both ofthem and the coral provides carbon dioxide and shelter. It is an obligate mutualsymbiosis.

94- Mycelium: type of fungus that grows from a spore. It grows in webs underground

and has the typical umbrella fungus that spouts above ground.

CS5- Mycorrhiza: union of mycelium and a plant. The fungus attracts water andnutrients for the plant while the plant makes sugars for both of them. It is a mutuallysymbiotic relationship.

CS6- Gut Bacteria: They help organisms like humans or cows digest food properly whilewe provide them with a warm, sheltered environment. It is mutually symbiotic.

CS7- Bees and Flowers: The bees get pollen to produce honey, and the flowers getpollinated so they can reproduce. It is mutual but not symbiotic.

CS8- Anemone and Clownfish: The anemone protects the fish, but stings any other fishthat touches it. It is a symbiotic commensalism.

95- Diversity: measure of number of different species and species evenness in anecosystem.

96- Simpson Dominance Index (D): probability that two individuals drawn at randomfrom a community will belong to the same species.

97- Shannon Index (H): Indicates the evenness of species. The higher the index, the

higher the diversity.

98- Diversity stresses: factors that make it harder for organisms to survive, but dont killthem. Temperature, Moisture, and amount of light are all stresses.

99- Disturbance: influence on ecosystem that kills off a large amount of organisms.Events such as volcano eruptions or tsunamis fall into this category.

100- Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis: it says that diversity is greatest atintermediate levels of stress, disturbance, and predation. Between the three they keepone species from dominating and maintain the possibility of more species living

together.

101- C-Strategist: species that rely on outcompeting other species to dominate anecosystem.

102- S-Strategist: species that rely on being stress tolerant to dominate an ecosystem.

103- R-Strategist: species that rely on fast reproduction to dominate an ecosystem.


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104- CSR Theory: it says that a varying levels of stress and disturbances, differentstrategists thrive:-Low Stress/Disturbance: C-strategists thrive.-High Stress/ Low Disturbance: S-strategists thrive.

-Low Stress/ High Disturbance: R-strategists thrive.-High Stress/Disturbance: Uninhabitable ecosystem.

105- Keystone Species: species that is small in number, but has a major influence on itscommunity.

106- Succession: ecosystem development following a disturbance or the creation of anew substrate.

107- Primary Succession: ecosystem starts barren from nothing.

108- Secondary succession: ecosystem starts from some level of life. It usually occursdue to a disturbance, like a fire, and it is easier to progress from this succession.

109- Pioneer species: first species to arrive into an ecosystem. They can live in highlyinhospitable environments and they make it easier for other species to get establishedthere. They are eventually replaced by other species.

110- Climax Stage: point during which an ecosystem has grown as large as it possiblycan. K-strategists are high in numbers at climax, and before that R-strategists are highin number.

CS10- Glacier Bay: it is in Alaska. The retreat of the glacier exposed barren land thatstarted to develop through succession. Since it was all exposed slowly, the stages ofsuccession can be seen clearly. The land that was exposed earlier is more developed,while the land that was exposed later is less developed.

CS11- Red-cockaded woodpeckers: they live in savannas in south east US. The makenests in fungus infected tress because the wood is soft enough to peck through, butsince it is still alive, it releases sap that wards off predators. They need a clearunderstory so predators wont climb on to trees and also so they can feed on insects.Cutting down these forests eliminates their home, but the US military preserves a largearea of these tress for military training. The explosives they use cause artificial fires that

keeps the ecosystem in balance. It all works out.

111- Infrastructure: fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area astransport, communication, system , power plant, and schools. The better it is, the higherthe quality of life en economic systems.

P11- How Electricity Gets to Our Homes: Power plants produce electricity at highvoltages that go to a substation, and then a high voltage transmission line. These lines


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span great distances and get the power to local substations which then pass it throughtransformers and transformer drums that both reduce voltage until it finally gets to ourhomes.

112- Eastern Interconnect: Huge electrical network that includes middle and eastern

Canada and the East Half of the US. It is used for electricity trading.

P12- How Natural Gas Gets To Us: It is first pumped out if the ground and processed ina plant. The end product is pumped into a compression station. From here it istransported along extremely long pipes to anywhere that it is needed. Before beingused, smell is added to the naturally odorless gas so leaks can be detected if theyhappen.

T1 - Impacts of Infrastructure

Roads Nuclear Nat. Gas Buildings

Rely onEnvironmentfor:

-Land-Aggregate-Asphalt

-Uranium-Water

-Ground -land-Concrete-Steel

Impact onEnvironment:

-HabitatFragmentation-Carbondioxideemissions

-RadioactiveWaste-Heat

-Habitat loss-Green HouseGasses

-Habitat loss-Heat-Watercontamination

T2 - Water Infrastructure and Impacts

Drinking Water Sewer Water Storm Water

Infrastructure -Water intake pipes-Water treatmentplants-Water mains/pipes-Pumping stations-Storage tanks

-Sewers-Pipes-Sewer treatmentsplants

-Catchment basins-Storm water pipes

Impacts -Chemicals to treatwater- Fresh water to

treat- Electricity to pump

-Sludge fromtreatment-Energy to pump

-Oil, salt,pesticides, metalsfrom runoff-Erosion-Heat from asphalt.

113- Industrial Ecology: study of the interactions between ecosystems and industrialsystems or between industrial systems.


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114- Material Flow Analysis: systematic analysis of the flows of a material defined inspace and time.

115- Life Cycle Assessment: it is a way of analyzing a product from the moment it is

produced until it is disposed of. It is useful to compare different products at differentstages. It is limited to the accuracy of data sources, changing markets, andenvironmental situations. It is very resource intensive and many assumptions must bemade.

116- Sewage: water that buildings flush down after use. It contains nitrogen,phosphorous, human pathogens, metals, toxic organics, pharmaceuticals, endocrinedisruptors, and biodegradable organics.

117- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): amount of oxygen in mg/L that is required tobiodegrade organics. Ideally water should have between 10-15 mg/L, but life is

sustainable until this number goes under 4 mg/L.

118- Raeration: when oxygen reenters water.

119- Dissolved Oxygen Sag Curve: combination of two curves. The first curve is theoxygen demand curve which goes down, and the second one is the reaeration curvewhich goes up. The resulting curve has a sag and the lowest point tells you how low theBOD goes to see if it reaches unsafe levels.

P13- How Sewage Is Treated:a- Screening to get out big objects, like trash

b- Grit chamber where big particles settlec- Settling tank where smaller particles settled- Water is treated microbially to remove organic compounds. It is passed throughthree chambers in the following order: anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobice- Second settling tank to filter microbesf- Disinfection

T3 - Sewage, treatment, and by-product

In Sewage Treated By By-Product

BOD d (aerobic) Carbon Dioxide and Water

Organic Matter c, d (anaerobic) Methane

N c, d (anaerobic/anoxic), e Nitrates and Solid N

P d (anaerobic), e Biosolids

120- Constructed Wetlands: engineered wetlands that purify water


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P13- How Constructed Wetland Purify Water: water comes in through a distribution pipeso it can be treated by the wetland. n The water can flow on the surface or under thesoil. Through sedimentation the water gets treated by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria.Plants reduce the P content along with salts that precipitate the P out of the water. The

water then flows out of the wetland.

121- Cogeneration: producing electricity and steam for heat at the same time to save onheat production.

122- Combined Sewer: type of sewer which carries storm water and sewer water. It isprone to flooding when it rains or theres a lot of snow melting.

123- Green Roof: They are garden on roofs of buildings that reduce runoff, coolbuildings, improve air quality, and provide habitat. The have the following layer from topto bottom: plants, growing medium, filter, drainage, root layer, and waterproof layer.

T4 - Problems and Solutions

Problems Solutions

Transportation smog, GHG, resource use,habitat loss

biking, public transport,carpooling, recycling carparts.

Energy Heat lost in glassbuildings, energy lostpumping water

less glass, solar thermalpower, natural ventilation,rain water harvesting,

cogeneration

Storm water combined sewer overflow,pollution (runoff takeswaste to lakes/rivers), heatfrom asphalt goes to lakes/rivers, erosion

permeable pavements,rain water harvesting, raingarden, infiltration, greenroofs

124- Habitat Fragmentation: breaking up of large habitats into smaller discontinuoushabitats by roads, logging, or development.

125- Metapopulation: a collection of smaller, physically separated populations of thesame species. If they drift far apart they can go extinct, but if they dont they canrecolonize the area.

126- Satellite Populations: large core population of the species with small satellitepopulations that are colonized from the core to satellite.


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CS12- Florida Panthers: Before European settlement they had high numbers, buthunting of deer, their natural food source, and the actual animal itself made thepopulations numbers go down drastically. Few panthers also meant low geneticvariation and more defects. Eight female cougars were introduced and since then thepopulation has gotten bigger. Establishing conservation areas, making it illegal to kill

them, making highway over/underpasses for them, and reducing speed limits have allhelped increase their numbers.


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