The Physical Environment Story/title> <meta name="author"content="Garry Fletcher"> <meta name="description" content="The physical environment,Ecological Sustainability,Ecosystem"> <meta name="keywords" content="ocean physical,Vancouver Island Ecosystems,ocean research,ocean sustainability,ecosystem integrity,ecosystem sustainability"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <div align="center"> <p><font size="4" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><i>4.0 Physical or Abiotic Factors</i></b></font></p> </div> <div align="left"> <p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Part of the structure of an ecosystem is its physical factors. One cannot seperate the physical and the living world and therefore one has to recognize that changing physical factors will have a direct impact on biodversity and the integrity of marine ecosystems. It is also crucial to break down the artificial barriers between biology, physics, chemistry and geology.</font></p> <p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">An approach which I have used on the racerocks.com website has been to treat all physical factors in terms of how they affect life organisms. Measuring the factor is one aspect , but recognizing the impact that those factors have on organisms presents a more interesting aspect. See examples on the links from the data page index at: <a href="http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/ecodata.htm"><font size="2">http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/ecodata.htm</font></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">So much of how we interact with Marine environments may influence the physical factors in which organisms have evolved to live for millions of years. </font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">A wide array of factors affect the sustainability of a number of ecosystems.. Distribution of organisms is determined by those factors and humans are often changing some of those factors too quickly. A few summary points follow:</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Successional changes caused by changes of abiotic factors.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">The Physical Story. The marriage of the physical and life sciences.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">How geology-topography affects the distribution of life.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Life zones and biodiversity are connected to physical factors.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">In some local marine industries positive things that are happening.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">How marine industry can be sustainable without contamination and alteration of the physical factors of the environment.<br> </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Energy budget of a disturbed seabird or mammal matters when boats and human activity are impacting.<br> </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Storm drains and implication of runoffs in altering physical factors.<br> </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Agriculture and the sea... use of fertilizers pesticides on ocean ecosystems. Tie into interconnectivity of ecosystems.<br> </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Climate change and its effects on the oceans.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Part of the Structure and Function of Ecosystems: Role in energy flow and material cycles. Reference: Structure and Function of Ecosystems: </font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><a href="http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/education/curricula/projects/structfunct.htm">http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/education/curricula/projects/structfunct.htm</a></font> </ul> <p></p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><a name="Anchor-4.1-47857"></a>4.1 Sensors and Data Collection for research.</font></b></p> <p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">There are a number of ways to monitor physical factors of ecosystems at various levels and locations..</font></p> <ul> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">oxygen levels of aerated vs bottom muds</font> <li><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">salinity and temperature vary at depth . </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">ph change as photosynthesis changes in a green pool<br> </font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">feeding organisms depend on many factors, current being one.</font> </ul> <li><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Remote site monitors. </font> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">interactive modelling with temperature data from Race Rocks.. and implications for global change.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">atmospheric and oceanographic sensors monitoring at Race Rocks.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Links and interpretations to physical measurements in real time from the Venus subsea research program.</font> <li><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Links and interpretations to physical measiurements in real time from the </font><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Neptune subsea research program.</font> <li><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">Links to the Victoria weather network. school contribution a part of this</font> </ul> </ul> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> </font></p> <p><a href="acidification.htm"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">4.2 The Importance of pH.</font></a></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><a href="index.htm">Index<br> </a></font></p> <table width="873" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ccffff" width="50%"> <p><font size="-2"><a href="http://www.oceandiscovery.ca" target="_blank"><img src="logo.jpg" alt="Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre" width="92" height="71" align="left" border="2"></a><i><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This file was created in 2008 as a marine education resource supported by the <a title="Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre" href="http://www.oceandiscovery.ca" target="_blank">Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney</a></font></b></i></font></p> </td> <td> <div align="center"> <a title="Coastal Ecosystems Metchosin" href="../marineecosystems.htm" target="_blank"><img src="../cover/coastalicons.jpg" alt="Coastal Ecosystems, Metchosin" width="181" height="68" border="2"></a></div> </td> <td bgcolor="#ccffff" width="50%"> <div align="left"> <font size="-2"><a title="racerocks.com homepage" onmouseover="MM_swapImage('rrcomcolors','','logo/rrcomcolors2_f2.jpg',1)" onmouseout="MM_swapImgRestore();" href="http://www.racerocks.com"><img src="../links/rrcomcolors.jpg" alt="racerocks.com" name="rrcomcolors" height="68" width="115" align="right" border="2"></a></font><font size="-2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>Website courtesy of racerocks.com & <a href="http://www.pearsoncollege.ca">Lester B. Pearson College.</a> <i>Copyright: 2008 </i></b><a href="http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/contacts/gf/garry.htm" target="_blank"><b>Garry Fletcher</b></a><b><i> Marine Education Consulting,<br> </i></b></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> <p></p> </body> </html>