Environmental Science Assignment: Ecosystem Analysis and Solutions

This environmental science assignment analyzes the dependencies between various organisms, including lichens, trees, forest flowers, bees, and humans, categorizing them in a hierarchy based on their independence. The assignment identifies the California condor as an endangered species in the local region and discusses the impacts of missing organisms in an experiment. It then explores the negative consequences of human activities on ecosystems, such as deforestation and pollution, and proposes solutions to reduce these impacts. The student suggests alternative fuel sources, reforestation, and the cultivation of flowers to mitigate human influence, promoting a more balanced and sustainable environment. The assignment utilizes tables and diagrams to present the findings and provides references to support the analysis.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1
Environmental Science
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 2
Question 1: Organisms and their dependency classification
Introduction
Every organism in the environment depends on another for its survival. Some of these
organisms can be termed as parasites if they completely for their well-being. Those organisms
that independent and offer survival environments for the parasites can be termed as hosts.
However, in this assignment, we shall be analyzing only 5 organisms including lichens, trees,
forest flowers, bees, and human beings. This analysis will be on how they relate to each other
and then categorized on a hierarchy of 5 having position 1 as the most independent.
Short description
The lichens
These are organisms made up of three other organisms including cyanobacterium, an
alga, and a fungus (Asplund & Wardle, 2017). It mostly depends on the solar energy and
nutrients obtained from the air. They play a key role in the formation of diverse soil types.
Trees
These are perennial organisms that depend on solar energy and soil to grow. The solar
energy is used on its food production while the soil for support and obtaining nutrients.
Forests flowers
Forests are the combination of many trees. A forest flower cannot exist without trees for
wind prevention and shade and soil for nutrients.
Bees

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These are organisms that depend on forest flowers to make their honey.
Humans
They are the most dependent organisms as they rely on bees for plant pollination so as to
get fruits and honey, trees for shade and food, and soil for construction.
The table below shows the above details in summary.
Organism Dependent Independent Hierarchy
Lichens No Yes 1
Trees Yes No 2
Forest flowers Yes No 3
Bees Yes No 4
Humans Yes No 5
Table 1: Organisms and their dependency hierarchy description and position
Question 2: The most endangered species in my locality
The California condor is the most endangered bird species in my region due to the
destruction of its habitat, poisoning, and even poaching. It started becoming extinct in the year
1987 (Ryder, et al., 2014).

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Fig. 1: The California condor
Lab report assignment
The experiment results are as follows.
Experiment turn Beads Organism
1 White Lichen
2 Orange Trees
3 Blue Humans
Table 2: The experiment results
The missing organisms in the experiment above include flowers and bees that were
represented by the red and yellow beads respectively. Out of the three experiments conducted,
these two beads did not find their way to the charts.
Question 1

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Each turn represented the organisms and its occupation on the physical environment.
However, these organisms, when they exist on their own, will never ensure the balance of the
environment. Therefore, we shall explain how the ecosystem is affected when the remaining
beads are missing in the table below.
Experimen
t turn
Explanation
1 Only lichen was available. The ecosystem will negatively be affected as the lichen
produce carbon dioxide while improving the soil. The lack of tree to consume the
excess carbon dioxide and results in the excessive pollution of the air and its
imbalance.
2 Only trees were available in this turn. Thus, the nutrients in the soil would be
utilized fully resulting in soil losing its importance as there are no lichens to
improve it. In addition, too much oxygen would be released into the environment
as no humans or lichens are available to utilize it.
3 Finally, this turn had only humans in it. The soil would lose its nutrients as
humans would burn it. Secondly, the environment would be polluted with too
much carbon dioxide from the humans’ respiratory systems and economic
activities.
Table 3: Impacts on the ecosystem due to the occupation of only one organism
Question 2: Humans’ impacts on the other organisms
Humans are involved in many activities. The burning of the soil will result in the death of
the lichens and soil nutrients. Humans construct their homes and light fire by using trees. These

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actions result in the increased rate of reduction of the trees in the environment. Finally, the end
of trees results in the lack of food to bees and protection to the flowers. As a result, both the bees
and the flowers become exposed to hazardous conditions that end their lives.
Question 3: Reducing human impacts on the ecosystem
Humans can reduce the way they affect the ecosystem by using alternative means of fuel
such as animal waste and metals in construction projects so as to reduce excessive cutting down
of trees. Also, the sunlight and wind kinetic energy can be used instead of trees as fuel.
Secondly, humans can plant more trees to ensure that the carbon dioxide they produce is utilized
resulting in balanced air composition. Finally, humans can grow more flowers under the planted
trees so as to increase the food to bees and lives to the flowers themselves.