RNR 1001 Lecture : RNR ENTIRE SEMESTER NOTES
Document Summary
As we have talked about, degradation of the planet"s environment has accompanied human population growth throughout history: reductions in biodiversity, habitat complexity, biological productivity, and ecosystems process integrity due to human activities. Pollutants can be solid, liquid, or gaseous, and are found everywhere on the planet. Pollutants can be organic (animal and plant processes, eg, crop residue, manure) or inorganic (industrial processes; fertilizers, chemicals, processed minerals) However, in terms of natural resources, runoff into streams and rivers has been a much bigger problem: pesticides- loss of aquatic invertibrates, herbicides- loss of macrophytes and algae (aquatic plants, sediment loss of habitat, high turbidity. Agricultural runoff is a significant source of nutrients, which can lead to the process of cultural eutrophication (increased productivity) in streams and lakes. Most obvious effect of nutrient inputs on aquatic systems is excessive plant growth, both macrophytes and algae.
