Category: Human Sustainability

Earth Science, HSus 1: Human Activity (HS), HSus 2: Monitoring Human Impact (MS), HSus 3: Arguing Sustainability (MS), HSus 3: Human/Ecosystem Interactions (HS), HSus 4: Evaluating Solutions (HS), HSus 5: Showing Human Impact (HS), Human Sustainability, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, IR 2: Affecting Biodiversity (HS), IR 3: Ecosystem Stability (HS), IR 4: Reducing Human Impact (HS), IR 6: Human Impact Solutions (HS), Life Science, M&E 1: Photosynthesis (HS)

Protozoa in Wastewater Treatment Processes

GwynneL.

Protozoa in wastewater treatment processes: A minireview SUMMARY: This is a short review of the role protozoa play in wastewater treatment plants. Most of the protozoa are ciliates and they graze on bacteria, excrete nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon waste, and are used as indicators of water quality. Toxins such as heavy metals, salts, and other… Continue reading Protozoa in Wastewater Treatment Processes

Earth Science, Earth's System, ES 1: Geochemical Cycles (HS), ES 2: Hydrological Cycle (MS), ES 3: Hydrological Cycle (HS), HSus 1: Human Activity (HS), HSus 2: Monitoring Human Impact (MS), HSus 3: Human/Ecosystem Interactions (HS), HSus 5: Showing Human Impact (HS), Human Sustainability

Investigating Microplastics on Land

GwynneL.

Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems (NOT OPEN ACCESS) SUMMARY: Though there has been a lot of research on microplastics in aquatic environments, there aren’t studies looking into the effects of microplastics on land. Researchers in this article suspect that there may be more microplastics on land than in the oceans; organisms that… Continue reading Investigating Microplastics on Land

Earth Science, Earth's System, ES 5: Life on Earth (HS), HSus 3: Human/Ecosystem Interactions (HS), Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS)

Modeling Ecosystem Invasions with Bacteria

GwynneL.

Invasion triple trouble: Environmental fluctuations, fluctuation-adapted invaders and fluctuation-mal-adapted communities all govern invasion success SUMMARY: To model how ecosystems react to invaders and temperature changes (due to global warming), researchers used different bacteria clones to simulate invasions. Results showed that communities in fluctuating temperatures were more susceptible to invasion compared to communities with constant temperatures.… Continue reading Modeling Ecosystem Invasions with Bacteria

Earth Science, HSus 2: Managing Resources (HS), HSus 3: Arguing Sustainability (MS), HSus 4: Evaluating Solutions (HS), Human Sustainability, W&C 1: Changing Climates (HS), W&C 2: Biomes (MS), W&C 2: Future Climate (HS), Weather and Climate

Crops and Climate Change

GwynneL.

Impact of Climate Change on Crops Adaptation and Strategies to Tackle Its Outcome: A Review (NOT OPEN ACCESS) SUMMARY: This is a review on how climate change can affect agriculture. The first six sections talk about changes in crop production, plants adapting to heat and drought, metabolic changes in plants due to increases in CO2,… Continue reading Crops and Climate Change

Earth Science, HSus 2: Managing Resources (HS), HSus 4: Evaluating Solutions (HS), Human Sustainability, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, IR 1: Carrying Capacity (HS), IR 1: Ecosystem Interactions (MS), IR 3: Ecosystem Stability (HS), IR 6: Human Impact Solutions (HS), Life Science

Rotifers Eating Bacteria to Clean Water

GwynneL.

Foam-forming bacteria in activated sludge effectively reduced by rotifers in laboratory- and real-scale wastewater treatment plant experiments SUMMARY: This article looks at using rotifers as a way to control a specific type of filamentous bacteria in wastewater treatment plants. Overgrowth of this bacteria leads to foam and inefficient break down of waste by other microorganisms.… Continue reading Rotifers Eating Bacteria to Clean Water

Earth Science, HSus 3: Human/Ecosystem Interactions (HS), HSus 4: Evaluating Solutions (HS), HSus 5: Showing Human Impact (HS), Human Sustainability, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, IR 4: Reducing Human Impact (HS), IR 6: Human Impact Solutions (HS), Life Science, Non-NGSS Articles, S&F 2: Body Systems (HS), S&F 3: Body Systems (MS), Structure and Function

Krill Digesting Microplastic

GwynneL.

Turning microplastics into nanoplastics through digestive fragmentation by Antarctic krill SUMMARY: This study found that krill were breaking down microplastic beads into smaller and smaller pieces in their digestive system. The krill were divided into two groups, one eating 80% plastic beads with 20% algae, the other eating 20% plastic beads and 80% algae. The… Continue reading Krill Digesting Microplastic