Anthropocene

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Anthropocene

• Justin Borevitz
• May 16th, 2008

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Quote Warming of the climate system is
unequivocal, as is now evident from observations
of increases in global average air and ocean
temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice,
and rising global mean sea level
From the 4th Assessment by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Released February
2007
Source IPCC 2007
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Fire-dependent Ecoregions
More than half of the worlds terrestrial
ecosystems depend on fire to maintain their
character and biodiversity.
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European Urban Heat Signature
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www.uni.edu/ceee/foodproject/mud.jpg
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People Cause More Soil Erosion Than All Natural
Processes Combined...
Human activity causes 10 times more erosion of
continental surfaces than all natural processes
combined, an analysis by a University of Michigan
geologist shows. "If you ask how fast erosion
takes place over geologic timesay over the last
500 million yearson average, you get about 60
feet every million years," Wilkinson said. In
those parts of the United States where soil is
being eroded by human agricultural activity,
however, the rate averages around 1,500 feet per
million years,
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The Energy Problem

• How will society meet growing energy demands in a
  sustainable manner?
• Fossil-fuels currently supply 80 of world
  energy demand.

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Second Generation Biofuels Cellulosic Feedstock
Switchgrass Wheat Straw Hybrid Poplar
Corn Stalks
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Footprint
Reducing Risks by Setting Measurable Targets
Dr. Mathis Wackernagel
www.FootprintNetwork.org
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Metabolism like a cow
Ecological Footprint http//myfootprint.org
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Footprint components
Fossil Fuel Built-up Waste Food
Fibres
absorption
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Bioproductive Segments
67 Low-Productivity Ocean
Bioproductive segments
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4 Biologically Productive Ocean
11 Deserts, Ice Caps and Barren Land
18 Biologically Productive Land
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Footprint time series
Footprint time series
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The human footprint on Earth
P. Kareiva et al., Science 316, 1866 -1869
(2007)
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Controlled Ecological Life Support System

• Mars The red planet where plants recycle human
  wastes. I am also developing plant growth
  chambers research lately. 200sq recycle all air
  and water for 4 people, but to get enough food
  for 1 person

200 sq feet growth chamber filters water and
wastes for 4 people
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200 sq growth chamber grows enough food for 1
person and filters the waste of 4 people David
Bubenheim NASA Ames.
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City Farm Resource Center
Growing Home
Chicagos Urban Farms
Growing Power
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Urban Labs Martin FelsenGrowing Water Chicago
2106
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Urban Labs Martin FelsenGrowing Water Chicago
2106
Eco-Boulevard
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Short, Mixed, and Tall grass Prairie
http//climate.konza.ksu.edu/
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Sodhouses
To overcome the lack of timber to build their
houses the Homesteaders used sods of earth cut
from the Plains as bricks. They built their
houses out of this earth and called them sod
houses. Many sod houses were huge affairs, with
many rooms, but they all suffered from the same
problems. They were dirty, drafty and leaked
whenever it rained. The walls and floor were
infested with lice, which crawled over the
Homesteaders as they slept. Mud fell off the
ceiling into the Homesteaders cooking pots, and
germs were rife. Despite this, many Homesteaders
were proud of their first soddy and often lived
in them for decades.
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Soil is more than dirt

• We covered the biotic part
• food web of a healthy soil
• But what about the abiotic part?
• Mineral, rock, clay, sand, loam, loess, humus
• mollisols prairie soil
• C deep grass roots
• Black and rich
• in warm moist
• tall grass prairies

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Undergraduate Field Course Prairie
Ecosystems
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Aquilegia and pollinators
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Real Time Ecosystem Monitoring

• HPWREN
• San Diego wireless ecological data sensing.

Fermilab AmeriFlux site, provided by Timothy J.
Martin (ANL-EVS)
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Lake Michigan sand dunes
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Sustainable Farming

• Restoration Ecology
• Habitat Succession
• Biodiversity gallery
• Rare species genotype repository
• Ecological Agriculture
• Perennial production and breeding
• Intensive mixed market gardens
• Environmental sensing
• Energy cycles (light, temp, moisture)
• Pulse, pressure, transpiration
• Land behavior, growth, and development

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The Next Generation of Biofuels Greenhouse-Neutra
l Biofuels from High-Diversity Low-Input
Prairie Ecosystems by David Tilman University
of Minnesota
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The Cedar Creek Biodiversity Experiment
Established to study the fundamental impacts of
biological diversity on ecosystem functioning
352 Plots 9 m x 9 m Random Compositions 1, 2, 4,
8, or 16 Species Plus, 70 Plots with 32
Species (1994-Present)
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High Diversity Grasslands Produce 238 More
Biofuel Each Year Than Monocultures
Switchgrass
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Current and future biofuels