The Ediacaran Fauna

The Ediacaran fauna are fossilized multi-cellular organisms that were formed by moving sands washed over mud flats, creating the shape in figure 1.

Figure 1. The Shape that was formed by an Ediacaran Fauna

These existed from about 600 million years ago to approx. 545 million years ago. The fauna has now been found on all continents except Antarctica.

 

WHAT COULD HAVE MADE THESE CREATURE DIE OUT?
It is difficult to state the main planetary effect on the conditions with organisms, communities and ecosystems. However huge changes was occurring at the end of the Precambrian and the start of the Early Cambrian stages. From rising sea levels creating shallower waters, there was a fluctuation in carbon dioxide levels meaning changes in ocean chemistry as well as nutrient crisis all making it harder for The Ediacaran Fauna

 

Grimes' Triangle

Grimes' Triangle has 3 points to it as seen in figure 1 below these are naturally referred to as "C-S-R" in many scientific reports for abbreviation.
The C stands for competitions with plants
The S stands for Stress
The R stands for ruderal (Meaning a plant growing on a space where there is already crowded plants)



 Grime's C-S-R triangle theory has been discussed in plant ecology for two decades, but it has rarely been tested, and not often dispassionately evaluated. We consider the theory from a community viewpoint, and attempt to develop and test predictions for plant communities. C-S-R assumes that in high-disturbance (ruderal, R) patches or habitats, competition will be absent, or low in intensity. Testing this is problematic because of the difficulty of defining the intensity of competition, and we could find no rigorous evidence to support or refute the prediction


Wilson, J. and Lee, W. (2000). C-S-R triangle theory: community-level predictions, tests, evaluation of criticisms, and relation to other theories. Oikos, 91(1), pp.77-96.

QUESTION; Describe how a coppice system might have operated in medieval times

Coppicing is an old method of producing a crop timber from a woodland. A tree grows from it's top producing side shoots at intervals from the main stem. If dominant buds are removed, this then stimulates new growth from the base.

coppicing was used in medieval times however not like it is today, it was operated to produce a crop of wood of different ages. Five year old coppice would be used for sheep hurdles, hedging stakes and thatching spars. All older wood could be used for fencing material, furniture and firewood as it lasted longer then developing wood. The cutting of different areas at different times produced age structuring.

Some trees were left to grow and produce larger timber these where known as "standard" trees today called Oak trees. These provided wood for houses and ships timber as it was more strongly built. As the trees are cut and removed from the wood, glades are created. Without the shade created by the trees, sunlight penetrates to the woodland floor promoting the growth of the woodland flowers such as bluebells and orchids.

Figure 1. showing stages of Coppice Development
(A guide to maintaining coastal bluff stability, 2016) 

As the coppice grows the plants that flower early will persist, whilst others are shaded out. After five years bramble and ivy have covered the woodland floor. However, with the decline of the flower comes and increase in mammal and bird life. Woodcock and Nightjar will nest in the glades created by coppicing and, as the trees grow, pheasant and nightingale, which prefer five to seven year growth, will come.

References;

A guide to maintaining coastal bluff stability. (2016). Recommendations. [online] Available at: http://wiblufferosion.weebly.com/recommendations.html [Accessed 5 May 2016].

Teleology and Teleological Argument

The Meaning of Teleology;

Teleomentalist views in biology are seen as a mere metaphor- describing and explaining biological phenomena on the basis of less or loose comparisons to psychological teleology. Those who hold teleology in biology to be metaphorical in nature typically regard it as eliminable meaning they believe that science in biology would not be essentially altered if all references to teleology were eschewed.

The Meaning of Teleonaturalism;

Those who reject teleomentalism typically seek naturalistic truth conditions for teleological claims in biology that do not refer to the intentions, goals or purposes of psychological agents. Some teleonaturalists seek to reduce teleological language to forms of description and explanation that are found in other parts of science.
One class of such views defines teleological notions cybernetically and maintains that teleology in biology is appropriate insofar as biological systems are cybernetic systems. Another, more-widely accepted approach treats functional claims in biology as part of the analysis of the capacities of a complex system into various component capacities.

Teleomentalism Vs Teleonaturalism

Several theorists have argued for the pluralistic idea that biology may incorporated two notions of function.

• One to explain the presence of traits
• to explain how those traits contribute to the complex capacities of organisms.
• Others have argued that these two apparently distinct notions of function can be unified by regarding the target of explanation as the biological fitness of a whole organism.

Nonetheless, the mainstream view among philosophers of biology is that natural selection accounts best explain the majority of uses of teleological notions in biology.


References/Further Reading

Allen, C. (1996). Teleological Notions in Biology. [online] Plato.stanford.edu. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/teleology-biology/ [Accessed 3 May 2016].

The Law of Thermodynamics

The Laws Of Thermodynamics

There are 3 laws of thermodynamics however there is a zeroth law as well (Don't forget that!)

0th law;

If two systems are in thermal equilibrium independently system, they must be a thermal equilibrium with each other. they must be in thermal equilibrium with each other.

1st Law;

When energy passes, as work as heat, or with matter into or out from a system, its internal energy changes in accord with the law of conservation of energy.

• In terms of The System models this law would be used as an approach to pressure drop in open system or how much energy is required by an organism.
• In a nutshell first law simply means conservation of energy, or it states that energy is getting transformed from one form to another form.

Open System

Figure 1; representation of an open system (contaminator) with the equation by each side to work out the input and output

Closed System

Figure 2; shows how the cylinder is a closed system and is in the as the Q is it input and W is the Weight

it will increase by a quantity Q, because it is absorbing energy. And it will decrease by a quantity W

therefore the following equation is needed;

Figure 3; Equation meaning Heat and Energy = Quality - work

But remember to change the equation!

(This could then become an open system as in figure 1.)

2nd Law;

In a natural thermodynamic process. the sum of entropies of the interacting thermodynamic systems increases.

• Take your no equilibrium system, and carve it up (Mathematically, not physically) into smaller subdomains, each of which has a fairly constant temperature throughout. They don't have to all have the same temperature, they only need to have their own temperature. You treat each subdomain like an "isolated" system, computing all the internal changes in entropy and energy, and then add in any energy and/or entropy that comes across the boundary from any other subdomain that the subdomain in question is in contact with

3rd Law;

The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero. With the exception of non-crystalline solids the entropy of a system at absolute zero is typically close to zero and is equal to the logarithm of the multiplicity of the quantum ground states

References/Further Reading;

Learnengineering.org. (2016). First Law of Thermodynamics for an Open System ~ Learn Engineering. [online] Available at: http://www.learnengineering.org/2013/03/frist-law-of-thermodynamics-open-system.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].

Tim-thompson.com. (2016). Entropy and the 2nd Law in Open Systems. [online] Available at: http://www.tim-thompson.com/entropy3.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2016].

 

Open and Closed Systems

Open System

The Open Systems Model is based on open systems theory, which perceives organizations as units that interact with their external environment rather than being closed and independent units.

• Inputs processes, outputs goals.
• Healthy open systems continuously exchange feedback with their environments
• Aspect that are critically important to open systems include the boundaries, external environment and equifinality.
• Examples; Rainforest, Tundra's, Everglades

Therefore ALL natural systems are open systems but more then this they exsit as compounds of cascades through which energy and matter flow; the output of one systems forms the input to the next. 

Example; 

Figure 1; shows a comparison of a open and closed system where one is creating an output and input for the environment the other is not.

As Above in Figure 1 shows energy and chemical elements flowing through the biosphere are diverted temporarily  to the biomass store of the organisms of the different tropic levels. Think about the geothermal heat and energy and geochemical elements through the rock-forming materials. How it the crustal system is divided to store the energy and how it links with the open system?  

Closed System

An isolated system (3rd System) that has no interaction with its external environment. Closed systems output are knowable only through their outputs which are not dependent on the system being a closed or open system. Closed systems without any output are knowable only from within.

• Closed Systems have hard boundaries through which little information is exchanged
• Closed system boundaries are often unhealthy
• Example; Earth

Such a model of the planet is obviously simplified. An example would be Meteorites and how they penetrate the earth atmosphere from space, illustrating that of matter also crossing the boundaries of the system.

Figure 2; The Earth as a closed system as it as an input and an minimal output with no mass energy

 Figure 2 shows how earth is a closed system however the water cycle is also a closed system.

More to come on the laws of Thermodynamics and how to relate them open and Closed systems.... 

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References/ Further Reading


Kk.org. (2016). Kevin Kelly -- Chapter 8: Closed Systems. [online] Available at: http://kk.org/mt-files/outofcontrol/ch8-f.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016].


White, I., Mottershead, D. and Harrison, S. (1992). Environmental systems. London: Chapman & Hall.