Nitrogen as a Limiting Nutrient

8. Nitrogen as a Limiting Nutrient

Much of the interest in the nitrogen cycle derives from the general observation that N is often the nutrient factor limiting plant growth and/or biomass accumulation in the ocean (4,5,25). The concept of limiting nutrients, still actively debated today, was originally derived from the application of Liebig’s ‘‘law of the minimum.’’... [17; P. 2179].

9. Bacillariophyta.

Diatoms are usually the dominant component of the phytoplankton in both polar regions. The cell wallconsists of two overlapping siliceous frustrules, which are generally highly sculptured and often with spines. Cells may be single or connected to form long chains. Diatoms are a major food item formost zooplankton and krill [17; P. 2556].

10.  Pyrrophyta.

Dinoflagellates generally have two flagella for motility and may be either armored with thick, sculptured cellulosic plates (theca) or naked, without any theca [17; P. 2556].

11.  Cryptophyta.

Cyptophytesare naked, flagellated cells that have accessory photosynthetic blue (phycocyanin) and red (phycoerythrin) pigments in addition to chlorophylls [17; P. 2556].

12.  Haptophyta.

Flagellated forms that may or may not have organic or elaborately sculptured outer plates of calcium carbonate (the Coccolithophorids).This group also includes Phaeocystis species, which are found either as solitary cells or organized into spherical colonies and at times is a dominant component of the phytoplankton in both the Arctic and the Antarctic… [17; P. 2556].

13.  The Water Storage Tank: Cistern

Because rainfall is not continuous, a water storage tank or cistern is required to store sufficient rainwater for future household use, especially during the long, dry periods. These cisterns must be large enough to store sufficient volumes of water based on expected household needs and frequency of rainfall to replenish the supply in the tank… [17; P. 2677].

14.  An assessment of the microbial and hygienic Quality of cistern waters

Because RRCS have been classified as private sources of water, no agency is responsible for the quality of cistern waters used for household purposes. As a result, most of the available data on the quality of cistern waters are based on studies conducted by research organizations such as those at universities rather than agencies associated with federal, state or county regulatory agencies [17; P. 2679].

15.  Global sulfur cycle

Sulfur is an essential element for the growth and activity of all living organisms. It is one of the ten major bioelements required by organisms in relatively high concentrations (i.e., > 10_4 M). Sulfur also is an important source of metabolic energy for many bacteria. For example, certain chemoautotrophic (i.e., chemolithotrophic) bacteria obtain energy for cell growth and division by oxidizing reduced sulfur compounds [17; P. 3104].

16.  Anthrax spores

Anthrax spores can remain dormant (inactive) for years in soil and on animal hides, wool, hair, and bones. There are three forms of the disease, each named for its means of transmission: cutaneous (through the skin), inhalation (through the lungs), and intestinal (caused by eating anthrax-contaminated meat). Symptoms appear within several weeks of exposure and vary depending on how the disease was contracted… [18; P.  79].

17.  Biofilms

Biofilms refer to surface-adhering microorganisms that grow and divide, often within a protective layer of polysaccharide (sugar) produced by the microbes [18; P. 172].

18.  Who owns nature? By Dr. Kristine Kevorkian

"The Crying Indian" 1971 anti-littering PSA from Keep America Beautiful and the Ad Council

I ask myself this question all the time. When there’s an environmental disaster such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf, or deforestation in the Amazon, who gets to make these decisions to destroy or save? Obviously it’s the person or persons with the most money. But don’t these people owe us any sense of responsibility? After all, the resources may be bought, but they are required by all of us living on this planet.

Have you ever driven by your neighbor’s house only to see him/her or the gardener watering the sidewalk or driveway? Shouldn’t that homeowner be held responsible to conserve water for all of us? In a perfect world, perhaps that would be the norm. I live in Los Angeles, and that is far from the norm here. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a saint, but I am becoming more and more conscious of the lack of resources available to us, and wonder what others think when they literally waste water and other resources. Will our world consist of only wealthy people in the coming generations, those who can afford precious water and oil?

“I grieve the loss of ecosystems and our natural environment.. what I refer to as environmental grief”

And why haven’t we stopped using oil? For goodness sake! We’ve been dealing with the oil issue forever now, but continue to play into the hands of the rich and powerful who seek to keep us forever at the bottle of oil. Grow up people and stop sucking from that bottle and move on to alternatives!

When we continue to support these destructive behaviors, we are basically signing our own death certificates. If our world is unhealthy, so will we be, and are already. Rather than grieving the loss of our lives, I grieve the loss of ecosystems and our natural environment. I react to this environmental destruction with what I refer to as environmental grief. This is the grief reaction stemming from the environmental loss of ecosystems caused by natural or man-made events.

When the BP oil spill destroyed, and continues to destroy the Gulf region, BP is asked only to pay for damages. How can one put a price on these damages when we have NO idea how long the damage will continue since it has not remained in one place. We’ve learned enough about the human body to know that when one organ or bone is injured or damaged, the rest of the body is also harmed, trying to find a way to compensate which may cause more damage in the long term. And yet we allow the wealthy to lose a small portion of their interests when ALL our interests and health are at stake.

Animals and ecosystems were damaged and some destroyed and yet there’s no one really taking responsibility. When will we learn that money won’t make it all better? All the money in the world isn’t going to create healthy drinking water for an entire planet. Nor will money create animals, and plants that we’ve destroyed. We can live without money in some areas, but no one can live without water.

Environmental grief puts a name to a vague feeling most of us have had for far too long. Sadly, more of us may come to react this way to the news telling us about more environmental destruction, more habitats and ecosystems being lost due to natural disasters, mostly due to humans ever expanding and growing into areas once left for the wild.

What can we do? For those of us dealing with environmental grief, we can speak with others and share our grief to find support and understanding, similar to what we look for when we’ve lost any other loved one. And we can harness that grief to make changes in our lives to help our fragile planet. We can’t change others, but we can change ourselves.

Remember when everyone used to smoke? How often do you see people smoking these days? It’s getting less and less because people are becoming more aware of the damages that smoking does to the body. Perhaps with more and more of us talking about environmental grief, we may get to the point where people become conscious of their own actions and make changes themselves.

Imagine that our atmosphere is our own lungs. If we did that, wouldn’t people pay more attention to the cars they drive, and the pollution in the city in which they live? What if the oceans were similar to our own bloodstream? Wouldn’t we want our oceans and rivers clear of debris, no blockage to stop a healthy flow of blood? Let’s clean our oceans, and gather more people each day/week/month to do so.

A call to action is the prescription for those of us afflicted with environmental grief. If we band together, occupy if you will, we would make a HUGE difference in our communities and for our planet.

Who owns nature? We all do! And we must therefore make sure that our voices are heard in order to speak for those who aren’t able to speak for themselves. We must carry on where others cannot and educate those who have money and power since they are afflicted with shortsightedness and greed. We can heal all through education and compassion.

Let us not forget that:

“Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” Cree Indian Prophecy

Dr. Kristine Kevorkian holds a doctoral degree in thanatology, and is the leading authority on environmental grief® and ecological grief®. She is an adjunct professor at Antioch University in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Kristine has presented her research in the United States and abroad. She lectures and teaches classes on end-of-life care, death, bereavement, grief and loss to medical and mental health professionals and students. Kristine lives in Southern California with her dog ZORRO! www.drkkevorkian.com

The views expressed in ecoView are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Ecology Global Network. EGN does not verify the accuracy or science of these articles [25].

19.  Opinion: The Zika Effect

First, Zika virus has become medically important in the past year, as it has spread globally and is infecting many people each day. There are many unanswered questions about the virus, and for a scientist, there is nothing better than unanswered questions (except, maybe, getting money to answer the questions—see below) [26].

20.  Quantifying Consciousness

Kupers’s team identified a sharp cutoff for regaining consciousness of 42 percent of the normal, healthy metabolic rate. One year after the PET study, the brain’s metabolic rate predicted the return of awareness for 94 percent of the patients in the study, the researchers reported. In addition, regional differences in glucose metabolism (relative to whole-brain metabolism) correlated with the patients’ likelihood of regaining certain cognitive functions, such as vision and language comprehension, the team showed.

21.  Editing Genomes to Record Cellular Histories

Schier and colleagues’ new approach is called genome editing of synthetic target arrays for lineage tracing, or GESTALT. It works by introducing a piece of foreign DNA (the synthetic array) into the genome of a single fertilized cell and, over the course of development, specifically and cumulatively mutating that array—by genome editing—such that early mutations mark many cells and later mutations mark fewer… [26].

22.  Exploring Emotional Contagion

As to what may be going on in the brain when this happens, some research suggests that emotional contagion may engage the default mode network—a set of brain circuits that are active when an individual is not engaged in any particular task, but may be thinking about him or herself or others, noted Richard Boyatzis of Case Western Reserve University. When this network is activated, a person may be picking up on emotional cues from others, he told The Scientist. And “the speed at which you pick it up is probably the most important issue going on,” as it suggests that this process is largely unconscious, Boyatzis said [26].