Posudin Yuriy ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS Fukuoka-Kiev 2011 This work was prepared as result of scientific and educational cooperation between Kyushu University, Japan, and National University of Life and Environmental Science of Ukraine, Ukraine. Participation of Prof. Yuriy Posudin in research program in Japan was possible due to Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fellow’s ID No.: S-07117 in 2007. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION, 3 Principal Terms, 3 Objective of the Text-Book, 4 Part I. PHYSICAL SURROUNDING OF LIVING ORGANISMS, 6 1. MECHANICAL FACTORS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, 6 PRESSURE, 6 Definition of Pressure, 6 Variations in Pressure with Depth, 6 Physiological Effects of Increased Pressure on Human Health, 7 Adaptation of Diving Animals to Depth, 8 Atmospheric Pressure, 10 Variation of Pressure with Height, 11 Physiological Effects of Decreased Pressure on Human Health, 11 Physiological effects of Altitude on Animals, 12 Effects of Altitude on the Plants, 13 Measurement of Atmospheric Pressure, 13 WIND, 16 Definition of Wind, 16 The Forces that Induce the Wind, 16 Parameters of Wind, 17 Measurement of Wind Parameters, 22 Effect of Wind on Living Organisms, 24 Plant Response to Wind, 25 VIBRATION, EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMI, 26 Mechanical Vibration, 26 Parameters of Vibration, 26 Types of Mechanical Waves, 26 The Effect of Vibration on Human Organism, 27 Anti-Vibration Measures, 27 Measurement of Vibration, 27 Vibration and Animals, 29 Earthquakes, 30 Measurement of Earthquakes, 31 Tsunami, 33 Tsunami and Animals, 34 Measurement of Tsunami, 34 Vibrational Processes in Nature: Lotka-Volterra Model., 34 MECHANORECEPTION, 37 General Principles of Sensory Reception, 37 Mechanoreception, 37 Tactile Sensitivity, 37 Vestibular System, 38 Effect of Mechanical Factors on Plants, 38 i GRAVITY, 39 Gravity and Unicellular Microorganisms, 39 Gravity and Plants, 39 Gravity and Animals, 40 2. ACOUSTICAL FACTORS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, 41 ACOUSTICS, 41 Types of Waves, 41 SOUND WAVES Parameters of Sound, 41 Physical Characteristics of Sound Waves, 43 Sound Production, 43 Sound Propagation, 44 Sound Communication, 45 ACOUSTORECEPTION, 47 NOISE, 50 Intensity Distribution of Noise, 50 Noise Health Effects, 51 Frequency Distribution of Noise, 51 Measurement of Noise, 52 Sound Insulation, 53 ANIMALS AND ULTRASOUND, 53 Ultrasound Communication and Echolocation, 53 ANIMALS AND INFRASOUND, 54 3. HUMIDITY, 58 Parameters of Humidity, 58 Effect of Humidity on Living Organisms, 58 Measurement of Air Humidity, 59 Assmann Psychrometer, 59 Condensation Hygrometer, 59 Capacitive Hygrometer, 61 4. TEMPERATURE, 64 Temperature and Temperature Scales, 64 Atmospheric Temperature, 65 Soil Temperature, 66 Temperature of Water Reservoirs, 67 Effects of Temperature on Living organisms, 67 Animal Adaptation to Extreme Temperatures, 68 Thermoreception, 72 Thermal Sensitivity of Animals, 73 Measurement of Temperature, 74 ii 5. SOLAR RADIATION, 79 Characteristics of Sun, 79 Intensity of Solar Radiation, 79 Periodicity of Solar Radiation, 80 Spectral Distribution of Solar Radiation, 80 Effect of Solar Radiation on Living Organisms , 81 Photosynthesis, 82 Photoperiodism, 83 Photosensitization, 84 Photomovement, 86 Measurement of Solar Radiation, 86 6. PRECIPITATION, 89 Definitions, 89 Parameters of Precipitation, 89 Measurement of Precipitation, 90 Practical Applications, 94 Acid rains, 96 Interception, 96 Wet Deposition Monitoring, 97 pH-metry, 97 Conductivity, 98 Ion-Exchange Chromatography, 98 Application of Isotope Techniques, 100 ISOTOPES IN PRECIPITATION, 101 General Characteristics of Isotopes, 101 Water Stable Isotopes, 101 Isotopic Fractionation, 101 Stable Isotopes in Precipitation Processes, 102 Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, 103 Weather Station, 104 Part II. PHYSICS OF TRANSFER PHENOMENA, 107 7. TURBULENCE TRANSFER, 107 Turbulence, 107 Boundary Layer, 107 Eddy Covariance, 107 Turbulent Fluctuations, 109 Turbulent Velocity Fluctuations, 111 The Vertical Momentum Flux, 111 Sensible Heat Flux, 112 Latent Heat Flux, 112 Carbon Dioxide Flux, 112 Gas Analysers, 113 8. ENTROPY TRANSFER, 117 Thermodynamic System, 117 iii Reversible and Irreversible Processes, 118 The First Law of Thermodynamics, 118 EQUILIBRIUM THERMODYNAMICS, 119 Entropy and its Properties, 119 NONEQUILIBRIUM THERMODYNAMICS, 120 Stationary State, 120 The Entropy Change, 120 Thermodynamic Forces and Thermodynamic Flows, 121 Transport Phenomena, 123 9. MASS TRANSFER: WATER AND SOLUTES, 126 Mass Transfer in Soil, 126 Molecular Diffusion, 127 Osmosis, 129 Water potential, 129 Short-Distance Transport in Plants, 129 The Apoplast Route, 130 The Symplast Route, 130 Root Pressure, 130 Long-Distance Transport in Plants, 131 Xylem, 131 Mechanisms of Xylem Transport, 131 Phloem, 132 Mechanisms of Translocation, 133 Measurement of Sap Flow, 134 Heat Pulse Method, 134 Thermal Heat Balance Method, 134 Heat Dissipation Method, 135 Practical Applications, 135 10. MASS TRANSFER: PARTICLES, 138 Airborne Particles, 138 Sources of Atmospheric Particles, 138 Smog, 139 Volatile Organic Compounds, 140 Bioaerosols, 141 11. MASS TRANSFER: WATER VAPOUR AND GASES, 145 Transpiration, 145 The Driving Force of Transpiration, 145 CO2/O2 Exchange, 147 Measurement of Gas Exchange, 147 Application of Isotope Techniques, 150 12. MOMENTUM TRANSFER, 153 Momentum Transfer in Laminar Flow, 153 Momentum Transfer in Turbulent Flow, 153 Vertical Wind Profile near the Ground, 156 iv Vertical Wind Profile over the Vegetation Canopy, 157 Drag on Particles, 160 13. TRANSFER OF ELECTRIC CHARGES, 163 Electrochemical Potential, 163 Nernst Equation, 163 Membrane Potential, 164 Long-Distant Communication in Plants, 165 14. HEAT TRANSFER, 166 Conduction, 166 Convection, 167 Radiation, 168 15. ENERGY BALANCE OF THE PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGIVCAL SYSTEMS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT, 170 Global Energy Balance for the Earth-Atmosphere System, 170 Short-Wave Solar Radiation, 170 Atmospheric Radiation, 170 Ozone Layer, 171 Short-Wave Terrestrial Radiation, 171 Greenhouse Effect, 172 Energy Budget of the Terrestrial Surface, 172 Balance Equation of the Terrestrial Surface, 172 Energy Budget of a Single Leaf, 173 Balance Equation of a Single Leaf, 174 Energy Budget of the Plant, 175 Energy Budget of Animal, 175 Metabolism, 176 The Energy Budget of Watershed, 176 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, 179 v “Biophysics includes everything that is interesting and excludes everything that is not” (K.S. Cole) INTRODUCTION Principal Terms Biophysics, discipline that studies physical mechanisms and processes which are the basis of vital activity of biological objects; it is associated with the application of the physical principles, methods and instrumentation to living organisms or systems. Environment (from French environ “near”, “around”, “round about”; environs “surroundings”; environner “to surround”), the complex of the circumstances, objects, or conditions surrounding a living organism or an ecological community; it includes the combi- nation of abiotic and biotic factors that affect the vital activity, form of existence, growth, de- velopment, and survival of living organisms (people, plants, animals, microorganisms). Factor is cause or driving force that acts upon some process which takes place in the environment. Parameter is a quantity that defines certain property of process or phenomenon that occurs in the environment. Abiotic Factors are the components and phenomena of non-living nature which affect the ability of living organisms to survive in an environment. F.e.: physical (pressure, wind, humidity, temperature, solar radiation, ionizing radia- tion); atmospheric, hydrographic, edaphic factors. Biotic Factors are the sum total of factors produced by living organisms that affect the ability of other living organisms to survive in an environment. F.e.: co-operation, competition, parasitism. The biosphere is the region of the active life that includes lower part of atmosphere, hydrosphere and upper part of lithosphere. The biosphere's doctrine was developed by Vladi- mir Vernadsky in 1926. An ecosystem is united natural complex which is formed by of all plants, animals and microorganisms and by their surroundings. The term ecosystem was introduced at first in 1930 by Roy Clapham, to denote the physical and biological components of an environment considered in relation to each other as a unit. British ecologist Arthur Tansley later refined the term, describing it as the interactive system established between biocenosis (a group of living organisms) and their biotope (the environment in which they live). The Earth’s Atmosphere is a gas layer surrounding the planet Earth; it consists of 78.1% of nitrogen, 21% of oxygen, 0.9% of argon, and trace amounts of other gases and wa- ter vapour. The Earth’s atmosphere consists of the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Ionosphere (or Thermosphere), Exosphere and the Magnetosphere. 3 The lithosphere is the solid outermost shell of a rocky planet that includes earth-crust and the upper part of mantle. The hydrosphere describes the sum total of water objects of the Earth found on, under, and over the planet’s surface. It includes the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, underground waters, artificial watersheds, glaciers, cover of snow. Objectives of the Text-Book This text-book: 1) provides a description of physical surrounding of living organisms; 2) elucidates the ability of living organisms to respond to the change of external factors due to receptor systems and to choose optimal conditions of survival; 3) gives information on the