AP Environmental Science
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Created by:
Jamiemonique on May 30, 2012
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128 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 What does it mean when a resource is economically depleted? | It's too expensive to extract |
| Describe the tragedy of the commons. | Overuse of a common resource |
| Rachel Carson | Silent Spring research DDT. |
| John Muir | Sierra Club |
| Aldo Leopold | Land Ethics |
| Theodore Roosevelt | national parks/ Golden age conservation |
| Richard Nixon | Established EPA "environment protection agency" |
| Positive feedback | Put something in get more out Example:blood clot medicine |
| Negaitve feedback | Put something in get less out Example: Thermostat |
| What elements are used in a fission reaction? What products produced? | Uranium & Petrolium same |
| What elements are used in a fusion reaction? What products produced? | Hydrogen Heilium |
| Define half life. | The amount of time it takes a half a substance to die. |
| What % of energy is efficient? | 95% |
| Producers | make own food ex: plants, algae |
| Herbivore | eat plants ex: deer, rabbits |
| Carnivore | eat meat ex: cheetah |
| Omnivore | eat both ex: bears, fox |
| Detritus feeder | eat decomposed pieces of bodies ex: crabs |
| Decomposer | breaks down dead orgainisms ex: mushrooms, worms |
| Scavenger | eat dead bodies ex: hynea, buzzards |
| How may species have scientist identified? | 1.5-1.8 million |
| What is a transitional zone that connects to biomes together> | Ecotone |
| Nitrification | ammonuia into nitrate |
| Denitrification | ammonuia omtp nitrogen gas |
| Nitrogen fixation | nitrogen to ammonuia |
| Assimilation | nitrates to nitrogen compounds |
| Ammonification | nitrogen compunds to ammonuia |
| Where do you tend to find Phosphorous (P)? | in water, land, rocks NOT IN AIR! |
| Microevolution | small scale changes |
| Macroevoution | large scale changes |
| Stabilizing selection | Average survive Extremes survive |
| Directional selection | One extreme surivives Everyone else dies |
| Diversifying (disruptive) selection | Average |
| Habitat | where you live |
| Niche | your role; how you live |
| What % of species that have ever lived on Earth are considered extinct? | 99% |
| Tundra: | animals need fat, permafrost, extremely cold |
| Tropical Rainforest | hot, humid, lots of diversity, soil not rich in nutrients due to lack of sun |
| Grassland | very fertile soil, lots of grass, fires that improve soil |
| Desert | dry, little precipitation |
| Temperate forest | average rainfall, average humidity, moderate temperatures |
| Zones of lake from top to bottom | Littoreal Litetial Profundal Benthic |
| Where in a lake are you most likely to find decomposers? | Benthic zone |
| When is a thermocline and no water overturns present? | winter & summer |
| When is a thermocline absent resulting in overturns? | Spring & Fall |
| Describe a generalist species | Easily adapts, eats whatever, has alot of offspring |
| Describe a specialist species | More likely to go extinct, not adaptble |
| Describe competition | species competing for one resource |
| Interference competition | blocking acess to a resource |
| Exploitation competition | using all resources up so nothings left |
| Interspecific competition | 2 or more different species |
| Intraspecific | Same species |
| Mutualism | ++ |
| Commensalism | +0 |
| Parasitism | + - |
| Describe Predation | one hunts and feeds on another |
| Define carrying capacity | maximum amount an area can hold |
| R-strategist | generalist, small, adapt easily, have lots of babies, don't take care of babies |
| K-strategist | specialist, larger, take care of babies, long life, don't adapt well |
| Describe the basic qualities of a mineral | solid, crystals, inorganic |
| Soil horizon | layers |
| Soil profile | cross section |
| What type of soil has the highest permeability | Sand |
| What type of soil has the highest porosity | Clay |
| What do teratogens do | cause birth defects |
| Write the formula for determining population change | (births+immigration) - (deaths+ immigration) |
| Stages of demographic transition | Preindustrial, Transitional, Industiral, Postindustrial "Please take invitations proudly" |
| Preindustrial | high birth rate high death rate |
| Transitional | high birth low death |
| Industrial | low birth low death |
| Postindustrial | low death low death |
| Describe a person who is malnourished | nutrient difficenecy |
| Anemic | Iron diffecency |
| Trawler nets | drag to the bottom |
| Longlining | long line of a bunch of bated hooks |
| Purse-seine | draw string garbage bag |
| Drift-nets | drags across the bottom |
| What % of Earth is covered in freshwater | 3% |
| Define subsidence | sinking of the ground |
| Describe a reserve | an identified resource that can be extracted for profit |
| What is the depletion time | 80% |
| What type of coal is the most desirable? Why? | anthracites; it has low sulfer content & high heat |
| List the stages of coal formation from lowest heat content to highest heat content: | Pete, Lignite, Bituminous, Anthocyte |
| What are 2 sources of soil? | tar sand & oil shell |
| What two countries use coal the most? | U.S & China |
| Why are wind farms a problem? | interference with migration pattern of birds |
| Photovoltaic cells are used in what kind of energy? | solar |
| What kind of energy is found underground and is usually released as heat or hot steam | geothermal |
| Can biomass be turned into a nonrenewable resource? | yes |
| What are major types of outdoor air polluntants | Carbon oxides, Sulfer oxides, CFCs, Air particles, Nitrogen oxides |
| What is the pH of rainwater | 5.6 |
| What are symptoms fo someone having Sick Building Syndrome | naseaua, fatigue, headache, dizziness, sneezing, couging |
| What are some sources of asbestos | ceiling tiles, instalation, pipes |
| What are some sources of formaldehyde | furniture, fabric, carpet |
| Why is mercury so toxic to species in aquatic environments | biomagnification |
| Why is carbon monoxide so dangerous | it replaces oxygen in the blood |
| Why does radon cause cancer? | Radioactive,lingers |
| What gas is slowly increasing which results in increased global temperatures | carbon dioxide |
| How many years does it take CFCs to get in the stratosphere? | 10-20 years |
| What is the purpose of the Montreal Protocol? Is the US a part of it? | cut down CFCs; yes |
| What does FIFRA stand for? What does it do? | Federeal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act; regulates pesticide use |
| Where is most solid waste disposed of | landfills |
| What does the Superfund program do? What is another name? | pays to clean up inactive or abadoned hazardous sites. CERCLA |
| Describe the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act | companies will be responsible for any hazerdous waste they produce. |
| What are some factors that affect biodiversity? | temperture, pollution levels, level of evnvironmental disturbance, stability of habitat |
| Endangered | almost extinct |
| Locally extinct | extinct in one area |
| Ecologically extinct | can no longer play an ecological role |
| Commercially extinct | no longer profitable |
| Biologically extinct | Completley gone |
| What kind of species are more prone to becoming extinct? | specialist, k-selective, big in body size, low reproductive |
| What does CITIES stand for? What is its purpose? | Convention international trade of endangered species; to control international trade of wildlife |
| Who labels species as endangered? | U.S. fish & wildlife services |
| What does ESA stand for? What is its job? | Endangered Species Act; protect endangered species |
| Selective cutting | cut what you want |
| Seed-tree cutting | cut down trees and leave the ones with seeds |
| Clear-cutting | cutting it all down at once |
| Shelterwood cutting | remove mature trees within 10 years |
| What kind of areas do not allow road constructiion, mining and logging? | Wilderrness preservation |
| What are some causes of species loss in marine ecosystems? | pollution, habital destruction, over fishing |
| Mamimum sustained yield | mamimum # of fish that can be harvested |
| Commercial sustained yield | economic value |
| Ecological sustained yield | interactions & relationships of other organisms |
| Optimum sustained yield | take account of everything & gives room for error |
| What does mitigation banking do? | allows youu to destroy as long as you provide an equal area of wetland |
| How many people live in the US | 300 million |
| What benefits does mass transportation provide | less pollution, less investment, less car use, less operating cost, flowing traffic |
| What does habitat fragmentation do to species diversity? Why? | makes it decrease because you are seperating species and taking their habitats to live in |
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