| Term | Definition |
|---|
| environment | circumstance and conditions that surround an organisms or group of organisms |
| environmental science | systematic study of our environment and our place in it, using the scientific method |
| Ockham's razor | where two plausible explanations for a phenomenon are possible, we should choose the simpler one |
| reproducibility | experiments must be designed and recorded such that the results can be reproduced by other researchers |
| controlled studies | comparisons are made between experimental and control populations |
| blind experiment | conducted so investigators do not know which is the control and which is the experimental group, until after data have been gathered and analyzed |
| double-blind | neither the subject nor the investigators know which participants are receiving an experimental treatment |
| deductive reasoning | starting with a general principle and deriving a testable prediction about a specific case (general theory > specific case) "top down" |
| inductive reasoning | data are examined to locate patterns and derive general explanations from collected observations (specific cases > general theory) "bottom up" |
| paradigms | overarching models of the world that guide our interpretations of events |
| paradigm shifts | occur when a majority of scientists agree the older general explanations no longer fit the observations |
| What are two opposing views on nature? | pragmatic resource conservation and moral and aesthetic nature preservation |
| system | a network of independent components and processes |
| closed system | exchanges no energy or matter with its surroundings; rare |
| throughput | energy and matter flow through systems |
| positive feedback | happens if an increase in the variable leads to further increases in the same variable |
| negative feedback | results in a decrease in the causative variable |
| eutrophication | when positive feedback gets out of control; runaway growth of plants in response to excessive nutrients |
| homeostasis | the tendency to remain more or less stable and unchanging |
| disturbance | an event that destabilizes a system |
| state shift | dramatic change to a system often caused by a disturbance |
| nitrogen and phosphorus | What are the key nutrients to ecosystems and life? |
| runaway growth | caused by abundance |
| energy | the ability to do work such as moving matter or causing heat transfer between two objects |
| first law of thermodynamics | energy is conserved |
| second law of thermodynamics | with each successive energy transfer or transformation in a system, less energy is available to do work |
| disorder, or entropy, tends to increase | What does the second law of thermodynamics recognize implicitly? |
| primary producers | green plants that create carbohydrates and other compounds using sunlight, air, water, and nutrients |
| photosynthesis | converts radiant energy into chemical energy |
| chemosynthesis | extraction of energy from inorganic chemical compounds like hydrogen sulfide |
| population | consists of all the members of a species living in a given area at the same time |
| biological community | all of the populations of organisms living and interacting in a particular area |
| ecosystem | composed of a biological community and its physical environment |
| herbivores | eat plants |
| carnivores | eat animals |
| scavengers | eat carcasses |
| detritivores | ear litter, debris, dung |
| decomposers | final breakdown of organic materials |
| 10% of the energy in one level is represented in the next higher level | What is a rule of thumb for trophic levels? |
| biogeochemical cycles | the elements and compounds that sustain us are cycled endlessly through living things and through the environment in processes known as |
| hydrologic cycle | most water in oceans; evaporates; condenses; rain; snow; respiration; perspiration |
| carbon cycle | structural component of organic molecules; photosynthesis; carbon fixation; respiration; dissolved in oceans; human component |
| nitrogen cycle | nitrogen-fixing bacteria; nitrites; nitrates, which green plants use; turned to ammonium; build amino acids; synthetic fertilizers; eutrophication |
| phosphorus cycle | important to energy transfer reactions; leach from rocks; transported in water; mining |
| sulfur cycle | component of proteins; weathering; seafloor vent emissions; volcanic eruptions; fossil fuels |
| phytoplankton | produce sulfur that decreases global warming |
| habitat | describes the place or set of environmental conditions in which a particular organism lives |
| ecological niche | describes both the role played by a species in a biological community and the total set of environmental factors that determine a species distribution |
| generalists | have a broad niche, like cockroaches |
| specialists | have narrow niches, like giant pandas |
| resource partitioning and niche specialization | competition results in |
| speciation | development of a new species |
| geographic isolation, allopatric speciation | ___________ results in ___________ in which species arise in non-overlapping geographic locations |
| behavioral isolation, sympatric speciation | ___________ results in ___________ in which species arise in the same location as the ancestor species |
| taxonomy | the study of types of organisms and their relationships |
| binomials | genus and species names together |
| intraspecific competition | competition among members of the same species |
| interspecific competition | competition between members of different species |
| predator | any organism that feeds directly on another living organisms, whether or not it kills the prey |
| coevolution | the response of predator to prey, over tens of thousands of years, produces physical and behavioral changes in a process known as |
| Batesian Mimicry | longhorn beetle looks and behaves like a wasp, is avoided by predators |
| Mullerian Mimicry | both species harmful; have come to mimic each other's warning signals |
| mutualism | a type of symbiosis in which both members benefit |
| commensalism | a type of symbiosis in which one member clearly benefits and the other is neither benefited nor harmed |
| parasitism | a type of symbiotic relationship between two different organisms where one organism, the parasite, takes from the host, sometimes for a prolonged time |
| predation | a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey, the organism that is attacked |
| keystone species | play critical roles in biological communities |
| carrying capacity | number or biomass of animals that can be supported in a certain area of habitat |
| exponential growth | population growth with no limits; it results in a
"J" growth curve when graphed, with overshoots and diebacks |
| logistic growth | results when the carrying capacity limits growth; it results in a "S" shaped growth curve |
| density-dependent | as population size increases, the effect intensifies; with a larger population, there is an increased risk that disease or parasites will spread, or that predators will be attracted to the area |
| r-selected species | refers to a high reproductive rate |
| K-selected species | refers to carrying capacity |
| diversity | the number of different species per unit area |
| complexity | refers to the number of trophic levels in a community and the number of species in each of those trophic levels |
| random | ______ patterns arise form random distribution of resources |
| uniform | ______ patterns usually arise from competition |
| cluster | ______ patterns help a species protect themselves |
| core habitat | a mostly uniform environment big enough to support nearly all the plants and animals that are typically found in that community |
| ecotone | a border area between two communities, rich in species |
| edge effects | where communities meet, the environmental conditions blend and the species of one community can penetrate the other |
| primary succession | land that is bare of soil-a sandbar, mudslide, rock face, volcanic flow-is colonized by living organisms where none lived before |
| pioneer species | the first species to colonize a community in primary succession on land |
| secondary succession | after a disturbance, a community will mature to a characteristic set of organisms |
| climax community | the community that develops last and survives the longest |
| demography | encompasses vital statistics about people, such as births, deaths, and where they live, as well as total population size |
| zero population growth (ZPG) | occurs when births plus immigration in a population equals or is less than deaths plus emigration |
| crude birth rate (CBR) | live births per 1,000 people |
| crude death rate (CDR) | deaths per 1,000 people |
| rate of natural increase | difference between CBR and CDR |
| total fertility rate (TFR) | average number of children a woman will have during childbearing years |
| dependency ratio | the economic impact of the young and old on the more productive members of society |
| cohorts | groups of individuals with a common demographic experience |
| demographic transition model | a model of population change in which high birth and death rates are replaced with first low death rates, then low birth rates |
| demographic transition model Stage I | high birth rates, high death rates |
| demographic transition model Stage II | death rates fall |
| demographic transition model Stage III | birth rates fall |
| demographic transition model Stage IV | birth rates and death rates are both low |
| second demographic transition "Stage V" | birth rates decline further and death rates remain stable |
| social justice strategy | an approach to population growth in which providing a fair share of social benefits (health care, education) to everyone is key |
| birth control strategy | an approach to population growth that aggressively promotes birth control (sterilization program), rather than social justice |
| terrestrial biomes | broad types of biological communities with characteristic types of environments that occur in different conditions of temperature and precipitation |
| tropical rainforests | rainfall is abundant-more than 200 cm (80 in.) per year-and temperatures are warm to hot year-round complex and biologically-rich biome: 1/2 to 2/3 of all species of terrestrial plants and insects live here |
| cloud forests | high mountains with heavy fog and mist |
| tropical and subtropical seasonal forests | characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons instead of uniform heavy rainfall year-round; drought-deciduous trees and shrubs |
| tropical savannas and grasslands | dry most of the year; little rainfall; survive drought, heat, and fires |
| grasslands | little rainfall to support forests |
| savannas | grasslands with sparse tree cover |
| temperate grasslands | mix of grasses and flowering herbaceous plants; rich soils; enough rain to support abundant grass but not enough for forests |
| deserts | hot or cold, but always dry; occur where precipitation is uncommon and slight |
| mediterranean | hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters; popular climate with humans; fires essential |
| temperate deciduous and coniferous forests | occur throughout the world where rainfall is plentiful; rich variety of species |
| deciduous | lose leaves seasonally |
| coniferous | cone-bearing |
| temperate rainforest | grow in extremely wet conditions; the forests are cool and rainy, often shrouded in fog |
| boreal forest | north of the temperate zone; dominated by conifers; slow-growing because of cold temperatures and short frost-free growing season |
| tundra | extreme north; temperature below freezing most of the year; only small, hardy vegetation can survive; short growing season |
| vertical zonation | a term applied to vegetation zones defined by altitude |
| phytoplankton | algae or tiny, free-floating synthetic plants that often support a marine food web |
| coral reefs | _____ have extraordinary biological productivity and include many diverse and beautiful organisms |
| coral polyps | photosynthetic zooxanthellae (endosymbionts) can provide up to 90% of a coral's energy requirements; provides the zooxanthellae with shelter, nutrients (waste material containing nitrogen and phosphorus) and carbon dioxide |
| coral bleaching | occurs when zooxanthellae densities or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments become low |
| mangroves | a diverse group of salt-tolerant trees that grow along warm, calm marine coasts |
| estuaries | bays where rivers empty into the sea, mixing fresh water with salt water; high biological productivity and diversity because of nutrients from the land |
| wetlands | (swamps, marshes, and bogs) that are shallow ecosystems in which the land surface is saturated or submerged at least part of the year |
| biodiversity | variety of living things |
| genetic diversity | a measure of the variety of versions of the same genes within individual species |
| species diversity | describes the number of different kinds of organisms within a community or ecosystem |
| ecological diversity | means the richness and complexity of a biological community; number of niches, trophic levels |
| Endangered Species Act | passed in 1973, this law protects habitats and species |
| forests and grasslands | together occupy almost 60% of global land cover; provide many important resources: lumber, paper pulp, etc. |
| old-growth forests | forests that cover a large enough area and have been undisturbed by human activity long enough that trees can live out a natural cycle |
| monoculture forestry | tree plantations use _________, which is single-species, single-use, intensive cropping supports little biodiversity |
| slash-and-burn agriculture | most nutrients are contained in the rainforest itself, not the soil; to make land suitable for farming, settlers cut and then burn the dense vegetation; the resulting ash fertilizes the soil, but only for a few years |
| forest protection | about 12% of all world forests are in some form of protected status, but the effectiveness of that protection varies greatly |
| clear-cutting | most lumber and pulpwood in the US and Canada currently are harvested by ___________, in which every tree in a given area is cut, regardless of size |
| shelterwood harvesting | partial harvesting that allows new stems to grow up under an overstory of maturing trees; the shelterwood may be removed at a later date (5 to 10 years) |
| strip-cutting | all the trees in a narrow corridor are harvested |
| selective cutting | only a small percentage of the mature trees are taken in each 10 or 20 year rotation |
| fire-adapted pines | seeds stored in closed cones for many years until a forest fire, when heat causes the cones to open, releasing the seeds to repopulate the burnt area |
| healthy forests restoration act of 2003 | opposed by Sierra Club, NRDC, etc. because logging interests have helped shaped policies |
| grasslands | frequently made into areas of grazing |
| pastoralists | raise herds of animals for sustenance; can adjust to environmental variations and vegetation quality to keep livestock healthy and avoid overuse of any particular area |
| desertification | the process of fertile lands turning into desert |
| rotational grazing | forces livestock to graze equally, trample ground evenly, and fertilize with manure before moving on (after a day or two), simulating the effects of wild herds |
| single large or several small (SLOSS) reserves? | ideally, a reserve should be large enough to support viable populations of endangered species, keep ecosystems intact, and isolate critical core areas from external forces |
| corridors | allow movement of species from one area to another, permitting access to territory and genetic exchange in fragmented areas |
| ecotourism | tourism that is ecologically and socially sustainable |
| shifting cultivation | supports low population densities and uses intertillage |
| intensive subsistence agriculture | efficient use of a small parcel of land to maximize crop yield; can support larger populations |
| pastoralism | breeding and herding animals for use as food, shelter, and clothing |
| irrigation | necessary for high yields of crops |
| fertilizer | boosts crop production and has created much of the increase in crop production since 1950 |
| machinery | requires large inputs of oil |
| pesticides, herbicides, fungicides | used to save crops |
| The Green Revolution | refers to improvements in crop varieties since the 1940s combined with increased fertilization, irrigation, and pesticide use |
| food security | the ability to obtain sufficient, healthy food on a day-to-day basis |
| famines | large-scale food shortages, with widespread starvation usually triggered by droughts, floods, political instability, and wars |
| Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) | crowded conditions can lead to the development of pathogens, such as strains of swine flu, bird flu, etc., necessitating the continual use of antibiotics, added in the feed, leading to the development of resistant pathogens |
| waste lagoons | surface water and groundwater contaminated through leaking lagoons or when the waste is applied to fields |
| Soil is a complex mixture of what six components? | sand and gravel, silts and clays, dead organic material, soil fauna and flora, water, pockets of air |
| soil degradation | most forms of agriculture involve _________________, which increases erosion and can lead to desertification |
| erosion | an important natural process, resulting in the redistribution of the products of geologic weathering, and it is part of both soil formation and soil loss |
| sheet erosion | water flowing across a gently sloping, bare field removing a thin, uniform layer of soil |
| rill erosion | when little rivulets of running water gather together and cut small channels in the soil |
| gully erosion | if rills enlarge to form bigger channels or ravines that are too large to be removed by normal tillage operations |
| soil | __________ is a renewable resource that can be replenished indefinitely with careful management |
| contour plowing | water runoff can be reduced by ___________, plowing across the hill rather than up and down |
| terracing | shaping the land to create level shelves of earth to hold water and soil |
| locavore | a person who consumes locally produced food |
| I=impact on Earth's resources | What does the I in the I=PAT formula represent? |
| P=population | What does the P in the I=PAT formula represent? |
| A=affluence | What does the A in the I=PAT formula represent? |
| T=technology | What does the T in the I=PAT formula represent? |
| Habitat destruction is the main threat | What does the H in HIPPO stand for? |
| Invasive species are a growing threat | What does the I in HIPPO stand for? |
| Pollution poses many different types of risk | What does the P in HIPPO stand for? |
| Population growth of humans | What does the P in HIPPO stand for? |
| Overharvesting and commercial collection | What does the O in HIPPO stand for? |
| open system | receive inputs from their surroundings and produce outputs that leave the system |
| negative feedback | ________ loops tend to maintain stability in systems |
| disturbance | examples of a ________ include nutrient inputs, droughts, introduction of new species, etc. |
| nitrogen, phosphorus | low levels of _______ and ________ limit growth in ecosystems |
| carbon | ________ is captured from the air by green plants |
| oxygen, hydrogen | _______ and ______ derive from air or water |
| coevolution | _______ can be mutually beneficial: many plants and pollinators have forms and behaviors that benefit each other |
| diversity | _______ is greatest at the equator and drops towards the poles |
| wetlands | 1/3 of all endangered species spend at least part of their lives in ______ |
| Ballona wetlands | _______ are the last significant wetlands system in Los Angeles county |
| American passenger pigeon's | The story of the __________ extinction illustrates the detrimental effects of overharvesting. |
| endangered species | As defined by the Endangered Species Act (1973), ________ are those considered in imminent danger of extinction |
| threatened species | As defined by the Endangered Species Act (1973), ________ are likely to become endangered, at least locally within the foreseeable future |
| vulnerable species | As defined by the Endangered Species Act (1973), ________ are rare or have been locally depleted by human activities |
| fertilizer | the developing world could triple its crop production by raising _______ use to the world average |
| livestock | the ________ industry consumes more than half of the water withdrawn in the US every year |
| sand and gravel | This component of soil consists of mineral particles. |
| silts and clay | This component of soil consists of extremely small mineral particles and is sticky and can hold water; sometimes giving a red color to soil |
| dead organic material | This component of soil consists of decaying plant matter that is nutrient-rich and gives soils a black or brown color |
| soil fauna and flora | This component of soil consists of living organisms (bacteria, worms, fungi, roots of plants, and insects) that process organic compounds and nutrients |
| water | This component of soil consists of rainfall or groundwater and is essential for soil organisms |
| pockets of air | This component of soil helps soil bacteria and other organisms survive |
| science | _______ is arguably the only human institution that constantly seeks to tear down its own iconic findings |
| model | another method of investigation is the development of a ______ simulating the phenomenon under study |
| models | _______ represent researchers' assumptions about how a system works |
| Henry Thoureau | (1817-1862): advocated natural world as an antidote to negative effects of industrialization; Walden (1854) |
| George Perkins Marsh | (1801-1882): witnessed large-scale deforestation of his native Vermont; his work Man and Nature (1864) was the first to suggest human beings are agents of substantial environmental change |
| utilitarian conservation or pragmatic resource conservation | President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief conservation advisor, Gifford Pinchot, believed in __________ |
| moral and aesthetic nature preservation | John Muir, first president of the Sierra Club, opposed Pinchot's utilitarian policies and favored ____________ |
| Silent Spring (1962) | Rachel Carson's highly influential book, ___________ awakened the public to threats of pollution and toxic chemicals and spawned "modern" environmentalism |
| sustainability | ___________ is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising those in the future |
| tolerance limits | optimum range of environmental conditions for any given species |
| competitive exclusion principle | when niches overlap, competition ensues, and individuals have less success producing young |
| total fertility rate (TFR) | ________ declines as education for women increases |
| wood | _______ plays a part in more activities of the modern economy than does any other commodity |
| forests | _______ are a huge carbon sink, storing 422 billion metric tons of carbon in standing biomass, thus clearing and burning _______ releases the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere |
| shifting cultivation (or "slash-and-burn") | after logging, __________ is often blamed for forest destruction |
| Brazil | _____ has highest deforestation, but also has the highest amount of tropical forests |
| Costa Rica | _____ has one of the best plans for forest guardship in the world, involving the local people |
| debt-for-nature swaps | conservation organizations buy debt obligations and then offer to cancel the debt if the debtor country agrees to protect or restore an area of biological importance |
| 1. pragmatic resource conservation 2. moral and aesthetic nature preservation 3. modern environmentalism (pollution concerns) 4. global environmental citizenship | What four stages has environmentalism progressed through? |
| equator | 90% live north of the ________, near the edges of land masses or along rivers |
| temperate, fertile | Most people live in __________ , low-lying areas with ______ soils |
| 2.1 | the replacement level TFR is _____ |
| biodiversity, tropical, mediterranean | _______ hotspots occur in _______ and _________ climates and on islands, coastlines, or mountains where physical barriers encourage speciation and many habitats exist |
| fragmentation | Habitat destruction and _________ reduces habitats to small, isolated patches that make species more susceptible to extinction |
| agriculture | _______ is the science, art, and business of cultivating crops and raising livestock for sustenance and profit; it is also a good example of how geography shapes our behaviors and we, in turn, shape the physical landscape |
| shifting cultivation, humid tropics, subtropics | _____________ is often used to grow tubers (sweet potatoes, yams, etc.) in the ____________ and grains (rice, corn, etc.) in the _________ |
| intertillage | _________ in shifting cultivation spreads out production over the farming season by planting different crops in the same field |
| intensive subsistence agriculture, wetter, drier | _________ is often used to grow rice in ______ climates and grains in _______ climates |
| livestock | Globally, over 1/3 of all grains produced are fed to ________ every year (enough grain to feed 2 billion people) |
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