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ENV EXAM 2

Terms in this set (105)

Normal Borlaug, who passed away in 2009, pioneered the development of ________.
high-yield wheat
The breakdown of large rocks into smaller pieces is ________.
affected by rainfall, freezing and thawing
1. Farming practices that minimize disturbance to soil are collectively called conservation tillage.
2. Intercropping is the practice of planting different crops in strategic arrangements within the same field.
3. Alternating the crops grown on a field from one season to the next is called crop rotation.
4. Shelterbelts are rows of trees or other tall plants grown at the edges of farm fields in order to slow down winds.
5. Tilling sideways across a hillside to slow water running down the slope is called contour farming.
6. Terracing creates level platforms for crops on steep hillsides in order to hold rainwater and reduce soil erosion.
...
Terracing, contour farming, intercropping, and crop rotation all ________.
are techniques for conserving soil resources and fertility
Since 1960, pesticide use has increased ________ worldwide.
fourfold
Why do soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola dominate the GM crop market?
They are ingredients in processed foods, so they are more easily accepted.
If GM crops can decrease pesticide use, why are environmentalists still concerned about them?
Inserted genes can spread to non-target species.
Monoculture, the practice of planting large areas with a single crop ________.
is a development of industrial agriculture
The human population is approximately ________.
7 billion
Which of the following best describes the human population from early times to the present?
Slow, uneven growth until the 1800s, then increasingly rapid growth
If a population roughly doubles in the course of 50 years, its growth rate would be close to ________%.
1.5
The world population growth rate is currently close to ________%.
1.2
The most accurate terms describing the trend over the past 50 years for human use of natural resources are ________.
increasing and unsustainable
Malthus was responsible for ________.
the idea that without social restrictions increasing human population would lead to famine and war
Which of the following statements about growth rate and population size is true?
If the growth rate remains steady, population size will continue to increase by greater increments with each generation.
When birth rates decline, what happens to a given population?
The average age of the population grows older.
Which of the following are the three principal effects of a human population that determine its impact on the environment (the IPAT model)?
population, affluence, technology
Which part of the IPAT model represents the influence of wealth and its environmental impact?
A for affluence
Which large country is currently experiencing zero or even negative population growth?
Russia
In a country where there are increasingly more households, ________.
consumption should increase
According to the IPAT model, technology that enhances our acquisition of minerals, fossil fuels, timber, and ocean fish ________.
increases environmental impact
The view held by both Malthus and Paul Ehrlich suggests that depletion of resource supplies due to greater numbers of people ________.
is not a problem because new resources can always be found to replace depleted ones
Despite dire predictions in the past, humans still inhabit Earth. A few economists would argue that this is because ________.
technological developments have alleviated some of the strain on Earth's resources
Which of these statements about the growth of the human population is true?
The rate at which the population has been growing has slowed in the past 50 years, but the human population is still getting larger.
If a country has a growth rate of 2%, how long will it take to double its population?
35 years
Why do we study demography?
Demography investigates the relationship between population ecology and population changes.
What is the maximum population size that a given environment can sustain?
carrying capacity
Of the following, which provide the most complete picture of whether a population of humans grows, shrinks, or remains stable?
rates of birth, death, immigration, and emigration
What occurs during the final stage, the post-industrial stage, of the demographic transition model?
Both the birth rate and the death rate continue along at very low levels.
When an agrarian economy transitions to an industrial economy, what effect does it have on the population?
Population growth rate slows.
How do women cause a reduction in the TFR?
through empowerment, personal choice and education
Which of the following statements about Earth's carrying capacity for humans is true?
Human beings are not unlike other animals concerning carrying capacity, but we utilize technology to artificially raise the carrying capacity increasingly higher.
Which of the following was a factor in helping to reduce total fertility rate of developed countries in the recent past?
better medical care
Which of the following is not one of the world's top five most populous nations?
Vietnam
Replacement fertility ________.
is equal to 2.1 in stable populations
Increasing levels of literacy among women is shown to ________.
lowers TFR
Declining death rates due to increased food production and improved medical care while birth rates remain high is characteristic of the ________ stage.
transitional
Which of the following countries has the highest population growth rate?
Pakistan
The richest one-fifth of the world's population possesses approximately ________ times the income of the poorest one-fifth, and the richest one-fifth uses over 86% of the world's resources.
80
In the demographic transition model, the highest population growth rate in a country is likely to occur during ________.
stage 2, the transitional stage
A population which is not growing will have a TFR of ________.
2.1
Because of the success of China's population control programs, ________.
China's population growth rate is much lower than it was in the 1970s
What causes a decline in fertility rates?
an increase in family planning and birth control
Which term describes the amount of cumulative land and water required to provide the raw materials a person or population consumes and to dispose of the waste that is produced?
ecological footprint
Why are diseases such as AIDS, which reduce population density, undermining the ability of developing countries to make the transition to more modern, industrialized societies?
They are causing "demographic fatigue," which leaves these countries without a professional class.
What are ecosystem services?
These are essential processes such as soil formation, nutrient cycles, the pollination of plants, etc.
How do economists assess (calculate) the economic health of a nation?
Gross Domestic Product
What is the term that refers to the substances and forces that sustain our society and everyday lives?
natural resources
What is meant by "market failure"?
This occurs when markets do not take into account the environment's positive effects on economies (such as ecosystem services) or when they do not reflect the negative impacts of economic activity on people or the environment (external costs).
What costs are associated with transactions that can result in damage to the environment, human health, and property?
external costs
Which of the following correctly illustrate the two ways that economic growth can occur?
increased inputs to the economy and improvements in efficiency through technology
Environmental damage from industry or land development has traditionally been labeled as ________ by economists.
external costs
The economic principles in play with the fate of U.S. wetlands have been governed by ________.
traditional neoclassical cost-benefit analysis, excluding environmental damage
Which of the following is NOT an external cost that affects people who are not involved in some environmentally damaging transaction?
job security
A distinguishing feature of ecological economics is the concept of ________.
steady-state economies that, like natural systems, neither grow nor shrink
Rising per capita consumption of goods and rising population growth lead to ________.
more resource extraction, waste and pollution
In the United States, wetlands are primarily considered to be ________.
In the United States, wetlands are primarily considered to be ________.
There has been legislation designed to encourage protection of wetlands, but funding has been greatly reduced, because ________.
the ecosystem services of wetlands has been ignored
What event is credited with leading to the passage of the Clean Water Act?
the Cuyahoga River catching fire
An environmental impact statement is required ________.
for any federal action that may affect U.S. environmental quality
The social changes in the United States in the 20th century gave rise to environmental laws concerned primarily with ________.
reducing pollution caused by industry
Wetlands in the United States ________.
have decreased due to human development
Part of the reason for the lack of good flood control in the United States is that ________.
government spending priorities have shifted, and flood control funds have been cut
What is sustainable development?
promoting a viable economy while maintaining a viable environment and meeting social needs
Lobbying, legal action, and campaign funding are all means used by ________ to influence governmental environmental policies.
the public sector
Most of the environmental progress made over the past few decades has come about through __________ methods.
command-and-control
Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, published in the 1960s, ________.
focused on chemical pollutants, including industrial chemicals
Which kind of development would be promoted if a government worked on finding a balance between economic security, environmental protection, and social equity?
Sustainable
Which term is used to describe the conversion of natural resources into goods and services in addition to the ongoing trade of such goods and services?
Economy
Which of the following groups advocates economies that neither grow nor shrink but remain stable?
ecological economists
In which of the following ways did neoclassical economics contribute to environmental problems?
by encouraging society to view the supply of resources as infinite
What type of economic discipline maintains that society, like natural populations, cannot surpass environmental limitations?
Ecological economics
Which of the following best explain the "free rider" predicament?
This allows one party to "get away" with an environmental impact while other parties continue to use best environmental practices.
Which of the following is the main concern of neoclassical economics?
Production
How does the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) differ from the GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator)?
The GPI takes into account externalities (both good and bad) and other nonmarket values, while the GDP does not.
Which statement is an accurate description of a keystone species?
A keystone species that is a predator controls the herbivore populations, which in turn maintains the plant populations and keeps balance.
Many wild orchids cannot be successfully dug up and transplanted because they need the native mycorrhizae (a fungus) in the soil to survive. What kind of interaction is this?
mutualism
What are the two major factors determining the distribution of terrestrial biomes?
temperature and rainfall
Which of these is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth?
coniferous forest
What kind of interaction occurs when two cardinals (birds of the same species) are trying to build a nest in the same tree?
intraspecific competition
Which of the following biomes has the most annual rainfall?
temperate rainforest
This biome often features wildfires due to extensive dry seasons.
chaparral
How does predation differ from parasitism?
Parasites rarely kill their host, while predators kill their prey.
tundra
This cold, dry biome is populated by lichens and shrubs that can survive great seasonal variations in sunlight and temperature
savanna
In this hot, dry biome, populations of zebras, gazelles, and giraffes are concentrated around widely spaced watering holes.
temperate grassland
Also called steppe or prairie, this biome has been extensively developed for agricultural use due to its nutrient-rich soils
tropical rainforest
Despite having lush vegetation and diverse biological communities, the soil in this biome has low nutrient content and cannot support long-term agriculture
temperate deciduous forest
This biome is characterized by broad-leaved trees that lose their leaves each fall and remain dormant during winter
How much energy is available to the third trophic level, a secondary consumer, if its prey in the second trophic level, a primary consumer, is only able to obtain 10% of the available energy of the first trophic level?
1%
Carnivores
_____ are secondary consumers.
5-10
Approximately _____% of the energy at one trophic level is passed on to the next highest trophic level.
________ terrestrial biome has the most biodiversity.
Tropical rainforest
In general, when one views a food chain, they can expect the biomass of herbivores (organisms that eat plants) in an ecosystem to be about _____ of the biomass of the plants and other photosynthetic organisms in the ecosystem.
10%
Microbes in our digestive tract that help us digest food demonstrate a ________ association.
symbiotic
________ capture solar energy and use photosynthesis to produce sugars.
________ capture solar energy and use photosynthesis to produce sugars.
The energy content and biomass of ________ is lowest in any food web.
top carnivores
If the climate warms significantly, tundra permafrost may melt, exposing underlying rock. This may next lead to ________ in the community.
primary succession
What kind of relationship exists between multiple organisms who seek the same limited resource?
competition
Some models of climate change for North America predict that the grassland regions of the prairie states will become warmer and dryer. This would result in ________.
the need to develop varieties of agricultural crops that tolerate desert conditions
Techniques to eradicate zebra mussels ________.
include introducing predators and diseases
Two species of lizard live on the same tree and consume the same sorts of food. Regardless, neither species is in direct competition with the other. The key to this scenario is that one of the species is nocturnal; the other is diurnal. What is this called?
resource partitioning
Secondary succession ________.
occurs after a fire or flood
Tropical dry forest
Describes an equatorial zone with moderate precipitation that fluctuates seasonally; characterized by warm temperatures year round
Chaparral
Describes the terrestrial biome bordering the Mediterranean Sea; characterized by wet winters and warm dry summers
Zooplankton-eating fish are ________.
secondary consumers
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