Term
| What is biodiversity? How would you describe the current rate of biodiversity loss on our planet? |
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Definition
| the variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are a part. We are going through one of the great extinction periods in the history of the planet. Declining rapidly. |
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Term
| Explain the difference between environmental science and environmentalism |
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Definition
| Environmental science is rooted in the hard sciences, whereas environmentalism is just caring about the environment with no science behind it. |
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Term
| What is significant about Rachel Carlson and her book Silent Spring ? What was the main focus of this book? |
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Definition
| The book highlighted the negative effects of DDT and other pesticides on bird populations. The book marked the beginning of the modern day environmental movement. |
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Term
| Be able to outline the scientific method. While scientific processes may vary, what is at the heart of every scientific study? |
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Definition
Observation -> Hypothesis -> Experimentation
*Observation |
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Term
| In a scientific experiment, what is the difference between the dependent variable and independent variable? |
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Definition
| A dependent variable is the control of the experiement and it does not get changed. It's left alone. A independent variable is what you change in the experiement. |
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Term
| What is the difference between a sustainable system and an unsustainable system? |
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Definition
| A system or process that can be continued indefinitely without depleting any of the material or energy required to keep it running. Meets needs of the present without compromising needs of the future. |
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Term
| How does the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) differ from Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? |
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Definition
GDP - the total walue of all the goods and services exchanged in a yeat within a country.
GPI - calculates positive and negative economic activities to reach a more realistic view. Alternative to GDP. |
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Term
| How have the GDP and the GPI changed with time over the last 60 years? Why do you think this difference exists? |
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Definition
| GPI has remained fairly constant, while the GDP has risen sharply, suggesting that the benefits of GDP growth are increasingly offset by the rising environmental and social costs of economic activity. |
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Term
| What are the 4 life cycle stages of environmental legislative policy? |
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Definition
Recognition stage.
Formulation stage.
Implementation stage.
Control stage. |
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Term
Where are the following environmental issues in terms of the policy life cycle?
Global warming, nuclear wastes, ozone depletion |
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Definition
Global warming: Formulation
Nuclear wastes: Formulation
Ozone Depletion: Implementation |
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Term
| What are CFC’s? Explain how CFC’s lead to the degradation of the ozone layer. |
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Definition
| Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)breakdown will release chlorine and that the chlorine would in turn react with ozone molecules in the stratosphere. |
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Term
| Why is the ozone layer important anyway? |
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Definition
| It protects us from the suns harmful rays. |
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Term
| What is the difference between a species and a population? |
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Definition
Species are the different kinds of things living in the community. Each species in a biotic community is part of a population.
The only difference between species and population is that
population refers to a species group within a given region. |
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Term
| What are abiotic factors and how do they influence biotic communities? |
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Definition
The particular types of species that make up the biotic community in a given region are largely determined by abiotic (nonliving) factors. An ecosystem is an interactive complex of
communities and the abiotic environment
affecting them within a particular area. |
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Term
| Distinguish the 4 major spheres on our planet. |
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Definition
Atmosphere: 78% N2. 21% O2. 1% Ar.
Hydrosphere: reservoirs of water on the planet.
Lithosphere: The Earth's rock and soil
Biosphere: All the living things on Earth. |
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Term
| What is the air that you breathe made of (composition of the atmosphere)? |
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Definition
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Term
| Discuss the major mechanisms by which material (chemicals, water, energy) are transferred from one sphere to another. |
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Definition
| Rain, evaporation, decomp, |
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Term
| What is the GAIA hypothesis? |
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Definition
| This hypothesis argues that planet Earth is a living organism that will “shift” to keep conditions in a state of homeostasis. |
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Term
| In both words and chemical formulas, be familiar with both photosynthesis and respiration. What are the two requirements necessary for photosynthesis? |
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Definition
Green plants use photosynthesis to make sugar from carbon dioxide, water, and light energy. CO2 + H2O -> CH2O + O2.
Inside each cell, organic molecules may be broken down through respiration torelease the energy required for the work done by that cell. CH2O + O2 -> CO2 + H2O. Sunlight and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate) |
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Term
| Which is more productive, the terrestrial biota or marine biota? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the most productive ecosystems on our planet? |
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Definition
| Tropical forests, estuaries and coral reefs. |
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Term
| How do both photosynthesis and respiration lead to the formation of the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone? |
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Definition
Caused by high rates of respiration of sinking organic matter. Think about what the drainage of the Mississippi River basin provides to plants living in the surface water of the Gulf of
Mexico. |
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Term
| What fraction of energy is passed from one level of a food chain to the next? Would you necessarily define this energy transfer as very efficient? |
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Definition
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Term
| Be familiar with the concept of residence time and how to calculate it. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the carrying capacity for a given population in an ecosystem? How does exponential population growth and logistic population growth relate to carrying capacity? |
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Definition
The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population of a species
that a given habitat can support without being degraded over the long term. Exponential population rapidly increases and cannot maintain and will crash. |
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Term
| Generally, how does exponential population growth end? |
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Definition
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Term
| Explain how population growth is a balance between biotic potential and environmental resistance. |
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Definition
Biotic potential is the potential rate, if unlimited, at which members
of a given species can reproduce. Environmental resistance
is all the biotic and abiotic factors
that cause death in a population
(why we don’t see unlimited population
growth). |
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Term
| Distinguish between mutualism and commensalism. Give an example of mutualism and commensalism. |
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Definition
Mutualism: a close relationship between two organisms from which both derive a benefit.
Commensalism: A relation between two species in which one is benefoted and the other is not affected. |
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Term
| What is the difference between an introduced species and an invasive species? |
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Definition
| A foreign plant or animal introduced into an ecosystem. Invasive species is an introduced species that spreads out and often has harmful ecolofical eddects on other species or ecosystems. |
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Term
| Discuss how zebra mussels, an invasive species native to Russia, have caused negative consequences in the Great Lakes and other U.S. waterways. |
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Definition
Zebra mussels since being introduced in the US have completely out-competed
the existing clam and mussel communities.
They clog water intakes, attach
to virtually anything, and
are believed to have caused
avian botulism in the Great
lakes region, killing tens of
thousand of birds. |
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Term
| What is ballast water and how can it contribute to propagation of invasive species? |
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Definition
| Ballast water is water below a ships deck that can carry foreign plants and animals in it. When drained into a new ecosystem, those plants and animals can get into the water and become invasive. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reproductive capacity. The potential of a species for increasingits population and/or distribution. |
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Term
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Definition
| The totality of factors such as adverse weather conditions, shortages of food/water, predators, and diseases that tend to cut back on populations and keep them from spreading. |
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Term
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Definition
| A soecies whose role is essential for the survival of many other species in an ecosystem. |
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Term
| Distinguish between the 3 major trophic levels within an ecosystem—producers, consumers, and decomposers. What are the major functions of each? |
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Definition
Producers: those organisms (mostly green plants)that use light energy to construct their organic constituents from inorganic compounds.
Consumers: organisms that derive their energy from feeding on other organisms or their products.
Decomposers:Organisms whose ffeding action results in decay or rotting of organic material. |
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Term
| What is the difference between weather and climate? |
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Definition
Weather: the day to day variation of weather
Climate: a general description of the average temperature and rainfall conditions of a region over the course of a year. |
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Term
| What is the difference between temperature and a temperature anomaly? |
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Definition
| temperature anomaly is a deviation from the norm. |
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Term
| What is primary productivity? What are the two most important ecosystems in terms of net primary productivity on the planet? What are the least productive ecosystems? |
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Definition
| Photosythetic organisms. The activities of these organisms in creating new organic matter in ecosystems. Algal beds and reefs and tropical rainforests. Desert and semidesert scrub and extreme desert, rock, sand, and ice. |
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Term
| primary succession, secondary succession |
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Definition
the gradual establishment, through a series of stages , of a climax ecosystem in an area that has not been occupied before.
The reestablishment, through a series of stages, of a climax ecosystem in an area from which it was previous cleared. |
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Term
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Definition
| The last stage in ecological succession. An ecosystem in which populations of all organisms are in balance with each other and with exsisting abiotic factors. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency of ecosystems to recover from disturbances through a number of processes known as resilience mechanisms |
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Term
| What is the current world population? |
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Definition
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