1st Semester Exam Flashcards
In a tragedy of the commons, an example of a “common” would include?
An ocean fishery
All non-renewable resources are?
Exhaustible
What could be considered an “ecosystem service”?
Wetlands providing flood control for cities
What could decrease one’s ecological footprint?
Walking to school rather than driving
The book “Silent Spring” is associated with what person?
Rachel Carson
The temperature of your skin increases, which leads to an increase in perspiration. Perspiration evaporates from the surface of your skin. The temperature of your skin then decreases. What is this an example of?
A negative feedback loop
Who was the founder of the “Green Belt Movement”?
Wangari Maathai
The idea that economic improvement for the world’s poorest populations is possible without devastating the environment is known as what?
Sustainable Development
What fraction of the world lives in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day)?
1/5
Where are the majority of the world’s dirtiest cities located?
In China
“Creation Care” or the idea of taking care of the environment because God gave it to us is called?
Stewardship
Where on the axis is the dependent variable plotted?
Y-Axis
Where on the axis is the independent variable plotted?
X-Axis
Where did the worst nuclear accident in history happen?
Chernobyl, Ukraine
Statistics are used in what?
Analyzing Data
A revolution in scientific thinking is known as a what?
Paradigm Shift
An experiment in which a test group does not receive a variable is called a what?
Controlled Study
A testable explanation based on research alone is a what?
Hypothesis
What is the first calculation needed to determine the standard deviation of a set of values is the what?
Mean
What role in terrestrial food chains do bacteria by an underwater vent fill?
Autotrophic, primary producers
On land, water that reaches the atmosphere from the surface of leaves does so through a process known as what?
Transpiration
What is not a form of electromagnetic radiation?
Sound Waves
The atomic number of nitrogen is 7. A neutral nitrogen-15 atom is composed of what?
7 protons, 8 neutrons, and 7 electrons
Excessive inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds may cause excessive growth of vegetation in surface waters. What is this process known as?
Eutrohication
Nitrogen fixation will take place in fields that are planted with what?
Soy Beans
A 3000-watt (3kWh) space heater was used for 3 hours. How much energy did the heater use?
9 kWh
What is not an ecosystem service?
Ozone Depletion
What types of plants are involved in the nitrogen-fixing process?
Legumes
What process decreases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Photosynthesis
Acid rain with a pH of 5 is more acidic than distilled water by a factor of?
100
What kind or organisms could be tertiary consumers?
Top of the food chain animals such as sharks and lions
What type of animal does not remove waste form the environment when feeding?
Carnivores
What are the 2 high-energy molecules?
ATP and NADPH
Entropy, the tendency toward disorder in a system resulting in less available energy to do work is part of what?
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
1 calorie is equal to how many Jules?
4.184 J
Extremophiles obtain energy for metabolic processes through what?
Chemosynthesis
What is the smallest unit of a compound?
Molecule
What is the smallest unit of an element?
Atom
Compounds such as water and carbon dioxide are held together by what type of bond?
Covalent
Organic compound contain what element?
Carbon
Bases are substances that give up what type of ions in water?
Hydroxide
A special class of proteins that include catalysts are what?
Enzymes
What element cycle contributes greatly to soil pH changes, acid rain, air pollution from burning fossil fuels, and human eye and respiratory illnesses?
The Sulfur Cycle
`What biome is maintained through occaisional fires?
Grasslands
What non-point pollution type is most likely to cause cultural eutrophication in lake ecosystems?
Fertilizer from agricultural fields
Photosynthetic organisms such as phytoplankton would be most abundant in what oceanic zone?
Euphotic
What country would have the largest percentage of boreal forests?
Russia
The land area that delivers recharge to smaller tributary streams that flow into larger rivers is known as what?
Watershed
What is the strongest influence on the system of ocean currents running between the tropics and the poles?
Differences in water density due to temperature and salinity concentrations
What are 4 reasons why coral reefs and estuaries can support such a high level of diversity?
1: Both ecosystems have abundant nutrient flow supporting phytoplankton populations
2: Coral reefs and estuaries receive and abundant amount of sunlight
3: Both ecosystems provide plenty of habitat space for organisms
4: These ecosystems do not have commercially important species therefore human impact on biodiversity is limited
Deep lakes that are characterized by steep banks and have a relatively small supply of plant nutrients are known as what?
Oligotrophic
A rise in ocean acidification would have a devastating impact on coral ecosystems because?
It would decrease the ability of the corals to form their exoskeletons
What is not an ecosystem service provided by forests?
Road contruction
What has the lowest average net primary productivity?
Tundras
What ecosystem is characterized by the following?:
Long, hot summers and moderate moist winters; Mostly found along coastal areas such as the Pacific Coast of North America, the coastal hills of Chile, and the Mediterranean
Chaparral
What is it called when a species is physically separated long enough that they become two different species?
Geographic Isolation
The loss of forested land would most likely do what?
Increase the total amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide
When new surface area is available, and organisms can begin to inhabit it, what is the ecological succession order?
Lichens, grasses, shrubs, and trees
The traits that allow a species to survive in its environment represent what?
Adaptation
What practice is the most damaging to coral?
Bottom Trawling
Why does primary succession come before secondary succession?
Primary succession establishes soil in the area
What is necessary to calculate the net primary productivity of an ecosystem?
Amount of energy produced by photosynthesis and lost by plant respiration per unit area per unit time
What area would have the most biodiversity?
A low altitude near the equator
The size and isolation of an island will have the greatest effect on its what?
Species Diversity
What would lead to a species adapting quickly to environmental change?
Short Generational Time Spans
In general, what percentage of energy is tranferred form one trophic level to the next?
10%
In lakes, in what zone is the nutrient-rich water near the shore?
Littoral Zone
What is another names for the first colonists in ecological succession?
Pioneer Species
What biome would produce the most biomass?
Estuary
How do sea otters protect kelp forests in the North Pacific Ocean?
They eat sea urchins
When a harmless species resembles a nasty, poisonous species, and gains protection from predators, what kind of mimicry is this?
Batesian Mimicry
Exponential growth rates when graphed produce what shape curve?
J-shaped
The number or biomass of a species that can be supported in a certain area without depleting resources is called what?
Carrying Capacity
What are organisms that have a high reproductive rate to overcome high mortality rates are called what?
r-selected species
What is not an abiotic factor?
Disease-causing bacteria
Interspecific interactions occur how?
Between Species
What is the net annual percentage growth rate formula?
(Births + Immigrants) - (Deaths + Emmigrants)
What year did the U.S. experience its highest birth rate?
1970
What country is most likely to experience negative population growth?
Lithuania (Eastern Europe, though any European country would do at this point)
Stress-related disease in a population are what?
Density-dependent
The minimum viable population size is the population size required to prevent what?
Extinction
Every second, how many babies are born and how many people die?
5 babies
2 adults
Who argued that population growth is the ultimate cause of many of the world’s social and environmental problems?
Thomas Malthus
What area of the world is experiencing the highest fertility rate?
Africa
What area of the world has the largest percentage of the global population?
Asia
What area of the world consumes the largest amount of global resources per capita?
North America
When compared to most developed countries, most developing countries have higher what?
Infant mortality rates
What is a density-independent control factor?
Habitat Destruction
What factor is most directly responsible for the growth of the human populaiton in the past 100 years?
Improved medical care and sanitation
Replacement-level fertility in a developed nation is likely to be nearest to what?
2.1
Rachel Carson is to DDT as what?
Roland and Molina are to CFC’s
The extinciton of what animal would be most devastating to life on Earth?
Honeybee
What are the top two populated countries?
1: China
2: India
The TFR is the number of children born…
To one woman in her lifetime
In the last 100 years, the average life expectancy of a world citizen has increased by over how many years?
30 years
In Africa, what reduced the population by more than 25%?
AIDS
When did the world population reach 1 billion?
In 1800
When a developing country goes from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates, this pattern is known as what?
Demographic Transition
What respiratory disease spread rapidly through China before being contained in 2003?
SARS
What chemical is being used in the U.S. to control pest populaitons?
Atrazine
Who developed the theory of island biogeography?
E.O. Wilson
What was the international agreement to phase out 12 organic, persistent pollutants known as the dirty dozen?
Persistent Organic Pollutants Treaty
What is a long-time exposure to a chemical called?
A chronic effect
From what product could you contract bisphenol A (BPA)?
Plastic food containers and water bottles
What is a non-transmissible disease that is the leading killer worldwide and in the U.S?
Cardiovascular Disease
What solution to reducing infectious diseases in developing countries would have the most immediate impact?
Sanitation practices to provide clean drinking water
What animal (or types of animal) is the least vunerable to biomagnification?
Moose (Herbivores)
What is an example of an infectious disease that is not transmitted directly from human to human?
Malaria
What is 1ppm (parts per million) equivalent to?
1,000 ppb (parts per billion)
What disease is not transmitted through water?
AIDS
What causes sick building syndrome?
Indoor air pollution
Morbidity
Illness
WHO
World Health Organization
DALYs
Disability Adjusted Life Years
What was the leading cause of death in the 1990s?
Pneumonia
Disease-causeing organisms that afflict humans are known as what?
Pathogens
In 2001, West NIle Virus was contracted in what state?
Florida
What ranks first in the top toxic and hazardous substances?
Arsenic
Substances that activate the immune system are called what?
Allergens
What chemicals cause abnormalities in embryonic growth and development?
Teratogens
What kind of solubility aids in biomagnification?
Oil-Solubility
What is not a POP?
MRSA
The accumulatio of toxins in the body that we acquire form air, water, diet, and out surrounding is called what?
Body Burden
What organ is responsible for filtering out toxins?
Liver
What is a recent emergent disease?
Ebola
The possibility of suffering harm or loss is called what?
Risk
