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Enviro Science > Definitions > Flashcards

Definitions Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Carbon sequestration

A

Getting carbon from the atmosphere and into the ground/ living things

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2
Q

Biomimetics

A

How we have used studying animals to improve technology

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3
Q

Mad cow disease

A

Due to cows eating crushed cow bones, let them to slowly loose muscles, hearing and sight leading to death

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4
Q

Desalination

A

Separation of freshwater from saline water through a partially permeable membrane

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5
Q

Fluoridation

A

Improves dental health by adding sodium fluoride to water

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6
Q

Screening

A

Removal of large floating objects

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7
Q

Filtration

A

Removal of pesticides by absorption onto granules

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8
Q

Sedimentation

A

Removal of suspended solids by allow water to be static so solids sink

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9
Q

Ozonation

A

Sterilisation through ozone being bubbled into water

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10
Q

Flocculation

A

Removal of clay or suspended sediment

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11
Q

Endemic species

A

Species that have lived in a specific area since the beginning of the ecosystem

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12
Q

Flagship species

A

Species with high public profile

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13
Q

EDGE

A

Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered

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14
Q

Keystone species

A

Species that has large effect on ecosystem

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15
Q

Critically endangered

A

Facing extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

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16
Q

Hard release

A

No after release support such as regular food/ water

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17
Q

Soft release

A

After release support provided

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18
Q

Intensive farming

A

Limited land so must maximise output and utilise land as much as possible

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19
Q

Extensive farming

A

Lots of land- utilising throughout the year in different ways (e.g different crops) and includes field rest/ recovery

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20
Q

Selective breeding

A

Breeding animals with desired characteristics to continue offspring with that feature

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21
Q

Cross breeding

A

Cannot guarantee characteristics but mixes two different species

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22
Q

Genetic modification

A

Changing the DNA code in plants to make it more useful for consumers

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23
Q

Endemic pest

A

Constant pest of a small number

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24
Q

Epidemic pest

A

Massive outbreak that causes major problems

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25
Q

Indigenous pest

A

Born and bread there

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26
Q

Introduced pests

A

Brought into the country from abroad

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27
Q

Soil fertility

A

How well crops can grow in soil depending on nutrients

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28
Q

Subsistence farming

A

Growing enough for a small number of people

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29
Q

Arable farming

A

Crops

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30
Q

Livestock farming

A

Animals

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31
Q

Mangrove forest

A

Dense tangle of roots along saltwater rivers

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32
Q

Deciduous trees

A

Loose leaves annually

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33
Q

Plagioclimax

A

Human interaction controlling the climax community

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34
Q

Biosphere

A

Living organisms e.g land surface, soil, water and atmosphere

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35
Q

Biome

A

A large geographical region with a distinct climate

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36
Q

Niche

A

Role a species plays in a habitat

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37
Q

Ecosystem

A

Relationship between organisms and the physical environment

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38
Q

Community

A

Populations of all the different species of plants and animals in an area

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39
Q

Genus

A

Group of closely related species

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40
Q

Species

A

Group of organisms that can be interbred to produce fertile offspring

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41
Q

Pioneer species

A

First species to move into an area where there was no life before

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42
Q

Seres

A

Stages in the sequence of events after the pioneer species

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43
Q

Hydrosere

A

Water

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44
Q

Lithosere

A

Bare rock or stone

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45
Q

Psammosere

A

Sand

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46
Q

IUCN

A

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

47
Q

Extinct

A

No known individuals anywhere

48
Q

Extinct in the wild

A

No known individuals in the wild but found in captivity

49
Q

Artificial insemination

A

Collecting a sample of sperm to insert into female to reproduce

50
Q

Embryo transfer

A

Moving of a fertilised egg to a surrogate

51
Q

SSSI

A

Site of Special Scientific Interest

52
Q

NNR

A

National Nature Reserve

53
Q

SAC

A

Special Area of Conservation

54
Q

SPA

A

Special Protection Area

55
Q

MNR

A

Marine Nature Reserve

56
Q

LNR

A

Local Nature Reserve

57
Q

MPA

A

Marine Protection Area

58
Q

MCZ

A

Marine Conservation Zone

59
Q

CITES

A

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

60
Q

IWC

A

International Whaling Commission

61
Q

EUCFP

A

European Union Common Fisheries Policy

62
Q

ITTO

A

International Tropical Timber Organisation

63
Q

Binomial system

A

Gives species a unique two part name

64
Q

Direct exploitation

A

Exploited for a range of products such as food and fashion

65
Q

Thermal stratification

A

Changes in temperature between layers of the atmosphere

66
Q

Insolation

A

Incoming solar radiation from the sun

67
Q

Greenhouse effect

A

Infrared radiation that is trapped in atmosphere and heating earths surface

68
Q

Anthropogenic source

A

Environmental change influenced or caused by humans

69
Q

El Niño

A

Southern oscillation associated with a band of warm ocean water that causes weaker surface winds, warmer temperatures and less rainfall

70
Q

El Niña

A

A climate pattern describing the cooling of ocean water

71
Q

Albedo effect

A

White of snow reflects sunlight, keeps earth cool and then positive feedback means more snow melts from darkness of ground below

72
Q

Ice sheet

A

Over 50,000km^2 only ones are Greenland and Antarctica

73
Q

Ice cap

A

Ice thick enough to have its own topography

74
Q

Ice field

A

Topography of ice follows underlying land

75
Q

Glacier

A

Large body of ice moving over land under its own weight

76
Q

Ice shelf

A

Floating mass of ice attached to ice on land

77
Q

Iceberg

A

Ice floating in sea that broke of glacier or ice shelf

78
Q

Sea ice

A

Thin ice frozen on sea

79
Q

Ice core data

A

Samples from different thicknesses will tell what conditions were like at time that gases were stored in it

80
Q

Ocean currents

A

Can measure temperature and salinity and currents using buoys

81
Q

Negative feedback mechanisms

A

Increase the original change making start and ending opposite of a process

82
Q

Positive feedback mechanisms

A

Increase size of original change so start and ending the same of a process

83
Q

Tipping point

A

Point where any action after may be too late to prevent uncontrollable climate change

84
Q

Runaway climate change

A

Positive feedback mechanism where feedback becomes continuous with no need for original human action

85
Q

Ocean iron fertilisation

A

Adding iron to oceans to help plankton to grow

86
Q

ODS

A

Ozone Depleting Substances

87
Q

Montreal protocol

A

Widely adopted and successful way of phasing out use of CFC’s

88
Q

Ozone hole

A

The area having less than 220 Dobson Units of ozone in the overhead column between the ground and space

89
Q

River discharge

A

The volume of water that flows past a certain point in a given time, a hydrograph can be made

90
Q

Abstraction

A

Removal of water from rivers from underground supplies or rivers

91
Q

Aquifer

A

Underground layer of rocks with water stored in the tiny pores between grains

92
Q

Porosity

A

How much space availability a rock has to hold volumes of water

93
Q

Permeability

A

The ability and ease of a rock to allow water to flow through

94
Q

Reverse osmosis

A

Huge pressures are applied to water which is forced through a membrane

95
Q

fluoridation

A

Adding minerals to water to improve oral health

96
Q

Demineralisation

A

Distillation to remove dissolved ions such as nitrates

97
Q

Chlorination

A

Disinfects and sterilises bacteria and other pathogens by killing it

98
Q

Aeration

A

A reaction with oxygen removes odours, some metals and organic matter

99
Q

Sedimentation

A

Static water settles to remove suspended solids

100
Q

Percolation

A

Movement of water between particles of soil or rock

101
Q

Mineral

A

Naturally occurring element or compound

102
Q

Hydrothermal deposition

A

igneous rock process that creates veins of minerals in rocks near volcanic activity

103
Q

Resource

A

All the material that could be exploited technically or economically now or in the future

104
Q

Reserve

A

Amount of material that can be exploited using existing technology under current economic conditions

105
Q

Gravimetry

A

Measurement of the strength of a gravitational field

106
Q

Magnetometry

A

Studies variations of the worlds geomagnetic field and can see into the ground

107
Q

Seismic survey

A

Used reflected sound waves to produce a cat scan of the Earth’s subsurface

108
Q

Resistivity

A

Measurement of difficulty of which electricity passes through a material

109
Q

Trial drilling

A

Time efficient and cost effective technique utilising soil profiles as well as ground water conditions

110
Q

Overburden

A

The rock above the mineral resource you want to extract that must be removed prior to extraction

111
Q

Spoil heap

A

Solid waste material left behind by mining such as welsh peaks

112
Q

Lasky’s principle

A

As the linear purity of a deposit decreases there is a logarithmic increase in the amount of material included

113
Q

Sedimentation lagoons

A

Suspended solids/particles sink to bottom so sediment doesn’t enter the river

114
Q

CCAMLS

A

Commission of the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources

Enviro Science (11 decks)

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