ENV Flashcards
Which one of the following is the best definition of ED50?
The dose at which 50% of the population exhibits a particular response to a chemical.
immune system to over-react.”
Allergen
critical-flow resources.
rate of withdrawal exceeds the rate of renewal or replenishment
artisanal
- Work done “by hand
- Traditional, labour-intensive undertaking
- Small-scale
- Local industry
New renewables” include
solar, wind, and geothermal.
What is the main difference between traditional geothermal energy and terrestrial energy from ground-source heat pumps?
Traditional geothermal has to be extracted from an area where the heat flow is unusually high; ground-source heat pumps are more broadly applicable.
What’s the big deal about BPA - why worry?
- It is an endocrine-disrupting chemical.
- It mimics hormones in the body by interacting with receptor molecules, in place of the actual hormone.
- It is used in a lot of common products, such as the linings of food cans, and even in receipt paper.
- It is a plastic softener, so it has commonly been used in products such as baby bottles and soft plastic toys, increasing the likelihood of exposure for very young children.
Another term for “biomagnification” is
food chain concentration.
Why is research into endocrine disruptors controversial?
- Negative findings could be economically damaging.
- Some of the research is funded by industry.
- The field of research is relatively new.
- Some of the scientific findings appear contradictory.
Theansweris, “a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle.” Which one of the following is thequestionthat best fits the answer?
What is lifecycle analysis?
The role of provincial and territorial governments in waste management is to …
license sanitary and secure landfill sites, and regulate site selection for disposal facilities.
Which of the following problems are theleastlikely to be associated with strip mines?
coal dust explosions
GSHPs …
take advantage of the temperature difference between the surface and the subsurface.
Hydropower, nuclear energy, and traditional biomass are called “conventional” energy alternatives because they
All of the above
- already play a substantial role in the world’s energy mix today.
- are widely-used alternatives to fossil fuels.
- are more fully developed as energy sources than the “new” alternatives, such as tidal energy.
- are well-established in the energy and electricity budgets of many nations.
“Hubbert’s Peak” refers to …
prediction of a peak and subsequent decline in oil production.
For a natural process to be useful as a climate proxy, it must …..
- be controlled by or mimic some aspect of climate, such as temperature or precipitation.
- provide an internal record of date or age.
- respond to variations in climate with regularly recorded changes, such as differences in composition or the width of an annual or seasonal growth band.
- record and preserve climate-controlled variations for later analysis.
Earth’s orbital variations, as described by Milankovitch, affect the timing of glacial-interglacial cycles because they …
have an impact on solar insolation.
A “proxy climate indicator” is
indirect evidence that substitutes for direct observational or measured evidence. (Indirect evidence that substitutes for measured evidence)
As a cloud drifts northward from the equator, steadily losing moisture through precipitation on its journey, the18^O/16^O ratio of the precipitation from the cloud would most likely …
Gradually decrease
Which one of the following still carries a relatively high degree of scientific uncertainty?
how the polar ice caps will respond to global warming
Of the greenhouse gases listed below, which one isentirelyanthropogenic in origin?
chlorofluorocarbon
Internal radiative forcing refers to the
All of the above
- greenhouse effect.
- anything within the Earth system that causes a change in net irradiance.
- the filtering effect of Earth’s atmosphere on electromagnetic radiation, contributing to changes in the energy balance.
- processes within the Earth system that contribute to cooling or warming of the climate.
Why is it important for scientists to find out more about the atmospheric lifetimes ofCFCsandHCFCs(replacements forCFCsin industrial materials and processes)?
The atmospheric lifetimes of the gases influence their ozone-depleting potential (as well as their global warming potential), so it is important to know as much about them as possible.
In Canada, the main fuel that we use to provide energy (consideringalltypes of energy use, not just electricity) is …
Oil
Unconventional” hydrocarbons include
tar sands.
Potential,” in the context of greenhouse gases, refers to the ..
capacity of a molecule to contribute to atmospheric warming.
What do scientists call the cyclical variation in the combined influence of astronomical controls on solar radiation reaching the Earth system?
Milankovitch Cycles
Where, in Earth’s atmosphere, does most of the mass of radiatively active gases reside?
Troposphere
“Stratospheric ozone acts as an atmospheric blind in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.” This means that …
ozone in the stratosphere selectively absorbs ultraviolet radiation.
Which one of the following statements about ground-level ozone is incorrect?
Stropspheric
What causes acid precipitation?
Acid precipitationcomes from acid-forming chemicalreactions involvingsulphurdioxide and nitrogen oxide with watervapourin the atmosphere.
On a weather map, as the spacing between the isobars gets farther apart, the horizontal pressure gradient force …..
decreases, and so does the wind speed.
The major constituent of Earth’s atmosphere is
Nitrogen
Where does primary productivity occuroutsideof the photic zone?
around hydrothermal vents
The top surface of the saturated zone is …
Water Table
Most of the aerosols in the stratosphere come from …
volcanic sources.
Which one of the following atmospheric components is themostvariable in its concentration?
Water vapour
The Southern Oscillation is….
the atmospheric pressure difference that varies back and forthbetween the eastern and western Pacific.
(difference in atmospheric pressure that varies back in forth between eastern/western pacific)
In theGalápagosIslands, the impacts of ElNiñoare felt most severely by marine organisms, especially marine iguanas,Galápagospenguins, andGalápagossea lions, as well as some sea birds like flightless cormorants. Why do marine organisms suffer more than terrestrial organisms, in general? …
The coastal upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water fails during ElNiño, leaving many marine animals without access to their normal food sources
Which of the following ocean zones is the deepest?
Hadal
Anthropogenic is….
Ecocentric….
human centred
Worldview
What iscarbon sequestration?
Long-term storage of carbon in a reservoir, such as in limestone or in the biomass of trees.
In the Green Revolution, certain grain crops were genetically modified to express the trait of
All of the above
- Uniform height
- More growth productivity
- higher vitamin content
- resistance to insects and plant pathogens
The forests that are most typical of high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere are
All of the above
Evergreen, Coniferous, Boreal, & Seasonal with cold winters, warm summers, periodic forest fires
Which one of these four statements about forest plantations isnotcorrect?
They are ecologically more functional, with greater habitat complexity than natural forests.
This mid-latitude forest has a seasonal climate and is dominated by trees that changecolourin the fall, and drop their leaves in the winter. Which forest type is it?
temperate deciduous forest
Compared to temperate forests, the cycling of nutrients by trees in tropical rainforests typically ….
is much shallower, because of the shallower root systems of trees.
Which one of the following isnota common consequence of deforestation, as noted in class and in the textbook?
increase in soil pathogens
Suppose you compared species diversity in two lakes in different parts of the world. The two lakes areat the same latitude and have similar surrounding ecosystems; they haveroughly the same volume; the surrounding climate is similar; and the nutrient inputs into the lake are roughly the same. However, Lake A has far more species than Lake B.
Based on what you know about the factors that contribute to biodiversity, which one of the following is thebesthypothesis to explain the difference in species diversity of the two lakes?
Lake A is older (i.e., existed longer) than Lake B.
Background extinction refers to …
normal extinctions that happen over time as a result of competition and environmental changes.
Beforethe Green Revolution, large increases in crop production mainly resulted from …
expansion of the area of cultivated land.
What is a “limiting nutrient”?
chemical compound whose scarcity limits productivity in a terrestrial or aquatic environment
Peat and other organic-rich soils are of interest in the carbon cycle because
All of the above
-they represent a very large carbon storage reservoir.
- sometimes they release methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas.
- their response to climatic warming, in terms of the sequestration or release of carbon, is not fully understood.
- their cyclical exchange of CO2with the atmosphere is very large.
Shelterbelts are to ________ as terraces are to ________.
wind erosion; water erosion
wind erosion; water erosion
In the IPATS model, what does I stand for?
Impact
Hummingbirds, which have very long, narrow bills, have an interesting relationship with certain ornithophilous (“bird-pollinated”) flowers. The flowers have colours that are easily seen by hummingbirds, and produce nectar that hummingbirds particularly like. The shape of the birds’ long, narrow bills exactly fits the shape of the flowers.
Coevolution
Which of the following produces adaptations?
Natural selection
A “limiting nutrient” is ….
a chemical compound that limits productivity in a terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem.
Which of the following four properties isnotgenerally characteristic of most biogeochemical cycles?
All of the above
Which one of the following statements isnotcorrect? (Choose answer E if you think all four statements A through D are correct.)
Global biocapacity is increasing dramatically.
For a population that is growing, which one of the following is correct?
Per capita is ____ and absolute rate is ______.
The per-capita rate is >0 and the absolute rate is >1.
Which one of the following best describes thetransitionalstage in the demographic transition model?
birth rate is high and steady; death rates are falling
Which one of the following best describes competition for a niche?
Two species sometimes divide a niche by “resource partitioning.”
Disruptive selection would most likely to result in ……
different populations of birds, some with thick beaks for eating seeds, and others with thin beaks for eating small insects.
Which one of the following statements iscorrect, concerning niches?
All of the above
- When there are no competitors, an organism can exploit its full fundamental niche.
- When competitors restrict the resources that an organism can use, the organism is limited to a realized niche.
- A realized niche is a subset of a fundamental niche.
- In a realized niche, an organism is limited in the role that it fulfills.
Consider a population of coyotes in Southern Ontario. Which of the following factors affecting the growth rate of the population is a density-dependent factor?
PArasite passed on amoung individual coyotes
What is the difference between GPP (gross primary productivity) and NPP (net primary productivity)?
Energy lost through respiration.
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)……
All of the above
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
- is expressed as a rate.
- is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) minus respiration.
- can be measured in terms of kg C/m2/yr.
- represents a flow of carbon from the atmospheric reservoir to the biomass reservoir.
For which biogeochemical cycle is the atmospheric reservoir theleast important?
phosphorus
How would an ecosystem ecologist figure out the location of the boundaries of the system that he or she is studying?
All of the above
- The ecologist has to choose or define the boundaries, based on the questions that are being investigated.
- The boundaries of any ecosystem are not pre-determined; the ecologist has to set or define the boundaries.
- It will depend on the temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to the ecological questions that are being investigated.
- The boundaries can be chosen on the basis of the processes and materials that are relevant to the functioning of the ecosystem.
