MIDTERM Flashcards
age structure diagram
- used to study the number and ages of people in a country
- distribution betweeen males and females in each age group
carbon cycle
- Photosynthesis: fastest process
- Respiration: returns CO2 to atmosphere
- Exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean ( algae in the ocean dissolves co2)
- Largest carbon pool= fossil fuels and the burning of trees causes ash and climate change
climograph
a graphical representation of basic climate parameters, that is monthly average temperature and precipitation, at a certain location
nuclear power plants
(how they work)
nuclear fission: uranium 235 is split into two parts when it is striked by a nuetron. KEY REACTION IN NUCLEAR ENERGY.
two types of nuclear reactors: (light water reactors)
- boiling water reactors: uses heat from th core to boil water into steam that then spins turbines.
- pressurized water reactors: uses heat from the core to heat a second water supply via a heat exchanger
conventional farming
- agriculture involving large amts of fossil fuels, water, fertilizers and pesticides
- monocultures, feedlots and factories
convergent plates
- lithospheric plate boundary where the plates are pushed together by internal forces
Convergent -> Collide
countries with the greatest human growth rate
- china
- india
- u.s
crude oil refineries
- place where crude oil is heated and distilled then seperated based on boiling points.
** refining oil decreases its net energy yield **
demographic transtition
- as countries become more indutrialized, first their deatn rates drop then their birth rates drop.
- pre-industrial: children = free labor and care for there parents. birth and death rate high but low population. high infant mortality and low life expectancy. (egypt and pakistan)
- transitional: infant mortatlity and death rates decrease. exponetial pop. growth and improves life expectancy. (ethopia, bangladesh)
- industrial: decline in birth rates and starts to appraoch death rates and slower growth rates. (india)
- post industrial: birth rate drops to equal death rate, populaiton decline but still overall high population. people become more affulent. (UK, Japan, U.S and Italy)
desert biome
Temperate Deserts ( Neveda )
Human interferences:
- 1.) large cities,
- 2.) live stock overgraze
- 3.) off road vehicles destroy soil
Plants:
- 1.) cacti and other succulents
- 2.) creosote bush and other plants with short growth cycles
Animals and their adaptations:
- Burrow
- Sandcolored fur
- Bison, Antelopes, Hares
Abiotic factors:
- low precipitation
- variable temperatures
- soils rich in minerals but poor in organic material
Polar Desert ( Northwest China )
Human Interference
- ) drilling for oil
- ) transport of oil leaves air pollution
- ) building of towns to provide for oil company workers
Dominant Plants
- Douglas fir
- Sitka
- Spruce
- Western hemlock
- redwood
- ground layer of mosses and ferns
Animals and their adaptations
- burrow
- huge ears to release heat
Abiotic Factors
- cold winters
- warm summers
- low precip
divergent plates
- lithospheric plate boundary where the plates move apart in opposite directions
example: Mid-Atlantic Ridge
doubling time
- Rule of 70
70 / rate of population growth = the time it takes for the quanitiy of something to exponetionally double
Easter Island
- a small, isolated island in the freat expanse of the south pacific.
- polynesians used double-hulled sea-going canoes to colonize this island about 2,500 years ago
- brought along their food (chickens) and culture
- tragedy of the commons: they used up all the trees and resources until the island had nothing
- since there were no resources, the pop. and civilization drastically crashed which resulted in fighting and canniabalsim.
ecological footprint
- amount of biologically productuve land and water needed to supply each person or pop. with the renewabe resources they use and to absorb or dispose of the wastes from such resource used.
- measures the average enviornmental impact of individuals or population in different countries and areas
- humanity’s footprint exceeds the earth’s biological capacity to replenish renewable resources and absorb water by about 15%
- larger in developed countries than in developing
- the per capita ecological footprint of the US is nearly double the country’s biological capita per person
ecological niche
a species specific job in the habitat
equation to determine population growth
(births + immigration) - (deaths + emigration)
first law of thermodynamics
- in all physical and chemical changes, energy is neither created nor destroyed, but it may be converted from one form to another.
- energy input always equals energy output
food web
- complex networks of many interconnnected food chains and feeding relationships.
forest fragmentation
- when forests are cut down in a manner that leaves relatively small, isolated patches of forest known as forest fragments or forest remnants.
green revolution
- introduction of scientifcally bred or selected varities of grain using higher imputs of fertilizers, pesticides and water resulting in a greater crop yield (industrilization of agriculture)
gross primary annual productivity
- the rate at which an ecosystem’s capture and store (photosynthesis) a given energy as biomass in a given length of time
the amount of sugar that plants produce in phtotsynthesis
Gross -> Glucose
hot spots
- stationary zones of rising magma
- not a plate boundary
- plates move across hot spots
examples: Hawaiian Islands (SEE PICTURE) Yellowstone National Park
how to create an experiment
using the scientific method..
- ask a question
- do background research on your topic
- construct a hypothesis
- test your hypothesis by doing the experiment
- analyze your data and draw a conclusion
- communicate your results
- must have a independent and dependent variable
- must be a fair experiment, no personal opinions
- have mutliple trials
how to lessen electrcity use
- unplugging things when not in use
- energy saving settings on appliances
- turning off lights when not in use
hypoxic zone
- zone infested w algae, enough algae to lower oxygen concentrations and kills animal life
- bacteria metabloize the avaible dissovled oxyegen from the algae and the lack of oxygen creates a hypoxic zone
K selected Species
characteristics
- type one on survivorship curve
- fewer, larger offspring
- later reproductive age
- larger adults
- lower population growth
- high ability to compete
examples: humans, elephants, lions, cows
keystone species
species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem
layers of the atomosphere
troposphere: innnermost layer, weather takes place here. decrease in temperature as altittude increases.
stratosphere: temperature increases the farther from earth you get. gases do not mix well. OZONE LOCATED IN THIS LAYER which protects eartn from UV rays.
mesosphere: meteors burn up in this layer
thermosphere: thinnest gas layer, auroras take place here and spxe shuttles orbit in this layer. also known as the ionossphere bc of the ionization and the aborbsition of the energetic charged particles. RADIO WAVES
layers of the lake
ZONES
- littoral: shallow sunlight waters near the shore to the depth at which rooted plants stop growing. High biolofical diversity, adequate nutrients from bottom sediments
- limnetic: open, sunlit water surface layer away from the shore that extends to the depth penetrated by sunlight
- profundal: deep ocean water where it is too dark for photosynthesis and has low oxygen levels
- benthic: Mostly decomposers and detritus feeders and fish that swim from one zone to the other inhabit it