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Poop Flashcards

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1
Q

There were only a few million people on earth until what two things happened about 8,000 years ago?

A

Agriculture and domestication

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2
Q

What is an area where trees cover called?

A

Forest

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3
Q

Tropical rain forests contain 1/2 of all what?

A

Species on earth

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4
Q

Where is the largest tropical forest located?

A

Amazon rain forest

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5
Q

Where is the largest overall forest located?

A

Europe/Asia (coniferous)

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6
Q

What type of forest has trees that “die of old age” and are relatively undisturbed by humans?

A

Old-growth forest

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7
Q

Do old growth forests contain a high or low level of diversity?

A

High

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8
Q

What product plays a part in more activities of the modern economy than any other commodity?

A

Wood

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9
Q

What kind of countries produce less than half of all industrial wood, but account for 80% of consumption?

A

Developed countries

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10
Q

Industrial logging in N. America and Europe occur in what type of forest?

A

Managed forest

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11
Q

From what area does most unsustainable logging occur?

A

Tropical forests

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12
Q

What is the growth and harvest of trees as a commercial product called?

A

Forestry

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13
Q

What is the removal of trees without replacement?

A

Deforestation

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14
Q

About how many acres per second is removed from the rainforest?

A

1 acre

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15
Q

What are the causes (3) for tropical deforestation?

A

Logging, Nutrient poor soils, & changing rainfall patterns

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16
Q

What percent of old-growth forest remains intact in the United States?

A

> 10%

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17
Q

What two types of birds are dependent on old-growth forests?

A

Northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet

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18
Q

What is clear cutting?

A

Harvesting of all trees in an area

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19
Q

What are the disadvantages to clear cutting?

A

Loss of habitat and soil erosion

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20
Q

What is clear cutting with reserves?

A

Patches of trees left standing in an otherwise clear cut area

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21
Q

What kind of harvesting method leaves “seed trees” left standing for several years to be later harvested?

A

Shelterwood harvesting

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22
Q

What kind of harvesting method cuts trees in successive strips at different times?

A

Strip cutting

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23
Q

What kind of harvesting method cuts trees in scattered groups?

A

Selective harvesting

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24
Q

What are the current issues with logging in the US?

A

Subsidized logging doesn’t cover costs, and emphasis on road building

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25
What are the negative effects to overgrazing?
Erosion, loss of native forage species, and desertification
26
What was the first national park in the US?
Yellowstone
27
What phenomena caused the population boom 8,000 years ago?
Agriculture and domestication
28
What is the rule of 70?
70 years / % growth = doubling time in years
29
What did Malthus propose?
Excess population growth causes poverty and war
30
What did Marx propose?
Exploitation oppression causes poverty, which then leads to excess population growth and war
31
What are the vital statistics about people called?
Demographics
32
What three components make up demographics?
Birth rates, death rates, and distribution of population
33
What is the number of births/deaths per thousand persons?
Crude birthrate/deathrate
34
What is the number of births per average woman over her lifetime?
Total fertility rate
35
What is it called when the birth rate = the death rate?
Zero population growth (ZPG)
36
What is the primary cause of population growth in recent history?
Declining mortality rate
37
What is the oldest age attainable by a member of a species?
Lifespan
38
What is the average age a newborn can expect to reach in any given situation?
Life expectancy
39
What has caused the lower mortality rate?
Better health, sanitation, and nutrition
40
What is pronatalism?
Attitude that encourages child bearing
41
What are three reasons for a lower rate of birth?
Higher education and freedom for women, high cost of childbearing, and ideal family size changing
42
What is the conscious decision regarding the number and spacing of children?
Family planning
43
What are biotic components?
Living (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria)
44
What are abiotic components?
Nonliving (rocks, soil, air, water, energy)
45
What is an individual life form?
Organism
46
What are multiple life forms of the same species?
Population
47
What are multiple species within a given area?
Community
48
What does the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere all add up to being?
Ecosystem
49
What is the concentration of a utilitarian conservation?
Usefulness
50
What is the concentration of a biocentric conservation?
"right to exist"
51
What is the number of organisms an area can support under specified conditions?
Carrying capacity
52
What is a resource that can be maintained long-term without degrading the environment or compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs?
Sustainable resource
53
What is a set of principles for reducing long-term harmful human impact to the natural world?
Environmental ethics
54
During what time period did the population increase most steeply?
Industrial revolution
55
What is another name for a biome?
Regional ecosystem
56
What is a biome?
contiguous areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth
57
What biome has cooler temperatures, moderate annual precipitation, coniferous trees, and is the largest biome untouched by humans?
Boreal forest
58
What biome has the lowest stability?
Tundra
59
What biome has the most threatened plant life?
Grasslands
60
What biome performs important ecological servies such as water purification and flood storage?
Wetlands
61
What is the top most layer in a thermally stratified lake?
Epilimnion
62
What is a thermocline?
Thin but distinct layer in a body of water where temperature changes more rapidly with depth
63
What is the dense, bottom layer in a thermally stratified lake?
Hypolimnion
64
What water biome has the coldest water temperature, lowest amounts of dissolved oxygen and darkest conditions?
Benthos community
65
What is the #1 human caused reason for reduced biodiversity?
Habitat destruction
66
What is the #2 human caused reason for reduced biodiversity?
Introduction of exotic species
67
What is the loss of genetic diversity due to a small number of individuals colonizing a new area?
Founder effect
68
Which category of species is not protected in the 1973 endangered species act?
Vulnerable
69
What section of the endangered species act prohibits "take" on privately owned lands?
Section 9
70
What international treaty deals with the loss of biodiversity?
CITES
71
What is the name of the first national wildlife refuge established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1903?
Pelican Island
72
What are the 6 steps to the scientific method?
1. ID a problem or question and make an observation 2. Form hypothesis 3. Set up test and make predictions 4. Collect data 5. Interpret data 6. Reject or fail to reject hypothesis
73
What is inductive reasoning?
Making broad generalizations from specific observations
74
What is deductive reasoning?
Making a logical conclusion from a general statement
75
What was the moral and aesthetic preservation movement based on?
The biocentric approach. Using the land with love and respect.
76
What does the law of conservation of matter state?
Matter can't be created and it can't be destroyed
77
What is kinetic energy?
Energy due to motion
78
What is potential energy?
Energy of object due to position
79
What law states that energy cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed but it can be transformed or transferred?
The first law of thermodynamics
80
What is a cell membrane made of mainly?
Phospholipids
81
What is the mitochondria?
Powerhouse of the cell
82
What is a ribosome?
Primary site of protein synthesis
83
What process releases energy from chemical bonds of glucose?
Cellular respiration
84
What is a material that stores carbon for and extended period of time?
Carbon sink
85
How are humans altering the carbon cycle?
Burning fossil fuels
86
Natural phosphorus comes from where?
Weathering rocks
87
How are humans altering the phosphorus cycle?
Adding fertilizers to soil
88
What is the single environmental factor in shortest supply relative to a population's needs?
Limiting factor
89
What is an area outside the geographic range where a population is absent?
Zone of intolerance
90
What is Mullerian mimicry?
Defensive mechanism in which 2 harmful species evolve the same coloration pattern
91
What kind of curve represents exponential growth?
J curve (ideal living conditions)
92
What kind of curve represents logistic growth?
S curve (population slows as it reaches carrying capacity)
93
What is the transition area between two biomes?
Ectone. (high predation rates)

intro to environmental science (1 decks)

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