Poop Flashcards
There were only a few million people on earth until what two things happened about 8,000 years ago?
Agriculture and domestication
What is an area where trees cover called?
Forest
Tropical rain forests contain 1/2 of all what?
Species on earth
Where is the largest tropical forest located?
Amazon rain forest
Where is the largest overall forest located?
Europe/Asia (coniferous)
What type of forest has trees that “die of old age” and are relatively undisturbed by humans?
Old-growth forest
Do old growth forests contain a high or low level of diversity?
High
What product plays a part in more activities of the modern economy than any other commodity?
Wood
What kind of countries produce less than half of all industrial wood, but account for 80% of consumption?
Developed countries
Industrial logging in N. America and Europe occur in what type of forest?
Managed forest
From what area does most unsustainable logging occur?
Tropical forests
What is the growth and harvest of trees as a commercial product called?
Forestry
What is the removal of trees without replacement?
Deforestation
About how many acres per second is removed from the rainforest?
1 acre
What are the causes (3) for tropical deforestation?
Logging, Nutrient poor soils, & changing rainfall patterns
What percent of old-growth forest remains intact in the United States?
> 10%
What two types of birds are dependent on old-growth forests?
Northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet
What is clear cutting?
Harvesting of all trees in an area
What are the disadvantages to clear cutting?
Loss of habitat and soil erosion
What is clear cutting with reserves?
Patches of trees left standing in an otherwise clear cut area
What kind of harvesting method leaves “seed trees” left standing for several years to be later harvested?
Shelterwood harvesting
What kind of harvesting method cuts trees in successive strips at different times?
Strip cutting
What kind of harvesting method cuts trees in scattered groups?
Selective harvesting
What are the current issues with logging in the US?
Subsidized logging doesn’t cover costs, and emphasis on road building
What are the negative effects to overgrazing?
Erosion, loss of native forage species, and desertification
What was the first national park in the US?
Yellowstone
What phenomena caused the population boom 8,000 years ago?
Agriculture and domestication
What is the rule of 70?
70 years / % growth = doubling time in years
What did Malthus propose?
Excess population growth causes poverty and war
What did Marx propose?
Exploitation oppression causes poverty, which then leads to excess population growth and war
What are the vital statistics about people called?
Demographics
What three components make up demographics?
Birth rates, death rates, and distribution of population
What is the number of births/deaths per thousand persons?
Crude birthrate/deathrate
What is the number of births per average woman over her lifetime?
Total fertility rate
What is it called when the birth rate = the death rate?
Zero population growth (ZPG)
What is the primary cause of population growth in recent history?
Declining mortality rate
What is the oldest age attainable by a member of a species?
Lifespan
What is the average age a newborn can expect to reach in any given situation?
Life expectancy
What has caused the lower mortality rate?
Better health, sanitation, and nutrition
What is pronatalism?
Attitude that encourages child bearing
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
What is the conscious decision regarding the number and spacing of children?
Family planning
What are biotic components?
Living (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria)
What are abiotic components?
Nonliving (rocks, soil, air, water, energy)
What is an individual life form?
Organism
What are multiple life forms of the same species?
Population
What are multiple species within a given area?
Community
What does the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere all add up to being?
Ecosystem
What is the concentration of a utilitarian conservation?
Usefulness
What is the concentration of a biocentric conservation?
“right to exist”
What is the number of organisms an area can support under specified conditions?
Carrying capacity
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
What is a set of principles for reducing long-term harmful human impact to the natural world?
Environmental ethics
During what time period did the population increase most steeply?
Industrial revolution
What is another name for a biome?
Regional ecosystem
What is a biome?
contiguous areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth
What biome has cooler temperatures, moderate annual precipitation, coniferous trees, and is the largest biome untouched by humans?
Boreal forest
What biome has the lowest stability?
Tundra
What biome has the most threatened plant life?
Grasslands
What biome performs important ecological servies such as water purification and flood storage?
Wetlands
What is the top most layer in a thermally stratified lake?
Epilimnion
What is a thermocline?
Thin but distinct layer in a body of water where temperature changes more rapidly with depth
What is the dense, bottom layer in a thermally stratified lake?
Hypolimnion
What water biome has the coldest water temperature, lowest amounts of dissolved oxygen and darkest conditions?
Benthos community
What is the #1 human caused reason for reduced biodiversity?
Habitat destruction
What is the #2 human caused reason for reduced biodiversity?
Introduction of exotic species
What is the loss of genetic diversity due to a small number of individuals colonizing a new area?
Founder effect
Which category of species is not protected in the 1973 endangered species act?
Vulnerable
What section of the endangered species act prohibits “take” on privately owned lands?
Section 9
What international treaty deals with the loss of biodiversity?
CITES
What is the name of the first national wildlife refuge established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1903?
Pelican Island
What are the 6 steps to the scientific method?
- ID a problem or question and make an observation
- Form hypothesis
- Set up test and make predictions
- Collect data
- Interpret data
- Reject or fail to reject hypothesis
What is inductive reasoning?
Making broad generalizations from specific observations
What is deductive reasoning?
Making a logical conclusion from a general statement
What was the moral and aesthetic preservation movement based on?
The biocentric approach. Using the land with love and respect.
What does the law of conservation of matter state?
Matter can’t be created and it can’t be destroyed
What is kinetic energy?
Energy due to motion
What is potential energy?
Energy of object due to position
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
What is a cell membrane made of mainly?
Phospholipids
What is the mitochondria?
Powerhouse of the cell
What is a ribosome?
Primary site of protein synthesis
What process releases energy from chemical bonds of glucose?
Cellular respiration
What is a material that stores carbon for and extended period of time?
Carbon sink
How are humans altering the carbon cycle?
Burning fossil fuels
Natural phosphorus comes from where?
Weathering rocks
How are humans altering the phosphorus cycle?
Adding fertilizers to soil
What is the single environmental factor in shortest supply relative to a population’s needs?
Limiting factor
What is an area outside the geographic range where a population is absent?
Zone of intolerance
What is Mullerian mimicry?
Defensive mechanism in which 2 harmful species evolve the same coloration pattern
What kind of curve represents exponential growth?
J curve (ideal living conditions)
What kind of curve represents logistic growth?
S curve (population slows as it reaches carrying capacity)
What is the transition area between two biomes?
Ectone. (high predation rates)