Quiz 1 Flashcards
What determines if a society succeeds or fails?
- Natural Climate Change
- Self Inflicted Climate Change
- Failure to Properly Respond to Environmental Changes
- Hostile Neighbors
- Loss of Friendly Neighbors
Most of today’s environmental problems can be traced back to
population size, resource size, pollution
Attitudes toward environmental problems
Technological fix, evaluate and respond, gloom and doom, rosy optimism, frontier
Tragedy of the Commons
Each person acts in a way to maximize their own benefits
Time Delay
an actions produces benefits in the present while underlying costs and problems are not experienced until later
Sliding Reformer
An action that is beneficial at first may change conditions to be harmful
Biocentrism
Life centered: Humans and other species have a right to exist and are worthy of protection
Ecocentrism
System centered: Value is given to ecosystem as a whole, living and nonliving. Ex: Predator, prey relationships and the Water Cycle
Anthropocentrism
Human centered: Only humans have intrinsic value and resources are to meet human needs and wants
Scientific Method
Observations Questions Hypothesis Predictions Test Results
Hypotheses
An imaginative preconception of what the truth might be
Null hypothesis
A hypothesis that can be supported or proven wrong
Prediction
What should happen if your hypothesis is correct
Replication
Taking repeated measurements and producing the same results consistently
Theory
a hypothesis has been confirmed and tested by multiple researchers and is widely accepted
Natural law
When a theory has been tested multiple times and there are no known exceptions. Ex: gravity, thermodynamics
Paradigm Shift
occurs when a majority of scientists accept that the old explanation no longer explains new explanations
(Ex: Cause of ulcers is caused by a bacterium but was once thought to be caused by stress and spicy foods)
Lipids
long term energy storage, many hormones are made up of these
Carbohydrates
Short term energy, provide structure to cells
Proteins
Most enzymes of made up of them
Nucleic acids
source of genetic information
Constant temps with extremely wet conditions, high biodiversity
Tropical rainforest
Populated by migratory grazers, rainy season, plants adapted to drought, heat and fires
Savannah
Freezing temps most of the year, no tree
Tundra
Hot, dry summer cool moist winter, fire adapted organisms, high biodiversity
Mediterranean scrub/chapparal
Regarding the failure of the Viking settlement in Greenland, what env. problem was not self inflicted
Climate Change
In Biosphere 2, oxygen levels fell because
there was an imbalance in the carbon cycle
Earth is energetically ___, but materially ___
open, closed
Biosphere
The total area on Earth where living things are found
Biome
A portion of the biosphere characterized by a distinct climate and a particular assemblage of plants and animals adapted to it
Ecosystem
A specific portion of a biome consisting of the living and nonliving components that interact
Community
All the populations living and interacting in an area. (Living portion of the ecosystem)
Population
A group of individuals of the same species living and interacting in the same region
Individual
A single member of the population
A group of plants or animals that have a high degree of similarity and can generally only interbreed among themselves
Species
The physical environment in which individuals of a particular species can be found
Habitat
Niche
The role a species plays in its community, how it gets its energy/interacts
Atom
Smallest particle representing the characteristic of an element
Ionic bond
Formed when electrons are transferred from one atom to another. Associated with inorganic molecules
Covalent bond
Formed when two or more atoms share electrons
First law of thermodynamics
Energy cannot be created or destroyed
Second law of thermodynamics
Energy’s usefulness/intensity deteriorates with each transfer
Phosphorus and Biosphere 2
phosphorus became trapped in water systems and polluted aquatic habitats
Desert
Precipitations is rare, low moisture, vulnerable to overgrazing
Temperate Grassland
Rainfall supports growth of grass but not trees, organic rich soils
Coniferous/Boreal forest
Dominants trees: conifers, slow growing, limited moistures
Temperate Deciduous Forests
Trees lose leaves in winter
Tropical Seasonal Forest
Hot year-round, distinct wet and dry seasons
Temperate rainforest
Coniferous forests with extremely wet conditions
