Unit 1 key questions and concepts Flashcards
what are three principles of sustainability?
1-1 nature has sustained itself for billions of years by relying on solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrient recycling 1-1bOur lives and economies depend on energy from the sun and on natural resources and natural services provided by the earth
how are our ecological footprints affecting the earth?
1-2 as our ecological footprints grow, we are depleting and degrading more of the earths natural capital.
why do we have environmental problems?
1-3 Major causes of environmental problems are population growth, wasteful and unsustainable resource use.
Environment
Page 6 everything around us
Ecology
Page 6 The biological science that studies how organisms interact with one another and their environment
what is an environmentally sustainable society
1-4 living sustainably means living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it.
biodiversity
the astounding variety of organisms, the natural systems in which they exist and interact, and the natural services that these organisms and living systems provide (renewal of topsoil, pest control, and air/water purification).
Chemical cycling
AKA nutrient cycling this circulation of chemicals from the environment through organisms and back to the environment is necessary for life
Natural capital
the natural resources and natural services that keep us and other forms of life alive and support our human economies
Point sources
single, identifiable sources of pollution EX. smoke stack of a coal plant
Non-point sources
pollutants that are dispersed and often difficult to indentify EX: pesticides blown from the land into the air, fertilizers that have runnoff
IPAT
I= P x A x T Impact (I)= Population (P) x Affluence (A) x Technology (T)
Ecological tipping point
point at which an environmental problem reaches a threshold level, which causes an often irreversible shift ing the behavior of a natural system
exponential growth
occurs when a quantity such as the human population increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, like 4%per year
poverty
occurs when people are unable to fulfill their basic needs for adequate food, water, shelter, health, and education.
3-1
What keeps us and other organisms alive?
3-1 A
the four major components of the earth’s life-support system are the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the geosphere (rock, soil, and sediment), and the biosphere (living things).
3-1 B
Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun through the biosphere, the cycling of nutrients within the biosphere, and gravity
Concept 3-2
What are the major components of an ecosystem?
Concept 3-2
some organisms produce the nutrients they need, others et the nutrients they need by consuming other organisms, and some recycle nutrients back to producers by decomposing the wastes and remains of other organisms
Concept 3-3
What happens to energy in an ecosystem?
Concept 3-3
As energy flows through ecosystems in food chains and webs, the amount of chemical energy available to organisms at each successive feeding level decreases.
Concept 3-4
What happens to matter in an ecosystem?
concept 3-4
Matter, in the form of nutrients, cycles within and among ecosystems and the biosphere, and human activities are altering these chemical cycles.
Concept 3-5
How do scientists study ecosystems?
Concept 3-5
Scientists use both field research and laboratory research, as well as mathematical and other models to learn about ecosystems.
Chapter 3
Biosphere
parts of the earth’s air, water, and soil where life is found
Chapter 3
Ecosystem
A community of different species interacting with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy
Chapter 3
Community
populations of different species living in a particular place, and potentially acting with each other
Chapter 3
Population
A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place
Chapter 3
Organism
An individual living being
Chapter 3
Ecology
Biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment.
Chapter 3
Fermentation/anaerobic respiration
forms of cell respiration in which some decomposers get the energy they need through the breakdown of glucose in the absence of oxygen
Chapter 3
Food Chain
series of organisms in which each eats of decomposes the preceding one
Chapter 3
Biomass
organic matter produced by plants and other photosynthetic producers; total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported at each trophic level in a food chain or web
