Exam 1 prep
Ecosystems
Communities and the abiotic material with which their members interact
Which of the following has been an effect of ecotourism in Hawaii?
Conservation efforts have become more financially feasible because of increased tourist dollars.
Aldo Leopold
Created the "Land Ethic" and influenced many people through his best-known book "A Sand County Almanac"
T or F; The methods that the Forest Service employed to protect the deer (i.e. banning hunting and eliminating predators) were successful in the long run?
False
_______ awakened the public to the ecological and health impacts of pesticides and industrial chemicals?
The 1962 publication of the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Preservation ethic
an ethic which holds that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state
The trophic level of "producers" includes ________.
any organism producing biomass directly from photosynthesis
Zebra mussels ________.
are an invasive exotic species that clog pipes and cover boat propellers
Ecosystem services _________.
are economically valuable services provided to humans by natural systems
In order for two organisms to belong to the same species, individuals of their species must _______.
be able to reproduce and have fertile offspring
If global climate change results in an area of temperate grassland receiving less rainfall and higher temperatures, it will ________.
begin to support more desert species
John Muir
Associated with the preservation ethic and founded the Sierra Club
Which of the following does the diagram illustrate?
Biomes are determined primarily by precipitation and temperature.
Videos to watch
https://youtu.be/g_aguo7V0Q4 https://youtu.be/g_aguo7V0Q4 https://youtu.be/mLbDbmmV6Qc https://youtu.be/GO5ajwbFqVQ https://youtu.be/240806aPHVg https://youtu.be/ekSjRsnhJrk https://youtu.be/7nr9rQpm2A4 https://youtu.be/7tgNamjTRkk
A population is a group of ________.
individuals of a single species that live and interact in one area
population size
is the actual number of individuals in a population.
Carrying capacity is the ________.
maximum sustainable population size that a given environment can support
Temperate deciduous forests are characterized by ________.
moderate temperatures and moderate amounts of precipitation
A niche specialist is ________.
more likely to go extinct than a niche generalist
The only natural process that can add new genes and, therefore, new variations to a species is _______.
mutation
The initial population of Kaibab deer in 1906 was about 4,000. In an area of about 800,000 acres, this works out to an average density of one deer per 200 acres. What is the density in 1924?
one deer per 8 acres
The average footprint per person has increased from 2.2 to 2.9 since 2008, and the footprints of many developing nations, such as India and China, have also increased. This means that ________.
our collective lifestyle is even more unsustainable than before
Photosynthesis produces
oxygen molecules and sugar
Which of the following is a typical K-selected species' adaptation?
parental care of the young
Grazing animals such as deer are ________.
primary consumers
John Muir, the great American environmentalist, felt that ________.
pristine wilderness should be preserved because "We need beauty as well as bread"
Most energy in the majority of ecosystems arrives as ______ and exits in the form of _____.
radiation from the sun, heat
Of the following, chaparral has a climate most similar to ________.
savanna
(What role does of the following play in the carbon cycle) The oceans:
sequester carbon in their water and in deep sediments
Net primary production in an ecosystem can be calculated by _____.
subtracting respiration from gross primary production
A small moth pollinates native trees when they bloom in April. Some of the moths emerge in early March and discover a different blooming shrub to use as a resource. This is an example of what, over time, could be ________.
sympatric speciation
Which of the following is/are an abiotic factor?
temperature
(What role does of the following play in the carbon cycle) Earth's crust:
the largest reservoir of carbon is sedimentary rocks
population density
the number of individuals per unit area
sex radio
the quantitative relation between males and females in a population.
T or F; Living systems tend towards disorder
true
T or F; The data in the table, suggests that higher per-capita income might be connected to a higher consumption of goods that require natural resources in their production.
true
carrying capacity
upper bound on the size of the population
If everyone on the planet had an ecological footprint the size of the average citizen of the United States, then ________.
we would need at least two more planet Earths to feed and support everyone
We read about the collapse of Easter Island's society and culture because of unsustainable environmental practices. However, on another South Pacific island called Tikopia, the people made different choices. When they became aware that the pigs they had introduced were destroying the environment and that they actually used more resources than they provided the residents slaughtered all the pigs. Individuals were required to be granted permission from a chief to fish, which prevented overfishing. The islanders also practiced contraception. These all indicate that the people of Tikopia
were aware of the limited resources on and appreciated the carrying capacity of their island. So they practiced sustainability.
Conservation ethic
which holds that people should put natural resources to use but that we have a responsibility to manage them wisely
Mule deer such as the Kaibab population can live 10 to 25 years. In 1920, an age structure diagram of the Kaibab deer population that places the number of young individuals at the base of a pyramid and the oldest age categories at the top, would look like a(n) ________.
wide triangle, very wide at the bottom and very narrow at the top
A small group of leaf-feeding beetles locates a field of snap beans, one of the preferred plants for this species. At first, the population grows rapidly in the snap bean field, but as the beetle population grows larger, predators, such as spiders and birds, discover the beetles and start to remove individuals from the population. Competition for mates, food, and oviposition (egg-laying) sites intensifies for the individuals in the beetle population as population density increases. A fungal disease also starts to kill many of the beetles. The population no longer grows rapidly but levels off. How many of these factors controlling the beetle population are density-independent factors?
zero
aerobic cellular respiration produces
carbon dioxide, water, and energy
All of the following are ways that campuses could possibly become more sustainable EXCEPT:
close down many of the dorms and have students live off campus.
Which of the following would be an example of a density-independent factor?
cold weather causing a lake to freeze
The removal of the livestock and predators, and the cessation of hunting ________.
decreased the environmental resistance for the deer
According to this diagram, you should find ________.
deserts anywhere in the world where hot and dry conditions prevail
Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976
directs the EPA to monitor thousands of industrial chemicals and gives it power to ban them if found to pose too much health risk
Soil and Water Conservation Act of 1977
directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to survey and assess soil and water conditions across the nation and to prepare conservation plans
age structure
distribution of individuals of various ages within a population
If scientists spend their time studying communities and the nonliving materials that they interact with, they would be called _______.
ecosystem ecologists
(What role does of the following play in the carbon cycle) Automobiles:
emit carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as the result of incomplete and complete combustion of fuel
T or F; According to the second law of thermodynamics, "energy can be neither created nor destroyed"
false
T or F; Ecosystems that convert solar energy to biomass rapidly are said to have low primary productivity.
false
T or F; Science is the systematic process for learning about the world and does not include the accumulated body of knowledge that arises from this process.
false
Which are possible factors based on the information in the reading as to why the deer population size in 1900 was estimated at 4,000 when the plateau had an estimated carrying capacity of 30,000?
-Predation -Pressure from hunting -Lack of food because of overgrazing by livestock
Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem service?
-Regulating atmospheric gases, precipitation, and temperature -Providing people with food and natural resources -Pollinating plants and controlling crop pests -Preventing soil erosion -Filtering wastes and pollutants
How many of the following processes result in the release of oxygen into the atmosphere? Respiration, combustion, polymerization, nitrification, industrial fixation and photosynthesis.
1
The birth rate of the United States in recent years has been 12.5 births per 1000 people, and the death rate has been 8.2 deaths per 1000 people. Using these data and the formula on p. 63 (Links to an external site.), the rate of natural increase for the United States between 2015 and 2016 was _____%. * Now subtract this rate from the population growth rate to obtain a net migration rate of ______%. * United States was experiencing more ___________ during this year. * Please note: the answer is a percent (i.e. 1/100 versus the raw calculated natural rate of increase of 1/1000) so you'll need to move the decimal place over to get the correct answer (e.g. 0.54 instead of 5.4)
1. 0.43 2. 0.27 3. immigration
What year was the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created?
1970
It is true that __________ feedback loops are most common in undisturbed natural systems and ____________ feedback loops are often the result of anthropogenic activities.
1. Negative 2. Positive
Order the steps in the scientific method as described in our textbook
1. Observations 2. Questions 3. Hypothesis 4. Predictions 5. Test 6. Result
trophic levels in order
1. producer 2. primary consumer 3. secondary 4. tertiary 5.quaternary.
According to the video we watched, what are the 4 types of ecosystem services according to the European Commission?
1. provisioning 2. regulating 3. supporting 4. cultural
Consider the following sequence and arrange it in order from smallest units to largest units
1.Proton 2.Element 3.Molecule 4.Organism
The U.S. average footprint is about ________ times larger than the average world footprint.
3
Anthropocentrism
A philosophy that describes a human-centered view of our relations with the environment
Ecocentrism
A philosophy that judges actions in terms of their effects on whole ecological systems, which consist of living and nonliving elements and the relationships among them
How did the Forest Service attempt to protect the Kaibab deer in 1907?
All hunting was banned & predators of deer were exterminated
How does our book define the term environment?
All living and nonliving things around us
niche
An organism's functional role in a community
Environmental Justice involves the ______ and _________ __________ of all people with respect to ____________ _____________ and ______________ , regardless of their ___________ ,____________ , or________________ .
Answer 1:fair Answer 2:equitable Answer 3:treatment Answer 4:environmental Answer 5:policy Answer 6:practice Answer 7:income Answer 8:race Answer 9:ethnicity
Why do you think the ecological footprint is so large for people in the United States? The United States has a______________ ; the average citizen consumes _________ and creates ______________________ , some of which is not biodegradable or recyclable.
Answer 1:high per-capita income Answer 2:many resources Answer 3:great amounts of waste
The industrial revolution brought improved sanitation, medical advances, technological progress, and increased agricultural productivity fueled by fossil fuels and fertilizer. This significantly increased life expectancy, decreased mortality, and expanded the capacity to feed a growing population.
Answer 1:increased Answer 2:decreased Answer 3:expanded
An ecological footprint expresses the cumulative area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of or recycle the waste the person or population produces. It measures the total area of Earth's biologically productive surface that a given person or population "uses" once all direct and indirect impacts are totaled up.
Answer 1:land and water
The ecological footprint for people in Bangladesh is so small because: Bangladesh has a _______________ ; it consumes __________ thus creates ____________ waste. Also, partly due to high population density and low standard of living, the average citizen has __________ access to natural resources (e.g. clean fresh water and fossil fuels) and less disposable income than the average American and thus produces less waste.
Answer 1:low per-capita income Answer 2:little Answer 3:little Answer 4:less
Environmental Science is the scientific study of how the _________ world works, how our _________ affects us, and how we ___________ our ____________ .
Answer 1:natural Answer 2:environment Answer 3:affect Answer 4:environment
________ is a basic understanding of Earth's physical and living systems and how we interact with them.
Environmental literacy
Gifford Pinchot
Espoused the conservation ethic and helped established what became the US Forest Service
Which best describes the root causes for 'dead zones' in the Chesapeake Bay?
Eutrophication
CERCLA ("Superfund") of 1980
Funds the Superfund program to clean up hazardous waste at the nations most polluted sites.
spatial distribution
How a population is arranged in a given area (random, uniform, or clumped)
________ involves individuals of a single species fighting over access to a limiting resource.
Intraspecific competition
How many citizens of Mexico does it take to equal the ecological footprint of the average citizen of the United States?
It takes just over three Mexican citizens to equal the ecological footprint of the average U.S. citizen.
Why do you suppose the population of deer declined in 1925, even though predators had been eliminated for the most part?
Lack of predators contributed to the deer becoming overpopulated and exceeding the carrying capacity of the area thus causing a depletion of resources and mass starvation
Community
Many interacting species that live in the same area
{scenario with the correct type of feedback loop (positive or negative) } As population of a prey/host species increases associated predators and parasites increases because of the abundance of the prey/host species. This increase in predators/parasites eventually gets to the point that there is a dramatic decrease the prey population. This decrease in the population of prey causes predators/parasites to starve and decrease in number. With the prey/host species released from the intense pressure of high predation and parasitism their population rebounds and the cycle starts again.
Negative
https://youtu.be/zxur0Zy_bBI Which one of the following is the example of positive feedback mentioned in the video?
Oxytocin during childbirth
limiting factors
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the environment that restrain population growth.
(What role does of the following play in the carbon cycle) Photosynthesis:
Plants take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
https://youtu.be/mLbDbmmV6Qc What kind of feedback loop can be caused by eutrophication?
Positive
{scenario with the correct type of feedback loop (positive or negative) } A snowball rolling down a hill accumulates snow and becomes larger, which increases its speed causing it to accumulate more snow and increase in speed even more
Positive
Clean Water Act of 1977
Regulates the discharge of wastes, especially from industry, into rivers & streams. Aims to protect wildlife and human health and has helped clean up U.S. waterways
Which of the following is NOT an example of ecosystem services.
Regulating emissions by legislation
Geothermal energy, wind and solar radiation are all examples of ________.
Renewable Resources
Endangered Species Act of 1973
Seeks to protect species threatened with extinction. Forbids destruction of individuals of listed species or their critical habitation on public or private land, provides funding for recovery efforts, and allows negotiation with private land holders
Clean Air Act of 1963
Set standards for air quality, restricts emissions from new sources, enables citizens to sue violators, funds research on pollution control, and established an emissions trading program for sulfur dioxide.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
Sets standards and permitting procedures for the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste. Requires that the generation, transport, and disposal of hazardous waste be tracked from "cradle to grave"
Endemic
Species occurring in only one area
enviromental resistance
Stabilizes a population at its carrying capacity
Population Density
The number of individuals within a population per unit area
Habitat
The specific environment in which an organism lives
A species has evolved an asexual mode of reproduction by having offspring develop from unfertilized eggs. Which of the following will be true of this species' response to natural selection?
There will be less genetic variation from sexual recombination and a risk of not adapting quickly to environmental change.
A hypothesis is ________.
a testable proposition that explains an observed phenomenon or answers a question
Ecosystem Services are an essential service an ecosystem provides that supports life and makes economic activity possible.
True
Energy flows in one direction through ecosystems; it arrives mostly as radiation from the sun, powers the system, and exits in the form of heat.
True
T or F; A person or society's ecological footprint is able to be changed by the choices that individual or society makes.
True
T or F; Matter, is generally recycled within ecosystems.
True
T or F; The define of the field of Environmental Science used by our textbook is "The study of how the natural world works, how our environment affects us and how we affect our environment."
True
allopatric speciation
When a single population is split into two and becomes geographically and reproductively isolated then within their different environments and under different selective pressures evolves into different species.
Which of these graphs shows the Kaibab deer population between 1900 and 1924?
a J-shaped upward curve with a very rapid increase
Which of the following is likely to be a direct or indirect effect of removing top predators from an ecosystem such as the Kaibab Plateau?
a decrease in ground-level vegetation such as tree saplings
Extinction is __________.
a natural process
Biocentrism
a philosophy that ascribes inherent value to certain living things or to the biotic realm in general
Which of the following is an example of an ecological community?
all of the bears, wolves, elk, moose, aspen trees, lodgepole pine trees, and all other animals and plants in Yellowstone National Park
Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974
authorized the EPA to set quality standards for tap water provided by public water systems, and to work with states to protect drinking water sources from contamination
