Environmental Science Final
if the human population continues to grow as expected, it will reach ______ by the year 2050.
10 billion
North Americans account for about 5% of the worlds population but consume:
22% of the worlds oil
the current (2017) human population is about
7.5 billion
Oceans cover approximately
70% of earth's surface
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary area of study that deals with all of the following except
All of these are correct (politics, economics, ethics)
Which one of the following choices involves an ethical decision?
Deciding whether or not to allow trophy hunting of elephants because the money trophy hunters pay provided income and food for local people.
Human impact on temperate forests include
Farming, logging, population centers All of these are correct
Deer invest a great deal of energy in a few offspring that have a good chance of living to reproduce. They are said to be
K-strategist
Which of the following is a correct example of interrelatedness?
Wolves reintroduced-elk decline-willows increase-beavers increase.
An ecosystem is
a group of interactive and their environment
the relationship between frogs and insects is an example of
a predator-prey relationship
Primary succession is
a progression that begins with a total lack of organisms
the basic premise behind the "the tragedy of the commons" is
a resource becomes overexploited when its ownership is shared
most grasslands in North America have been heavily influenced by
agriculture and the grazing of domesticated animals
pseudoscience
all of these are correct ( is a deceptive practice, utilizes appearance and language of science, is misleading)
the scientific method is
all of these are correct (reliable, impartial, limited in when it can be used)
A position that forests should be managed for the lumber that can be obtained from them is an example of
anthropocentrism
what is the fundamental subunit of matter
atom
"matter" is made up of
atoms
when a population stops growing and its size no longer fluctuates, it is said to
be at stable equilibrium
biome composed of a coniferous and deciduous trees with a short summer
boreal forest
in a mutualistic relationship
both species benefit
Mediterranean Shrublands (Chaparral) have been heavily impacted by humans because
both, they are near the oceans and they have a moderate climate
the flow of carbon from the atmosphere to living organisms and back again
carbon cycle
Ecologists refer to the maximum sustainable population for an area as
carrying capacity
Scientists distinguish between situations that are merely correlated and those that are correlated and show
cause-and-effect relationships
grazing animals and the grasses they eat have both evolved in response to each other's influence. This process is known as
coevolution
interacting groups of different species in a given area
community
Which of the following stresses a balance between resource use and resource availability?
conservation ethic
sustainable development is often defined as "meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs." Sustainable development is much like:
conservationism
biome that has a long growing season, supports trees, has a change of seasons, and relatively evenly distributed annual precipitation
deciduous forest
amount of a product that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price
demand
biome that receives less than 25 cm of precipitation per year
desert
which of the following assumes that the human race is the master of nature and that the earths resources exist for our benefit
development ethic
What is the name of the theory which suggests that the environment has direct rights and qualifies for moral personhood?
ecocentrism
negatively charged particle of an atom
electron
many of the processes that occur in the natural world involve interactions between matter and :
energy
protein molecule that speeds up the rate of a reaction
enzyme
what is the term used to describe a shallow, partially enclosed area where freshwater enters the ocean
estuary
The development of herbicide resistance in populations of weeds over several generations is an example of
evolution
on a population growth curve, the ___ phase results in a rapid increase in the size of the population
exponential growth
what is the term used to describe food chains which overlap and intersect
food webs
scientists usually experiment by collecting data
from as large a sample as possible
which of the following organisms is a primary producer
grass
the place an organism lives
habitat
when energy is converted from one form to another, the loss of energy is usually in the form of
heat
animals that eat plants
herbivore
which of the following factors may cause a population to grow
higher birthrate than death rate
competition between members of different species
interspecific competition
competition between members of the same species
intraspecific competition
molecule or atom which has lost or gained an electron
ion
atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons
isotope
what does it mean when a solution has a low pH number
it is an acid
which of the following is a disadvantage of a subsidy
it keeps the price of the product or service being subsidized below the true market price
the energy contained by moving objects, such as running water
kinetic energy
the energy released as water flows downhill from behind a dam is an example of
kinetic energy
classically there are three kinds of resources, which are
labor, capital, and land
which of the following is the correct sequence of phases in a typical population growth curve?
lag, exponential, deceleration, stable equilibrium
K strategist
large and long-lived and controlled by density-dependent factors
what is the dominant organism colonizing bare rock during primary succession
lichens
Which of the following is NOT a threat to tropical rainforests
logging, ranching, and agriculture
area of grasses and reeds that is either flooded and permanently or for most of the year
marsh
biome which is dominated by grass, and in which trees are rare
marsh
uncharged particle of an atom
neutron
central region of an atom
nucleus
some of the steps followed in the scientific method include:
observation, formulate and test a hypothesis, compare results to others and publish.
an organism that eats both plants and animals
omnivore
reproducibility is an important part of the scientific method and means that
other scientists are able to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results
number used as a measure of hydrogen ion concentration
pH
in 1962, rachel carson published Silent Spring, which dramatized the potential dangers of ____ to food, wildlife, and humans and eventually led to changes in the US on their use
pesticides
process whereby plants covert inorganic materials into organic matter
photosynthesis
the energy matter has because of its position
potential energy
The two major factors influencing vegetation in biomes are
precipitation and temperature
nature has intrinsic value or inherent worth apart from human appropriation
preservation ethic
mathematical statement about how likely it is that something will happen.
probability
an organism that can manufacture food from inorganic compounds and light energy
producer
when the supply of a commodity exceeds the demand
producers lower their prices
positively charged particle of an atom
proton
the nucleus of an atom contains
protons and neutrons
Oysters produce a million eggs of which only a few find suitable habitat to live. They are said to be
r-strategists
we assign value to natural resources based on our perception of their
relative scarcity
process whereby organisms break down large molecules to obtain energy
respiration
Risk assessment consists of two primary considerations:
risk and cost
Use of facts to estimate the probability of harm to human health that may result from exposure to pollutants, toxins, or management decisions.
risk assessment
the use of facts and assumptions to estimate the probability of harm to human health or the environment is called:
risk assessment
biome dominated by grasses and fire and drought resistant trees
savanna
In a rain forest, most of the sunlight is captured by trees and therefore only
shade-tolerant plants live beneath the canopy
when a population becomes isolated from another population of the same species over a long period of time
speciation is likely to occur
Two organisms that interbreed and produce fertile offspring are said to be individuals of the same
species
phase in a population growth pattern in which the death rate and birthrate become equal
stable equilibrium phase
the amount of a good or service available to be purchased is the
supply
The unusual forest biome occurring in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia is called a
temperate rainforest
what does the price of a product or service reflect
the demand for and availability of the product
which of the following statements about the perception of environmental risk is correct
the lay public ranks the risk of invasive species lower than environmental professionals
Stage in the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
trophic level
biome that lacks trees and has permanently frozen soil
tundra
the second law of thermodynamics states that
useful energy is lost when converting from one form of energy to another.
Which of the following does NOT demonstrate the use of renewable resources
using underground coal deposits to produce heat and electricity
which of the following small molecules are converted to form sugar in photosynthesis
water and carbon dioxide
Natural selection is the process that determines
which individuals within a species will reproduce and pass their genes to the next generation.