Enviro Sci Study Guide Test 2

Based on ESA listings In the US, name two states that are "hotspots" of biodiversity.

- California - Hawaii

List two reasons why we might value biological diversity.

- Humans need the cumulative result of multiple species working together for our agricultural, food, and medicinal needs. Insects, bacteria, and fungi provide us with services that have a net result of helping with agricultural processes, pest control, foods, and medicines. - We can get a variety of benefits from just one ecosystem. A forest, for example, with its biodiversity, can provide air and water purification, production and maintenance of soil, absorption of CO2, wildlife habitat, and lumber. There are trees, flowering plant species, insects, worms, bacteria, and more species in just the one ecosystem.

The Dirty Dozen

12 POPs - aldrin - chlordane -DDT -dieldrin -endrin -heptachlor -hexachlorobenzene -mirex -toxaphene -PCBs (poluychlorinated biphenyls) -dioxins -furans (dibenzofurans)

A type of subsistence agriculture in which short periods of cultivation are followed by longer periods of fallow land is called A. shifting cultivation B. slash-and-burn agriculture C. nomadic herding D. intercropping

A

An area recently vacated by glaciers will have A. low species richness B. high species richness C. high biological diversity D. structurally complex vegetation

A

People are more likely to _______ the risks associated with trans fats because the consequences are _______. A. underestimate; not immediate B. overestimate; immediate C. underestimate; immediate D. overestimate; not immediate

A

Shifting cultivation

A form of subsistence agriculture in which short periods of cultivation are followed by longer periods of fallow (land being left uncultivated) during which the land reverts to forest. Shifting cultivation supports relatively small populations.

Land degradation

A natural and human induced process that decreases the future ability of the land to support crops or livestock.

Commodity chain

A process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods or commodities, and finally, distribute them to consumers. It is a series of links connecting the many places of production and distribution and resulting in a commodity that is then exchanged on the world market.

Biodiversity hotspot

A relatively small area of land that contains an exceptional number of endemic species and is at high risk from human activities.

Structural complexity

A science of applied mathematics, that aims at relating fundamental physical or biological aspects of a complex system with the mathematical description of the morphological complexity that the system exhibits, by establishing rigorous relations between mathematical and physical properties of such system

Endangered species

A species that faces threats that may cause it to become extinct within a short period.

Threatened species

A species whose population has declined to the point that it may be at risk of extinction

Biodiversity offset

A system used to compensate for biodiversity loss because of a human - Improved regulatory efficiency—most protection for the buck - No net loss or positive impact -Removes conflict between development and conservation (more "win-wins") - Attaches value to habitat - Provides funding mechanism for conservation efforts

Pesticide

A toxic chemical used to kill pests.

Ecotone

A transitional zone where communities meet

Acid Rain

Acid deposition A type of air polution that includes sulfuric and nitric acids in precipitation

Carcinogen

Any substance (chemical, radiation, virus) that causes cancer

A trophic cascade A. occurs when a hurricane or other disturbance event erases the dominant trope. B. occurs when the reduction or elimination of numbers of individuals at one trophic level effects subsequent (higher or lower) trophic levels. C. may lead to the recurrence of species in wake of primary succession. D. occurs each time humans alter species habitat.

B

The Endangered Species Act is _____________. A. proactive B. reactive C. focused on animals and insects

B

The process by which an animal or plant is made to better fit the needs of humans through selection is A. monoculturation B. domestication C. hydrogenization D. preservation

B

The production of _______ potatoes was discontinued because of consumer fears about pesticide ingestion. A. Irish Lumper B. New Leaf C. Russet Burbank D. Peruvian

B

Which TWO of the following are FALSE? A. Under the ESA incidental take permits may be provided to a private landowner provided there is an approved Habitat Conservation Plan B. Under the ESA critical habitat designation results in the creation of a park or nature reserve. C. Of the more than 1400 species listed since 1973, most have recovered and been removed from the ESA list. D. The ESA provides for civil and criminal penalties.

B and C

CITES does all of the following EXCEPT A. Prohibits illegal international commercial trade of highly endangered species. B. Allows reservations from signatory countries where countries can select to exclude a listed species. C. Addresses all causes of species decline such as habitat loss and climate change. D. Regulates international legal commercial trade of threatened species.

C

One of the problems associated with the "green revolution" is that A. not enough food is produced for developing countries B. it is confined to highly developed countries C. it makes developing countries dependent on high-energy consuming imported technologies D. technology is not advanced enough to make it cost effective

C

With regards to the Endangered Species Act, species that are warranted but precluded are A. fast-tracked for inclusion on the endangered or threatened species list. B. automatically moved from the threatened species list to the endangered species list. C. placed on a candidate species list until time and resources allow for their full assessment. D. immediately protected under the Endangered Species Act until that time when they are fully evaluated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA-Fisheries.

C

Superfund

CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act A program to clean up toxic waste Superfund National Priorities List Money, around 20 million, put aside for cleanup

The species richness of a community depends on all of the following factors except A. the geological history of the region B. the productivity of the ecosystem C. the abundance of ecological niches D. the quality of ecosystem services E. the stability of the ecosystem

D

Which of the following is NOT true of CITES? A. CITES is a global agreement governing trade in species. B. CITES prohibits the trade of endangered species within and between signatory parties. C. CITES is an acronym for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. D. The CITES convention does not address non-trade related causes of species decline.

D

Ecosystem services provided by coastal environments include all of the following except A. provide a buffer against storms B. dilute and remove pollutants C. provide wildlife habitat D. provide humans with food and recreation E. prevent low-level extinction of species

E

The natural or human-induced reduction in the potential ability of the land to support crops or livestock is A. sustainable agriculture B. the green revolution C. the result of intercropping D. harvest deprivation E. land degradation

E

T/F: According to archaeological and historical record, the development of agriculture by humans occurred in a single "agricultural hearth" in ancient Mesopotamia.

False

T/F: Climate change is the usual explanation for why early humans moved from hunter gathering societies to early agricultural settlements.

False

Food Security/Insecurity

Food security: when people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life Food insecurity: the condition in which people live with chronic hunger and malnutrition.

Invasive species

Foreign species that spread rapidly in a new area if free of predators, parasites, or resource limitations that may have controlled in their native habitat

Basel Convention

Full name: Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal An international treaty designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, esp from developed to underdeveloped

Threshold Level

In a dose response curve where scientists first test the effects of high doses and then work their way down to a threshold level, the maximum dose that has no measurable effect (or alternatively the minimum that produces a measurable effect)

In/Ex situ conservation

In situ: the establishment of parks and reserves, and concentrates on preserving biological diversity in nature. With increasing demands on land, in situ conservation cannot guarantee the preservation of all types of biological diversity. Sometimes, it can only save a species. Ex situ: conservation of biological diversity in human controlled settings. The breeding of captive species in zoos and the seed storage of genetically diverse plant crops are examples of ex situ conservation.

Dose Response Curve

In toxicology, a graph that shows the effects of different doses on a population of test organisms effective dose 50 percent measures a wide range of bio responses - stunted development in offspring, reduced enzyme activity, onset of hair loss

In/Extensification

Intensification: an increase in agricultural production per unit of inputs (which may be labour, land, time, fertilizer, seed, feed or cash). Extensification: utilizing large areas of land, but with minimal inputs and expenditures of capital and labor.

Agrodiversity

Interactions between agricultural management practices, farmers' resource endowments, bio-physical resources, and species.

Urban heat island

Local heat buildup in an area of high population. Urban heat islands affect local air currents

Mass/Background extinction

Mass extinction: A large number of species disappear during a relatively short period of geologic time. Background extinction: A continuous, low level extinction of species.

Industrialized agriculture

Modern agriculture methods that require large capital inputs and less land and labor than traditional methods.

Eutrophication

Nutrient enrichment of a body of water with inorganic plant and algal nutrients like nitrates and phosphates. Human processes like runoff of fertilizers and discharge of untreated sewage accelerates it.

Endemic species

Organisms that are native to or confined to a particular region

Bioaccumulation

The buildup of a persistent toxicant in an organism

Precautionary principle

The idea that new technologies, practices, or materials should not be adopted until there is strong evidence that they will not adversely affect human or environmental health - lead in gasoline - overlooked in climate change

Biomagnification

The increase in toxicant concentrations as a toxicant passes through successive levels of the food chain

Genetic Engineering

The manipulation of genes (for example, taking a specific gene from one species and placing it into an unrelated species) to produce a particular trait

Biodiversity (& levels)

The number and variety of Earth's organisms, consists of three components: genetic diversity, species richness, and ecosystem diversity

Species Richness

The number of different species in a community

Risk assessment

The quantitative and qualitative characterization of risks so that they can be compared, contrasted, and managed.

Conservation biology

The scientific study of how humans affect organisms and of the development of ways to protect biological diversity

Restoration ecology

The study of the historical condition of a human damaged ecosystem with the goal of returning it as closely as possible to its former state

Toxicology

The study of toxicants, chemicals with adverse effects on health

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries, related to European colonization and trade after Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.

Subsistence agriculture

Tradicional agricultural methods that are dependent on labor and a large amount of land to produce enough food to feed oneself and one's family.

T/F: Experts agree that world hunger, population, poverty, and environmental problems are connected and that population pressures exacerbate world food problems.

True

Stockholm Convention & POPs

UN treaty that seeks to protect human health and the environment from the 12 most toxic persistent organic pollutants (dirty dozen)

Green revolution

Using modern cultivation methods and the high yield varieties of certain staple crops to produce more food per acre of cropland.

Acute vs Chronic toxicity

acute: adverse effects that occur within a short period after high level exposure to a toxicant chronic: adverse effects that occur after a long period of low level exposure to a toxicant

Toxicant

chemicals with adverse effects

Species evenness

how close in numbers each species in an environment is

Mono/polyculture

mono: ecological simplification in which only one type of plant is cultivated over a large area poly: type of intercropping in which several kinds of plants that mature at different times are planted together. In the tropics, fast and slow together so different can be harvested throughout the year.

Listing decisions under the ESA are based purely on best available _____________ data.

scientific

Pollution Haven Hypothesis

when large industrialized nations seek to set up factories or offices abroad, they will often look for the cheapest option in terms of resources and labor that offers the land and material access they require.