BIO 116, Environmental Science

Biome

A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms a major regional complex of similar communities defined by its dominant plant types

A substance widely used in plastics that has raised health concerns as it is an estrogen mimic

BPA (bis-phenol)

Bagasse and sugar cane-based ethanol are major items in the energy resources of ________.

Brazil

An effective cancer treatment drug originally derived from the Pacific Yew Tree

Taxol

The study of the social, political, and economic relationships in cities

Urban sociology

the flow of waste as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations

Waste stream

urban heat island effect

cities are hotter than surrounding areas

For the US, the primary fuel that we use for our energy is _______.

coal

Subsurface mining is used extensively in the extraction of ________.

coal, phosphate, diamonds, gold

Exurbs

communities that arise farther out than the suburbs and are typically populated by residents of high socioeconomic status

Humus is ________.

composed of organic matter and is necessary to fertility and holding soil moisture

In the US, solar photocells have all the following advantages over fossil fuels, EXCEPT:

larger dollar amounts of tax incentives (subsidies) and development investment

Which of the following is a consequence of acidic deposition?

leaching out important minerals from soils and loss of biodiversity

The ecological footprint concept is that:

like a footprint, our negative impact on the environment is soon erased by natural processes

Two nutrients that cause eutrophication when they pollute aquatic systems are:

nitrogen and phosphorus

Three primary macronutrient elements used by plants

nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium

Any useful substance or energy source that we get from the natural environment, is infinite supply, and could never naturally form as fast as humans use it is called a(n) ______ natural resource

nonrenewable

The largest amount of water on Earth is found in....

oceans

More and more wind farms are being located ________ because winds are stronger and there are no major topographic variations in surface elevation to cause turbulence.

offshore

Which one of the following is not one of the four pillars of food security

organics

the measure of concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in an aqueous solution

pH

The cowbird, which deposits its young in the care of another, is an example of a:

parasite

CO2 + H2O + sunlight = sugar + O2

photosynthesis

The largest reservoir of liquid freshwater on Earth is found in...

polar ice caps and glaciers

Leachate

polluted liquid produced by water passing through buried wastes in a landfill

The Love Canal tragedy was related to .....

pollution

point source pollution

pollution that comes from a specific site

nonpoint source pollution

pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site

group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area

population

The pH scale ranges from ______________ and measures the _______________ of a water-based solution

0 to 14; acidity

Approximately what percentage of the world's water is fresh and available for use?

1

Approximately what percent of energy in any given trophic level (producer, primary, consumer, or secondary consumer) is contained in the next highest trophic level?

10%

The human population is approximately ________.

7.2 billion

The richest one-fifth of the world's population possesses approximately ________ times the income of the poorest one-fifth, and the richest one-fifth uses over 86% of the world's resources.

80

How dead zone forms

A "dead zone" forms through eutrophication. Excess nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) are found in the water. This can be from excess fertilizers being used anywhere (not just in or near the water) which goes to the water through the ground. Algae blooms which blocks the sunlight so plants die because they cannot photosynthesize. When the algae dies it goes to the bottom where it is consumed and decomposed by bacteria. This uses up the oxygen. No oxygen means the fish cannot survive and therefore a dead zone occurs.

pesticide

A chemical intended to kill insects and other organisms that damage crops.

Eutrophication

A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria.

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area. The people that normally live there cannot afford to live there anymore and are forced to move.

water pollution

Any physical or chemical change in surface water or groundwater that can harm living organisms or make water unfit for certain uses.

Four pillars of food security

Availability (Is there food?), Accessibility (Can you buy the food?), Adequacy (Is the food healthy enough?), Acceptability (Is the food socially acceptable?)

Raising ________ requires the most land and water.

Beef Cattle

A colorless gas that is used by plants for photosynthesis, given off during respiration and the burning of fossil fuels

CO2 (carbon dioxide)

primary pollutants

Chemical that has been added directly to the air by natural events or human activities and occurs in a harmful concentration.

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act created "superfund"

1992 Basel Convention

Control and reduce international movements/shipping of hazardous wastes

Nutrients are primarily considered a water pollutant because ....

it can lead to eutrophication

1995 Waigani Convention

Establishes global control system for hazardous wastes being shipped from one country to another. Mostly island nations are members

Habitat fragmentation (dividing habitats into small island-like fragments) increases biodiversity. True or False.

False

The notion that Earth's resources are unlimited and that we should freely exploit them best aligns with with of the following?

Frontier ethic

The city of Rochester is located in the ______ watershed

Genesee River

The nuclear power plant closest to Rochester

Ginna

urban ecology

Helps sustainability. Cities must replace linear, one-way, metabolism of importing resources and exporting wastes. Use resources efficiently and recycle Develop environmentally friendly techniques Use locally produced resources Encourage urban agriculture

tropospheric ozone

Human produced ozone, a result of air pollution is a primary pollutant

Which of the following arguments is NOT true concerning hydrofracking?

Hydrofracking will not create any job to stimulate the economy

dead zone

In a body of water, an area with extremely low oxygen concentration and very little life

Impacts of Urban Sprawl

Low-density development that is dispersed and situated on large lots. Geographic separation of essential places such as work, home, school, and shopping High dependence on cars for travel Increased runoff from salt bc of increased roads. Increased fertilization from personal use. Habitat fragmentation. Loss of ecosystem services (production of oxygen lost bc of loss of trees, water filtration being lost bc of building on wetlands Healthy problems (promotes physical inactivity) Economics: drains tax dollars from communities for roads, water and sewer systems, electricity, police and fire services, new schools, etc

The area of rock underneath parts of NYS and Penn that contains natural gas

Marcellus shale formation

Three components of waste management

Minimize waste, recovery/recycling, safe disposal

sprawl

Movement from the cities to the suburbs and exurbs

The largest portion of atmospheric gases is ______

Nitrogen

What is the main environmental benefit of using uranium rather than coal to power electricity generation?

Nuclear emits less greenhouse gas and other air pollutants than coal during normal operation.

An artificial chemical used to kill insects, plants, or fungi

Pesticides

acid mine drainage

Pollution caused when sulfuric acid and dangerous dissolved materials such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium wash from coal and metal mines into nearby lakes and streams. many types of mining, such as mining for coal in West Virginia, produce this specific type of water pollution

Aquaculture

Raising marine and freshwater fish in ponds and underwater cages Can bring economic benefits and food security to many developing regions

Strategies for sustainability

Redefining economic growth and quality of life Reducing unnecessary consumption Limiting population growth Encouraging sustainable "green" technologies Mimicking natural systems and enhancing self-sufficiency Voting and being politically active Think in the long term and promote research and education.

urban agriculture

Reducing the transport of goods

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Enacted in 1976 to give EPA "Cradle to Grave" authority on hazardous waste.

photovoltaic cell

Solar energy cells, usually made from silicon, that collect solar rays to generate electricity. Rely on electrical current produced when silicon is struck by sunlight.

During eutrophication, organic matter becomes more abundant on the floor of the water body because:

The abundant algae eventually die and become detrius

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism. The organism absorbs or injests a substance or toxin at a rate faster than it is lost by catabolism or excretion. The toxins are then stored in the specie's fatty tissues

climate

The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time

Urban sustainability

The goal of improving the social and economic conditions of an increasingly urbanized population while maintaining environmental quality. Meets in the middle of the three goals of environmental, economic, and social.

Biomagnification

The increase in chemical concentration in animal tissues as the chemical moves up the food chain

Hydrofracking

The process of extracting oil and natural gas using high pressure water injected into shale deposits after a well has been created which starts vertical and then goes horizontal. Water, sand, and chemicals are then injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. The sand is used to block the cracks in the rock to prevent them from closing and allows the gas to continue to escape.

Bycatch

The unintentional catch of nontarget species while fishing

________ strongly influences the amount of energy generated from hydropower.

The volume of water released and the height of the fall

A widely-accepted, well-tested, hypothesis that has been extensively validated by vast amounts of scientific research

Theory

The average number of children born per female member of a population during her lifetime

Total fertility rate (TFR)

A secondary air pollutant created by the interaction of sunlight, heat, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. A major component of smog

Tropospheric Ozone (O3)

climate change

a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century, and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

Biofuels

a fuel derived directly from living matter. can be created by microbial action or burned directly as wood or dung

A coyote, which can alter its food intake to match seasonal abundance of plants, fruits, or small animals, is considered to be:

a generalist

Removal of which of the following species will always result in the greatest changes in an ecological system?

a keystone species

scrubbers

a machine that moves gases through a spray of water that dissolves many pollutants

Negative feedback loop

a self regulating system. Increased output from the system inhibits future production by the system.

Many types of mining, such as for coal and copper, produce a specific type of water pollution called ________.

acid drainage

The greatest worldwide use of water is for

agriculture

What effect is most likely to result from an endocrine disruptor?

altered hormonal activity

Compared to coal, nuclear power's main environmental health and safety disadvantage is that:

an accident or sabotage could contaminate large areas with dangerous amounts of radioactive material.

Artificial wetlands ________.

are a source of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh

Which type of terrestrial biome experiences hot and dry summers, cool and rainy winters, and is dominated by spiny, evergreen shrubs?

chaparral

Most marine protected areas ________.

are along the coastlines of developed nations

Terracing, contour farming, intercropping, and crop rotation all ________.

are techniques for conserving soil resources and fertility

Sedimentary rock is formed

as sediment materials are pressed together and infiltrated by minerals

The term for an organism that uses energy from sunlight to produce its own food

autotroph or producer

Like the Ogallala aquifier, most aquifiers worldwide are ....

being depleted

In a chemical reaction

bonds between atoms get rearranged and different substances form as a result

The human activity that is primarily responsibly for tropospheric ozone, acid rain, and climate change

burning fossil fuels

The most obvious cause of industrial smog is ________.

burning fossil fuels

Energy conservation in the US

can be improved as individuals make conscious choices to reduce personal consumption

Which of the following policies approaches was the EPA using when it issued permits for the air pollutant sulfur dioxide?

cap-and-trade

______is an example of an element.

carbon

Recent evidence suggest that controlling emissions of this gas would reduce both ozone depletion and global warming ______

carbon dioxide

Which of the following represents photosynthesis

carbon dioxide + sunlight + water => sugar + oxygen

Chemical hazards that cause cancer are known as...

carcinogens

During the carbon cycle, this process converts organic compounds into CO2

cellular respiration

Which of the following releases carbon dioxide?

cellular respiration and combustion of gasoline in a car

The area the underlies the shallow water bordering continents is called the ______

continental shelf

The loss of more than 10% productivity in arid areas due to erosion, soil compaction, forest removal/deforestation, or overgrazing is called ________.

desertification

The rotational energy of the blades of a wind turbine ______

drives a generator inside the nacelle compartment to produce electricity

Tantalum from African coltan is used primarily for the manufacture of ________.

electronics: cell phones, computers, digital cameras

Green Urbanism

encourages energy-efficient houses, redevelopment, clean infrastructure, garden roofs

Biofuels and nuclear power may prove useful as ______.

energies to bridge the time between fossil fuel depletion and new renewables

Which of the following is not recycles but is lost from ecosystems?

energy

Positive feedback loop

enhance or amplify changes; this tends to move a system away from its equilibrium state and make it more unstable.

_____ is defined as the fair and equitable treatment of all people regarding environmental issues.

environmental justice

We lose 5 to 7 million ha of productive cropland per year to ______.

erosion, overirrigaiton and overgrazing

Insects are usually

essential pollinators and predators for successful agriculture

The process of nutrient enrichment, subsequent increased production of organic matter, and eventual ecosystem degradation is known as...

eutrophication

The extinction of a particular population from a given area (but not the entire species globally) is called ________.

extirpation

U.S. oil production ________.

falls far short of U.S. oil consumption

subsistence farming

farming in which only enough food to feed one's family, using only small plots of land and small-scale, simple technology, is produced

Monoculture

farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year

Nuclear energy in power plants is created via _______

fissioning uranium atoms by bombarding them with neutrons

Which of the following are documented negative impacts of dams?

flooding, habitat destruction, alteration of river sediment deposition

Which one of the following is considered a non-renewable resource?

fossil fuel

Which of the following energy sources is considered nonrenewable?

fossil fuel energy

A nonrenewable natural resource produced by the decomposition and compression of organic matter from ancient life

fossil fuels

Crude oil is _____

fractionated to separate the chemicals used for gasoline, lubricants, plastics and other products

Changes in habitat have tremendous effects on the organisms that depend on them. These effects are ________.

generally negative; organisms are already adapted to the habitats in which they occur and any change is likely to render the habitat less suitable

stratospheric ozone

good ozone, produces oxygen molecules to interact with UV radiation and prevent 95% of it from reaching the surface

Which is an example of an autotroph that uses sunlight as its direct source of energy?

green plant

Biodiversity hotspots ______

have lost 70% of its habitat due to human impact

When magma cools, the result is _______

igneous rock

A species of lizard has gone extinct. This could be due to any of the following reasons except ________.

increased genetic diversity within the species

According to the IPAT model, technology that enhances our acquisition of minerals, fossil fuels, timber, and ocean fish ________.

increases environmental impact

The greatest diversity (numbers of different species) of organisms can be found in ________.

insects

Bullfrog tadpoles are often sold as fish bait, even in areas where they do not occur naturally. When people buy 10 of them and don't use them all, they often dump the remainder into the lake or river. This is an example of ________.

introduced species

In NYS, zebra mussels are an example of an _____

invasive species

a species that spreads widely and rapidly becomes dominant in a community interfering with the community's normal functioning ex: zebra muscles

invasive species

Biodiversity enhances human food security because it ________.

is a potential source of new food items or new genetic varieties of existing foods

The intergovernmental panel on climate change _____

is an international panel that reports on how climate change influences biomes and economies

Earth's climate _______

is changing as a result of natural and human processes

Photochemical smog differs from industrial smog in that it ________.

is formed only in the presence of sunlight

A naturally occurring solid chemical element with a distinct composition and a crystalline structure is a(n) ____

mineral

The atmosphere around Earth can cause global warming because ______

molecules in the atmosphere are warmed by radiation from Earth and retain that heat

An atom with a positive charge has

more protons than electrons

The type of fuel combusted in MCC's Cogen plant

natural gas

Net primary production of phytoplankton is the base of the aquatic food chain. Phytoplankton are:

producers

Having greater evolutionary fitness means:

producing more offspring

Seed banks are important for ____

protecting genetic diversity

All atoms of an element have the same number of

protons

Isotopes of an element have the same number of _____ but different numbers of ______

protons ... neutrons

The dwindling supplies of rare strategic metals such as indium, tantalum, and platinum may be extended if we rigorously ______

recycle existing supplies

species evenness

relative abundance of each species, the number of species in a community, the Sequential Comparison Index

Leaching

removal of dissolved materials (water-soluble nutrients) from soil

suburbs

residential areas surrounding a city

The Montreal Protocol

resulted in significant reduction in the production of CFCs by signatory nations

Which one of the following best illustrates a nonpoint source of pollution?

runoff fertilizers from lawns

Which of the following is true about top predators?

they are likely to be keystone species

To make organic fertilizer by composting, you do not include ______

shredded plastic and metals, waste from animal butchering

Tragedy of the Commons

situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating disaster for the entire community

A complex plant-supporting system consisting of disintegrated rock, organic matter, air, water, nutrients, and microorganisms

soil

Natural sources of air pollution come from _____

soil dust, wildfires, and volcanic dust

All of the following are true of using solar photocells, EXCEPT _____

steal the sun's energy

Currently, most pollution in Lake Ontario is caused by

storm water running off surfaces such as yards, city streets, paved lots, and farm fields.

The layer of atmosphere above the troposphere

stratosphere

The change in the composition of a community over time following disturbance to an ecosystem is known as...

succession

a forest that is warmer than the boreal forest, but cooler and drier than a tropical rainforest

temperate forest

Because of biomagnification, we would expect levels of toxins to be highest in a ___

tertiary consumer

Coal continues to be the main fuel used to generate electricity in the United States. This is partially because ________.

the country has such large reserves of coal

Watershed

the geographical area drained by a river the entire area of land from which water drains into a particular water body

When we burn fossil fuels, ________.

the greatest environmental impact is increased greenhouse gases

ecological footprint

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

carrying capacity

the maximum population size that a given environment can sustain

ecosystem services

the processes by which life-supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced

In the vast majority of ecosystems, the energy used to power organisms, regardless of their trophic level, orginally came from...

the sun

passive solar energy collection

the use of building materials, building placement, and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.

During eutrophication, phytoplankton and other algae become overabundant primarily because:

their growth is no longer as limited by nutrient scarcity.

The pacific "ring of fire" is a volcanic area where ______

there are many earthquakes and active plate boundaries

Water moves from land to the atmosphere through ______

transpiration and evaporation

The greenhouse effect involves warming of the Earth's surface and the _____

troposphere

Weather patterns are largely determined in the ________.

troposphere

In sustainable farming, "biological control" refers to...

using organisms to manage pests or weeds

Living things are primarily comprised of two types of molecules. These two things are...

water and organic molecules

Factors involved in soil formation are ________.

weathering of parent material, freezing/thawing, tree roots

weather

what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time

pesticide resistance

when there is a natural variation (mutation) in insects and the ones with the mutation become resistant to the pesticide; solution to the problem →make a new pesticide