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.