Book Notes

Question 1

all the living things and nonliving things around us

Answer 1

environment

Question 2

the study of how the natural world works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect our environment

Answer 2

environmental science

Question 3

the various substances and energy sources we take from out environment and that we rely on to survive

Answer 3

natural resources

Question 4

natural resources replenished over time

Answer 4

renewable natural resources

Question 5

natural resources that are in finite supply and are formed much more slowly than we use them

Answer 5

nonrenewable natural resources

Question 6

arise from the normal functioning of natural systems and are not meant for our benefit, yet we could not live without them

Answer 6

ecosystem services

Question 7

our transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural way of life

Answer 7

agricultural revolution

Question 8

nonrenewable energy sources including oil, coal, and natural gas

Answer 8

fossil fuels

Question 9

when publicly accessible resources are open to unregulated exploitation, they become overused, and are damaged and depleted

Answer 9

tragedy of the commons

Question 10

expresses environmental impact in terms of the cumulative area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of and recycle the waste a person or population produces

Answer 10

ecological footprint

Question 11

borrows techniques from multiple disciplines and brings their research results together in a broad synthesis

Answer 11

interdisciplinary

Question 12

disciplines that examine the natural world

Answer 12

natural sciences

Question 13

disciplines that address human interactions and institutions

Answer 13

social sciences

Question 14

environmental programs that incorporate the social sciences extensively

Answer 14

environmental studies

Question 15

social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world from undesirable changes brought about by human actions

Answer 15

environmentalism

Question 16

systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it

Answer 16

science

Question 17

research in which scientists gather basic information about organisms, materials, systems, or processes that are not well known and cannot be manipulated in experiments

Answer 17

observational (descriptive) science

Question 18

research that proceeds in targeted and structured way, using experiments to test hypotheses within the scientific method

Answer 18

hypothesis-driven science

Question 19

technique for testing ideas with observations

Answer 19

scientific method

Question 20

statement that attempts to explain a phenomenon or answer a scientific question

Answer 20

hypothesis

Question 21

specific statements that can be directly tested

Answer 21

predictions

Question 22

activity designed to test the validity of a prediction or a hypothesis

Answer 22

experiment

Question 23

conditions that can change

Answer 23

variables

Question 24

widely accepted, well tested explanation of one or more cause and effect relationships that has been validated by research

Answer 24

theory

Question 25

dominant view

Answer 25

paradigm

Question 26

branch of philosophy that involves the study of good and bad

Answer 26

ethics

Question 27

these people believe that ethics should and do vary with social contexts

Answer 27

relativists

Question 28

these people maintain that there exist objective notions of right and wrong that hold across cultures and contexts

Answer 28

universalists

Question 29

criteria that help differentiate right from wrong

Answer 29

ethical standards

Question 30

application of ethical standards to relationships between people and nonhuman entities

Answer 30

environmental ethics

Question 31

human-centered view of our relationship with the environment

Answer 31

anthropocentrism

Question 32

ascribes value to certain living things or to the biotic realm

Answer 32

biocentrism

Question 33

judges actions in terms of their efforts on whole ecological systems

Answer 33

ecocentrism

Question 34

protect environment in a pristine, unaltered state

Answer 34

preservation

Question 35

idea that people should put natural resources to use but we have a responsibility to manage them wisely

Answer 35

conservation

Question 36

fair treatment of all people with respect to environmental policy and practice

Answer 36

environmental justice

Question 37

living within our planet's means

Answer 37

sustainability

Question 38

earth's accumulated wealth of resources

Answer 38

natural capital

Question 39

the use of resources in a manner that satisfies our current needs but does not compromise the future resource availability

Answer 39

sustainable development

Question 40

a population or group of populations whose members share certain traits and can freely breed with one another and produce fertile offspring

Answer 40

species

Question 41

a group of individuals of a particular species that live in a particular area

Answer 41

population

Question 42

change over time

Answer 42

evolution

Question 43

process where inherited characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction are passed on more often to future generations than those that do not

Answer 43

natural selection

Question 44

a trait that promotes success

Answer 44

adaptation

Question 45

accidental changes in DNA

Answer 45

mutations

Question 46

selection conducted under human direction

Answer 46

artificial selection

Question 47

the variety of life across all levels of biological organization

Answer 47

biological diversity

Question 48

process by which new species are generated

Answer 48

speciation

Question 49

treelike diagrams that represent life's history

Answer 49

phylogenetic trees

Question 50

imprint in stone of a dead organism

Answer 50

fossil

Question 51

disappearance of a species from earth

Answer 51

extinction

Question 52

occurs nowhere else on the planet but one place

Answer 52

endemic

Question 53

episodes that kill off massive numbers of species at once

Answer 53

mass extinction events

Question 54

study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments

Answer 54

ecology

Question 55

cumulative total of living things on earth and the areas they inhabit

Answer 55

biosphere

Question 56

examines the dynamics of population change and the factors that affect the distribution and abundance of members of a population

Answer 56

population ecology

Question 57

focuses on patterns of species diversity and on interactions among species

Answer 57

community ecology

Question 58

specific environment where an organism lives

Answer 58

habitat

Question 59

reflects a species' use of resources and its functional role in a community

Answer 59

niche

Question 60

species with a narrow breadth and very specific requirements

Answer 60

specialists

Question 61

species with broad tolerances and are able to use a wide array of resources

Answer 61

generalists

Question 62

number of individual organisms present at a given time

Answer 62

population size

Question 63

number of individuals in a population per unit area

Answer 63

population density

Question 64

when a population increases by a fixed percentage each year

Answer 64

exponential growth

Question 65

physical, chemical, and biological attributes of the environment that restrain population growth

Answer 65

limiting factors

Question 66

maximum population size of a species that a given environment can sustain

Answer 66

carrying capacity

Question 67

species that produce few offspring during their lifetimes and stabilize over time near carrying capacity

Answer 67

k-selected

Question 68

species that produce as many offspring as possible and are often well below carrying capacity

Answer 68

r-selected

Question 69

visiting natural areas to study and observe

Answer 69

ecotourism

Question 70

when species divide the resource they use in common by specializing in different ways

Answer 70

resource partitioning

Question 71

process where one species hunts, captures, kills, and consumes another species

Answer 71

predation

Question 72

one organism depends on another for a benefit while simultaneously doing the host harm

Answer 72

parasitism

Question 73

when animals eat plant tissue

Answer 73

herbivory

Question 74

relationship where species benefit from interacting with one another

Answer 74

mutualism

Question 75

physically close association between interacting species

Answer 75

symbiosis

Question 76

creatures transfer pollen between flowers to fertilize flower ovaries

Answer 76

pollination

Question 77

assemblage of organisms living in the same area at the same time

Answer 77

community

Question 78

rank in the feeding hierarchy

Answer 78

trophic level

Question 79

species that has a strong impact far out of proportion to its abundance

Answer 79

keystone species

Question 80

predators at high trophic levels promote lower trophic level populations by keepin middle tropic levels in check

Answer 80

trophic cascade

Question 81

the first species to arrive and colonize a new substrate

Answer 81

pioneer species

Question 82

nonnatives that spread and become dominant

Answer 82

invasive species

Question 83

tries to restore areas to how they were before industrialization

Answer 83

restoration ecology

Question 84

major regional complex of similar communities

Answer 84

biome

Question 85

deciduous broadleafed trees in Europe, eastern China, and eastern North America

Answer 85

temperate deciduous forest

Question 86

also known as prairies, less rainfall than temperate deciduous forests

Answer 86

temperate grasslands

Question 87

shaded and damp forests in the coastal pacific north west region

Answer 87

temperate rainforest

Question 88

year-round rain and warm temperatures in central America, south America, south east Asia, and west Africa

Answer 88

tropical rainforest

Question 89

year-round warmth but seasonal rains in India, Africa, south America, and northern Australia

Answer 89

tropical dry forest

Question 90

tropical grasslands with clusters of trees in Africa, south America, Australia, and India

Answer 90

savanna

Question 91

driest biome on earth

Answer 91

desert

Question 92

seasonal variation in temperature and day length at high latitudes (Russia, Canada, Scandinavia)

Answer 92

tundra

Question 93

cool and dry forests in Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia

Answer 93

boreal forest

Question 94

fire-resistant shrubs in the Mediterranean, California, Chile, and southern Australia

Answer 94

chaparral

Question 95

intangible phenomenon that can change the position, physical composition, or temperature of matter

Answer 95

energy

Question 96

total energy in the universe remains constant and thus is said to be conserved

Answer 96

first law of thermodynamics

Question 97

nature of energy will change from a more-ordered to less-ordered state, if no force counteracts this

Answer 97

second law of thermodynamics

Question 98

green plants, algae, and bacteria that use the sun's radiation directly to produce their own food

Answer 98

autotrophs/producers

Question 99

process that turns light energy from the sun into chemical energy

Answer 99

photosynthesis

Question 100

water body where rivers flow into the ocean, mixing fresh water with salt water

Answer 100

estuary

Question 101

scientists who study the loss, protection, and restoration of biodiversity

Answer 101

conservation biologists

Question 102

regulating atmospheric gasses, precipitation, and temperature, providing food and natural resources, pollinating plants and controlling crop pests, preventing soil erosion, etc.

Answer 102

ecosystem services

Question 103

disappearance of a particular population from a given area, but not the entire species globally

Answer 103

extripation

Question 104

updated list of species facing high risks of extinction

Answer 104

red list

Question 105

breaking up a continuous expanse of natural habitat into an array of fragments

Answer 105

habitat fragmentation

Question 106

humans have an instinctive love for nature and feel an emotional bond with other living things

Answer 106

biophilia

Question 107

forbids people from taking actions that destroy endangered species or their habitats (1973)

Answer 107

endangered species act

Question 108

animals are bred and raised in controlled conditions with the intent of reintroducing them into the wild

Answer 108

captive breeding

Question 109

areas that support a great number of species that are endemic to the region

Answer 109

biodiversity hotspots

Question 110

study of how people decide to use resources to provide goods and services in face of a demand for them

Answer 110

economics

Question 111

meeting daily needs by gathering and producing what they can on their own

Answer 111

subsistence economy

Question 112

apply principles of ecology and systems science to the analysis of econ systems

Answer 112

ecological economists

Question 113

misleads consumers into thinking a company is acting more sustainably than it is

Answer 113

greenwashing

Question 114

formal set of plans to address problems and guide decision making

Answer 114

policy

Question 115

taxes on environmentally harmful activities and products

Answer 115

green taxes

Question 116

the party that pollutes should be held responsible for covering the cost of its impacts

Answer 116

polluter-pays principle

Question 117

government giveaway of money, intended to encourage a particular activity

Answer 117

subsidy

Question 118

the government creates a market in permits for an environmentally harmful activity

Answer 118

permit trading

Question 119

the government determines the overall amount of pollution it will accept, then allocates permits from there

Answer 119

cap-and-trade

Question 120

when manufacturers designate on their labels how their products were grown, harvested, and/or manufactured

Answer 120

ecolabeling