Chapter 1 Flashcards
(26 cards)
What are the two realms of Geography?
Physical (bio, hydro, climate) and Human (political, cultural, demographic, economy)
What does environmental geography allow for?
Combines the divisions of geography. Allows more scientific basis in eco-centric approaches. Allows public participation in environmental protections.
What are the four spheres of the physical environment? Describe them.
Lithosphere (thin outer crust, tectonic plates), Atmosphere (gases around us, mostly nitrogen, some oxygen and water vapour), Biosphere (ecological system of all living beings and our connections), Hydrosphere (sources of water, states of matter, water cycle)
What is an ecosystem?
Suite of environmental characteristics that combine in a particular area or region.
How is an ecosystem classified?
Levels of productivity.
What is an ecosystem affected by?
Availability of nutrients, climate, diversity of species
What is a biome a combination of?
Temperature and precipitation.
Name all 8 morphoclimatic regions/biomes and describe them.
TUNDRA: no trees, few plants, little precipitation, hibernating animals, slow biological process. CONIFEROUS FOREST: Conifers, trees adapted to snow, periodic fires, acid soil, deer and bears. TEMPERATE FOREST: Leaves shed, less homogenous, seasonal climate, amphibians. TROPICAL RAINFOREST: Lots of rain, warm temperature, pollinated trees, nutrients in biomass, large # of flora/fauna. TROPICAL SAVANNA: Widely spaced trees, grasses, grazing mammals, carnivores, warm with dryer season. TEMPERATE GRASSLAND: No trees, wood plants and grass, temperate/seasonal, dry. DESERT: Few flora/fauna, lack of moisture, many dormant species. MAQUIS: Mediterranean, hot and dry summers & cool and moist winters, plants and animals tolerant to extremes.
What are natural cycles?
Chemical, biological reactions manifested as physical changes.
Give examples of natural cycles.
Carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle, sulfur cycle.
What is a food chain?
Important cycle of energy converted through living organisms (plants and animals)
How is a food chain classified?
In trophic levels.
What are the 5 characteristics of the food chain?
(1) At each trophic level, potential energy is lost by respiration, excretion and decay. (2) Animals get larger in each successive trophic level, predators at the top. (3) The # of individuals within a species decreases with each trophic level. (4) Human actions have large impacts in the cycle. (5) Action in part of the cycle affects all other parts of the cycle.
What is the source of nutrients? How does the process work?
Solar energy is the source of all nutrients. It is converted into chemical energy in plants > plants eaten by herbivores > herbivores eaten by carnivores/omnivores.
What is the problem of energy?
Developing countries industrializing creates a greater need for energy > energy shortages and turn to alternatives > more land being used for fuel crops instead of food > rising prices for food and increased hunger in the poor.
What is the debate of equilibrium? What is the actual answer?
The debate is whether it is dynamic or fixed. Ecosystems are not constant, balance is achieved through complex interactions in the environment. The ecosystem is self-regulating/adapting, does not have a fixed equilibrium, IT IS DYNAMIC.
What is the Gaia Hypothesis?
Hypothesis that life on the planet plays a large role in regulating the Earth’s conditions.
Define positive feedback and define negative feedback.
Positive feedback enhances the original action, like if a forest is cleared the soil erodes so it cannot be recolonized. Negative feedback dampens the original action, like how heat is higher at the equator but the atmosphere/sea redistributes it.
What is a threshold? What is it a function of?
Point at which change occurs, often irreversible. Function of frequency, intensity and cumulative impacts.
What is inertia?
An ecosystem’s ability to resist disturbances.
What is resilience?
Ability of an ecosystem to return to its original state after being altered.
What is the best combination of inertia and resilience for stability? What biome is this?
High inertia, high resilience. Temperate biomes.
The ____ species diversity, the ____ it can handle environmental stress.
Higher species diversity, the more it can handle environmental stress.
How is our knowledge incomplete?
There is a lack of data, natural archives/historical archives hard to find, science is young, tools primitive.
