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Enviro Science > Definitions > Flashcards

Definitions Flashcards

1
Q

Carbon sequestration

A

Getting carbon from the atmosphere and into the ground/ living things

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2
Q

Biomimetics

A

How we have used studying animals to improve technology

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3
Q

Mad cow disease

A

Due to cows eating crushed cow bones, let them to slowly loose muscles, hearing and sight leading to death

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4
Q

Desalination

A

Separation of freshwater from saline water through a partially permeable membrane

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5
Q

Fluoridation

A

Improves dental health by adding sodium fluoride to water

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6
Q

Screening

A

Removal of large floating objects

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7
Q

Filtration

A

Removal of pesticides by absorption onto granules

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8
Q

Sedimentation

A

Removal of suspended solids by allow water to be static so solids sink

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9
Q

Ozonation

A

Sterilisation through ozone being bubbled into water

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10
Q

Flocculation

A

Removal of clay or suspended sediment

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11
Q

Endemic species

A

Species that have lived in a specific area since the beginning of the ecosystem

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12
Q

Flagship species

A

Species with high public profile

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13
Q

EDGE

A

Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered

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14
Q

Keystone species

A

Species that has large effect on ecosystem

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15
Q

Critically endangered

A

Facing extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

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16
Q

Hard release

A

No after release support such as regular food/ water

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17
Q

Soft release

A

After release support provided

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18
Q

Intensive farming

A

Limited land so must maximise output and utilise land as much as possible

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19
Q

Extensive farming

A

Lots of land- utilising throughout the year in different ways (e.g different crops) and includes field rest/ recovery

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20
Q

Selective breeding

A

Breeding animals with desired characteristics to continue offspring with that feature

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21
Q

Cross breeding

A

Cannot guarantee characteristics but mixes two different species

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22
Q

Genetic modification

A

Changing the DNA code in plants to make it more useful for consumers

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23
Q

Endemic pest

A

Constant pest of a small number

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24
Q

Epidemic pest

A

Massive outbreak that causes major problems

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25
Indigenous pest
Born and bread there
26
Introduced pests
Brought into the country from abroad
27
Soil fertility
How well crops can grow in soil depending on nutrients
28
Subsistence farming
Growing enough for a small number of people
29
Arable farming
Crops
30
Livestock farming
Animals
31
Mangrove forest
Dense tangle of roots along saltwater rivers
32
Deciduous trees
Loose leaves annually
33
Plagioclimax
Human interaction controlling the climax community
34
Biosphere
Living organisms e.g land surface, soil, water and atmosphere
35
Biome
A large geographical region with a distinct climate
36
Niche
Role a species plays in a habitat
37
Ecosystem
Relationship between organisms and the physical environment
38
Community
Populations of all the different species of plants and animals in an area
39
Genus
Group of closely related species
40
Species
Group of organisms that can be interbred to produce fertile offspring
41
Pioneer species
First species to move into an area where there was no life before
42
Seres
Stages in the sequence of events after the pioneer species
43
Hydrosere
Water
44
Lithosere
Bare rock or stone
45
Psammosere
Sand
46
IUCN
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
47
Extinct
No known individuals anywhere
48
Extinct in the wild
No known individuals in the wild but found in captivity
49
Artificial insemination
Collecting a sample of sperm to insert into female to reproduce
50
Embryo transfer
Moving of a fertilised egg to a surrogate
51
SSSI
Site of Special Scientific Interest
52
NNR
National Nature Reserve
53
SAC
Special Area of Conservation
54
SPA
Special Protection Area
55
MNR
Marine Nature Reserve
56
LNR
Local Nature Reserve
57
MPA
Marine Protection Area
58
MCZ
Marine Conservation Zone
59
CITES
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
60
IWC
International Whaling Commission
61
EUCFP
European Union Common Fisheries Policy
62
ITTO
International Tropical Timber Organisation
63
Binomial system
Gives species a unique two part name
64
Direct exploitation
Exploited for a range of products such as food and fashion
65
Thermal stratification
Changes in temperature between layers of the atmosphere
66
Insolation
Incoming solar radiation from the sun
67
Greenhouse effect
Infrared radiation that is trapped in atmosphere and heating earths surface
68
Anthropogenic source
Environmental change influenced or caused by humans
69
El Niño
Southern oscillation associated with a band of warm ocean water that causes weaker surface winds, warmer temperatures and less rainfall
70
El Niña
A climate pattern describing the cooling of ocean water
71
Albedo effect
White of snow reflects sunlight, keeps earth cool and then positive feedback means more snow melts from darkness of ground below
72
Ice sheet
Over 50,000km^2 only ones are Greenland and Antarctica
73
Ice cap
Ice thick enough to have its own topography
74
Ice field
Topography of ice follows underlying land
75
Glacier
Large body of ice moving over land under its own weight
76
Ice shelf
Floating mass of ice attached to ice on land
77
Iceberg
Ice floating in sea that broke of glacier or ice shelf
78
Sea ice
Thin ice frozen on sea
79
Ice core data
Samples from different thicknesses will tell what conditions were like at time that gases were stored in it
80
Ocean currents
Can measure temperature and salinity and currents using buoys
81
Negative feedback mechanisms
Increase the original change making start and ending opposite of a process
82
Positive feedback mechanisms
Increase size of original change so start and ending the same of a process
83
Tipping point
Point where any action after may be too late to prevent uncontrollable climate change
84
Runaway climate change
Positive feedback mechanism where feedback becomes continuous with no need for original human action
85
Ocean iron fertilisation
Adding iron to oceans to help plankton to grow
86
ODS
Ozone Depleting Substances
87
Montreal protocol
Widely adopted and successful way of phasing out use of CFC's
88
Ozone hole
The area having less than 220 Dobson Units of ozone in the overhead column between the ground and space
89
River discharge
The volume of water that flows past a certain point in a given time, a hydrograph can be made
90
Abstraction
Removal of water from rivers from underground supplies or rivers
91
Aquifer
Underground layer of rocks with water stored in the tiny pores between grains
92
Porosity
How much space availability a rock has to hold volumes of water
93
Permeability
The ability and ease of a rock to allow water to flow through
94
Reverse osmosis
Huge pressures are applied to water which is forced through a membrane
95
fluoridation
Adding minerals to water to improve oral health
96
Demineralisation
Distillation to remove dissolved ions such as nitrates
97
Chlorination
Disinfects and sterilises bacteria and other pathogens by killing it
98
Aeration
A reaction with oxygen removes odours, some metals and organic matter
99
Sedimentation
Static water settles to remove suspended solids
100
Percolation
Movement of water between particles of soil or rock
101
Mineral
Naturally occurring element or compound
102
Hydrothermal deposition
igneous rock process that creates veins of minerals in rocks near volcanic activity
103
Resource
All the material that could be exploited technically or economically now or in the future
104
Reserve
Amount of material that can be exploited using existing technology under current economic conditions
105
Gravimetry
Measurement of the strength of a gravitational field
106
Magnetometry
Studies variations of the worlds geomagnetic field and can see into the ground
107
Seismic survey
Used reflected sound waves to produce a cat scan of the Earth's subsurface
108
Resistivity
Measurement of difficulty of which electricity passes through a material
109
Trial drilling
Time efficient and cost effective technique utilising soil profiles as well as ground water conditions
110
Overburden
The rock above the mineral resource you want to extract that must be removed prior to extraction
111
Spoil heap
Solid waste material left behind by mining such as welsh peaks
112
Lasky's principle
As the linear purity of a deposit decreases there is a logarithmic increase in the amount of material included
113
Sedimentation lagoons
Suspended solids/particles sink to bottom so sediment doesn't enter the river
114
CCAMLS
Commission of the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources

Enviro Science (11 decks)

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