ESM 300 Exam 1

Question 1

Renewable Resource

Answer 1

a resource that can be replenished in days to several hundred years through natural processes, as long as it is not used up faster than it is renewed

Question 2

Nonrenewable Resource

Answer 2

a resource that exists in a fixed amount in the earth’s crust and has the potential for “natural” renewal by geological, physical, or chemical process taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of years. any use essentially results in depletion.

Question 3

Maximum Sustainable Yield

Answer 3

when the highest sustainable yield is reached by achieving the highest possible rate of renewal, usually through management.

Question 4

Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 4

an attitude or behavior pattern that can cause depletion or degradation of a renewable resource to which people have free and unmanaged access. This is where unrestricted unmanaged resources get depleted much more.

Question 5

Environmentally Sustainable Society

Answer 5

a society that meets the current and future basic resource needs of its people, in a just and equitable manner, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their basic needs.

Question 6

Science

Answer 6

a discipline that attempts to discover order in nature and use that knowledge to make predictions about what is likely to happen in nature.

Question 7

Scientific Hypothesis

Answer 7

Educated guess that attempts to explain a scientific law.

Question 8

Scientific Theory

Answer 8

a well-tested and widely accepted scientific hypothesis.

Question 9

Scientific Law

Answer 9

Description of what scientists find happening in nature repeatedly without known exception.

Question 10

Macronutrient

Answer 10

Six nonmetallic elements make up about 99% of the atoms of all living things:

Question 11

Micronutrients

Answer 11

Other elements used in small or trace amounts

Question 12

Energy

Answer 12

Flows Through the Ecosphere

Question 13

Matter

Answer 13

cycles in the ecosphere

Question 14

Element:

Answer 14

substances that cannot be broken down into simpler forms

Question 15

Compound

Answer 15

a mixture of 2 or more molecules to create an element.

Question 16

Ecology

Answer 16

the study of the relationships between living organisms.

Question 17

First Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 17

In physical and chemical changes, no detectable amount of energy is created nor destroyed.

Question 18

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 18

In any conversion of energy from one form to another, there is always a decrease in energy quality or the amount of useful energy.

Question 19

Conservation of Matter

Answer 19

In all physical and chemical changes, matter is neither created nor destroyed, but merely changes from one form to another.

Question 20

Biosphere

Answer 20

Zone of the earth where life is found

Question 21

Biotic vs Abiotic

Answer 21

Biotic = living

Abiotic = not living

Question 22

Food chain

Answer 22

The transfer of energy from one organism to another

Question 23

Food web

Answer 23

Cross-connected Food Chains

Question 24

Homeostasis

Answer 24

internal systems counteracting external stress.

Question 25

Primary Succession

Answer 25

the natural development of an environment over time. Starting with exposed rocks.

Question 26

Secondary Succession

Answer 26

the natural development of an environment over time. Starting with annual weeds and a thick topsoil of dirt.

Question 27

Limiting Factor

Answer 27

you have to have all. you must provide everything in the perfect amount to live.

Question 28

Tolerance Limits

Answer 28

(a lower and a higher number) Minimum and maximum limits for physical conditions (such as temperature) and concentration of chemical substances beyond which no members of a particular species can survive

Question 29

Optimal Range

Answer 29

Conditions where species thrive and are most competitive

Question 30

Stability

Answer 30

is the ability to withstand or recover from externally imposed change or stress.

Question 31

Give a detailed description of one of the chemical cycles presented in the lecture.

Answer 31

The Hydrogen cycle

Question 32

Provide the sequence of the General Scientific Method.

Answer 32

Observation, Question/Problem, Hypothesis, Prediction, Experiment, Data Analysis, Conclusion and Communication

Question 33

Discuss the impacts humans have had on ecosystems through the various stages of our technological and social development.

Answer 33

different stages of our development, early we were small isolated bands (nomadic), low population, large vast areas so we had a small impact, then industrial revolution and we stayed in one place and utilized the land, pop is much larger, technology has more impacts

Question 34

Discuss the component gases of the lower atmosphere.

Answer 34

lower atmosphere: 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen 1% argon

Question 35

Describe the structure (i.e. layers) of the atmosphere.

Answer 35

We live in the first layer, the troposphere (5-10 miles deep). The tropopause reduces mixing between the layers. The stratosphere is next, which contains the ozone layer. The ozone filters out deadly ultraviolet radiation. mesosphere, thermosphere

Question 36

What is the age of the universe? What is the age of Earth?

Answer 36

universe: 10-20 billion years ago earth: 4.6 billion years ago

Question 37

List the three physical states of matter.

Answer 37

solid, liquid, and gas

Question 38

Name the six forms of energy.

Answer 38

MRENCH Mechanical Radiant Electrical Nuclear Chemical Heat

Question 39

How has the Earth’s temperature fluctuated over the past 20,000 years?

Answer 39

The earth's temperatures fluctuated from when we were in the ice age has only fluctuated 5 degrees Celsius.

Question 40

Describe the processes of primary succession and secondary succession/:

Answer 40

1. Exposed rocks, 2. Lynches and mosses, 3. Small herbs and shrubs, 4. Heat mat, 5. Jack Pine Spruce and Aspen, 6. Balsam fir, paper birch, White Spruce Forest community Secondary: same as primary, but starts at soil due to forest fires, deforestation, or human harvest

Question 41

Discuss the forces that create communities in the natural world.

Answer 41

-temp and moisture -ecological equivalent organisms

Question 42

Human cycles

Answer 42

we have a much greater impact on the environment than when we were hunter-gatherers.