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ECS 111 > Exam #1 > Flashcards

Exam #1 Flashcards

(75 cards)

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1
Q

Environmental Science

A

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

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2
Q

3 key themes of ES

A

sustainability, sound science, and stewardship

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3
Q

Sustainability

A

future-facing, using the planet’s resources in a manner that leaves plenty available for future generations; focuses on not using more than the planet can regenerate within a certain timeframe

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4
Q

Sound Science

A

performing reliable, legitimate, credible science that relays the facts and does not spread misinformation

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5
Q

Stewardship

A

caring for the land and being a steward for the environment; getting involved in helping the environment (using reusable bags, upcycling, recycling, getting involved in local initiatives, composting, etc.)

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6
Q

3 ethical worldviews

A

Ecocentric, Biocentric, Anthropocentric

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7
Q

Ecocentrism

A

viewing the entire ecosystem, including the abiotic and biotic factors, and seeing how they interact and how different things affect the whole ecosystem, not just a certain group

holistic, all-encompassing approach

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8
Q

Biocentrism

A

focusing on / giving priority to living things (biotic) with less of a focus on abiotic factors; focuses how different processes impact living organisms

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9
Q

Anthropocentrism

A

places humans on a superior level, cares exclusively about well being of humans and human communities

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10
Q

6 dominant perspectives of ES

A

economic, institutional approach, feminist environmental thought, risks and hazards, racialized environments, political ecology

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11
Q

Economic perspective

A

focuses on economic aspects and market-based systems of the environment; uses various economic-based incentives to try to better the environment (ex: carbon tax, cap and trade, etc.)

nature viewed as a commodity to be used for human benefit, bought, and sold; very anthropocentric

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12
Q

Institutional Approach

A

importance of norms to build institutions within society that people adhere to, can be informal (not actual law but rather socially accepted and promoted) or formal (written and codified into law)

emphasis on common goods and Tragedy of the Commons

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13
Q

Feminist environmental thought

A

connects patriarchal society to environmental movement; need for women to be more involved and have more opportunities to do so –> despite being the ones to spark environmental movements, women are left out of leadership roles

correlation between lack of female education and career development and environmental degradation

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14
Q

Risks and Hazards

A

hazard is an environmental event or natural disaster, risk is a numerical value (percentage, probability) of its impact, and uncertainty is the unknown of the situation

ex: a hazard is a tropical storm brewing in the Atlantic that is turning into a hurricane. a risk is that there is a 90% chance it will hit South Florida. an uncertainty is that scientists do not yet know what category the storm will be when and if it makes landfall.

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15
Q

Racialized environments

A

race is socially constructed to support white supremacy and place white people on a pedestal above people of color, giving them unfair societal advantages; this has been seen in environmental issues, from segregated beaches to marginalized groups and communities of color being more exposed to environmental hazards (air and water pollution, toxic waste, natural disasters, etc.)

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16
Q

Political ecology

A

combines all other dominant perspectives to look at POWER dynamics and relationships; who is in charge? who gets to make the calls on how to handle environmental issues? how are people excluded from voicing their perspectives?

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17
Q

Negative feedback loop

A

counteracts the response to put a stop to it and return the system to homeostasis or equilibrium; ex: when you get too hot, your body sweats to release heat and cool you down

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18
Q

Positive feedback loop

A

amplifies the response, creating a cycle in which it continues and leaves greater effects; ex: ghg emissions rise, more heat trapped in atmosphere, planet warms, ice melts, sea level rises, less ice means lower albedo and more heat absorbed, more ice melts, sea level rises, cycle continues

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19
Q

what is the Earth’s primary energy source?

A

the Sun

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20
Q

Energy

A

the capacity to do work; the capacity to change the position, composition, or temperature of matter

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21
Q

Sun’s energy plays a huge role in

A

photosynthesis; photosynthetic organisms use sunlight to power photosynthesis, using that energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen

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22
Q

what do organisms in environments w/o sunlight do?

A

chemosynthesis; they use chemicals or compounds like hydrogen sulfide to create energy

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23
Q

types of energy

A

kinetic and potential

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24
Q

kinetic

A

energy of motion

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25
potential
energy of position
26
GPP
gross primary production; the total amount of production from photosynthesis
27
NPP
net primary production; what is left over after GPP is used for nutrition or released as heat
28
Main biogeochemical cycles of Earth
hydrologic (water) cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle, carbon cycle, sulfur cycle
29
water cycle
process: water evaporates, condenses into clouds, releases precipitation back to ground, where it is either absorbed or runs off into water sources
30
energy and matter in ecosystems
energy flows through ecosystems, while matter cycles through them and changes form
31
Reservoir
where nutrients are stored
32
Flux
rate at which materials move between reservoirs
33
large flux
quick movement
34
small flux
slow movement
35
source
source of nutrient; short residence time (short amount of time that a substance remains in the system)
36
sink
stores something (ex: carbon sinks store carbon); long residence time
37
human impacts on water cycle
using way more water than we used to for industrial purposes (ESPECIALLY the fashion industry), altering water movement through dams and stream rerouting, global warming leads to more evaporation and less ice, ground composition altered by urban development (concrete instead of grass, cannot absorb water, so flooding risk is higher), removal of natural vegetation
38
Nitrogen cycle
critical for plant growth (nitrogen is key limiting factor); atmospheric nitrogen gets turned into biologically usable form (ammonia), then gets released back into atmosphere
39
human impacts on nitrogen cycle
fertilizer and pollution from run-off, fossil fuel combustion
40
Carbon cycle
route carbon takes through the environment
41
human impacts on carbon cycle
fossil fuel burning releases tons of carbon into atmosphere, plant removal reduces carbon uptake
42
Phosphorus cycle
phosphates moves through rock and water systems
43
human impacts on phosphorus cycle
soaps and detergents lead to runoff in waterways, also fertilizer runoff
44
Sulfur cycle
important in protein formation
45
human impacts on sulfur cycle
burning of fossil fuels
46
Evolution
change over time
47
Natural Selection
survival of the fittest; organisms with the more favorable traits will survive and pass those traits on to the next generation, while weaker ones will die off
48
Selection Pressures
environmental conditions that impact the pressure natural selection exerts on a population; can be density-dependent or density-independent
49
DD selection pressure
Predation Competition Resource availability Food source Disease spread Waste accumulation
50
DI selection pressures
Phenomena (natural disasters) Abiotic factors Weather conditions Climate factors Anthropogenic factors
51
5 main threats to biodiversity
climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and overexploitation
52
Some invasive species in South Florida
lionfish, Australian Pines, agama, burmese python, air potato
53
When does extinction occur?
when environmental changes occur too rapidly for a species to be able to adapt to new conditions
54
Traits that make organisms more vulnerable to extinction
long reproductive periods, highly specialized lifestyle, small populations, being endemic to a specific area, or island dwelling
55
3 types of population distribution
random, uniform, clumped
56
Random
haphazard location, no apparent pattern, typically occurs when there is a lot of resource availability
57
Uniform
individuals are evenly spaced out, competing for space and resources
58
Clumped
organisms show up in very particular areas depending on where resources are (particularly water)
59
Population growth
birth and immigration
60
Population decline
death and emigration
61
dN (change in population number)
(B+I) - (D+E)
62
Growth Rate
dN / dt (change in population over change in time)
63
Exponential growth
very rare in nature, J-curve, massive, uncontrolled growth
64
Logistic (sigmoidal) growth
population increases until resources are used up and ecosystem hits carrying capacity
65
Limiting factors
temperature, resource availability, pollutants, predators/parasites, disease
66
Biotic potential
rate at which members of species reproduce, increases numbers
67
Environmental resistance
combination of factors that limit a population’s increase, can lower rate of reproduction or lead to mortality
68
2 common reproductive strategies
r and K
69
r-strategists
super high reproductive rate; produce a ton of offspring and leave them to fend for themselves
70
K-strategists
lower reproductive rate; produce fewer offspring but care for them until they are ready to go out on their own
71
4 main interactions in communities
competition, exploitation, mutualism, commensalism
72
Competition
occurs when resources are limited and species have to compete to survive (food, water, shelter, mates)
73
Exploitation
predation: predator consumes prey parasitism: parasite depends on host organism for nourishment or some other benefit; often does not result in immediate death, but causes some form of harm herbivory: herbivores feed on plants
74
Mutualism
every organism involved benefits obligate vs. facultative obligate is both species NEED each other to survive (ex: yucca plant and yucca moth) facultative is when either species could survive on their own, but they are better off with each other (corals and zooxanthellae)
75
Commensalism
one benefits, other is unaffected (ex: barnacles on the tail of a whale)

ECS 111 (2 decks)

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