Environmental Studies Spring Review

2013

1. Describe a demographic…

• A pyramid shaped model shows that there are few old people in the population and lots of mortality early in life

• A reversed pyramid shows that the population is shrinking and the elderly population will have difficulty getting services

• A vertical walled pyramid shows the population is stable

2. Describe life expectancy in developing nations…

• Life expectancy in developing nations is short. As the nation transitions to industrial, the life expectancy increases causing the population to explode. When the nation is post industrial the life expectancy is long and birth rated decrease potentially causing an imbalance in generations.

3. What are several of the characteristics…

• Educated women who take charge of their reproductive health and manage family size.

4. The human population is growing out of control.

• Discourage high birth rate• Educate women of their reproductive rights• Prevent people living in environmentally

sensitive regions• Build large population centers and avoid urban

sprawl

5. What are the factors that can increase…

• Lack of education for women• Good medicine• Available water and food• Immigration

6. What are the factors that can decrease…

• Infant mortality• Emigration• Poor medicine• Education for women

7. What factors lead to the human population growing…

• Limited food• Poor medicine• Lack of education• Lack of resource• No industralization

8. Describe what will happen to the human…

• The standard of living will continue to increase and those who have will have more and those who don’t have will have less for a while. Then the haves will have noting like the have nots.

9. Describe a population that has a stable…

• A growing population in which the proportions of individuals in the different age classes remain constant

10. Explain the relationship between…

• More people…more resources used. • More technology…more resources used.• Higher standard of living…more resources

used• More resources used…more resources wasted.

11. How do you estimate population…

• 1. Round all numbers• 2. divide population by square land

measurement• 3. when you have this estimate you can

compare other factors like water usage per land area

12. Be able to read…

• Be able to read charts, graphs and data tables. Be able to think through data and deduce reasonable answers from a list of answer choices. (which one of these is not like the others)

13. What is exponential growth?

• Exponential growth is when growth is doubling at a rapid rate.

• Compared to linear growth which is growth that only goes up by a fixed number every year.

14. What are fossil fuels? Why…

• Coal, oil and natural gas• We use them because they are easy to get• Inexpensive• Reliable• We have always used them• Big money

15. What are the problems…

• Fossil fuels primarily introduce sequestered carbon into the atmosphere where it adds to the global CO2 levels resulting in a green house effect that is raising the temperature of the planet at a rate that is more rapid than natural climate change.

16. What factors are involved in…

• New technology that allows for current standard of living

• Availability• Cost

17. What are renewable resources?

• Wind• Solar• Hydroelectric• Biomass

• Most used is solar

18. What are some of the results…

• We run out• The price goes higher• The dependence on these brings devastation

to the standard of living• Population grows rapidly outgrowing the

source.

19. List several reasons the federal…

• To get people to do it• To avoid the political lobbyists• It is the right thing to do

20. Approximately how many…

• Even with the newly developed technique of fracking we only have a reasonably dependable supply of affordable oil for 50 years.

21. List several reasons why oil…

• The standard of living increased allowing more consumers to purchase cars

• We all wanted to be mobile • Women started working instead of staying

home• Oil was cheap• Vehicle standards were not in place to reduce

fuel consumption MPG standards.

22. Draw a typical population…

23. What might population growth…

• It could predict population carrying capacity• Time it will take to reach carrying capacity• The amount of resource the population will

consume in the ecosystem• How to best manage a population of

organisms

24. Draw a food web…

25. What would likely happen if one…

• The web could collapse with a niche unfilled• The populations would get out of balance• Some organisms would benefit and some

would decline

26. Explain the statement energy…

• Energy flows from the sun into plants who undergo photosynthesis converting the sunlight into sugar. The sugars are consumed by herbivores and then passed on to the carnivores.

• Nutrients cycle, like carbon in the atmosphere is transferred into plant tissues, then animals tissues and then back to the atmosphere. All nutrients undergo this process. Water, nitrogen and many others.

27. Where does all energy…

• With the exception of some deep sea bacteria that convert chemicals into energy, all energy comes from the sun

28. Define succession

• New land is generated, sometimes after a natural disaster like a fire.

• Organisms colonize this new land (pioneer species)

• They transform the land into a habitable place for other organisms to live

• Then eventually a stable ecosystem will be generated.

29. What is an old growth forest?

• A forest that has been undisturbed for hundreds of years. It is the climax community and the land has not undergone succession in many, many years.

• Old growth forests are being rapidly cut down and destroyed for timber all around the globe.

30. Define keystone species

• An organism that is so important to an ecosystem that it is in danger of collapse with out that species.

• Sharks are keystone species on coral reefs.

31. Define indicator species

• An indicator species is very sensitive to environmental conditions.

• They are the first species to die out in an ecosystem

• If they are present in an ecosystem it is very healthy

• Often amphibians are indicator species

32. Define invasive species

• A species that is not native to a habitat. • It is directly competing with another species that is

native. • The invasive has no natural predator in the new

ecosystem• So the invasive takes over the space and kills off the

native species it competes with and all native species that rely on the native.

• Invasive are really bad• Asian carp, bush honeysuckle, wild hogs

33. Define foundation species

• The first species to enter a newly created ecosystem

• They are critical in establishing new life on the new land area.

• Lichen and bacteria

34. The following…

• The following is the correct order of soil particles in order of increasing size:

• Clay—silt—sand

35. How can nitrogen enter the…

• Nitrogen is an inert gas in the atmosphere.• It is a very important nutrient for living organisms• The nitrogen cycle involves atmospheric nitrogen

being “Fixed” by bacteria in the roots of certain plants.

• The nitrogen is now available for the plants to use• These plants are called legumes and beans are a

major legume

36. Ecologists refer to “r” and “K”.

• The strategy is that by sheer reproductive number, something will survive. The species are referred to as “r-Species”.

• This species has very few offspring, often 1, at a time, with lots of parental care.

37. Describe Eutrophication.

• Excess nutrients enter an aquatic ecosystem after a late summer rain event

• The nutrients are immediately used by plants and an algae bloom proceeds.

• The algae die and decomposers use the oxygen in the water to break down the dead algae

• The other organisms can not use oxygen as efficiently as the decomposers so they die off

38. Describe biodiversity

• The type and number of organisms in a given ecosystem

• Generally the higher the biodiversity, the more stable and healthy the ecosystem

39. What is the effect…

• Greater species diversity leads to more stable ecosystem

• Greater competition leads to more fit species• Greater biodiversity leads to larger gene pool

with lots of variety. This is critical in the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem

40. How do we best protect…

• Preserving habitat. If there is no space for the species to live they will die

• Stop urban sprawl• Stop destruction of rainforest, coral reef, local

forests.

41. What is the usual effect of…

• The invasive will disrupt the native habitat• No native species will use the invasive as food,

shelter or space• The invasive can cause ecosystem collapse.• After hundreds of years some invasive species

become a part of the natural ecosystem after the natives have been killed off.

42. What does the statement…

• A catch phrase to discuss how we should live in harmony with the natural world.

• Don’t destroy but rather enjoy!

43. List several results of…

• Higher standard of living• Overconsumption of resources• Waste of resource• Loss of native habitat

44. What is a biological control…

• A natural predator is recruited to eat and control a pest

• Often does not work• Just introduces an new invasive species• Japanese beetles

45. Define and describe biomagnification

• As pesticides accumulate and are passed up the food chain they become more toxic

• Bald Eagles ate fish that ate bugs that were killed by DDT

• DDT accumulated in the tissues of the fish but the dose was too small to kill them

• However the Eagles ate the fish and ate so many that the DDT did accumulate in their tissues

• This resulted in their egg shells being thin and very few offspring causing the BE to be endangered

46. What is an introduced or…

• A species that is let go in the environment that it is not native

• If it survives it will displace native organisms• It will not be food, or shelter for native

organisms• It can result in completely altering the native

environment with countless species dying out

47. Describe the following methods…

• Selective cutting is where loggers harvest only the trees that are best suited for the purpose

• clear cutting is the practice of cutting all trees in a forest regardless of their economic viability

• slash and burn clearing is the practice of cutting some trees and then burning the remainder so the land is available for other purposes like farming. This practice is often utilized by the poor and is not sustainable.