Environmental Concepts & Practices Quiz

Environmental Concepts & Practices

• Tragedy of the Commons: A shared, limited resource depletes if not regulated.
• Externality: Cost or benefit not factored into good/service price.
• Rangelands: Dry grasslands used for grazing.
• Forest: Land with trees and other woody vegetation, sometimes for logging.
• Clear-cutting: Removing nearly all trees from an area.
• Selective cutting: Removing individual trees or a small number.
• Ecologically sustainable forestry: Tree removal that avoids harming other tree species.
• Tree plantation: Large area planted with a single, fast-growing tree species.
• Endangered Species Act: 1973 US law protecting endangered plants, animals, and their habitats.
• Subsistence farming: Farming for family and perhaps neighbors' needs.
• Industrial agriculture (Agribusiness): Mechanized, standardized agriculture for food production.
• Green Revolution: 20th-century agricultural shift increasing food output.
  • New management, mechanization, fertilization, irrigation, and improved crop varieties.

Agriculture Practices & Impacts

• Economies of scale: Average costs fall as output increases.
• Organic fertilizer: Fertilizer from plant/animal matter.
• Synthetic fertilizer (Inorganic fertilizer): Commercially produced fertilizer, often using fossil fuels.
• Waterlogging: Soil degradation from prolonged water saturation.
• Salinization: Soil degradation from salt buildup due to irrigation.
• Pesticide: Substance controlling pests, natural or synthetic.
• Insecticide: Pesticide targeting insects/invertebrates.
• Herbicide: Pesticide targeting competing plants.
• Broad-spectrum pesticide: Kills many pest types.
• Selective pesticide (Narrow-spectrum pesticide): Kills a specific narrow range of pests.
• Monocropping: Growing a single crop variety.
• Energy subsidy: Fossil fuel and human energy input per unit of food produced.
• Plowing/Tilling: Soil preparation techniques: digging, stirring.
• Slash-and-burn agriculture (Shifting agriculture): Land cleared and farmed briefly; soil depletion.
• Aquifer: Underground water-holding rock layers.
• Unconfined aquifer: Porous rock covered by soil.
• Confined aquifer: Impervious rock/clay enclosing an aquifer.
• Water table: Upper limit of groundwater saturation.
• Groundwater recharge: Water replenishing aquifers.
• Spring: Naturally occurring surface water flow.
• Artesian well: Well tapping a confined aquifer under pressure.
• Water footprint: Daily fresh water use per person.
• Furrow/Flood/Spray/Drip irrigation: Various irrigation methods.
• Cone of depression: Area around a well lacking groundwater.
• Fungicide: Pesticide for fungi.
• Rodenticide: Pesticide for rodents.
• Persistent pesticides: Long-lasting environmental effects.
• Non-persistent pesticides: Break down quickly.
• Integrated pest management (IPM): Minimizing pesticide use.
• Pesticide resistance: Trait allowing some pests to survive pesticide exposure.
• Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO): Large livestock structures.
• Manure lagoon: Human-made pond for storing animal waste.
• Free range grazing: Allowing animals to graze outdoors.
• Nomadic grazing: Moving animals to seasonal feeding grounds.
• Overgrazing: Excessive grazing, damaging vegetation & soil.
• Desertification: Productive land becoming desert-like.
• Fishery: Commercially harvestable fish population.
• Fishery collapse: 90% or more decline in a fish population.
• Bycatch: Unintentional catch of non-target species.

Resource Management & Mining

• Crustal abundance: Concentration of an element in Earth's crust.
• Ore: Mineral deposit containing usable materials.
• Metal: Element conducting electricity/heat.
• Reserve: Known quantity of economically recoverable resource.
• Strip mining: Removing overlying soil to expose resource.
• Mine tailings: Waste material from mining operations.
• Open-pit mining: Creating a large pit to extract resources.
• Mountaintop removal: Removing mountaintops to access resources.
• Placer mining: Seeking minerals in river sediments.
• Subsurface mining: Extracting resources from below the surface.

Urbanization & Environmental Impacts

• Urbanization: Increasing population density in an area.
• Urban area: Area with >386 people/km² (or 1000 people/sq mile)
• Suburbs/Exurbs: Areas surrounding metropolitan centers.
• Saltwater intrusion: Saltwater movement into groundwater from pumping.
• Impervious surface: Surfaces preventing water absorption.
• Urban sprawl: Urban areas expanding into rural areas.
• Urban blight: Deterioration of urban communities.
• Sense of place: Area's distinct character and meaning.
• Urban runoff: Water flowing from urban areas, not absorbed.

Environmental Sustainability & Measurement

• Ecological footprint: Land/water area needed for an individual/population/activity.
• Carbon footprint: Total greenhouse gas emissions.
• Sustainability: Using resources without impacting future generations.
• Sustainable development: Meeting present needs without compromising future capacity.
• Maximum sustainable yield (MSY): Largest renewable resource harvestable indefinitely.
• Environmental indicators: Measures of environmental system or Earth's state.
• Anthropogenic: Derived from human activities.

Agricultural Practices for Sustainability

• Crop rotation: Planting different crops in sequence.
• Intercropping: Spacing different crops close together.
• Biocontrol: Using organisms to control pests.
• Natural predators: Naturally occurring pest-control agents.
• Sustainable agriculture: Balancing food needs with soil health and resource use.
• Soil conservation: Preventing erosion, increasing soil depth, and nutrients.
• Agroforestry: Growing plants and trees together.
• Windbreaks: Planting tall objects to prevent soil erosion.
• Strip cropping: Planting crops with different spacing in alternating strips.
• Contour plowing: Plowing and harvesting parallel to land contours.
• Terracing: Shaping sloping land into terraces.
• Perennial plants: Plants living for multiple years.
• No-till agriculture: Planting without plowing.
• Green manure: Plant material plowed under to enrich soil.
• Limestone: Ground/crushed calcium carbonate used as fertilizer.
• Rotational grazing: Moving animals to different pastures.
• Organic agriculture: Crop production without synthetic pesticides/fertilizers.
• Delaney Clause: Prevents potentially harmful food ingredients that cause cancer.
• Reforestation: Restocking forests after clear-cutting.
• Sustainable forestry: Managing forests for wood & biodiversity.
• Prescribed burn: Controlled fires to reduce forest fuel buildup.