Environmental Science Overview
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Questions and Answers

What are the three principles of sustainability?

  • Waste Reduction, Environmental Protection, Habitat Preservation
  • Resource Conservation, Pollution Control, Land Management
  • Renewable Energy, Ecological Balance, Resource Efficiency
  • Solar Energy, Biodiversity, Chemical Cycling (correct)

    • What does the concept of Natural Capital include?

  • Only renewable resources available on Earth
  • Artificial systems created to enhance environmental quality
  • Natural resources and services that support life (correct)
  • Financial investments in environmental sustainability initiatives

    • Which of the following is NOT a cause of environmental problems?

  • Unsustainable Resource Use
  • Excluding Environmental Costs from Marketplace
  • Population Growth
  • Technological Advancement (correct)

    • What best describes the worldview of 'Stewardship'?

    <p>Humans are part of nature and must protect it for future generations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What differentiates elements from compounds?

    <p>Elements consist of one type of atom, while compounds are made of two or more different atoms.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which component of Earth's life support system includes the atmosphere and geosphere?

    <p>Biosphere</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main factor that drives the cycling of nutrients in ecosystems?

    <p>High-quality energy flow</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes consumers from producers in an ecosystem?

    <p>Producers create energy through photosynthesis, whereas consumers obtain energy by feeding on other organisms.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what way does a food web differ from a food chain?

    <p>A food web is made up of interconnected food chains, while a food chain is a linear sequence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the significance of the Pyramid of Energy Flow in ecological studies?

    <p>It demonstrates the loss of usable energy at each trophic level, showing a 90% energy loss with each transfer.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Gross Primary Productivity measure in an ecosystem?

    <p>The rate at which producers convert solar energy to chemical energy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following best defines Net Primary Productivity?

    <p>Gross Primary Productivity minus energy used in respiration</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the process of Speciation primarily dependent on?

    <p>Geographic and reproductive isolation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Species Richness refer to?

    <p>The total number of different species present</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which term describes the gradual disappearance of a species over time?

    <p>Background Extinction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are Endemic Species particularly vulnerable to?

    <p>Habitat destruction in their limited range</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which component counts the comparative number of individuals of each species present in a community?

    <p>Species Evenness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the concept of Ecological Niche encompass?

    <p>The interactions a species has with its environment</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does inertia in a living system refer to?

    <p>The capacity to survive moderate disturbances</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What aspect of stability is defined as the ability to be restored through secondary succession?

    <p>Resilience</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which factor is NOT affecting human population size?

    <p>Environmental Resistance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one method suggested to slow human population growth?

    <p>Encourage family planning and reproductive health care</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement about world population growth is true?

    <p>Urban migration is a common trend observed in the population</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What characterizes specialist species compared to generalist species?

    <p>They can only thrive in a specific environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of species provides early warnings of ecosystem damage?

    <p>Indicator species</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement best describes carrying capacity?

    <p>The maximum population that a habitat can sustain indefinitely.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main difference between primary and secondary ecological succession?

    <p>Primary succession occurs without soil, while secondary succession occurs with soil.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the limiting factor principle state?

    <p>Too much or too little of any factor can limit population growth.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what situation would you expect to see a population dieback?

    <p>When the population exceeds its carrying capacity and resources are depleted.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which species plays a pivotal role in maintaining the structure of an ecosystem?

    <p>Keystone species</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following options describes ecological succession?

    <p>A gradual change in species composition over time.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Environmental Science

    • Studies how the earth works, our interaction with the earth, ways to deal with environment problems and live more sustainably.
    • Three principles of sustainability:
      • Solar Energy
      • Biodiversity
      • Chemical Cycling
    • Natural Capital - the natural resources and services that keep us and other forms of live alive (Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services)
    • Ecological Footprint – the amount of biologically productive lang and water needed to provide the people in a particular country with an indefinite supply of renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes produced by such resource use
    • IMPACT (I) = Population (P) x Affluence x Technology (T)

    Causes of Environmental Problems

    • Population Growth
    • Unsustainable Resource Use
    • Poverty
    • Excluding Environmental Costs from Marketplace

    Environmental Worldviews

    • Planetary Management - “we are separate from and in charge of nature, that nature exists mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants.”
    • Stewardship - “we can and should manage the earth for our benefit but encourages environmentally beneficial economic growth discourage harm to the environment.”
    • Environmental Wisdom - “we are part of, and dependent on, nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for us.

    Matter

    • Anything that has mass and takes up space
    • Elements - has a unique set of properties and cannot be broken down into simpler substances
    • Compounds - combinations of two or more different elements bound in fixed proportions.

    Components of Earth’s Life Support System

    • Atmosphere (Troposphere, Stratosphere)
    • Geosphere
    • Hydrosphere
    • Biosphere

    Factors that sustain life

    • one-way flow of high-quality energy
    • cycling of nutrients
    • gravity

    Ecology

    • Studies how organisms interact with each other and their nonliving environment
    • Organisms - an individual living being
    • Population - group of individuals of the same species living in an area
    • Communities - populations of different species interacting and living in an area
    • Ecosystems - Community of interacting with one another and the nonliving environment
    • Biosphere - parts of the earth's air, water, and soil where life is found
    • Producers – uses photosynthesis to make nutrients from components in the environment
    • Consumers – gets their nutrients by feeding on other organisms
    • Decomposers – breaks down organic detritus into simpler inorganic compounds
    • Detritivores – feed on waste or dead bodies

    Types of Respiration

    • Aerobic Respiration
    • Anaerobic Respiration

    Food Chain and Food Web

    • Food Chain - a sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a source of food or energy for the next
    • Food Web - a complex network of interconnected food chains
    • Biomass – dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms

    Pyramid of Energy Flow

    • Shows the decrease of usable chemical energy available at each succeeding trophic level in a food chain or web.
    • The model assumes that with each transfer from one trophic level to another, there is 90% loss in usable energy.
    • Ex: 10,000 kcal in producers -> only 1,00 kcal will be left as usable energy for consumers

    Productivity

    • Gross Primary Productivity - rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar energy to chemical energy and biomass
    • Net Primary Productivity - GPP minus the rate at which they use some of this stored chemical energy through aerobic respiration.

    Water Cycle, Nutrient Cycles

    • Water Cycle
    • Nutrient Cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur)

    Ecosystem Study

    • Scientists study the ecosystems via field research, technologies (remote sensing devices, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), laboratory research and computer simulations

    Biological Diversity

    • Is the variety of the earth's species, the genes they contain, the ecosystem in which they live, and the ecosystem processes of energy flow and nutrient cycling that sustain all life.
    • Major Components of Biodiversity:
      • Species Diversity
      • Ecological Diversity
      • Genetic Diversity
      • Functional Diversity

    Biological Evolution

    • The process whereby Earth's life changes overtime through changes in genes of populations in succeeding generations.

    Natural Selection

    • “individuals in the populations with specific advantage (ex.characteristic or trait) over other individuals in the population most likely to survive and produce offspring”

    Speciation

    • Process where one species split into two or more different species which happens in two phases:
      • geographic isolation and reproductive isolation

    Extinction

    • Biological Extinction – the process by which the entire species ceases to exist
    • Local Extinction – occurs when a population of a species becomes extinct over a large region, but not globally
    • Endemic Species: these are species that is found in only one area which makes it vulnerable to extinction
    • Background Extinction: species slowly disappear over time
    • Mass Extinction: widespread extinction

    Species Diversity

    • The number and variety of species it contains
    • Species Richness – the number of different species present
    • Species Evenness – comparative number of individuals of each species present

    Niche

    • A species' way of life in an ecosystem, everything that affects survival and reproduction
    • Generalist Species - can live in many different places, can eat a variety of food, can tolerate a wide range of environments.
    • Specialist Species - can live only in a very specific environment which makes them prone to extinction when environmental conditions change

    Major Roles of Species within the Ecosystem

    • Native - those that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem.
    • Non-native - those that migrate into, or are deliberately or accidentally introduced into, an ecosystem but can threaten native species
    • Indicator - species that provide early warnings of damage to a community or an ecosystem
    • Keystone - species whose roles have a large effect on the types and abundance of other species in an ecosystem
    • Foundation - are species that shape their communities by creating and enhancing their habitats in way that benefit other species.

    Species Interaction

    • Species interact in five major ways:
      • Interspecific Competition
      • Predation
      • Indicator
      • Keystone
      • Foundation

    Limiting Factor principle

    • Too much or too little of any physical or chemical factor can limit or prevent the growth of a population, even if all other factors are at or near the optimal range of tolerance

    Environmental Resistance

    • Combination of all factors that act to limit the growth of a population

    Carrying Capacity

    • The maximum population of a given species that a particular habitat can sustain indefinitely

    Population growth

    • Exponential Growth - occurs when a population has unlimited resources to support its growth.
    • A graph of population size over time of an exponential growth has a J-shaped curve
    • Dieback or Population Crash - can occur when a population uses up its resources and exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment.

    Ecological Succession

    • The gradual change in species composition in each area
    • Primary Ecological Succession: involves the gradual establishment of biotic communities in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem
    • Secondary Ecological Succession: occurs with a series of communities or ecosystems with different species develop in places containing soil or bottom sediment

    Stability

    • Inertia or Persistence: One aspect of stability is inertia, or persistence, which is the ability of a living system, such as a grassland or forest, to survive moderate disturbances.
    • Resilience: A second aspect of stability is resilience, which is the ability of a living system to be restored through secondary succession after a more severe disturbance.
    • World`s population grew at a rate of 1.20 in 2018
    • Human population growth is unevenly distributed
    • People have moved in large numbers from rural to urban areas

    Factors affecting human population size

    • (Birth + Immigration) – (Death + Emigration)
    • Fertility Rate
    • Migration
    • Age Structure and Population Growth
    • Slowing Human Population Growth
      • Reduce poverty
      • Elevate the status of women
      • Encourage family planning and reproductive health care

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    EnviSci Midterm Study Guide PDF

    Description

    This quiz explores fundamental concepts of Environmental Science, including sustainability principles such as solar energy and biodiversity. It delves into the causes of environmental problems and various worldviews regarding our relationship with nature. Test your understanding of ecological footprints and natural capital in fostering sustainability.

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