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RSM Env Sci Exam
Exam Review
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| particulates | Small particles of dust released into the atmosphere by many natural processes and human activities |
| pathogens | Agents, especially microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, or fungi, that infect a host and cause disease |
| vectors | An organism that transmits disease by conveying pathogens from one host to another |
| cross-species transfer | pathogens that have moved from one species to another |
| sustainability | The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained |
| globalization | Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope. |
| economics | study of how people and societies use limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants; the management of scarcity and choice |
| economic incentives | are factors that motivate and influence the behavior of households and businessess; prices, profits, wages, and losses act as incentives for participants to take action in a market economy. |
| First Earth Day | April 22, 1970 |
| EPA | An independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment, Environmental Protection Agency |
| Environment Impact Statement | a report of the results from detailed studies that assess the potential effects on the environment that would likely result from development projects or other actions undertaken by the government |
| Unfunded mandates | Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding. |
| lobbying | Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact. |
| Theodore Roosevelt | "Trustbuster" & first "environmentalist" President. Conservationist & lover of the outdoors. President from 1901-1909. |
| Rachel Carson | -One of the first people to realize the global dangers of pesticide abuse (DDT). Wrote Silent Spring |
| Alice Hamilton | A physician who exposed many dangerous substances such as lead, ceramic dust, and chemical waste which were making many people unhealthy |
| Jacques Cousteau | An underwater explorer, researcher, scientist and environmentalist; he, along with Emile Gagnon, are credited with invention of the aqualung which led to SCUBA |
| Think globally, act locally | Think about the consequences for the whole world and then do what you can at your own location |
| Reduce, reuse, recycle | a motto that tells us to conserve resources, Three practices that make up the guideline for conscientious consumption are |
| CHARLES DARWIN | 1809-1882 English naturalist and scientist whose theory of evolution through natural selection was first published in 'On The Origin of the Species" in 1859. |
| NATURAL SELECTION | A process in which individuals better suited to environment survive and reproduce most successfully; survival of the fittest |
| EVOLUTION | A theory that explains how random changes in genetic material and competition for scarce resources cause species to change gradually. |
| ADAPTATION | A characteristic that improves an individual's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. |
| ARTIFICIAL SELECTION | Selection by humans for breeding of useful traits from the natural variation among different organisms |
| EXTINCT | A term that typically describes a species that no longer has any known living individuals. |
| BIODIVERSITY | The diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole) |
| SPECIES DIVERSITY | Number of different species and their relative abundances in a given area. |
| ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY | variety of habitats, living communities, and ecological processes in the living world |
| GENETIC DIVERSITY | Differences in DNA among individuals |
| KEYSTONE SPECIES | A species that is critical to the functioning of the ecosystem in which it lives because it affects the survival and abundance of many other species in its community |
| ENDANGERED SPECIES | A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction |
| THREATENED SPECIES | A species that could become endangered in the near future |
| ENDEMIC SPECIES | species that are native to and found only within a limited area |
| BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS | areas that support an especially great diversity of species, particularly species that are endemic to the areas |
| CAPTIVE-BREEDING PROGRAMS | Involve breeding species in captivity, with the hope of reintroducing populations to their natural habitats |
| GERM PLASM | any form of genetic material and stored as seeds,sperms, eggs, or pure DNA |
| ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT | (1973) identifies threatened and endangered species in the U.S., and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations |
| SPECIES RECOVERY PLAN | A plan for restoration of an endangered species through protection, habitat management, captive breeding, disease control, or other techniques that increase populations and encourage survival. |
| BIODIVERSITY TREATY | an international agreement aimed at strengthening national control and preservation of biological resources: associated with the UN Conference on Environment and Development (275) |
| SCIENTIFIC METHOD | A systematic approach used in scientific study that typically includes observation, a hypothesis, experiments, data analysis, and a conclusion |
| HYPOTHESIS | A scientific explanation for a set of observations that can be tested in ways that support or reject it. (IF, THEN, BECAUSE) |
| WATER CYCLE | The continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back. The processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation make up the water cycle. |
| LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE | 1) troposphere 2) stratosphere Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the Sun. 3) Mesosphere 4) thermosphere 5) exosphere. This is the upper limit of our atmosphere. |
| GEOSPHERE | Layer of Earth under both the atmosphere and the oceans; It is composed of the core, the mantle, and the crust. |
| LAYERS OF GEOSPHERE | Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Outer Core, Inner Core |
| HYDROSPHERE | All the water at and near the surface of the earth, 97% of which is in oceans MOST OF EARTH'S FRESHWATER IS FOUND IN POLAR ICECAPS |
| BIOME | A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms. |
| TROPICAL RAIN FOREST | Biome near the equator with warm temperatures, wet weather, and lush plant growth |
| TEMPERATE RAIN FOREST | a forest community (or biome), characterized by cool, humid weather and abundant rainfall, where tree branches are draped with mosses, tree trunks are covered with lichens, and the forest floor is covered with ferns. |
| TEMPERATE DECIDUOS FOREST | well defined season, temperatures 30 to 130 ( above freezing 140- 200 days), precipitation 75-150 cm and evenly distributed, soil is deep and fetile, mixing evergreen and deciduous, |
| TAIGA | A biome that has cold long winters and a short growing season. Conifers grow well in this area. |
| SAVANNA | An area of grassland with scattered trees and bushes |
| TEMPERATE GRASSLAND | A grassland region maintained by seasonal drought, occasional fires, and grazing by large mammals. |
| CHAPARRAL | plant community common to areas of the world that have a Mediterranean climate (for example, California and Italy). characterized by shrubs, shrubby thickets and small trees that are adapted to seasonal dry conditions. Also called Mediterranean Scrubland. |
| DESERT | A dry environment with few plants and animals. |
| TUNDRA | A treeless plain in arctic areas where short mosses and grasses grow |
| WETLAND | An ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year. |
| FRESHWATER WETLANDS | areas of land covered with freshwater for at least part of the year. |
| MARSHES | Wetlands without trees; in North America, this type of land is characterized by cattails and rushes. |
| SWAMPS | Forested wetland with tall tress and shubs as dominant plant life. |
| COASTAL WETLAND | land areas covered with water all or part of the year-include river mouths, inlets, bays, sounds, salt marshes in temperate zones, and mangrove forests in tropical zones |
| ESTUARY | A habitat in which the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of the ocean. |
| SALT MARSHES | Occur along coasts at temperate latitude, tides wash over gently sloping, sandy, silty substrates., Temperate-zone estuaries dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line, and by seagrasses under water. |
| MANGROVE SWAMPS | Swamps found on the coastlines in warm tropical climates. They are dominated by mangrove trees, any of about 55 species of trees and shrubs that can live partly submerged in the salty environment of coastal swamps. |
| BARRIER ISLAND | An island that protects the main body of land from ocean waves. |
| CORAL REEF | A structure of calcite skeletons built up by coral animals in warm, shallow ocean water. |
| Abiotic factor | related to the nonliving, physical features of the environment, including air, water, sunlight, soil, temperature, and climate |
| Biotic factor | related to the living organisms in an ecosystem |
| Consumers or Heterotrophs | an organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains. |
| Food web | diagram that shows many feeding relationships that are possible in an ecosystem |
| Ecosystem | all the organisms that live in a place, together with their physical environment |
| Population | group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area |
| Producers or Autotrophs | organisms that make their own food |
| Trophic Levels | each step through which energy is transferred in a food chain |
| Pioneer Species | first species to populate an area during primary succession |
| Primary Succession | succession that occurs in an area that previously did not support life |
| Secondary Succession | succession on a site where an existing community has been replaced because of disruption (damage or destruction) |
| Commensalism | the relationship between two different kinds of organisms when one receives benefits and the other is unaffected (+,0) |
| Mutualism | the relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent (+,+) Both organisms benefit |
| Parasitism | the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage) (+,-) |
| Predation | the act of preying by a predator who kills and eats the prey |
| parasite | An organism that lives on or in a host and causes harm to the host. |
| fossil fuels | Coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are ancient remains of plants and animals. |
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andyharris
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