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All Tests - Envi Sci
All the vocab from each test in Environmental Science combined.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Exponential | "J" curve of ever increasing growth of a population. |
| Per Capita | Average per person. |
| Montreal | Protocol in 1987 that tried to lower CFC emissions globally. |
| Kyoto | Protocol in 1997 that tried to lower CO2 emissions globally. |
| Copenhagen | Protocol that just happened that again tried to lower CO2 emissions globally. |
| Anthropogenic | Human-caused or human-centered. |
| Pseudoscience | Fake science - using scientific words or ideas to sell an idea or product. |
| Charismatic Megafauna | Big, pretty animals. |
| Water | Most influential greenhouse gas on the planet. |
| Carbon Dioxide | Most influential greenhouse gas on the planet whose concentrations are altered by humans. |
| Biodiversity | Number of species in a given area. |
| Monoculture | Having only one species in an area (like planted crops or trees). |
| Theory | Hypothesis that has been tested many times under different conditions and never shown to be wrong. |
| CFC | Chemical that can destroy the ozone layer. |
| Exploitation | Unsustainable use of a resource - using a resource faster that it can be replenished. |
| Conservation | Wise use of natural resources. |
| Preservation | No use of natural resources. |
| Biotic | Living parts of an ecosystem. |
| Abiotic | Non-living parts of an ecosystem. |
| Ecotone | The boundary (edge) between ecosystems/communities/associations. |
| Species | All the organisms that can potentially interbreed and produce viable offspring. |
| Community | All living species in a given area. |
| Association | All plants in a given area. |
| Ecosystem | All biotic and abiotic factors in an area that interact as a functional unit. |
| Biome | Major groupings of ecosystems and landscapes. |
| Population | All of one species in a given area. |
| Swamp | Wetland with trees. |
| Marsh | Wetland without trees. |
| Estuary | Biome with a mixture of fresh and salt water. |
| Conifer | Trees with needles and cones. |
| Deciduous | Trees that lose their leaves every year. |
| Tundra | Biome with permafrost. |
| Desert | Very dry biome. |
| Temperate Rainforest | Biome that has trees, moderate temperature, and lots of rain. |
| Autotroph | Producers - change inorganic molecules into organic. |
| Heterotroph | Consumers. |
| Niche | How and where an organism lives and dies. |
| Habitat | Place an organism lives - usually described by vegetation. |
| Decomposer | Organisms the change organic material into inorganic. |
| Resource | Any factor that is used by an organism. |
| Cohesion | Water molecules being attracted to other water molecules. |
| Adhesion | Water molecules being attracted to other molecules. |
| Biosphere | Area of planet that contains all living organisms. |
| Lithosphere | The earth's crust. |
| Hydrosphere | The earth's water. |
| Atmosphere | The earth's air (gaseous layer). |
| 21 | Percent of air that is oxygen. |
| 78 | Percent of air that if nitrogen. |
| Limiting Factor | The "thing" that controls population size; if removed another one takes over. |
| Energy | The ability to do work. |
| Kinetic | Energy in motion. |
| Potential | Stored energy. |
| Herbivore | Organism that eats only plants. |
| Carnivore | Organism that eats animals. |
| Prey | Organism that gets eaten. |
| Parasite | Organism that eats, but doesn't kill. |
| Conservation of Energy | 1st law of thermodynamics; energy can be changed, but not created or destroyed. |
| Entropy | 2nd law of thermodynamics; energy wants to disperse. |
| Biomass | Dry weight of living material produced per year. |
| Photosynthesis | Process of turning carbon dioxide and water into sugar using the sun's energy. |
| Respiration | Process of turning sugar into energy in a cell. |
| Fixation | Process of turning "air" nitrogen into "plant-usable" nitrogen. |
| Denitrification | Process of turning "plant-usable" nitrogen into "air" nitrogen. |
| N2 | "Air" nitrogen chemical formula. |
| NH4 | One of the "plant-usable" nitrogen - chemical formula. |
| Rhizobium | Microorganisms in the roots of some plants that can make "plant-usable" nitrogen. |
| Legumes | Type of plants that can make "plant-usable" nitrogen - includes beans and peas. |
| Intraspecific | Within a species. |
| Interspecific | Among a different species. |
| Invasive | Non-native, exotic species that are introduced into an area and spread. |
| R-Selected | Species that are small, short-lived, have many young with little parental care. |
| K-Selected | Species that are large, long-lived, have few young with a lot of parental care. |
| Succession | The transition of biotic communities through time. |
| Carrying Capacity | Environmental resistance to poulation growth leads to ___. |
| Competition | An interaction between species where both species lose. |
| Climax | The stable "end" of succession. |
| Rule of 70 | The procedure used to estimate "doubling time" of a population based on growth rate of the population. |
| Replacement-Level Fertility | The amount of young needed to keep the population stable. |
| 1st World | Countries with low fertility rates and high incomes - considered "highly developed". |
| 3rd World | Countries with high fertility rates and low incomes - considered " developing countries". |
| Disturbance | Any change to succession. |
| Stewardship | Utilizing conservation and efficient use of natural resources. |
| Evaporation | Liquid water becoming a vapor. |
| Transpiration | Liquid water in a plant becoming a vapor. |
| Sublimination | Frozen water becoming a vapor. |
| Desalination | Process of removing salt from seawater to turn in into fresh water. |
| Adiabatic Cooling | Warm air rising and losing pressure causes it to lose heat. |
| Rain Shadow | Dry region downwind of a mountain. |
| Chinook | Warm winds that come off of a mountain because of increasing pressure. |
| Field Capacity | Capillary water - the amount of water soil can hold. |
| Gravitational | Percolated water - excess water that drains through the soil. |
| Aquifer | Pools of groundwater. |
| Spring | Groundwater reaching the surface in a small, confined area. |
| Seep | Groundwater reaching the surface over a large area. |
| Xeriscape | Landscaping using native plants and rocks in dry areas. |
| Watershed | Area of land drained by a river. |
| 32 | Fahrenheit - water freezes. |
| 212 | Fahrenheit - water boils. |
| 39 | Fahrenheit - water is the densest. |
| 0 | Celsius - water freezes. |
| 100 | Celsius - water boils. |
| 4 | Celsius - water is the densest. |
| Immigration | Moving into an area. |
| Gray | "Slightly used" water that can be recycled for watering yards and flushing toilets. |
| Drip | Type of irrigation used to water trees efficiently - long tubes with small holes. |
| Relative Humidity | Percent of water the air can hold based on temperature. |
| Emigration | Moving out of an area. |
| Migration | Leaving and then returning to an area. |
| Secondary | Succession in an area that already had an organism there. |
| Primary | Succession on an area on which no organism lived before. |
| Dew Point | Temperature at which the air would be saturated with water. |
| Mortality | Another name for death rate. |
| Natality | Another name for birth rate. |
| Water Table | The top of an aquifer (highest level of groundwater). |
| 2.5 | Percent of earth's water that is fresh. |
| 24 | Percent of world's CO2 emissions that the US produces. |
| Loam | The best soil for agriculture. |
| Clay | The smallest particle in soil. |
| Silt | The medium-sized particle in soil. |
| Sand | The largest particle in soil. |
| Autotroph | Producers - organisms that make their own food. |
| Horizon | A "layer" in the soil. |
| B Layer | Soil layer - subsoil - or accumulation of the leeched material. |
| A Layer | Soil layer - topsoil. |
| R Layer | Soil layer - rock under layer. |
| O Layer | Soil layer - dead, and decomposing organic material. |
| C Layer | Soil layer - weathered parent material. |
| E Layer | Soil layer - the leeched soil. |
| Humus | Dead and decomposing organic material. |
| Oxisol | Soil class found in tropical rainforest - lots of iron, little CO2, lots of leeching. |
| Aridisol | Soil class found in deserts and drylands that are thin and light colored. |
| Mollisol | Soil class that is soft and deep; good for ag found in the Midwest. |
| Alfisol | Soil class that is good soil but it is shallow; good for ag if fertilized, but great for forests. |
| Acid | pH of less than 7. |
| Basic | pH of greater than 7. |
| Neutral | pH of 7. |
| Salinization | Process that can happen to dry soil areas that are irrigated. |
| Profile | All the layers of a soil give it a soil__. |
| Nutrient | Minerals needed by plants for growth. |
| Erosion | Process of losing soil due to wind or water. |
| Compaction | Process a soils becoming hard and "squooshed" from machinery or animals/people. |
| Desertification | Process of land becoming more dry due to global warming, overgrazing, overcultivation, etc. |
| Herbicide | Chemical used to kill plants. |
| Pesticide | Chemical used to kill insects, etc. |
| Fertilizer | Nutrients (in general) added to the soil. |
| No-Till | Planting crops without plowing the field first. |
| Sedimentation | Deposition of eroded soils. |
| Stripcropping | Planting 2+ different crops around a hill. |
| Rotation | Planting different crops in different years on the same field to avoid overcultivation. |
| Overgrazing | Too many cattle, goats, sheep, etc. in a pasture. |
| Grass | Planting ___ will help prevent erosion from water in ditches. |
| Tree | Planting lines of ___ will help prevent erosion from wind. |
| Deforestation | Removing all the trees from an area. |
| Subsidy | Added payments to farmers (or other corporations) from the government. |
| Shelterbelt | A line of trees and bushes to prevent wind erosion. |
| Contour Terracing | Building small levees/dams around a hill to prevent water erosion and allow water to soak into the soil. |
| CRP | Program where government pays farmers to not farm highly erodable land. |
| WRP | Program where government pays farmers to not farm or to rebuild wetlands. |
| Famine | A localized food shortage. |
| Monoculture | Planting one species in an area. |
| Ecosystem Capital | Sum of all goods and services provided to human enterprise by natural systems. |
| Biota | All living things. |
| Anthropogenic | Human centered. |
| Intrinsic | Philosophical value - value for its own sake. |
| Instrumental | Value to another species or organism. |
| Ethnobotany | The study of the relationship between humans and plants. |
| Tamiflu | Anti-flu drug made from a plant. |
| Taxol | Anti-cancer drug made from a plant. |
| Ecotourism | Travel dedicated to observing or interacting with a unique ecosystem. |
| Genetic Bank | Saving plants for their unique DNA that may be useful in the future. |
| Natural Resource | Environmental products that have economic value. |
| Precautionary Principle | Managing in favor of protection of a resource if there is any uncertainty. |
| Conservation | Wise use of natural resources. |
| Preservation | No use of natural resources. |
| Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) | Highest possible rate of use that will match ecosystem's rate of replacement. |
| Ecosystem Capitol | Economic term for natural resources. |
| Snag | A dead, standing tree. |
| Wolf | A large, wide tree among smaller trees. |
| Dendrology | The study of trees. |
| Silviculture | The practice of forest management. |
| Deforestation | Removal of trees from a given area. |
| Pulp | Type of wood used for paper production. |
| Shelterwood | Cutting trees, but leaving some for shade and seed production - harvest strategy. |
| Girdle | Cutting a ring through the bark so the tree dies, but remains upright. |
| Selective | Cutting trees down based on size, species, straightness - harvest strategy. |
| Shade Intolerant | Tree species that need a lot of sun to grow. |
| Shade Tolerant | Tree species that need only a little sun to grow. |
| Rotation | The planned cutting and planting of trees in a managed forest. |
| Consumptive | Type of use for your own self, to meet your needs. |
| Productive | Type of use for economic gain. |
| Neotropical Migrant | "Tweety birds" that live in the New World and migrate every year to the tropics. |
| National Forest | Federal land - main use for timber production. |
| National Wildlife Refuge | Federal land - main use for protection of a species, group of species, or habitat. |
| National Park | Federal land - main use for recreation. |
| National Wilderness Area | Federal land - main use for protecting undeveloped and unexploitated land. |
| Watt | Energy unit for measuring electricity. |
| Efficiency | Percent of energy that actually does work; not wasted. |
| Conversion Loss | Energy gone when changing from one form of energy to another. |
| 1000 | Number of watts in a kilowatt. |
| 1,000,000 | Number of watts in a megawatt. |
| Generator | Coil of wire that rotates around a magnet (or vice versa) to make electricity. |
| Turbine | Propeller or paddlewheel that spins due to steam, water, or wind to make electricity. |
| OPEC | Group of countries that control the supply of oil (thereby controlling price of oil). |
| Natural Gas | Cleanest burning fossil fuel. |
| Coal | Dirtiest burning fossil fuel. |
| Oil | Fossil fuel used to make gasoline. |
| Scrubber | Device used to remove pollutants from exhaust when burning fossil fuels. |
| Flyash | Residue left over from burning coal. |
| PV Cell | Device used to capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. |
| Inverter | Device needed to turn DC electricity into AC electricity. |
| Flaring | Burning off natural gas found when drilling for oil. |
| Fracking | Using water other chemicals to release oil from rocks when drilling for oil. |
| Refining | Converting oil to usable substances such as gasoline, tar, mineral spirits, etc. |
| 85% | Percent of energy in the US that comes from fossil fuels. |
| 6% | Percent of energy that comes from nuclear energy. |
| Summer Wood | Dark part of tree ring. |
| Spring Wood | Light part of tree ring. |
| Boreal | Forest type composed of conifers such as spruce trees that grows in cold, snowy environments. |
| Temperate | Forest type composed of deciduous trees such as maple and oak. |
| Lacey | Federal "act" that prohibits interstate commerce of illegally killed wildlife. |
| CITES | International treaty that prohibits commerce of protected species. |
| Endangered | Organism that is in imminent danger of becoming extinct. |
| Threatened | Organism that is is jeopardy of becoming extinct, but not on the verge. |
| Intrusion | Putting something "in the way" of organisms - a fence, road, tower, power lines. |
| Fragmentation | Breaking a large habitat into small pieces. |
| Conversion | Changing a habitat from one to another. |
| Simplification | Removing the biodiversity from a habitat - going from a complex ecosystem to a monoculture. |
| Exotic | Species that does not belong in an area, but was introduced. |
| Extinction | When a species completely disappears from the planet. |
| Listing | Putting an organism on the Endangered Species List is called . . . |
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