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Environment

Chapter 2 Terms

QuestionAnswer
Economic System A network of people, institutions, and commercial interests involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Sustainable Development Process of development that meets ends of the present generation w/o reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Ecosystems Organisms living in a place and the biological, physical, and chemical aspects of the environment with which they interact. Ecosystem ecologists focus much of their research on the flux and transformation of matter and energy
Economics A social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as the theory and management of economic systems
Matter Anything that occupies space and has mass; matter exists in three main physical states; solid, liquid, gas
Atom The smallest particle of a substance that still retains the properties of the substance
Element A substance composed of a single type of atom, such as hydrogen, helium, iron, or lead, that cannot be broken down into simpler substances via chemical of physical means
Molecule Two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds; the constituent atoms may be of the same or different elements
Compound A substance composed of a fixed ratio of two or more elements. They can be broken down into the elements of which they are made via chemical or physical process
Energy The capacity to do work
Work Description of the transfer of energy; the work done on an object by a force is determined by the amount of force times the distance the object moves in the direction of the force
Potenital Energy The amount of energy an object has due to the configuration of its parts (eg, a loaded spring), its chemical makeup, or its position in a force field (eg, Earth's gravitational field)
Chemical Energy A form of potential energy; energy stored in the bonds of molecules, such as sugars, fats, or methane
Kinetic Energy The energy of moving object, which is equal to one-half the mass of the object times the square of its velocity
Gravitational Potential Energy The amount of potential energy an object contains due to its mass and height above a reference point, such as Earth's surface
Thermal (heat) Energy A form of kinetic energy due to molecular motion in a mass of a substance, such as a mass of steam
Radiant Energy The energy of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, infrared light, ultraviolet light, microwaves, radio waves, or X-rays
First Law of Thermodynamics Physical law concerned with the conservation of energy: though one form of energy may be transformed to other forms, the total amount of energy in a system plus its surroundings is conserved; that is, the total amount of energy remains the same
Second Law of Thermodynamics With each energy transformation, or transfer, the amount of energy in a system available to do work decreases. In other words, the quality of the energy declines with each energy transfer or transformation
Entropy A measure of the amount of disorder in a system
Food Web A set of feeding relationships among organisms indicating the the flow of energy and materials in an ecosystem
Trophic Level A step in the movement of materials or energy through an ecosystem or the position of a species in a food web
Primary Produce (autotroph) An organism, generally a plant or alga, that converts the radiant energy in sunlight to the chemical energy in sugars through the process of photosynthesis
Photosynthesis A biochemical process employed by green plants, algae, and some bacteria that uses solar energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into the chemical energy in a simple sugar called glucose
Gross Primary Production The total amount of organic matter produced by the primary producers in an ecosystem over some period of time, for example. per year.
Net Primary Production The net production of organic matter by the primary producers in an ecosystem, that is, gross primary production less the organic matter used by primary producers to met their own energy needs
Consumer An organism that meets its dietary needs by feeding o other organisms or an organic matter produced by other organisms
Heterotroph An organism incapable of producing its own food, that meets its energetic and nutritional needs by feeding on organic matter produced by plants and other primary producers or on other heterotrophs
Cellular Respiration A process taking place in cells that requires oxygen. During molecules such as glucose are broken down and energy, water, and carbon dioxide are released
Herbivore (primary producer) A consumer whose diet consists entirely of plants or other primary producers, for instance, and elephant or grasshopper
Carnivore (predator) A animal that feeds on other living animals (eg. a lion or spider)
Omnivore A consumer that eats both plant and animal material
Detritivore An organism that feeds on dead organic matter (eg. fallen leaves on the floor of a forest). They help in the process of decomposition; examples include many insects and earthworms
Decomposer An organism, mainly fungi and bacteria, that breaks down dead plant and animal tissues, promoting the process of decomposition
Secondary (consumer) Production The amount of consumer biomass, or energy, that goes into growth and reproduction, analogous to net primary production by photosynthetic organisms
Energy Pyramid A graphic representation of the distribution of energy among trophic levels in an ecosystem. Because large amounts of energy are dissipated at every trophic diagrams take the form of a pyramid
Conservation of Matter A physical law describing how during chemical reactions, matter is neither created nor destroyed but conserved
Biogeochemical Cycle Cyclic path of an inorganic substance, such as phosphorus, nitrogen, or carbon, through the Earth system, including the atmosphere, Earth's crust, oceans, lakes, and rivers; key biological components are producers, consumers, detrivores, decomposers
Carbon Cycle The cycling of carbon through the Earth system; key biological processes in the cycle include photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition
Subsistence Economy Economy in which individuals or groups produce or harvest enough resources to largely support themselves, with fewer resources gained through purchase or trade with other groups
Market Economy An economy in which decisions about the production and consumption of goods and services are not centralized but made by businesses and individuals, generally acting in their own self-interest
Supply and Demand An economic model stating that the price of a good (or service) will reach equilibrium when the consumer demand for it at a certain price equals the quantity supplied by producers
Centrally Planned Economy An economy in which decisions about the production and consumption of goods and services are made by a central authority
Black Market The exchange of illegal goods and services
State Property Property owned by federal, state, or local governments
Private Property Property owned by individuals
Common Property Property owned or controlled by a community, such as a indigenous tribe
Open Access A property for which there are not restrictions about who may enter and exploit its resources
Money A medium of exchange using coins or paper bills
Positive Feedback A stimulus in which an increase in some factor in a system, such as an economic system or ecosystem, produces additional increases in that factor whiten the system or in which a decease in a factor causes additional decreases
Economic Externality A cost or benefit to the environment or to society resulting from the production and use of a product that is not included in the market price of the product
Market Failure A situation in which free markets do not allocate goods and services efficiently, such as when the price of a product does not include its environmental impact
Common-Pool Resource A resource owned and utilized n common by a community (eg a community forest or grazing land)
Command and Controlled Regulations Laws and regulations that control activities and industries through the use of subsidies and penalties prescribed by the government
Environmental Economics A branch of economics that draws daily from the field of encomiums as it assesses and manages the costs and benefits of economic impacts on the environment
Natural Capital The value of the world's natural assets (eg. minerals, air, water, and living materials)
Ecological Economics Branch of economics that draws on many disciplines on studies of the influence of economic activity on the environment in an attempt to build a conceptual bridge between humans and human institutions and the rest of nature
Ecosystem Services Benefits that humans receive from natural ecosystems such as food, water purifications, plication of crops, carbon storage, and medicines
Market-Based Approach Alternative to common and control regulation that seeks to encourage adherence to social or environmental goals using the principles of supply and demand
Created by: jae_moore
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