Environmental Science Review

2011 Fall

Biosphere

Chapter 5 Review

Cradle to Grave

Geosphere

• The rocks, soil, humus that make up the crust of the Earth

• Lithosphere-the crust portion of the earth

Crust

• The brittle, surface layer of the earth

• 2 types

Atmosphere

• The gaseous portion of our Earth

• Weather and Air Pollutants

Weather

• Atmospheric conditions at the present in a specific area

Climate

• Weather average in an area over a long period of time

Trophosphere

• The layer of the atmosphere where our weather is located

Ozone

• Layer that protects form UV radiation

Greenhouse Effect

• Sunlight radiation is trapped and reradiated into the atmosphere, raising the temperature

Energy

• Is the amount of work over a distance

Heat

• The total amount of energy in an object.

Temperature

• The average kinetic energy of the object

Types of Energy Transfer

• Radiation

• Convection

• Conduction

Water Cycle (Hydrologic Cycle)

• How water is cycled, transformed, and passed through the Earth.

• Major processes– Evaporation– Condensation– Precipitation– Sublimation–

Hydrosphere

• A portion of the Earth that water –Surface , ground, oceans

Condensation

• Going form a vapor (gas) to a liquid

Salinity

• The amount of salt in a solution

Ecosystem

• Similar communities that are located together and the abiotic factors

Biotic Factor

• Living Factor in nature

Abiotic Factor

• Nonliving factors in the environment

Organism

• An individual

Species

• A group of similar organisms

Population

• Population is the number of similar organism in a specific area at a certain time, that can produce fertile offspring.

Community

• Several population living together in a specific area

Biome

• Several similar ecosystems together with similar biota.

Habitat

• An area where you would expect to find certain organisms.

• Where an organism lives.

Natural Selection

• When nature decides what traits are passed on or who is eaten and never does reproduce

Artificial Selection

• When organisms trait are chosen by humans

Evolution

• A gradual change in a population over a long period of time

Adaptation

• Something that give an organism an advantage or not.

Resistance

• When an organisms passes on it resistance to some specific antibodies/pesticides to offspring

Archaebacteria

• Old ancient bacteria found in horrific conditions

Eubacteria

• Bacteria that is more common to humans.

• Examples-pathogens, staph, strep, cheese making bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Fungi

• A decomposer, saprophyte

• Mushrooms, yeasts, truffles,

• Chitin cell wall

Protozoans

• One cell organism can be of many different groups– Algae– Protozoans– Water molds

Gymnosperm

• Naked seeds pines, firs, spruce, tamaracks, evergreens

Angiosperms

• Flower plants

• Two divisions

Invertebrates

• Organism that does not have a spine

• Examples sea sponge, starfish, arthopod, anemone

Vertebrates

• Organism that has a spine or backbones

Photosynthesis

• Conversion of CO2 + H2O into Glucose, O2 and H2O

• Necessary process in plants

Producer

• Autotrophs

• Makes its own food

Consumer

• Hetertroph

• Cannot make its own food

Herbivore

• Plant eater

Carnivore

• Meat eater

Omnivore

• All eater, eats everything

Decomposer

• Something that breaks down dead organic matter into elements

Cellular Respiration

• Glucose is broken down by O2 to form CO2 and H2O

Food Web

• Intricate interaction of organism in an ecosystem

• Show relationships between organisms and the environment

pH

• The reciprocal log of the hydronium ion concentration

• A relative way of how acidic or basic a solution is.

Food Chain

• Linkage of who eats who in an ecosystem

• Pathway of Energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms

Carbon Cycle

• A way to show how C atoms are cycled through various compounds organisms in the environment

Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria

• A bacteria that change N2 into ammonia

Nitrogen Cycle

• A process in which N is circulates among the air soil, water and organisms

• Limiting factor for terrestial plants

Phosphorous Cycle

• A process in which P is circulated in the soil, organisms, water

• PO4 is a limiting factor for aquatic plants

• PO4 is banned in detergents

Ecological Succession

• The gradual change in an area from bare rock to climax vegetation

Primary Succession

• Succession where you start with bare bedrock and break it down to eventually form soil

Secondary Succession

• After the initial rocks conversion to soil, humus

• Succession where you do not have to start at ground zero

Seral Community

• Transitional community in the process of Succession

Pioneer species

• Initial organism on bare rock in the process of succession

• First organism on the scene, bacteria, algae, lichen, mosses, etc.

Climax Community

• A final or stable biotic community

Old field Succession

• What happens when you stop plowing or using a pasteur.

Population Density

• How many of a specific population is in a specific area at a specific period of time.

Population Dispersion

• The way a population is distributed in an area.

• Three types– Random, scattered– Uniform– Clumped

Growth rate

• Birth rate compared to death rate to see what is happening to the population

Biotic or Reproductive Potential

• Conditions that favor the best situation for population growth.

Environmental Resistance

• Factors that keep a population under control

• Disease, ample food, water, space, war or competition

Exponential Growth

Carrying Capacity

• How many organism the area can support without damaging it beyond repair

Niche

• How an organism fits into the big picture, it job or place in the environment

Competition

• 2 population needing or fighting for a common resource.

• Common resource– Water – Food– Minerals – Space

Predation

• Organism that kills and eats another organism.

• Hunter

Parasitism

• Where one organism benefits and another is harmed to a small extent

Symbiosis

• Two organism living together, or in close proximity

Mutualism

• Both organism benefit(++)

Commensalism

• One benefits and the other does not care

Recruitment

• Organisms reach a reproductive age

Over-shoot, Population Explosion

• Population grow faster. Surpasses the carrying capacity

Die-back, Crash

• After a population explosion the population will die

Migration

Demographics

Infrastructure

Age Structure Pyramid

Survivorship

Fertility Rate

Life Expectancy

Arable Land

• Farm land that can be used to grow crops

Urbanization

• People changing areas into (urban) town areas

Biome

• A group of ecosystems that are similar.

Climate

• The average weather over a long period of time

Latitude

• The number of degrees north or south of the equator.

Altitude

• High or low, mountains and or valleys

Tropical Rain Forest

• Rain over 150 cm per year and temperature average above 25 degrees celsius

Emergent Layer

• In a tropical Rain forest the trees that emerge above the canopy layer

Canopy

• In the vertical layers of a forest this layer will range from 25-50 feet

Epiphyte

• A parasitic plant that gets its nourishment from a larger plant

Understory

• In the horizontal layers of a forest the understory are between 5-25 feet tall.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• A biome that has deciduous tree(lose the leaves at some point)

• Temperate-temperatures between 15 and 25 degrees celsius

Temperate Rain Forest

• A biome with a rain supply of over 150 cm per year. But the average yearly temperature is below 25 degrees celsius

Taiga

• The area with coniferous tree and a yearly temperature of around 5 degrees Celsius

• Can also be called the Boreal, Coniferous,

Savanna

• A wet grassland, a grassland that gets periodic huge amounts of rain.

Temperate Grassland

• Breadbasket of the world

Chaparral

Desert

Tundra

Permafrost

Wetland

Plankton

Nekton

Benthos

Littoral Zone

Benthic Zone

Natural Eutrophication

Artificial Eutrophication

Salt Marsh

Mangrove Swamp

Barrier Island

Coral Reef

Surface Water

River System

Watershed

Groundwater

Aquifer

Porosity

Permeability

Recharge Area

Potable

Pathogen

Dam

Resevoir

Desalination

Water Pollution

Point-Pollution Source

Nonpoint Pollution

Wastewater

Artificial Eutrophication

Natural Eutrophication

Thermal Pollution

Biomagnification

• The accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of a food chain

Bioamplification

• Where a pollutant builds up in an individual organism.

Soild Wastes

Biodegradable

Municipal Solid Waste

Landfill

Leachate

Source Reduction

• Using less of a resource for a common good

Recycling

Reuse

• Using normally waste products over again before they are sent into the wastestream

Resale

Compost

• The decomposition of natural material that is then used as a topsoil in gardens.

Mulch

• Ground up material that is used a s a ground cover for plants.

• + Conserves water, cuts down weeds, aesthetically pleasing, adds nutrients for plants

• - insects have a hiding place, has a limited lifespan

Hazardous Wastes

• An material that may be corrosive, flammable, carcinogenic, tetragenic, combustible.

Deep-well Injection

• Hazardous materials are liquified and then injected deep into the earths crust

Surface impoundment

• Place where wastes are temporarily place to allow for evaporation to remove the water.

• Artificial Lagoon