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biocides
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See pesticides.
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true cost
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actual cost.
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permafrost
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permanently frozen subsoil characteristic of frigid areas such as the tundra.
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fish ranching
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ranching of fish.
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Carcinogen
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substances that cause cancer
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insecticide
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Chemical that kills insects.
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pollution cleanup
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dissinfecting a polluted area.
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Smelting
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roasting ore to release metals.
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Photosynthesis
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plants convert CO2 (atmospheric carbon) into complex carbohydrates (glucose)
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sustainable development
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See environmentally sustainable economic development.
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HIPPO (Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Pollution, Population, and Overharvesting)
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all bad.
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deforestation
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the temporary or permanent clearance of large expanses of forests for agriculture or other uses.
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microevolution
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the occurrence of small-scale changes in allele frequencies in a population, over a few generations, also known as change at or below the species level.
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high-input agriculture
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modern agricultural methods that require a large capital input and less land and labor than traditional methods.
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plankton
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small or microscopic aquatic organisms that are relatively feeble swimmers and thus, for the most part, are carried about by currents and waves.
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sustainable society
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one that persists and thrives.
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overgrazing
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the destruction of an area's vegetation that occurs when too many animals graze on the vegetation, consuming so much that it does not recover.
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Ecosystem
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A specific biological community and it's physical environemtn interacting in an exchange of matter and energy.
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Transitional stage
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death rate (infant mortality)lower, birth rates remain high, better health care, population grows fast
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BOD
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biological oxygen demand, amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic decomposers to break down organic materials
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durability
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Ability of earth's various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely. This is another name for sustainability.
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Eutrophication
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The process of nutrient-rich water supporting an abundant growth of algae or other aquatic plants at the surface. Deep eutrophic water has little or no dissolved oxygen
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Sustainability
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ability of earth's various systems, including human and cultural systems and economics, to survive and adapt to the changing environmental conditions indefinitely
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Climate
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The most important factor in determining which biome is found in a particular area
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Carnivore
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Animal that feeds on other animals
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petroleum
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a thick, yellow to black, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture found in earth's crust.
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sulfur cycle
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the worldwide circulation of sulfur from the abiotic environment into organisms and back into the abiotic environment.
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stratosphere
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the layer of the atmosphere between the troposphere and the mesosphere. it has a thin ozone layer that protects life by filtering out much of the sun's ultraviolet rays.
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troposphere
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the atmosphere from earth's surface to the stratosphere.
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carbon cycle
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the worldwide circulation of carbon from the abiotic environment into organisms and back into the abiotic environment.
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consumer
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an organism that cannot synthesize its own food from inorganic materials and therefore must use the bodies of other organism as sources of energy and body-building materials.
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environmental science
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branch of science concerned with environmental issues
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Environmental Racism
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Decisions that restrict certain people or groups of people to polluted or degraded environments on the basis of race.
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Primary succession
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Pioneer species colonize newly exposed area (lava flows, glacial retreat, dried lake bed).
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Carbon Dioxide
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sources include combustion of fossil fuels. Effects: greenhouse gas-contributes to global warming. Reduction accomplished by increased fuel efficiency (gas mileage), mass transit (reduction)
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Industrial stage
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decline in birth rate, population growth slows
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Pesticide pros
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saves lives from insect transmitted disease, increases food supply, increases profits for farmers
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core
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dense, intensely hot mass of molten metal, mostly iron and nickel, thousands of kilometers in diameter at the earth's center
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sustainable living
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Taking no more potentially renewable resources from the natural world than can be replenished naturally and not overloading the capacity of the environment to cleanse and renew itself by natural processes.
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Soluble
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Able to be dissolved in a solvent
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Existence Value
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Kowing that a redwood forest, wilderness, or endangered species exist, even if we will never see it or get direct use from it.
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Developed Countries
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country that is highly industrialized and has high per capita GDP
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renewable resource
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Resource that can be replenished rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes. Examples are trees in forests, grasses in grasslands, wild animals, fresh surface water in lakes and streams, most groundwater, fresh air, and fertile soil. If such a resource is used faster than it is replenished, it can be depleted and converted into a nonrenewable resource. Compare nonrenewable resource and perpetual resource. See also environmental degradation.
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nonreproductive
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not one of the age structure categories
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Oxidation
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Chemical weathering. Iron in rocks, can change the color of the rocks
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species
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Group of organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behavior, chemical makeup and processes, and genetic structure. Organisms that reproduce sexually are classified as members of the same species only if they can actually or potentially interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring
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matter-recycling economy
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an economy that recycles its own matter.
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persistent pollutant
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pollutants that take extended time to decompose.
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heat
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any transfer of energy from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature.
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functional diversity
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diversity that proves to be beneficial to a population.
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forest
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an area with a high density of trees.
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Utilitarian Conservation
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Resources should be used for the greates good for the greatest number for the longest time.
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Strategic Mineral
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Minerals a country cannot produce on it's own but is used for essential materials or processes.
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Preindustrial stage
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birth and death rates high, population grows slowly, infant mortality high
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Population Dynamics
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The study of changes in population sizes and the causes of these changes
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Two most serious nuclear accidents
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(Chernobyl, Ukraine-total meltdown) (Three Mile Island, PA – partial meltdown)
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pollution prevention
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Device or process that prevents a potential pollutant from forming or entering the environment or sharply reduces the amount entering the environment.
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Insoluble
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Not able to be dissolved in a solvent
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Old-growth Forest
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An uncut or regenerated forest that has not been seriously disturbed by human activities or natural disasters for at least several hundred years. They are storehouses of biodiversity because they provide ecological niches for a multitude of wildlife species.
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Matter
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anything that has mass and takes up space, living or not. It comes in chemical forms, as an element or a compound.
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Asthenosphere
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part of the mantle that makes pliable rock.
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rare species
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a species that occurs rarely in the wild.
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shelterbelt
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a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion.
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inorganic compounds
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considered to be of a mineral, not biological, origin.
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Stewardship
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One to whom a trust has been given. attitude of active care and concern for natural lands. moral and ethical framework of our public/private actions
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Wicked Problem
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problems with no simple right or wrong answer where there is no single, generally agreed-on definition of or solution for the particular issue.
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Love Canal, NY
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chemicals from a company were buried underground, school & homes built over it, the chemicals leached out leading to birth defects & cancer Led to the Superfund act.
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How does sedimentation produce minerals?
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As weathered particles are treasported by H2O & deposited in riverbanks, the sea floor and deltas,certain minerals of the rock dissolve int the water and later settle out.Ex: iron, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, copper.
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environmentally sustainable economic development
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Development that encourages forms of economic growth that meet the basic needs of the current generations of humans and other species without preventing future generations of humans and other species from meeting their basic needs and discourages environmentally harmful and unsustainable forms of economic growth. It is the economic component of an environmentally sustainable society.
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National Resource Land
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These lands are used primarily for mining, oil and gas extraction, and livestock.
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Ecological Niche
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a species’ way of life in an ecosystem, everything that affects its survival and reproduction
1. The niche includes the members’ adaptations; its range of tolerance for physical and chemical conditions, its interactions with other components of the ecosystem, and its role in energy flow and matter recycling
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A species with a broad niche is considered a
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generalist species
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chlorinated hydrocarbon
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Organic compound made up of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine. Examples are DDT and PCBs.
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cold front
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the leading edge of a cooler and drier mass of air, replacing (at ground level) a warmer mass of air.
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In Natural Ecosystems...
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50-90% of pest species are kept under control by predators, diseases, parasites
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Clear-cutting
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All trees on a site are removed in a single cut.
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Profundal zone
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Deep oven water of lake that are too dark for photosynthesis. Oxygen levels are lower.
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zone of saturation
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an area of soil or rock below the level of the water table where all the voids are filled with water
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Point VS non point sources
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(Point, from specific location such as pipe)(Non-point, from over an area such as runoff, good example: storm drains)
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not an example of a cause for the decline of amphibians
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prolonged rainy periods
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The biotic potential of a population
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the maximum reproductive rate of a population
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