BIO 220 Environmental Science Exam 1 Study Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on the 60 questions from BIO 220 Environmental Science Exam 1 Kahoot Study Quiz.

Environmental Science

The systematic study of our environment and our place in it.

Interdisciplinary Nature of Environmental Science

The field's approach of combining natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to understand environmental issues.

Scientific Method (First Step)

Observation/question, which comes before forming hypotheses, experimenting, or drawing conclusions.

Scientific Theory

An explanation that has been extensively tested and strongly supported, making it different from an unproven hypothesis.

Reproducibility

The ability of a study's results to be repeated by performing the study again.

Environmental Justice

Addressing situations where some communities experience a disproportionate amount of pollution.

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

A foundational environmental work that brought attention to pesticides and their environmental effects.

Gifford Pinchot

An influential conservationist most closely associated with pragmatic conservation.

John Muir

A preservationist who believed that nature has value for its own sake.

Stewardship

Managing and caring for resources and places.

Anthropocentrism

A human-centered worldview.

Biocentrism

A worldview asserting that all organisms have intrinsic value.

Ecocentrism

A worldview that focuses primarily on the ecosystem as a whole.

Intrinsic/Inherent Value

The concept that something has worth simply because it exists.

Renewable Resource

A resource that replenishes naturally over time, such as sunlight.

Nonrenewable Resource

A finite resource that cannot be replenished on a human timescale, such as coal.

Conservation of Matter

The physical law stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed.

Open System

A system that exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings.

Positive Feedback Loop

A feedback mechanism where an initial increase leads to further increases.

Negative Feedback Loop

A feedback mechanism that suppresses change and generally helps maintain stability in a system.

Resilience

A system's ability to recover from a disturbance.

Photosynthesis Energy Source

Sunlight, which provides the primary energy required for photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis Reactants

Carbon dioxide, water, and light, which are consumed during photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis Products

Glucose and oxygen produced as a result of photosynthesis.

Ecological Hierarchy

The sequence of biological organization from smallest to largest: organism → population → community → ecosystem → biome → biosphere.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area.

Community

Different populations living and interacting together in a shared area.

Ecosystem

A ecological unit composed of living organisms interacting with their nonliving environment.

Generalist

A species that can use many different resources and survive in a wide variety of conditions.

Specialist

A species with specific habitat and resource requirements.

Mutualism

A symbiotic relationship that benefits both species involved.

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism lives off another, benefiting while harming the host (e.g., a tick feeding on a dog).

Intraspecific Competition

Competition for resources between members of the same species.

Interspecific Competition

Competition for resources between members of different species.

Competitive Exclusion

The principle that two species competing for the exact same limited resources cannot indefinitely occupy the same niche.

Clumped Dispersion

A spatial distribution pattern in which individuals live in distinct groups.

Density-Dependent Factor

A population regulator whose influence changes depending on population density, such as disease.

Density-Independent Factor

A population regulator that affects individuals regardless of density, such as a hurricane.

Biotic Factors

Living elements within an ecosystem.

Abiotic Factors

Nonliving environmental variables, such as temperature and water.

Exponential Growth

Unrestricted population growth that produces a J-shaped curve when plotted.

Logistic Growth

Population growth that eventually slows as it approaches carrying capacity due to limited resources.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that a given environment can sustainably support.

r-Selected Species

Species characterized by high reproductive rates, producing many offspring while providing minimal parental care.

K-Selected Species

Species characterized by lower reproductive rates, producing fewer offspring while providing high parental care.

Allopatric Speciation

Speciation that occurs when populations become geographically or physically separated.

Sympatric Speciation

Speciation that occurs within a population without physical or geographic separation.

Natural Selection

The evolutionary mechanism where beneficial inherited traits become more common because they enhance survival and reproduction.

Keystone Species

A species that plays a critical role and exerts a disproportionately large effect on its ecosystem.

Producer

An autotrophic organism at the base of the food web that manufactures its own food.

Primary Consumer

An herbivorous organism that feeds directly on producers.

Trophic Energy Loss

The reduction of usable energy as it moves up trophic levels, primarily lost as metabolic heat.

Carbon Sink

A natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores carbon.

Oceanic Carbon Absorption

An example of a carbon sink mechanism where oceans absorb $CO_2$ from the atmosphere.

Carbon Footprint

The total environmental impact associated with an individual's or entity's carbon/$CO_2$ emissions.

Ecological Footprint

A measure of the amount of biologically productive land and water required to produce resources and absorb waste.

Ecological Overshoot

The situation that occurs when human consumption and demand surpass Earth's sustainable capacity.

Tundra

A cold, treeless biome characterized by permafrost conditions.

Estuary

A coastal biome where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean.

Population Bottleneck

A sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events or disturbances.