Environmental Science Exam 3

Locavore

 A person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.

Famines

characterized by large-scale food shortages, massive starvation, social disruption, and economic chaos

Six essential nutrients

Carbohydrates

Protein

Lipids

Minerals

Vitamins

Water

Malnourishment

Nutritional imbalance caused by a lack of specific dietary components, or an inability to absorb or utilize essential nutrient

Anemia

Insufficient hemoglobin in the blood

Caused by iron deficiency (most common dietary imbalance in the world)

Kwashiorkor

“displaced child” occurs mainly in children whose diet lacks high-quality protein
• Discolored skin, bloated stomach

Marasmus

“to waste away” - caused by a diet low in protein and calories
• Very thin, shriveled with low resistance to infection

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)

where animals are housed in giant enclosures and fed diets of soy
and corn for rapid growth

Aquaculture

(growing aquatic species in pens) is providing an increasing share
of the world’s seafood

Risks of Aquaculture

• uses wild populations to stock and feed captive populations
• destroys mangrove forests and wetlands used as nurseries for all
marine species
• allows the spread of disease
• releases large quantities of feces, antibiotics and other pollutants

Harvard Food Pyramid

40% Bread, pasta, cereal

35% Fruits, vegetables

20% Meat, fish, milk, eggs

5% Fat, oil, sugar, sweets

Chlorinated Hydrocarbons

fast acting and highly toxic to sensitive organisms

Neonicotinoid

Insecticides for plants that are strong enough that the compound can transfer to pollen and nectar

Fumigants

-small molecules which are delivered as a gas to penetrate soil or other materials.
• Used in fungus control on strawberries or to prevent insect/rodent damage to stored grains.
• Extremely dangerous to workers and restricted or banned in some areas.

Inorganic Pesticides

compounds of toxic elements such as mercury or arsenic.
• Highly toxic, indestructible and persistent.
• Generally act as neurotoxins

• Copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, cyanide, mercury

Natural Organic Pesticides

generally extracted from plants and include such pesticides as nicotine (tobacco), pyrethrums (daisies) or turpentines (conifers).
• Toxic to insects and may prevent wood decay

Microbial Agents and Biological Controls

living organisms or toxins derived from them that are used in place of pesticides

Pest Resurgence

• a few resistant pests survive the pesticide and survive to repopulate the area with more resistant pests.
• Resistant pests require finding new pesticides

Pesticide Treadmill

a cycle where pests develop resistance to pesticides, forcing farmers to use higher amounts or new, more potent chemicals

DDT

a synthetic insecticide

Biocides

kill a wide variety of living organisms

Herbicides

kill plants

Insecticides

kill insects

Fungicides

kill insects

pesticides

are chemicals that kill biological pests

Loam soils

are considered best for agriculture because they are a good mixture of sand, silt and clay

Phylogenetic species concept

emphasizes the branches on a taxonomic tree (groups of organisms that share a pattern of ancestry and descent, and which form a single branch on the tree of life)

Evolutionary species concept

defines species in terms of evolution and historic terms

Endangered

are those considered in imminent danger of extinction

Threatened

are those likely to become endangered, at least locally, in the near future

Vulnerable

are those that are naturally rare or have been locally depleted to a level that puts them at risk.

Species Diversity

measures number of different kinds of organisms within a community

Ecological Diversity

measures richness and complexity of a community
• Niches, trophic levels and ecological processes of a biological community

Species Richness

total number of species in a community

Species Evenness

relative abundance of individuals within each species

Invasive species

thrive in new territories where they are free of usual predators, diseases, or resource limitations that checked them in their
original habitat

GAP Analysis

Seeks out unprotected landscapes rich in species

Keystone species

species has major effect on other members of community (bison, sea
otter)

Indicator species

tied to specific communities or successional stages (brook
trout)

Umbrella species

require large blocks of undisturbed habitat (northern spotted owl)

Flagship species

attractive organisms to which people react emotionally (giant panda)

Rock Cycle

cycle of creation, destruction, and metamorphosis

Igneous Rock

Most common type of rock in Earth’s crust.
• Solidified from magma extruded onto the surface from
volcanic vents
  • Quick cooling of magma produces fine-grained rocks.
        • Basalt
  • Slow cooling of magma produces coarse-grained rocks.
        • Granite

Metamorphic Rock

Preexisting rocks modified by heat, pressure, and chemical agents
   • Chemical reactions can alter both the composition and structure of rocks as they are metamorphosed.
• Marble (from limestone)
• Quartzite (from sandstone)
• Slate (from mudstone and shale)

Sedimentary Rock

Deposited materials that remain in place long
enough, or are covered with enough material for
compaction, may again become rock.

Smelting

roasting ore to release metals
• Major source of air pollution – sulfur dioxide

Mass Wasting

which geologic materials are moved downslope from one place to another.
• Can be slow and subtle or swift as in rockslides and avalanches

Placer Mining

hydraulically washing out metals deposited in streambed gravel by
using water cannons to blast away stream beds
• Destroys streambeds and fills water with suspended solids

Underground Mining

tunneling into mineral seams is very dangerous
• Tunnels can collapse
• Natural gas explosions
• Water seeping into mine shafts dissolves toxic minerals and contaminates groundwater
• Fires in mines which burn for years

Open Pit or Strip Mining

50% of U.S. coal is strip mined.
• creates huge holes in the earth which fill with contaminated groundwater.
• Surface material is left in long ridges called spoil banks, because these do not contain topsoil, there often is no vegetation for many years

Minerals

is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid element or compound with a definite chemical composition and regular internal crystal structure.

Rock

a solid, cohesive, aggregate of one or more minerals