Environmental Science Exam 1 Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the Environmental Science Exam 1 Study Guide, covering major concepts, definitions, processes, and historical figures across all key lecture topics.

Biotic

Living components of an environment, such as fish or aquatic plants.

Abiotic

Nonliving components of an environment, such as water temperature, rocks, or dissolved oxygen.

Inexhaustible Renewable Resource

A natural resource that is replenished continually and cannot be depleted, such as sunlight, wind, or wave energy.

Exhaustible Renewable Resource

A resource that is replenished over months to years but can be depleted if used faster than it is replaced, such as timber, water, or fertile soil.

Nonrenewable Resource

A resource formed much more slowly than humans use it, making it unavailable once depleted, such as fossil fuels or mineral resources.

Natural Resource

A physical substance or energy source taken directly from the environment and relied on for survival, such as timber or water.

Ecosystem Service

A benefit supplied by natural ecological processes, such as water purification, pollination, nutrient cycling, climate regulation, or waste recycling.

Ecological Footprint

The cumulative area of biologically productive land and water needed to provide resources and dispose of waste for a person or population.

Biocapacity

Earth's capacity to sustainably support people and regenerate resources.

Overshoot

The condition that occurs when human resource consumption exceeds Earth's biocapacity.

Primary Source

A source of information that presents original research or firsthand evidence.

Secondary Source

A source of information that summarizes or interprets research and evidence from other primary sources.

Anthropocentrism

An ethical perspective that gives primary importance to human interests and well-being.

Biocentrism

An ethical perspective that recognizes value in individual living organisms, not only humans.

Ecocentrism

An ethical perspective that considers the well-being and integrity of whole ecological systems, including communities, species, and nonliving components.

Henry David Thoreau

A historical figure who emphasized a close connection with nature and the value of simple living and direct experiences in the natural world.

John Muir

An environmental advocate who promoted the preservation of wild places and helped build public support for protecting natural areas.

Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot

Conservation leaders who supported responsible management and sustainable use of natural resources, with Pinchot emphasizing resource management for sustained human use.

Aldo Leopold

An environmental thinker who developed the land ethic, emphasizing human ethical responsibility toward the land and ecological communities.

Environmental Justice

Fairness in how environmental risks and benefits are distributed, as well as meaningful community participation in decision-making processes.

Population

A group of individuals belonging to one species living in a specific area.

Community

An assemblage of multiple interacting populations of different species within a specific area.

Lithosphere

The solid, outer sphere of Earth containing rock and sediment in the upper mantle and crust.

Hydrosphere

All of Earth's water in solid, liquid, and vapor forms.

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth and the nonliving environmental components with which they interact.

Watershed

The specific geographic land area that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials into a body of water.

Airshed

The geographic region that produces airborne pollutants likely to deposit into a specific waterway.

Positive Feedback Loop

A feedback loop in which an initial change triggers processes that amplify the original effect, such as ice melting to reduce solar reflection and cause further warming.

Negative Feedback Loop

A feedback loop that counteracts an initial change to maintain internal stability and homeostasis, such as body sweating in response to a rise in temperature.

Eutrophication

A process starting with excess nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to increased phytoplankton growth, decomposition, increased bacterial activity, and severe depletion of dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems.

Potential Energy

The energy of position, such as water held behind a dam.

Kinetic Energy

The energy of motion, such as water rushing through a dam.

Gross Primary Production (GPP)

The total amount of chemical energy captured or produced by autotrophs in a given area over time, satisfying $\text{GPP} = \text{NPP} + \text{respiration}$.

Net Primary Production (NPP)

The energy remaining after primary producers utilize captured energy for cellular respiration, calculated as $\text{NPP} = \text{GPP} - \text{respiration}$.

Patch

A distinct, specific landscape area or habitat type, such as a isolated forest surrounded by agricultural fields.

Ecotone

A transitional boundary or zone where two distinct biological communities or landscape patches meet.

Transpiration

The release of water vapor into the atmosphere directly from plant leaves.

Infiltration

The downward movement of surface water soaking into soil and rock to recharge groundwater supplies.

Aquifer

An underground reservoir comprised of porous rock and soil that holds groundwater.

Nitrogen Fixation

The conversion of inert atmospheric nitrogen gas ($N_2$) into biologically accessible ammonia ($NH_3$) or ammonium ($NH_4^+$).

Nitrification

The biological oxidation process converting ammonium ($NH_4^+$) into nitrite ($NO_2^-$) and subsequently into plant-usable nitrate ($NO_3^-$).

Denitrification

The conversion of soil nitrates ($NO_3^-$) back into gaseous nitrogen ($N_2$), releasing it into the atmosphere.

Species Richness

The total count of different species residing in a defined geographical location.

Species Evenness

The proportional abundance and distribution of individuals among all species present in a community.

Keystone Species

A species that exerts a disproportionately large control over its ecosystem structure relative to its overall biomass or numerical abundance.

Ecosystem Engineer

An organism that actively modifies, creates, or maintains physical habitats for itself and other species, such as a beaver building dams.

Resilience

The inherent capacity of an ecosystem to withstand environmental disturbances, recover from stressors, or adapt to environmental changes.

Biophilia

The hypothesized innate human emotional inclination to connect with nature and other living organisms.

Endemic Species

A species that is naturally restricted and native to a single, specific geographical region and found nowhere else on Earth.

Regional Extirpation

The local disappearance or elimination of a species from a specific geographic area, while the species continues to exist elsewhere.