GEO 202 Natural Resources

What role could urban planning play in protecting these biomes while also reducing emissions?

Urban planning can reduce this via green belts, sustainable building design, protected natural areas, and low-emission transport systems.

List two natural sources of greenhouse gases

Wetlands and floodplains emit methane through anaerobic
decomposition. Volcanic eruptions (CO2); Respiration from plants and animals (CO2)

List anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases

Coal-fired power plants or vehicle emissions from highways
like I-55 and I-270. Burning fossil fuels for energy (CO₂); Industrial agriculture and livestock (methane, nitrous oxide)

What local policies or practices could help reduce the anthropogenic source you identified?

Policies like promoting renewable energy, expanding public transit, or offering incentives for electric vehicles could reduce fossil fuel use and emissions locally

How Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is connected to greenhouse gas emissions?

UHI is the phenomenon where cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas due to human activities, buildings, and lack of vegetation. It is linked to increased energy use, vehicle emissions, and reduced natural cooling.

Name two ways cities could reduce the UHI effect.

Planting more trees/green roofs and using reflective or lighter-colored building materials

Choose one biome (Coniferous Forest, Tropical Rainforest, Deciduous Forest, Tundra, Polar Ice and snow) and explain how climate change might affect it over the next 50 years. Be specific (think temperature, precipitation, biodiversity, etc.).

Tundra: warming leads to permafrost melt, loss of mosses/lichens, carbon release.

How might the Urban Heat Island effect influence nearby natural biomes?

UHI can lead to warming near biomes, shifting species ranges, drying soils, or encouraging invasive species.

What role could urban planning play in protecting these biomes while also reducing emissions?

Urban planning can reduce this via green belts, sustainable building design, protected natural areas, and low-emission transport systems

Sea Otter Case: What are the key species interactions involved in this case? (e.g., predation, competition, mutualism, commensalism, etc.)

Predation from sea otters that prey on sea urchins and herbivory by sea urchins feed on kelp. Competition between humans and sea otters for fish.

Sea Otter Case: What factors limit or boost the population(s) in the case?

Human activity (e.g., hunting of otters in the past, fishing, pollution) reduced sea otter populations, leading to urchin overgrowth. Top-down control by sea otters limits the sea urchin population.

Sea Otter Case: What role does ecological succession (if relevant) play in this scenario? How does it change species composition
or interaction over time?

When sea otters were absent, kelp forests declined due to overgrazing by sea urchins.

Sea Otter Case: What are the real‑world implications of this case study—for ecosystem health, conservation, or human communities?

Demonstrates how the removal of a keystone species disrupts ecosystem balance

Sea Otter Case: Now pick a local or familiar ecosystem (e.g., nearby park, watershed, forest, urban green space). Describe a species interaction you observe or know about in that ecosystem.

Competition: Native oak seedlings compete with invasive European buckthorn for sunlight and nutrients.

Sea Otter Case: Now pick a local or familiar ecosystem (e.g., nearby park, watershed, forest, urban green space). How do uncontrolled species impact your local environment?

Invasive species reduce native plant growth

Sea Otter Case: Now pick a local or familiar ecosystem (e.g., nearby park, watershed, forest, urban green space).

Sea Otter Case: What similarities/differences in interactions and controls? What lessons from the chapter apply locally?

Keystone species (sea otter in the ocean; apex predators or native trees in forests) are essential to stability.

What are the five basic types of interactions between species when sharing limited resources?

Interspecific competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism.

What is predation?

An interaction where a member of one species (predator) feeds directly on all or part of a member of another species (prey)

What is mutualism?

An interaction that benefits both species by providing each with food, shelter, or some other benefit (e.g., bees and flowers, clownfish and anemones

What is commensalism?

An interaction that benefits one species but has little, if any, effect on the other (e.g., barnacles on whales).

What is resource partitioning?

When species competing for similar resources evolve specialized traits that allow them to use shared resources differently to avoid competition

What is environmental resistance?

The combination of all factors that act to limit the growth of a population.

What is carrying capacity?

The maximum number of a species that a particular habitat can sustain indefinitely.

What is the difference between R-selected and K-selected species?

R-selected species have many small offspring with little or no parental care, while K-selected species have few, larger offspring with high parental care and slow growth.

What is the difference between a generalist and a specialist species?

Specialists have narrow niches, specialized needs, and are easily affected by changing conditions; generalists have broad niches, use a variety of resources, and adapt easily to many environments.

What is primary ecological succession?

The gradual establishment of biotic communities in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem.

What is secondary ecological succession?

The gradual change in species composition in ecosystems that develop in places that already have soil or bottom sediment (e.g., abandoned farmland or burned forests).

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Weather refers to short-term physical conditions in a given area, while climate is an area's general pattern of atmospheric conditions measured over at least 30 years.

What are the major greenhouse gases?

Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (ch4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).

What is the rain shadow effect?

A phenomenon where moist air rises and releases moisture on the windward side of a mountain, leaving the leeward side dry because descending air warms and releases little moisture.

What are the four major types of aquatic organisms?

Plankton (free-floating/weakly swimming), nekton (strong swimmers like fish and whales), benthos (bottom dwellers like crabs and oysters), and decomposers (mostly bacteria).

What is an estuary?

An area where rivers meet the sea, mixing saltwater and freshwater to create an extremely biodiverse ecosystem.

What are the ecological services provided by coral reefs?

They act as natural barriers protecting coastlines from erosion, provide habitats for about 25% of marine species, and support a large percentage of global fish catches and ecotourism jobs.

What causes coral bleaching?

Environmental stresses like increased water temperatures and acidity cause coral polyps to expel their mutualistic algae, leaving behind a white calcium carbonate skeleton.

What is the difference between old-growth and second-growth forests?

Old-growth forests are uncut or regenerated forests undisturbed for 200+ years, whereas second-growth forests develop as a result of secondary ecological succession after primary forests are disturbed.

What is the difference between selective cutting, clear-cutting, and strip cutting?

Selective cutting removes mature trees singly or in small groups; clear-cutting removes all trees from an area; and strip cutting removes trees in narrow parallel sections.

What is the difference between surface fires and crown fires?

Surface fires burn undergrowth and leaf litter on the forest floor, clearing debris and releasing nutrients; crown fires are extremely hot, fast-moving fires that leap from treetop to treetop, destroying most vegetation and wildlife.

What is deforestation?

The removal of large areas of forest for human use, which leads to severe topsoil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and climate impacts.

What are rangelands and why is overgrazing harmful?

Rangelands are unfenced grasslands that supply forage for grazing livestock; overgrazing destroys grass roots, compacts soil, reduces water-holding capacity, and encourages invasive species

Why are nature reserves and wildlife preserves enhanced by habitat corridors?

Corridors connect fragmented protected areas, allowing animal migration, protecting rivers/wetlands, and helping species adapt to shifting climates.

What is interspecific competition?

Two or more species interacting to gain access to the same limited resources; it is the most common interaction between species.

How does high population density affect a population?

It makes it easier for sexually reproducing individuals to find mates (positive), but allows parasites and diseases to spread more easily (negative).

What are the reproductive characteristics of r-selected species?

They produce many (usually small) offspring, give them little or no parental care, and rely on good odds that some will survive.

What are the reproductive characteristics of K-selected species?

They have few (usually fairly large) offspring, provide lots of parental care and protection, and their offspring grow more slowly.

Which animal has one of the slowest life cycles of any known mammal?

Orangutans (babies are often carried for 5 years, nursed for 8 years, and females give birth about every 8 years)

What shape of graph represents exponential (unrestricted) growth, and what causes it?

A J-shaped graph ("j-curve"); it occurs when a population has nearly unlimited resources to support accelerating growth.

What shape of graph represents logistic (restricted) growth?

An S-shaped graph ("s-curve"), where the growth rate decreases as the population grows and stabilizes at or near the carrying capacity.

Why are specialist species more vulnerable to a population crash than generalists?

Specialists have a narrow niche and specialized needs; if resources change, they cannot easily switch to new resources or move locations.

What are the three major factors that influence Earth's climate?

Uneven heating of Earth’s surface by the sun, rotation of the Earth on its axis, and the properties of water and land.

How do land and water differ in how they absorb and hold heat?

Water is slower to heat up than land, but it holds onto heat longer.

What is the urban heat island effect?

A distinct microclimate created in cities due to bricks, asphalt, and traffic.

What percentage of the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded and/or used unsustainably?

Over 65% of major terrestrial ecosystems (and 85% of wetlands).

What determines the distribution of aquatic organisms in an aquatic life zone?

Primarily water’s salinity, along with water temperature, dissolved oxygen content, availability of food, and light/nutrients for photosynthesis.

How do land and water differ in how they absorb and hold heat?

Water is slower to heat up than land, but it holds onto heat longer.

What is the urban heat island effect?

A distinct microclimate created in cities due to bricks, asphalt, and traffic.

What percentage of the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded and/or used unsustainably?

Over 65% of major terrestrial ecosystems (and 85% of wetlands).

What determines the distribution of aquatic organisms in an aquatic life zone?

Primarily water’s salinity, along with water temperature, dissolved oxygen content, availability of food, and light/nutrients for photosynthesis.

What are the three main vertical zones of the open sea based on sunlight?

Euphotic zone (brightly lit upper zone with ~40% of global photosynthesis), Bathyal zone (middle zone with little sunlight and no photosynthesis), and Abyssal zone (lowest zone with no sunlight, very cold, and little dissolved oxygen).

What percentage of marine species and commercial fisheries are found in the coastal zone?

About 90% of all marine species and most large commercial marine fisheries.

What are mangrove forests and what critical services do they provide?

Coastal wetlands in tropical zones that maintain water quality by filtering pollutants, provide food and nurseries, and reduce storm damage and coastal erosion.

What are the primary ecological services provided by forests?

Purifying air and water, providing habitat for about 2/3 of Earth’s terrestrial species, producing oxygen, storing carbon, and providing medicines.

What is the definition of an old-growth forest?

An uncut or regenerated forest that has not been seriously disturbed by human activity or natural disasters for 200 years or more.

What is the difference between a tree plantation and a natural forest?

A tree plantation is a managed farm growing only one or two tree species (like timber, palm oil, or Christmas trees), whereas natural forests have high biodiversity and diverse age structures.

What are the ecological benefits of surface fires?

They burn undergrowth and leaf litter, free up nutrients, release seeds (stimulating germination), and help control destructive insects and tree diseases.

What are some key methods for more sustainable forest management?

Emphasizing economic value of ecosystem services, removing subsidies that favor deforestation, using selective cutting, planting new forests, and buying certified sustainable wood.

How can degraded grasslands be managed and restored?

By controlling the number of grazing animals, limiting grazing time, utilizing rotational grazing, fencing off damaged areas, and using prescribed burns or controlled removal to suppress invasive species.

What is overgrazing and what damage does it cause to rangelands?

When livestock excessively graze unfenced grasslands; it harms grass roots, reduces cover, exposes and compacts topsoil, increases erosion, lowers water-holding capacity, and encourages invasive weeds.

What is the difference between intraspecific and interspecific competition?

Intraspecific competition is between members of the same species, while interspecific competition is between members of different species.

What is the difference between a population and a community?

A population consists of individuals of the same species living in a given area, whereas a community consists of multiple species interacting in the same area.

What are four key variables that affect population size?

Births, deaths, immigration (moving into a place), and emigration (moving away from a place).

What are three methods carnivores use to capture prey?

Pursuit and ambush, camouflage (hide and ambush), and trapping prey (such as a Venus flytrap)

What are some specialized defense mechanisms used by prey species?

Camouflage, chemical defenses (like foul-tasting secretions or poison dart frog toxins), warning coloration, mimicry (e.g., Viceroy mimicking a monarch), and behavioral changes (e.g., snake caterpillars changing shape).

What is a population crash?

When a population uses up its resources and exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, leading to a sharp population decline.

Why are invasive species often successful?

They outcompete native species populations because they lack natural predators or controls in their new environment.

What is the Köppen climate classification system based on?

An area's general pattern of atmospheric conditions, temperature, and precipitation measured over long periods.

What are the three major climate zones on Earth?

Tropical, temperate, and polar zones, which are influenced by solar energy input and global air/ocean circulation.

What is the difference between salinity in freshwater vs. marine/saltwater systems?

Freshwater has a salinity of 0 to 0.5 parts per thousand (ppt), while seawater/marine systems generally range from 30 to 50+ ppt.

What is the difference between primary and secondary ecological succession in terms of starting material?

Primary succession starts in lifeless areas with no soil or bottom sediment (like bare rock), while secondary succession occurs in places that already have soil or bottom sediment.

What are examples of secondary succession events?

Abandoned farmland, burned or cut forests, heavily polluted streams, and flooded land.

What causes the rain shadow effect near mountain ranges?

Prevailing winds pick up ocean moisture, rise and cool on the windward side dropping heavy rain, and descend and warm on the leeward side leaving little moisture.

What are the major human impacts on aquatic ecosystems (marine and freshwater)?

Coastal development, nonpoint and point-source pollution, overfishing, trawler fishing, invasive species, climate change (ocean warming/acidification), and dams/canals fragmenting waterways

What is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and why is it significant?

It was the worst oil disaster in history, spilling approximately 4 million barrels of oil over about 90 days.

What are inland wetlands and what ecological services do they provide?

Lands covered with freshwater part or all of the time; they break down toxic wastes, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge groundwater/aquifers, and provide critical wildlife habitats.

What is tropical deforestation and what are its primary direct causes?

The removal of large forest areas for human use; direct causes vary by region, such as cattle ranching and crops in South America, oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, and firewood/farming in Africa.

What are debt-for-nature swaps?

Financial mechanisms where developing countries receive debt relief in exchange for agreeing to protect their ecologically vital forests and natural areas.

What is overgrazing and what damage does it cause to rangelands?

When livestock excessively graze unfenced grasslands; it harms grass roots, reduces cover, exposes and compacts topsoil, increases erosion, lowers water-holding capacity, and encourages invasive weeds.

What are the major aquatic life