ENSC Final Review (All Exams)

What is the best description of the discipline of Environmental Science?

An interdisciplinary science focused on human impacts and interactions with the natural world.

Which of the following statements is true of negative feedback loops?

Negative feedback loop keep systems close to their original starting point.

Socio-ecological systems

Are the independent relationships between human and ecological variables

True or False? A socio-ecological framework captures all of the social agents, ecological agents, and scales that might be part of a socio-ecological system

False

Ostrom’s Focal Action Situations

Resource Management

Folk et al. 2022 - Linked SES framework

Hierarchy of scales

Panarchy Framework

Multi-scaled adaptive cycles

Ecosystem services

Monetizes nature’s benefits

What are the four categories of ecosystem services?

Supporting, Cultural, Regulating, and Provisioning

What is a driver of socio-ecological systems?

Something external to the system that effects processes within the system

Simple System

Homogenous, Linear Dynamic

Socio-ecological system

Heterogeneous, non-Linear dynamic

In Virginia, rates of denitrification in ponds surrounded by urban development are LOWER than denitrification rates in ponds surrounded by undeveloped land. But in Salt Lake City, denitrification rates in ponds surrounded by urban development are HIGHER than in ponds surrounded by undeveloped land. This is an example of:

Cross-scale interaction

Water quality in the Chesapeake Bay steadily worsened for decades resulting in the decline of crab populations

Smooth Response

Soil sodicity greater than SAR = 13 causes the collapse of soil structure and loss of carbon, but reducing the sodicity to <13 immediately stops the loss.

Continuous threshold

To remediate an algae dominated pond, phosphorus concentrations need to be substantially lower than concentrations observed when the submerged vegetation died

Discontinuous threshold

Alternative stable states are…

 

Ecosystem conditions with negative feedbacks that resist major changes

In class we discussed that tropical rainforests had high persistence, but low resilience.  This means that they...

They rapidly recover after minor a disturbance, but not after major disturbances like land clearing.

You are walking through a forest and come upon a spring of water coming from the ground. What are true statements about this spring.

• This is a flux of water from groundwater to the stream

• a spring is an interface between two systems.

Which changes the FLUX of water?

• Irrigation

• Drinking and wastewater systems

• Wells

• Climate Change

How do impervious surfaces change the water budget?

It decreases infiltration and increases surface runoff

Channelization, culverts, dams, and buried streams are all examples of what?

Changes to the physical structure

Buried water infrastructure often does what?

• Leaks

• changes the water table

• contributes to water quality issues

• creates megapores through landscape

What does homogenizing hydroscapes mean?

Where development causes surface waters to be even more similar to each other

The distribution of surface water sizes and shapes can be collectively characterized by:

Power-law distributions

Undeveloped

Lots of small water bodies and a few large

Urban

Fewer small water bodies and more large

Agriculture

Many more small water bodies, very few large

What are the environmental impacts of changes in hydrography?

• loss/gain of habitat

• changes in rates of biogeochemical processes in watershed

What is a primary motivation for regulating water quality?

Protect human health and livelihoods

Under the Clean Water Act, water quality standards are based on:

Designated use by humans

Water Quality

The biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of water

Water Pollution

The presence of materials the presence of materials* in water that interfere unreasonably with one or more beneficial uses

Monitoring

• Physical

• Biological

• Chemical

Assessment

• Water Quality Standards

• Designated Uses

• Water Quality Criteria

Implementation

• Conservation Measures

• Best Management Practices

• Citizen Input

TMDL Development

• Pollutant Diet

• WLA + LA + MOS

• TAC & Citizen Input

What does a TMDL do?

Determines total amount of pollutant a waterbody can receive to meet Water Quality standards

What is the most common cause of impairment?

Pathogens

Measures the concentration of hydrogen ion

pH

Concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

Nutrients

The concentration of oxygen in water

Dissolved Oxygen

Fine particles in water

Suspended Solids

cloudiness of water

Turbidity

Concentration of calcium, sodium, chloride, and bicarbonate

Dissolved solids

Concentration of carbon from soil and plant material

Dissolved organic carbon

What is NOT a criteria pollutant

Carbon Dioxide

Which of the following are primary pollutants?

• Carbon dioxide

• Carbon monoxide

• Sulfer dioxide

What describes ‘Major Sources” of air pollution?

• They are stationary sources

• They emit more than 10 tons per year of a single air pollutant

% of Carbon dioxide

93.5%

% of Methane

0.4%

% of Nitrous Oxide

0.08%

What are sinks of greenhouse gasses?

• Vegetation

• Oceans

What are the three big principals necessary to achieve drawdown?

• Improve society and equality, equity, and justice

• Reduce sources and bring emissions to zero

• Support sinks

What are the two biggest contributors related to food and agriculture that contribute to climate change?

• Deforestation

• Methane from animals

In anaerobic conditions, Nitrate (NO3) turns into…

N2 gas

In anaerobic conditions, Ammonium (NH4) turns into…

No Change

In anaerobic conditions, Organic Nitrogen turns into…

Ammonium (NH4)

N-Fixation

Converts N gas to elemental forms

Ammonification and Nitrification

Converts organic N to mineral forms

Denitrification

Converts nitrate (NO3) to N gas

Order of the Nitrogen Cycle (1-4)

1. N-Fixation

2. Ammonification

3. Nitrification

4. Denitrification

What carbon cycling formula is correct?

CO₂ + H₂O + energy <-> CH₂O + O₂

What affects the rate of carbon respired from soil?

• Soil Drainage

• Soil Compaction

• Soil Texture

Carbon released directly by plants to atmosphere

Autotrophic Respiration (2)

Carbon emitted from soil microbes and fauna

Heterotrophic Respiration (3)

The rate at which carbon is stored in the ecosystem

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) (4)

the rate of carbon uptake by plants

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) (1)

The influence of atmospheric gases on earth’s energy balance is measured as:

Radiative Forcing: The energy in minus the energy out

Temperature anomalies are:

The temperature relative to an average

The Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) models predict:

Change in temperature for the coming decades

What is true regarding future and historical climates?

• The earth’s climate has been relatively cold since humans have evolved

• The worst case warming scenario will cause climates to be similar to the Eocene

Loss of ice at the poles is a big deal because it will cause what to happen?

• Increase in extreme events

• Loss of albedo and further warming

• Rise in sea level

How has warming of the Atlantic Ocean affected extreme events?

• Increased strength of hurricanes

• Increased the amount of rainfall

Waste from raw materials

Extraction Waste

Household debris and packaging

Municipal waste

Waste from crude material refining

Industrial waste

Broken live capital goods

Demolition and auto waste

What are the top three contributors to municipal solid waste?

• Yard Trimmings

• Food

• Paper

What is the top contributor to solid waste facilities in Virginia?

Municipal solid waste

What are examples of electronic waste?

• Microwaves

• Vacuums

• Washers/dryers

• Televisions

Globally, what is the average amount of electronic waste that is recycled (in percent)?

20%

How long does it take for petroleum based plastics to completely degrade in the environment?

Centuries

What are microplastics?

Physically broken down plastics found everywhere in the environment

What are consequences of plastic pollution?

• Increased greenhouse gases

• Bioaccumulation in food chain

• Plastic disease in animals

In the U.S. what percentage of municipal solid waste is recycled?

35%

In Virginia, what are the top three recycled materials?

• Commingled

• Paper

• Metal

Three main types of wastewater

• Industrial

• Stormwater runoff

• Domestic/commercial

What is true of wastewater released from wastewater treatment plants?

• Water is often cleaner than the water body it is released into

• Wastewater often becomes a source of permanent water flow

Combined storm and wastewater systems are often a problem because…

During storms they can release massive amounts of raw sewage into waterways